Pirate Motorsports Racing

As many of you know, I have been deployed to Cuba and away from racing for the last 4 months. Actually, I haven't gone any faster than 30 miles per hour since landing on that gawd-for-saken island. But I took a week and a half of leave, went to Vegas for some fun and then hit the race track for a different kind of fun.

I arrived Friday morning to find that the weather gods were being very generous. Temps were in the 70's and it was sunny. Felt great in the high desert of California! Now for the lowdown... I haven't been on a bike in 4 months and the bike I am about to get on is a 2006 GSXR1000 with a stock engine, but we have full-on AMA spec suspension. Without getting into details, let's just say, the brakes, forks, swingarm, rims and a host of other things really, really make the bike feel like my 2006 R6! The bike handles like a 600 in every way and was on rails. Without the hp, this is very similar to what Mladin and Spies race, and I'll never go back to racing on 17 inch rims again! 16.5 inchers are absolutely amazing, especially with Dunlop medium compound slicks. I had to keep raising the rear-sets, til there was no room left to raise them, and we still need to bring them up another half inch! Now I truely understand how MotoGP and WSBK/AMA guys get such serious lean angle!

Okay, so on to it. Friday and Saturday was practice and I needed to get up to speed. The bike handled like a dream, but the stock windscreen was a joke, much like the 06 R6 and my foot pegs had no grip, plus they were too low and my entire foot was dragging in every corner, regardless of where I stuck it on the peg. We tried to make the footpegs grippier, didn't help much and we moved them up as far as we could. I was still dragging bits, but it was better. There was very little wind on Friday or Saturday, so the windscreen wasn't to big of a deal, but at 160 mph, it still makes the neck sore fighting the wind.

I was going slower than my R6 times on Friday by a couple of seconds in practice. I knew I needed time to adjust, but it seemed like I was stuck at 1:30 seconds all day long. My best time on the 06 R6 was a 1:27.2 and I only did that once. Most of my times were in the mid 27's. So I was about 3 seconds slower, but I was dealing with a lot of traffic too. On Saturday, we managed to get into the 1:28's a few times so we were making progress.

RACE DAY:

I now had 80 laps on the 2006 GSXR1000 and felt pretty good on the bike, but wouldn't you know it, Sunday showed cloudy weather and wind! The windscreen, or lack there of, was going to hurt!

I went out for my first race which was Open Superbike. We had a quite a few AMA privateer regulars in the crowd up front. I was gridded 14th out of 17 I think. I didn't have any points from the start of the season, and I was glad to be in the back. This was my first race on this bike and I was worried about my lap times, plus, I hadn't even done a practice start! Well, I got a great start, amazingly, and went into T1 about where I started, around 14th. Even though I have been racing for a while now, I was really nervous and it took me about 4 laps to settle down. I ended up battling with a couple of guys at the back of the pack and managed to get into the mid 1:27's on the last lap. I was actually hitting my rythem right then, but due to it being winter, the sprint races are only 6 laps. I finished 10th overall. Not too shabby for my first time out.

Next race was essentially an AMA race without the Factory pro's. This is the marquee event called the Toyota Formula 1 race. If you recognize names like Jeremy Toye, Jeff Tigert, Jason Perez, Jason Curtis, Robbie Dowie and Jack Pfeiffer, then you know what I am referring to.  I was gridded 14th again out of 16. I managed to get a pretty good start, and there was someone at the front that got a horrible start and it looked like bikes and racers were running into each other. Turns out that Jeff Tigert on pole position did a rolling burn-out and everyone trying to get by ran into other people. Luckily, no one went down, but I got to T1 in 9th I believe. Well, it wasn't to long into it when I started getting passed by guys. I saw 4 people go by me, but I put my head down and just tried to do good quality laps and get into a rythem. This was a 12 lap race after all. By lap 9, two of the guys that had passed me looked like they were getting tired and I started to close pretty quickly on them. They had me by about 3 seconds at that point, but my lap times were consistent from lap 5 on. I was with in 3 tenths of a second of the previous lap time each and every lap, averaging 1:27.5 per lap. Same as on my 06 R6. On the last lap, I was within about half a second of on of the guys that had passed me earlier and so I put my head down and went for it. Funny thing was, on that last lap, I found a new line coming over the crest of T6 that really helped and I ended up passing the guy and setting a new personal best lap time of 1:26.7! I ended up 13th in the race, but I learned a lot.

