AM #212 Round 4 Report - First Podiums

Round 4:
This was my second round in the Amateur ranks, and I learned quickly in the first round, that it’s not all about speed and time. Passing and racecraft are key to getting and staying up front. My goals going into the weekend were to get good, aggressive starts, and to hit 21s.

I did a lot of work to the bike between rounds. Specifically, I finally put a full exhaust on my SV and had the pleasure of working with John at Dyno Solutions who tuned my beast to perfection. I also put some EBC EPFA brake pads on (many thanks to Michael Weyant and Gregg Spears for making that happen). Because of these changes I decided to do practice on Friday. By the end of practice, I was running consistent 1:23s, which wasn’t great, but I was feeling good on the bike so I was happy enough.

In the second Saturday practice I was running 22s and hit a new PB of 1:22.218. I was really happy at that point and had great confidence that I’d grab my 21 this round.

GTL:
I started this race off strong, sliding into 5th off the start behind Aaron Wolfe (115). I’m about a second faster than Aaron, but I’m not great at passing yet and he’s really consistent. I showed him a wheel a few times, but he never swayed. I think we passed the super smooth Brady Ward (122) during the first couple laps, but on the 5th lap, I tried to get around Aaron coming out of 12 and got a bit greedy with the throttle. The ass came right around and I was on the ground. Thanks to Jake Vader and Bill Morey for not running me over. I owe you. I was chasing Heath, who was running my bike back to hot pit, and finally got to the bike. I was hoping to join the re-start, but the bike wouldn’t shift. My teammate and pal Adam Butler was first on scene and helped me arrive at the reality that the bike wasn’t safe to ride. Bummed. I know I could have passed Aaron elsewhere and I just crashed myself out of fourth.

LWGP:
Got the shifting worked out for my second race. I took it a bit easy here, starting in 2C, I got another great start and went into 1 behind speed demon Billy Cool (447) and Jane Kennedy (900) but was soon passed by Brett Larson (226) and Shane Lewis (276). Those guys both have much more racing skill than myself and made it look easy. I stayed in 5th with a best lap of 122.911. Not thrilled, but pretty happy considering the GTL incident.

Sunday Practice:
I rattled off a couple 22s and was feeling good.

LWSB:
My brother and his family came to watch on Sunday, which was a real blast. None of them had seen the races before so I was hoping to give them a good show. I got another good start and heading into T1 right behind Brett in second place. Jane Kennedy flew by us both and left us fighting for 2nd. I knew Brett had hurt his ankle in a GTL crash, and thought that might slow him down enough for me to make a pass, but he was really consistent and speedy. I was able to show him a wheel a few times, and thought about a couple moves…but considering that we both crashed the day before, I decided to take it relatively easy and be happy with my first podium. At the same time, fast guy Shane Lewis was nipping at my heels. I heard his exhaust creeping up on me from time to time, but he never showed a wheel. A really great race in a tight pack and I ended up in 3rd. My first AM podium! That was a season-long goal of mine. Best lap of that race was a 1:22.660.

LWSS:
Gridded in 2B. Excellent start, but Aaron was not letting me get by with a great start himself. I went into T1 in fourth behind Billy Cool, Aaron, and Shane. Bill and Shane took off while I was duking it out with Aaron. I was a bit hesitant to make a pass attempt considering the fact that I crashed out last time I made an attempt. But, thanks to some skills passed down to me from Billy Cool (thanks for the time in the practice session Bill!) I was able to stick a pass on Aaron on the inside of the chute into 1 on the beginning of the 7th lap. That put me in third. Now comes the fun, I was so focused on passing Aaron, I forgot to downshift. So, I’m tall one gear going through 1 and 2. I get out on the straight after 2 and am bogging a bit. I decided to hold it instead of letting off the gas and downshifting and hear Aaron getting closer and closer. There was a Novice going into the 3 chute, so I worked my best to time things so I could get around him but Aaron couldn’t. Sure enough, I passed the NV right before he tipped in to 3 and Aaron was stuck. Plus, there was a waving yellow flag in the bowl, so that was another block…allowing me to regain my composure. At that point I knew I was in good shape because over the weekend I was a good deal faster than Aaron through 9 and 11. I pulled away a bit and took 3rd. Funny thing, little did I know, but I passed Mike Kurtz (816) in T2 on the first lap after he passed me going into 1A (I think). I didn’t think much of it at the time, but turns out he was gaining on me and Aaron throughout the race. He ended up running out of gas on the last lap though, and was just unable to finish. Bummer considering the times he was running. So, yeah, 3rd with a new PB of 122:132. The last two laps, when I got in front of Aaron, were a 122.5 and a 122.1, a couple more laps and I’m SURE I would have met my 21 goal…but no can do. It’ll have to wait for Round 5!

