6
TL;DR version: 3 novice podiums, a couple 1:26s, 100 high fives/fist bumps with Colin (nhbubba), and a shitload of fun
I’ll start from the top. At the end of last season, I set what I thought was an aggressive goal of racing in 2015. My initial “budget” for 8 TDs in 2014 turned into 12 TDs done by the end of August, when it occurred to me that I would not have any more experience at Round 1 2015 vs Round 7 2014. Time to accelerate the plan! However, due to work travel and more weekend TDs in September, most of the bike prep was pushed to the 3 days prior to Round 7. I arrived at the track just after midnight on Thursday after some last-minute drilling and grinding (which did not result in the explosion of my bike!) and tried to get some sleep.
Basic School on Friday was an absolute blast! The option to pass on the inside is a total game changer and track days will never be the same for me. I felt like a kid playing with a new toy all day on Friday. As with Colin, I went WAY too hard for the first day of a three-day riding weekend. I finished the day having had the most fun ever on a motorcycle, registered for the two novice races on Saturday, then stayed up late again chopping and zip-tying mounting my new bodywork (thanks Ian!).
I woke up at 6 on Saturday to do all the wiring on my bike. Yes, I tend to leave things to the last minute. Getting through tech was a huge relief, and I then decided to switch to rains due to the drizzle outside. I suck at switching wheels and wiring stuff, and I missed the first practice. My buddy Ryan showed up a few minutes later to hang out and watch the races, and ended up helping me with rear stand duties and such during the day (thanks dude!). We were both bummed that he wasn’t racing (he had intended to come out for basic with me but couldn’t make it work), but it was cool to have him around for moral support nonetheless.
I made it out for second practice, and when I came in Jason told me that I had done a 1:36 in the wet. Woah! My personal best at Loudon (dry) was a 1:35.5. This was my first inkling that I was about to have a strong weekend.
Rookie Race
Before the race, I had Colin in one ear being rational and saying relax, just have fun and don’t crash, and Duncan in the other ear basically saying you came here to race, so go race and win! Well, I made up my mind just before the warmup lap that I was going to try and win the race. Early in the race, I took off on Colin and realized that I could just motor #225 Gary Beck (on a Moriwaki 250) and catch him on the straight eventually without much drama. This worked, and I passed him on the straight at the start of the final lap. Coming up the hill out of 6, I took a peak behind me and thought I saw Gary coming down the hill (actually Colin), so I backed off a bit thinking I had the race on lock. Well, that was stupid, and Gary slid in front of me on the inside going into 11a. I frantically reached for the downshift (I was cruising a gear too high), missed it, and just tucked in WOT behind him coming out of 12. I walked him slowly to the finish but he took the W by a tenth of a second. Fock, but WHAT A RUSH! I came in and saw a best lap of 1:35.5.
Race 7 NOV Formula 3
My first real race, my heart was POUNDING on the grid. I got a mediocre start and had to work to catch the Pumpkin, but I eventually got by and started picking off the first wave riders. I finished the race with nobody in sight in front of me, but had no idea where I stood because of the 1st wave traffic. I came in and found out I had set a new PB of 1:31.7, on a patchy track with 7-year-old rain tires. Pretty cool, and I later discovered that I had won the race!
Race 10 NOV Formula 2
The line was totally dry at this point, but I didn’t think I had time to switch to the DOTs, and figured it wouldn’t be a big deal to toast my ancient rains. Well, toast them I did, and WOW are shagged rains sketchy. This was easily the sketchiest ride of my life, and I slipped and wiggled my way to a 5th place finish, 1:34 best lap. In hindsight, I probably should have dropped the pressures to compensate for heat (I ran them 32/30 cold). Rear rain destroyed, lesson learned.
Down-time
Thank you Adam and Wendy for the awesome BBQ! Adam, you are a beast, by the way. The BBQ was an awesome way to relax and meet more of the community, and I just tried to settle in to the new environment. It is definitely intimidating coming into a big established community like this with only a few friends, and the big BBQ helped put me at ease a bit. Afterwards, I decided to switch the DOTs back on to get a head start for Sunday, and almost panicked when the front wheel started dragging like crazy. Thanks to Dylan for showing me the obvious solution, as I am still somewhat mechanically challenged and probably wouldn’t have figured it out on my own. I spent the rest of Saturday night trying to work up the courage to hit on the tall brunette babe in the pink shirt but eventually gave up and went back to my tent sad and alone. Turns out my pop-up Coleman tent is far less than waterproof, and I slept in soggy blankets on a soaked pillow. Yuck.