Last race was Open Modified Production. I now had some race experience under my belt with the big GSXR and had figured out a new line through turn 6 and knew I could do much better with the lap times. I felt fairly comfortable with the bike, but it didn't help not having a windscreen worth a crap in the 30mph cross wind! It was hell on my neck. Anyway, I was gridded 11th out of 12 guys (again, I had no points from the start of the season in Jan) and got another good start and was up to 7th by T1. I was immediately into the low to mid 27's and stayed there til lap 5 when I got into the mid 26's, doing back to back mid 26's to finish off the race and finishing 6th overall. That was by far the best I felt on the bike the entire weekend and was doing the same pace as the guy that finished 3rd, so a top 3 is very, very doable!

I had a great weekend and once we fix the windscreen and rear-sets on the bike, we should be going even faster and hopefully giving the AMA guys a bit of a run. I need to shave another 4 seconds a lap off! We shall see what happens once I get back from deployment and not off a bike for 4 months! Seat time is critical.

Results here: http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=28199 (Scroll down to Tigershark Open Modified Production to see my name):

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 8^th and got a good start, being 4^th going into T1. I ran consistent lap times all race mostly in the 1:29’s, and ended up taking 3^rd 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 21^st 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 9^th position ahead of Dustin.

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

 

Formula II race – Grid position 8^th – 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 15^th – 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 7^th.

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

 

Til next month amigos. Ciao.

Track: Willow Springs raceway
Date: April 15-16, 2006
Tires: Michelin PRC front, PR4 rear
Weather: 58 degrees F, partly cloudy, very windy

This was the start of the Solo series, which is a 20 lap/30 minute race on Saturday afternoon. I got to the track and went out for some practice sessions before the race since I installed a new map in the power commander and wanted to see if there was any noticable difference, which there wasn't, so reverted back to my custom map. Also installed an Acumen digital gear indicator and DP8 rev light system. Both worked great.

So I put some new tires on the bike and get ready for the 20 lap race. I'm gridded 5th out of 17, but know there is no way I'm gonna stay in that position. To many of the pro's are in this race, using it as practice for the September Toyota 200 race. This is also practice for me, so I'm not worried about where I finish. This is just mini-endurance racing, nothing more. We are also the second wave, with the litre bikes in GTO going first. I'm sure I'll be lapped by the top 3 runners of that class within the 20 laps.

So the green flag goes down and we are off. As predicted the new racers to this take off like a shot and I go from 5th to probably 15th by turn 1. I'm not worried though. These guys will burn themselves out by lap 10. So I just sit back and do consistent lap times. Once I got settled into a rythem, the lap times dropped and then stayed within 1 second of each other all the way to the end, while I caught and passed people. A few more laps and I would have caught more people. It was a pretty boring race and only got lapped by the top 3 guys on litre bikes. Ended up 11th out of 17.

[img]http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/8605/sologturace3jh.jpg[/img]

Sunday:

My first race of the day was 650 Superbike. I had no points for the season going into this race so I was on the second to last row, gridded 29th out of 34 racers. I got a good start and was able to pass a few people before getting to the first turn, which ended up being about 4 racers wide. Since I started on the outside, I had a lot of guys trying to cram to the inside of me. I didn't take any chances and got through unscathed. I managed to power past a couple more people before T2 and then settled into the freight train of bikes in front of me. This was an 8 lap race, so I settled into a good rythem and concentrated on the bikes in front of me. It was a slow progression trying to catch up to those that were only going a couple of tenths of a second slower than me per lap, so I only managed to pass a few more people by the end of the race. No dicing going on, no battles, just a clean methodical race. I finished 19th, but was gaining on a few people, just needed a few more laps, and less wind. It's tough racing when you have 40mph cross winds.

