Willow Springs Motorcycle Club

Round 6 – June 18-19, 2006-06-20

 

Location: Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond, California

Conditions -

Sunny

Temp: 105 degrees F / 41 degrees C

Track Temp: 138 degrees F / 59 degrees C

Wind: Windy 40mph with gusts to 50mph

 

I arrived Saturday morning with my new GSXR1000 and 06 R6 ready to start suspension setup with the GSXR1000. Practice today would consist of me riding the GSXR all day in an attempt to get a good baseline, so that we could get this bike ready to race in the September Toyota 200 (a 200 mile race consisting of 80 laps at this raceway.) We worked on the bikes suspension all day and started getting close to a good baseline, when the right side case cover gasket gave way and the thing started leaking oil in the middle of T8. Luckily it was on the left side of the bike and T8 is a long right hand sweeper. I looked down when my foot peg felt slippery all of a sudden. Pulled in the clutch, down shifted to neutral and stayed off that side of the tire, and got off the racing line immediately. There was oil everywhere in the bellypan. This is why bellypans are mandatory. Luckily, no oil got outside of the bellypan, except for the bit of spray on my boot and a bit on my rear tire.

 

Saturday Solo GTU series 20 lap (50 mile race) – Bike: 2006 R6

I was gridded 8th and got a good start, being 4th going into T1. I ran consistent lap times all race mostly in the 1:29’s, and ended up taking 3rd after a few laps and stayed in that position til the end of the race. There was no one around me, and it was a very lonely 15 laps. The race was red flagged at that time. I was glad, cause I was thirsty and very hot.

 

Sunday:

 

650 SBK race – Grid Position 21st out of 30+ - Bike: 2006 R6

This was a great race as I battled with Dustin Coyner and his Kawi 636 for most of the race. I will let the video link show you how it went vice telling you. I finished the race in 9th position ahead of Dustin.

[url]http://streaming5.vidilife.com/vidilife/video/2006/6/19/759477/820393.wmv[/url]

 

Formula II race – Grid position 8th – Bike: 2006 R6

Only 3 people showed up for this race. I had back to back races, with 600 Superstock right after this one and decided I would just ride easy and conserve my strength and tires. As the video shows, I was in cruise control for the first 2 laps, but when Kevin Murray passed me on his 125GP bike, I decided to drop the hammer and went from doing 1:33’s to 1:29’s. I immediately caught the 125, and then caught up to John Dang on his 2005 GSXR 600. I didn’t want to let him know I was behind him until the last lap, so I just stayed within a bike or two for a couple of laps, letting him lead me around. On the last lap, I took him going over T6, but knew he was right behind me going into T9. I slowed a bit, let him pass on the outside, gave him a little space, got through T9, but with the space I gave him, got a great drive without worrying about slamming into the back of him, and then just outdrove him to the finish line.

The video has a two minute gap of music in the middle, so don’t worry, it’s not your speakers failing:

[url]http://streaming5.vidilife.com/vidilife/video/2006/6/19/759477/819946.wmv[/url]

 

600 Superstock – Grid position 15th – Bike: 2006 R6

Got another great start on this race and passed quite a few bikes heading into T1. Saw Stan Bates in front of me on his 06 R6 and got on his tail. This race was nothing more than a test for myself on whether or not I could do consistent low to mid 1:28 lap times for an entire race, starting from lap 1. I have studied Stan Bates and new this is what he does, so if I wanted any chance to beat him, I would have to do the same. Well, I did exactly what I set out to do. First lap was a 1:28.561, then a 1:28.829, then a 1:28.532, a 1:28.260 and finally a 1:28.639. I was on Stan’s tail, the entire race. His motor was stronger than mine (somehow?) and I couldn’t draft passed him even when I had better drives out of T6 and T9. We have the same exact setup with everything except the engines. Mine is stock. (In the video, you can actually hear and watch us shift at the exact same time going down the front straight.) This was my toughest and best race I have ever been in and was proud to finish 7th.

[url]http://streaming5.vidilife.com/vidilife/video/2006/6/19/759477/819830.wmv[/url]

 

Til next month amigos. Ciao.