Lots of people to thank this time around. Thanks to Michael Weyant for throwing on my race tires during the Friday practice despite the fact that he had 1000 other things to do to his OWN bike. Also, thanks to Michael for getting me in touch with the right people to get the EBC EPFA pads. That brings me to Gregg Spears, who ultimately got me the pads and gave some good install and maintenance advice. With those pads, I was able to push every brake marker back significantly throughout the weekend. The feel was incredible and I was dancing the rear to tip in at 3 every lap without fear. Great pads. I’m still OVER braking compared to last round, and I once I fix that I should lose another second no problem.

Thanks to Dainese for a kick ass suit that I could crash in and race in an hour later.

Also thanks to Woodcraft for making rearsets with easily replaceable parts, ten minutes in the garage and I was ready for my next race.

Thanks again to John at Dyno Solutions for the great tune. The bike felt completely different after that session with John. On/off was wayyy smoother, and it pulled like a trucker. I gained about 4 mph at the end of the straight as a result.

Thanks to my family for making the trek, and Marco D for the great photos. Check out his album here. Here is a great shot:

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Capture-1.jpg

Also thanks to my teammates David, Jay and Adam for help and encouragement in the pits. Finally, can’t forget all the fun with the RSP and ECK boys. It’s really the people that make this sport so damn addicting. Mad Monkey for some money and data, and Tony's Track Days for all the instruction and support along the way.

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone too, I got all sorts of good help this round.

Summary:
GTL: Crashed out
LWGP: 5th
LWSB: 3rd
LWSS: 3rd
New PB of 122.132

Great report Lou, I had fun racing with you. Stop getting fast so quick ;-)

Great to meet you Lou and no more running man off turn 12 LOL!

Podiums are awesome stuff!

Yeahhhhhhh Lou. Can't wait to do it again. I'm kind of embarrassed that I had no idea that was your brother in the garage, probably should have just introduced myself, haha.

Congrats on the podiums. They do feel great. I'm sure you'll hit 20's by the end of the season.

Way to go Lou! I am glad that your crash didnt slow you down any, in fact you got FASTER afterwards. Something to remember when you are a bit shaken if it happens again ;)

Grats on the PB and the first AM podium! Lots more of both in the future I am sure.

Thanks guys!

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Originally Posted by darkduc7

Great report Lou, I had fun racing with you. Stop getting fast so quick ;-)

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Same here Brett! Hopefully you can tow me to the 21s next round :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yknot

Great to meet you Lou and no more running man off turn 12 LOL!

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Yeah, thanks for not running me over Bill! At least I remembered not to move...should have still been on the ground though. I was thinking about getting my bike back to ride. Bad judgement.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JettaJayGLS

Yeahhhhhhh Lou. Can't wait to do it again. I'm kind of embarrassed that I had no idea that was your brother in the garage, probably should have just introduced myself, haha.

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That was MY fault. I was so focused on making sure they had what they needed and prepping for my races that I neglected to do a proper intro.

Rocking it Mr. http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...AMluNGU4-fw5VA

Another one of my kick ass garage mates. Surrounded by awesome!!!!

Lou, Way to rock on like a Mad Monkey!!!!!!

The top step is next no doubt

Awesome!!!!!