The second race of the day was 600 Superstock. This race would be one to remember. Again, I only had 2 points going into this race so I started 25th out of 30+ racers, but got a better start, since I was on the inside lane for this race. Much better for getting to turn 1. So the green flag dropped and I launched it to get as many positions as possible and set up for turn 1 without having 10 racers trying to get to the inside of me. I stuck it through turn 1 and then once again got into the freight train of racers in front of me. It looked like there was 20 or so people in front, so immediately got into a good rythem. Started clicking off other racers, passing to the inside and the outside. I was really pushing myself in this race. I caught up to a guy named Matt riding a CBR600RR and flew by him on the front straight. I guess he wasn't gonna have any of that cause he came around the outside of T2 on me (a long right hand sweeper.) He was faster than me in that section, but I was faster than him through T3-T6 and retook him after we crested the hill of T6. He then came back around the outside of my going into T9, again he was faster than me in that section, but I wasn't worried, cause I knew I had more power than he did, so I flew by him down the front straight. Unbeknownst to me was that the wind had picked up to around 50mph and was coming from the south. The front straight goes from east to west. I passed him to the right of his bike and as soon as I came out from the "shadow" of his bike, my front end had a huge shake as the wind caught it! Lesson learned: Do not pass on the right side of the bikes for the rest of this race when going down the front straight.

So I passed Matt and his CBR going into T1 and of course he got me back in T2, I pass him again in T6 and he passes me back in T9, only to have me go by him down the front straight. We did this for several laps. What I didn't know was while we were playing around and passing other races, a Kawasaki was right behind us watching the whole thing, he just couldn't catch us. Then on lap 5 I caught up to a familiar name who was going extremely slow for some reason. I attempted to pass him on the inside of T4b, a slow tight right hander that goes down hill and while at full lean, I gave my bike just a bit to much gas and the rear tire spun out from underneath me, cause a low slide with me sliding on my butt down the hill. I saw sparks from my titanium exhaust cannister and the bike spinning around and around like a top. Luckily, it only did minor damage to one side. Those frame sliders helped! The a$$ end of my leathers were gone. But as I slid down the hill, Matt who was right behind me checked up just enough not to run over me as I was sliding and went to the right, while the Kawasaki rider went to my right and missed me also. Luckily, neither guy hit me or my bike.

So that was it for the day for me. I could have fixed the bike up and raced in 600 Mod Prod, but after i crash my mind wouldn't be right, so I packed up. I ended up 14th in the race and got scored since a red flag was thrown with my bike laying on track. Lucky for me, so I got the points.

Til next month amigos. :>)

Track: Willow Springs raceway
Date: March 19, 2006
Tires: Michelin PRC front, PR4 rear
Weather: 58 degrees F, partly cloudy, windy

Saturday: I spent the morning getting the 06 R6 ready by doing a dyno run and taking off the stock tires and mounting up the Michelins, finished safety wiring the bike and mounting the bodywork. I was expecting my Aprilia RS250 to arrive that morning, from the previous months mechanical I had at Fontana (destroyed the transmission) but the bike didn't show until 2:30pm. So, after lunch I took the new 06 R6 out for it's first flogging since buying it at the end of Jan.
I had just gotten my forks back from GP Suspension out of Oregon and put a Lindemann Engineered Ultimate shock with titanium spring on the bike, so the suspension had to get set up, and I decided to put the new Michelin PRC tire on the front with a PR4 rear tire. I went out for my first session on the R6 and took it easy to get used to the stock slipper clutch, see how the suspension felt, how the tires would react and in general learn the bike. First session showed my at a lap time of 1:39. Slow time, but I knew the suspension needed adjusting
both up front and in the shock. Dave Moss of Catalyst Suspension, did some fine tuning and I went out in the next practice session.
This time I produced a lap time of 1:36, and the front end felt really solid, but the back end was still a bit off. When I pulled in we could see that the PR4 rear tire had a lot of cold tearing. So Dave adjusted the low compression and rebound and I went out for the final practice session of the day for the middleweight class and dropped my lap times into the 1:32's. The bike felt really good, but the rear end was still a little off. Dave did some minor clicks on the shock and I would test them out in the morning. I had finally gotten my Aprilia back and quickly took it to tech,  but forgot to put air in the tires (these tires hadn't been used since the beginning of Feb and in the first turn I about crashed. I only had 10psi of air in them! Stupid mistake. I got off the track and brought the bike back to the pits. I decided to put my other set of tires on, but since it was the end of the day, I would have to wait til Sunday to test the Priler out.

Sunday comes and I take the Priler out with correct pressure in the tires and she feels great. My mechanic did a great job putting it back together.
I took the R6 out in the next session and it felt equally as good and very planted. The rear tire looked pretty shagged and decided to flip it for the races.

Race 1: 2 stroke production on the Aprilia RS250. Uneventful race. After the first lap I was in 4th all by myself and finished the race there. Best time was slower by nearly 2 seconds from Jan! I don't know what my problem is on this bike?

