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A few downs, but mostly ups for the first weekend of the 2011 season.
We got to the track Friday evening and spent the next 4 hours with Michael (PainfullySlow here on NESR) trying to figure out why the bike wouldn't fire. After tearing the carbs down, we (well, mostly he) found that it was weak spark from a COLD battery and iridium plugs that was the culprit.
Anyway, to riding . . .
Saturday:
I skipped the first practice session, since it was just too damned cold (38 was the reading at 8:30am) and made the second session, 2 seconds slower than where I had left off last September.
Race #9: Novice LWGP
I gridded 1A, since i was the only rider to carry points from last season. THis was interesting, I didn't have the bike revved up enough and stalled as I started. Fortunately, the rest of the field were rookies (this was every other rider's first official race) and most behind me panicked and didn't go by me. 6 riders did though. I got the bike started quickly and made a dash for T1, tipping in 4th. I was in 1st at the end of lap 1, having passed Bill (Mustang) on the front straight, and didn't look back. I finished 1st with a best lap of 1:28.493, having lapped more than half the field and finishing the distance of half the front straight in front of 2nd place.
Sunday
Again, I skipped the first practice, since it had rained hard the night before and I was just too damned lazy to switch to my rains. I did do second practice and it felt good. For some reason, they weren't timing. Most likely because it was an open practice, as not many were out there.
Race #3: Novice GTL
I made damned sure this time that I had the bike cranked to 8K when I launched and up came the front wheel. (about 6" off the ground) I scooted through 3 gears and took the holeshot into T1. I ran all 20 exhausting minutes of the GTL in 1st place, with ECK's Jake Vader closing with each lap toward the end. (And this is saying something about Jake, who rides an RS125, against my built SV650.) This time, I lapped all but 2 riders and finished in front of Jake, who took 2nd, by close to the length of the front straight, with a best lap of 126.789, .5 seconds higher my PB.
Race #9: Novice LWSB
Pretty much the same as the GTL. I took the holeshot and ran wire to wire in 1st place. The difference this time was my lap times. The GTL I was running mostly in the 27's. This time, I ran a 1:29.8 outlap and the rest were ALL in the 26's. I finished 1st, lapped at least half the field and was more then the front straight's distance in front of 2nd place this time, with a new PB of 1:26.048, just shy of getting into the 25's. This race felt effortless for some reason. I settled into a groove and everything just seemed to flow.
I have once again sent a petition to be bumped up to amateur. Let's hope that they see that I can definitely hold my own.
Thanks to everyone who came out to watch and support, especially Annalisa (she rocks my world!)and Michael Weyant, and of course my sponsors, Woodcraft, All Balls, and AMSOIL. Thanks also to the crew at Tony's Track Days and MTAG, and to BoMo/Landric's for making the bike look friggin' awesome!
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Originally Posted by rolker
