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This was my first race weekend, and what a build up! I started planning for this over a year ago and had to overcome many obstacles to get here. I have to thank Roadracingworld mag, Penguin Roadracing School, retired racer Gary Stas, and yes, even NESR for helping me get the info I needed to get started in racing.
So the theme of this weekend for me was budget racing straight up. After being laid off this winter unexpectedly, I was left w/only the bare necessities to go racing. This meant that I had a bike, 1 set of tires, some gas, and a tent. Thanks LRRS for the 1st time racer discounts and free transponder rental, that truly made this possible for me.
So, my choice of tires were the Michelin Power One Dot B Compound. I had bought these tires thinking that they would last longer than the softer A compound, thus saving some money in the long run, but didn't realize that the weather was going to be so damn cold during the day. It was funny when I talked to the Michelin guy at the track about pressures and when I told him the compound he just gave me this sick look and said, "those are warm weather tires...".
The weekend started pretty smooth, with practice being really fun as it was my 1st time on the track in the dry. I felt like I was going pretty good and the tires had much more grip than I was used to, so my confidence in them was building. I didn't do Penguin again, so I just tried to pick up where I left off last oct. staying on the race line, being smooth and predictable, and working on some areas of the track I knew I needed to work on. Each practice session got better and better and by the end of the day I felt like I was going pretty good.
I decided to skip the last session and go check in w/the school about the rookie race, and lucky I did because they were already having the meeting and sign up for it! I almost missed the damn thing because I was pitted so far from the pa that I didn't hear any announcement.
The Rookie Race was something I was looking forward to. I mean, as a wannabe racer, this is like the 1st real race, so I was a little dissapointed that all the experienced guys told me that the race isn't really a race, and that I shouldn't try to win. The guys pitted near me even told me that if I did anything stupid they wouldn't associate w/me anymore, so I basically got it out of my head to try and win. I really just focused on the start. I got a decent start from the 5th row, picked off a couple guys slowly in the 1st two laps just to get out of the mess, and then followed the leader to the checkered flag. It felt great to know I completed the thing, and that I didn't let the guys in 1a down!
Race 5 (MWGP): So after practice I saw my lap times and wasn't very impressed. I knew there were places on the track that I needed to work on, so I watched the experts, asked for advice from the guys pitted near me, and then figured out what I needed to do to drop some time.
I was gridded in 4a and got another decent start, and being a "real" race I felt the aggression kick in and just stayed on the gas all the way into 1a passing the group and taking the lead. Pretty much after that I just did lap after lap trying to be very consistent so that I wouldn't lose the lead. I wanted to start trying some different things to go faster, but figured a race that I'm leading isn't the place for that, so I just kept saying to myself, "just do the same thing this lap"... and I did. I lead the whole race and right after the white flag came the red one, and I knew I won. It felt great, but I wanted to see who crashed. I saw the bike on fire and the fire exstinguisher going, so I wasn't really focused on the win, just wondering if that dude was okay. Later I checked my times, and still was not impressed, so I spent some time that night thinking about how to get faster.
Sun. Race 12(mwsb): I skipped practice sun due to the weather and lack of rain tires, so I was a little nervous leading up to the race. Luckily my buddy and his wife came up so I could finally listen to some heavy metal to get myself pumped up (my mp3 player died on the ride up to the track). I knew what I wanted to work on, knew that it was going to be hard to win again, so I got myself really pumped up listening to some Motorhead, Metallica, Slayer, and Guns n' Roses. I figured that the last race of the weekend I should just go for it and try to win. So after straightening out some registration errors, I was gridded in 4a. I got another decent start, dove into the lead, and just really pushed to keep the lead. I basically did the same thing as in my first race, but just kept pushing harder and harder until I started to get tired. I could hear Brett's exhaust in some sections and I wanted to push harder to keep the lead so I started to stay on the gas longer into the turns. On one lap, I actually skipped my front tire in T3 and started to drag both knees in the turns so I knew I was going faster than I ever had. Then I hit a false neutral going up the hill, took a second to remember the gp shift pattern, upshifted, bogged up the hill, swore in my helmet, and probably lost about 3 seconds on what would have been a fast lap (for me). On the last couple of laps I just tried to be consistent. I was getting tired, and for some stupid reason I just started thinking about the checkered flag. I just wanted to see it and get the race over with. Coming out of the last turn I felt like I was going to win, saw the checkered flag, but went wide and as I'm starting to relish the win, who do I see come up the inside? Yes, that damn Honda that wanted to beat me in the rookie race! When he came up on my side I was already near the rev limiter in 7th gear spinning my tires, but the Honda took the win by a bike length or 2! I was dissapointed alittle, but not really. I didn't expect to win at all this weekend, and I'm more concerned w/dropping my times, but it sure does feel good to have a 1st and 2nd even if it is just a novice race. I just happy to have made it to this point, to have overcome all the obstacles, and to have not blown my bike up or crashed... but most of all to have met some really good people, who like motorcycles as much as me, and who are so generous, helpful, and just solid characters. I was really inspired by the spirit of the racers this weekend, and thankfully I got a chance to help someone out myself in the end so it was a really fullfilling weekend to say the least. Congrats to all who had a good time!
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Originally Posted by hondarider102
Glad it worked out.