Race 2: 600 Superstock: Since I have no points in this class and everyone else does, I start all the way in the back with all the new racers. I'm gridded 34th out of 40. I found out that there is a trick to starting a bike with a computer controlled throttle. Since the computer tells the butterfly valves how far to open and when, it is better to keep blipping the throttle, revving the bike on the line and then letting the clutch out quickly, but smoothly when the green flag drops. If you just hold the throttle wide open, you are gonna lose a lot of spots. Needless to say, I gained about 8 spots right off the bat. Got through turn 1 cleanly, although pushed wide and then set out to pass as many people as I could in 6 laps.
With the quickshifter on this bike, I could hold the throttle wide open down the straight without letting off to shift. This allowed me to pass people with relative ease on the two straights that make up Willow Springs. I battled my way up to 20th spot by the time the checkered flag dropped.
So I gained 14 spots in 6 laps, but my lap times were quicker than quite a few guys in front of me, so next month should be better.

Race 3: 600 Mod Prod. Started 29th on the grid and this was a repeat of the first race. I finished 15th and had a best lap time of 1:30.6, which is almost equal to my best lap time ever on my 03 R6 and I had lots of time on that bike. So here I am on a new bike that I had never ridden, and hadn't raced a 600 in 10 months and within 2 days, I was doing the same times as the previous generation R6. That's how good this bike is! And I dropped 9 seconds from Saturday to Sunday.

I had a great time learning the R6, even though the race results had me way down in the standings, I know I will get a lot faster on this bike!
Can't wait for next month!

Location: Willow Springs Int’l Raceway

Bikes Raced: FZR400, Aprilia RS250 and Yamaha TZ250

Tires Used: Pirelli Dragon Slicks (Med front and rear), Pirelli Supercorsa Pro’s SC1 compound and Bridgestone BT-090

Weather: 55-75 degrees F with intermittent rain

 

I arrived on Friday with no intentions of doing any practice, just setting up my bikes for the race weekend. I’m still healing a broken scapula and rib so the less I was on the bike, the better. This weekend was simply to get points to maintain my current standings in the Top Rookie to Expert program and overall expert points in WSMC, as well as earning some money by racing in the 3^rd Annual 250/50 GP race on Sunday.

 

Saturday:

Saturday was 250/50 qualifying on the Yamaha TZ250 GP bike at the beginning of the day. I was placed in B group as I didn’t have any timed practice events from Friday and this was fine with me. I didn’t have any time riding any bikes since my crash last month and had no idea how my scapula would feel at high speed and in tight turns. I went out for my 15 minute qualifying and found that I could use my right leg and left arm to get me through the left hand turns pretty well. I only did 5 laps and came in to find me doing a 1:32.588 for fastest lap. Not to bad for being in the shape I was in. I couldn’t afford to stay out any longer, cause I was in the first race of the day, so had to jump off the TZ250 and get onto my FZR400. I found that I had to lift my right arm up onto the clip-ons cause I had no strength left, but twisting the throttle wasn’t a problem, so out I went for my race. I was gridded 4^th, right next to my good friend Ryan Sturz, who keeps drafting me to the line to take 2^nd and 3^rd spots away from me, but had no illusions that a battle would be in store this day. I just wanted to go out and get a few points and come back in one piece. Well, the green flag drops and I get a horrible start. I think 10 bikes passed me going into T1. Then the adrenaline kicked in, the arm pain went away and found that my right leg was good enough to stabilize me in the left hand turns. I picked my way through the field and by the end of the first lap I was back in 4^th and right behind Ryan. I matched his lap times and found him slowing in the tight sections, so on lap 3 I passed him and didn’t look back. I kept my head down and took the turns. By lap 6, I think the adrenaline fix I gave myself was wearing off and I was having trouble in turns 3 and 5. I still didn’t see Ryan, so I was hoping I had lost him. Well, coming out of the last corner on the last lap as I’m going down the front straight to the checkered flag, I see Ryan in the corner of my eye and he managed to get a tire in front of mine at the line. That’s 2 months in a row he’s done that to me!