I woke up on Sunday, downed some coffee and pulled myself together for the morning practice. I came in feeling pretty good, and Jason showed me a new PB of 1:29.X. This satisfied my final outstanding goal for the season, to drop below 1:30 at Loudon. A far cry from my 1:45 PB at the beginning of the season.
Race 1 NOV Rookie 2
This was a total shit show. I don’t remember much of this race, to be honest, except somebody crashing in a big crowd in my peripheral vision out of 1a (this must have been #824 Stephanie Miskell’s crash), and a whole bunch more crashes in 6 and 10. When the dust settled from all the crashing there was nobody in front of me, although this was because #173 Johnny Murray and #786 had run away at the front. Finished third, lap times dropped steadily during the race for a new PB of 1:27.575.
Race 3 NOV Rookie 3
I hit my stride in this race. At some point during the second or third lap, I caught myself getting really sloppy and mentally slipping. I shook it off and collected myself, then pulled it together and started dropping times. I passed a bunch of AMs from the wave ahead (slower bikes? Not sure what the deal was), then eventually saw #192 Stephen Biehl ahead. I knocked out some great laps to close the gap on 192 and was right on his rear wheel coming into the bowl on the last lap. I tried half-assedly for the pass on every remaining corner and then for the drag race on the straight, but he got me by a few tenths. Awesome, awesome race, even though I’m not sure 192 even knew I was there. This is the guy I look forward to battling next year. I came back in and again saw steadily dropping times during the race finishing with a couple 1:26s and a new PB of 1:26.469.
Race 8 NOV Starter 3
At this point I was super stiff from the long break after race 3. I couldn’t quite pull it together and was only able to manage 1:28s. My tires were also just about cooked. The interesting part of this race was getting lapped by a bunch of the fast AMs from the first wave, led by Sav and Brian. I finished 4th, and at about turn 6 in the cool down lap I noticed AM #551 Harlan Hildebrand ahead of me turned around on his bike and gesturing at the guy behind me. As I pulled up next to him I realized he was actually looking at me, and he flipped open his visor and started shouting and flicking me off and just generally being angry. This continued all the way back to the pits. I went and found him after the race to ask what I had done and apologize, but he was still a bit worked up and didn’t want to talk calmly about it. I apologized a bunch of times and told him it was my rookie weekend and that I wasn’t sure what I had done, but all I could sort of understand was “they told you not to do that in the school” and, I think, “you cut me off on the straight”. He walked away angry and left me standing there confused, and I just dropped it and went back to my garage. I feel a little foolish for having apologized profusely when I still don’t understand what happened, but I didn’t know what else to do. If anyone knows this kid, please ask him for a brief explanation now that he has hopefully chilled out a bit. Not trying to start trouble, just want to understand so I don’t repeat the same mistakes.
In summary, that was probably the most fun I have ever had, seriously, ever! I am exhausted both mentally and physically, but beyond satisfied with the experience. I will obviously be counting down the days until round 1 next year.
I feel lucky to have ever gotten to this point and I owe a huge thanks to a ton of people for this. In no particular order: JC, Chip, and Aria for giving me tips, answering stupid questions, and just generally helping me get through my first few solo track days last year and early this year. Kerry for all your help during the first half of my season. Paul for giving me the confidence to step my game up to the next level and start trying to be “fast”. Gino for some sage words of wisdom, even though we didn’t end up getting track time together. The rest of the TTD crew for being awesome all season and helping me on the track and in the classroom. Jason for helping me get through my rookie weekend with only limited drama, Colin for sharing all of the craziness of a first real track season and rookie race weekend, Smutty for helping me put on brake lines when I had 0 mechanical abilities or access to tools last year before my first TD (seriously dude, I owe you a beer and a bottle of RBF600). Pete, Sav, JC and Brian for being the SV riders I look up to and want to emulate (even if you didn’t know it). The BT1R guys for letting me hang out in their garage most of the weekend (nice to meet all you dudes!). Scott Greenwood for donating a sweet trophy for my novice win this weekend. And last but not least, the whole NESR community for constantly sharing and documenting a vast wealth of riding experience and wisdom, and answering lots and lots of stupid questions. See you all next year!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Petorius