 

I now had 1 race to rest before my next one riding the Aprilia RS250. I got off my FZR in the pits and could not move my right arm. From the elbow down I was fine, but the shoulder was dead. I get the call for the 550 superbike race and plop on the Priler. I use my left arm to lift my right arm onto the clip-on. I’m gridded 7^th, and notice that this month there are a lot of SV650’s on the grid that normally aren’t there. Crap, this was a mistake. Should have skipped this race, but after having crashed on this bike last month and getting it completely rebuilt with new parts, I wanted to see how it would run. Green flag drops and prior to entering T1, four SV650’s come flying past me. They are off and I’m racing my own race. I ended up passing 1 or 2 people, but that was the end of it. I finished a lonely 8^th place. I didn’t push it too hard and went relatively slow compared to last month, but the bike felt great which was a good feeling.

 

Last race of the day was 500 Mod Prod back on the FZR400. I’ve now had a few hours to rest and the arm isn’t as dead. I have movement again. Get out to my 4^th position on the grid again next to Ryan Sturz and this time, I get an aweful start. I had bad starts all day long. Again, Ryan and the 2 leaders take off and I’m left picking my way through the field. By lap two I had Ryan in my sights (about 20 bike lengths behind him) but couldn’t close. I maintained this for a couple laps, then started to close on him. When the white flag came out to signify the last lap, I was really closing. By the time we got to the last turn on the last lap I was within 3 bike lengths, but couldn’t get close enough to draft him to the line, so settled for another 4^th.

 

No podiums this month, but was happy to get away with some good points considering my shoulder was in the shape it was.

 

Sunday:

This is pay day. First real race with national level riders like Rich Oliver. The place was packed. We had 42 250GP bikes qualify for the event, and I was gridded 22^nd. I had a night to recover and my arm felt okay, but this would be a 20 lap race, not the usual 8 lap sprint. I had done 4 of these 20 lappers this year, so knew what to expect and knew how much fuel to add to the bike (to the last drop!) The novice races were in the morning and the weather looked ominous. Once the novice races ended, the rain started coming down. It was only a spitting rain and luckily, no water formed on track. Everyone that I saw were on slicks, and it didn’t appear that anyone was changing their tires, so I stayed with the slicks I had on as well. Went out for the warm up lap and felt pretty good. The bike was running great and I lined up in spot 22. When the green flag dropped, I got another horrible start and entered T1 with about 7 other bikes. Got pushed a little wide, but got a good drive and made up a few spots I had lost. Entered T2 and settled into a rythem. By lap 3 I had Andy Edwards and Mike Lytle showing me their tires and both eventually got by me, but I was determined to hang with them. We were all doing about the same pace and pretty much stayed together. I repassed Mike Lytle on what seemed like lap 8, but he got back by me down the front straight the following lap. It seemed as though he had a bit more power than me. I was able to close back up onto both Andy and Mike in the twisty sections, only to have them both out power me on the straights. This continued until we started hitting back markers after lap 10. I got stuck behind 2 Aprilia’s entering the Omega twisty section and that gave both Andy and Mike about a 2 second lead on me. I was able to close about half that distance before getting stuck again in the twisty section by another Aprilia and an older TZ 2 laps later, once again giving both Andy and Mike another couple of seconds. By lap 15, fatigue was setting in and there was no one behind me to worry about, so settled for whatever position I was in. I later found out that I was 21^st out of 42. I wanted to finish in the teens, but I wasn’t gonna bin the bike and risk hurting myself further. The rain came down twice during the race, but it was only a sprinkle and when I started feeling the front push, I didn’t want to risk anything further. Rich Oliver lapped my for the second time just as I was crossing the finish line, so I followed him around on his victory lap. Guy pulled a wheelie going down the T6 area. Bloody amazing! But then again, the guy is a national champion, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. I only got lapped by the top 3 guys and considering I was going slow, especially in the final laps, I can’t complain. Got a nice trophy and $200 for my efforts.

 

All in all, a good weekend and will be back stronger and healthier next month!

Race Report from Willow Springs Int'l Raceway
September 16-18, 2005
Bikes Raced: 1998 Yamaha TZ250, 1998 Aprilia RS250 and 1990 Yamaha FZR400
Tires used: Pirelli Dragon Slicks and Supercorsa Pro's and Bridgestone BT-090
Weather: 88 degree F and Sunny

This won't be long, as I crashed my last race of the day (6th for the weekend) and broke a rib and my right little pinky.

Saturday had the Solo 20 (50 miler) and finished in 3rd n my TZ250 and 4th overall in the Solo series championship. Raced all by myself the entire race. I also had just gotten my Aprilia back after getting Race Tech to set up the front suspension with a complete rebuild and bought an Ohlins rear shock. Dave from Catalyst Racing Suspensions helped me out in practice during the day on Saturday and boy did we get the bike set up to perfect. I took 6 seconds a lap off my times from last month with the stock suspension and the bike felt incredible. Dave is a genious when it comes to setting up a bike. I will be racing this bike and the new 06 R6 next year, so it was important to get this bike sorted.

Sunday:

500 Modified Production: 3rd on the FZ400. Was getting ready to take over 2nd when a red flag was thrown, so lost 2nd place to Ryan Sturz. Ryan is a great rider and looks to be taking 3rd overall in the Mod Prod and Superstock championship. Barring an engine failure, he has enough points to beat me in both classes. Congrats to him.

500 Superstock: 3rd on the FZR400. I had led Ryan Sturz for the final 5 laps of the race and he drafted me on the straight down to the checkered flag and won by less than 1/100th of a second. I thought I had this race in the bag and he just stayed in my draft.

550 Superbike: 2nd on the Prila 250. Was catching the leader, but ran out of laps. Tough to start from the last row and win. But boy was the Aprilia feeling great and can't wait to race this bike again. Amazing feeling.

250 GP: 9th on the TZ250. Was supposed to start on row 3, but since I had back to back races with 550SBK, I forgot to put fuel in the tank. Had to go back to the pit and throw enough fuel in to the tank to last 8 laps. Made it back out to the grid in time but started DFL or 31st grid spot. I ended up racing Jesus and Nicky "Muffs" Johnson for most of the race and managed to beat both of them. 

2 Stroke Production: Started from the back of the grid again on the Prila 250, since this was only the second time racing in this class, and made it from 13th to 4th by T9 when I crashed. Ran wide into the turn. Did minor damage to the Aprilia and I just broke a rib and have bruising, and looks like I broke my left pinky again. Will be back out next month for more podiums.

Other than the crash, this was a great race weekend. Ended up with 4 trophies out of 6 races. Looking forward to finishing off strong for the remainder of the season.

Race Report from Willow Springs Int'l Raceway
August 19-21, 2005
Bikes Raced: 1998 Yamaha TZ250, 1998 Aprilia RS250 and 1990 Yamaha FZR400
Tires used: Pirelli Dragon Slicks and Supercorsa Pro's and Bridgestone BT-090
Weather: 100 degree F and Sunny

Got there Friday to be a pit *** for my garage partner Shandra Crawford. She went out and practiced most of the day on Friday on her FZR400 and brand new 2005 SV650. I pretty much just helped her out all day and enjoyed not having to do anything race related for myself.

Saturday was practice all day, followed by the Solo GT-GP race at 5:15pm. My FZR had experienced "issues" when I attempted to change the rear sprocket from a 43 tooth to 41 tooth, in the form of a snapped off chain adjuster bolt on the left side. I took the bike over to Kelly Baker to have him drill out the bolt, but apparently it goes into the swingarm "a long way" and Kelly snapped off two long drill bits attempting to clear the whole thing out. After cussing me out (apparently, the $100 bill and 6 pack of Guiness was't enough) we decided to reverse the chain adjuster bolt. Eventually, the situation was resolved and I was able to get out and practice on the FZR Saturday. Of course, I also had another bike coming and would be riding it for the first time at Willow and only the second time ever, and that was the 1998 Prila 250. I was looking forward to getting this bike out and racing it, as it's been sitting in my garage pretty much for a year now. Kevin Murray got it running perfectly. So, Saturday became a test day. Luckily I had Dave Moss there from Catalyst Suspension's to help out the Prila. He was able to get it "mostly" sorted, considering it's all stock suspension and I called it a day at around 3pm, in order to get the TZ ready for the 50 mile race I had coming up.

Solo GT-GP, Saturday 5:15pm:
I am not gonna write anything up on this race, cause it was probably the most boring one I have raced so far. I was slow this month, and after looking behind me after about the 11th lap and seeing no one behind me and knowing I wasn't going to catch the 3 in front of me, I just settled into cruise control. No use in over working myself, cause I had 5 races the next day to get ready for and I had to use the same slicks for an 8 lapper the next day, so I started slowing down, occassionally checking to see if anyone was behind me. I ended up lapping a couple of people from the 2nd wave of racers in GT-Lights and that was the extent of my racing. I finished 4th.

I end up going to a hotel on Saturday night and sleeping in what must have been a brick of a mattress. To say that the bed was hard would be an understatement. I woke up with a sore back, took some Motrin, had a smoke and a coffee and got ready for the real racing to begin. Lucky for me I had a pit crew both Saturday and Sunday. James (NomadRip) and Sean (Freakshow) from the SoCalSportbikes board ended up helping me tremendously throughout the weekend. Changing tires, safety wiring, and gasing up the bikes made a huge difference. I only had to provide them with Monster energy drinks and my pit bike for fun.

Race 3 - 500 Mod Prod: I'm gridded 5th and feeling really good about my new gearing. As the green flag dropped, I got a great start and was immediately with the top 5. JC Gibbs, Clinton Whitehouse, Ryan Sturz and Robert Gosney. As usual JC and Clinton took off doing 3 seconds a lap faster than Ryan, Robert and myself but we ended up battling for 3rd. Ryan got a nice little lead off Robert and Robert had a lead on me. We were all roughly 1 second from one another, but I was putting down the same lap times lap after lap (except for 1 lap I was within .5 seconds from my fastest to my slowest lap). This allowed me to continually gain on both Robert and Ryan. With 2 laps to go, I caught Robert and Ryan and for the next two laps we were knocking it out with one another for that last podium spot. Who was gonna outbrake whom, who had more speed on the straights, and who could hold a better line in the turns... well, with 2 turns left to go, I was leading both of them, but then saw Ryan's front tire taking the inside line into T8 (we were doing about 130mph on the FZR's at this point) and instead of punting him into the dirt to take the line, I let him have the inside track. It was my mistake. I should have taken that line and defended the inside, so bad on me and good on Ryan. I tried to get into his draft through the turn and into 9, but in order to let him by me, I had to stand the bike up a little which caused me to slow to much. Ryan got the 3rd place trophy by about .3 to .4 seconds. So I took home 4th.

Race 6 was 500 Superstock: Again on the FZR400 and with now a completely shagged rear tire I go out and line up 4th on the grid. I get a good start, but notice almost immediately into T2 that my rear tire isn't feeling right. I must have shagged it too hard in the first race. Maybe the warmers heated them too much, or whatever, but the right side of the rear tire feels like ***. Meanwhile, both Ryan and Robert have just sped away and there nothing I can do about it. I nearly highsided my FZR twice in 4b and on the 2nd one, I called it quits. Better to finish the race in 5th (I had a huge gap to 6th place) than to bin the bike. It was a lonely ride on this one. So I took home 5th.

Race 8 was 550 Superbike: Okay, this was my real test session for the Aprilia. I had the 2 stroke production race coming up later in the afternoon, so I was using this race to work some more of the bugs out. Okay, lesson #1. Stock suspension on the Prila sucks ass. The rear Sachs shock is junk and the stock fork internals are useless. I had worked out a lot of the problems on Saturday, but Sunday at race pace, I noticed that the entire rear end would wiggle around on me in the high speed turns and the front felt like it was bottoming out on the brakes. (I wasn't bottoming out, but it felt like it even with compression at max) So I basically went around the track at about 5-8 seconds a lap slower than I should have been able to do with this bike. I have to get my forks done and shock replaced for this bike to be competitive. I plan to race only this bike and my R6 next year, so I'll be puttting some money into the Prila. Anyway, I finished a lonely 8th, but got the rear sorted a bit more.

Race 11 was 250GP: Okay, I have only 2 races in the books on this bike in the expert class, and yes, I got beat by a girl on a 125. I finished 8th. I actually was battling with 2 girls on 125 and beat one of them. Maybe it was the fact that I already had 20 laps on these slicks from the previous days 50 mile race and maybe I was tired, and this was their first race of the day on fresh tires, or maybe I take the turns a lot slower, or maybe I'm just full of ***. Nicky "Muffs" Johnson beat me.

Race 16 was 2 Stroke Production: Back on to the Prila and it was time to race in what used to be called the Aprilia Cup Challenge series. I was gridded dead friggin last 11th and had no idea how the bike was gonna handle after adding more compression to the rear shock. Got a great start ending up 5th into T1. The top 4 guys just left me, as predicted and after the first lap took a quick look back and saw no one behind me. WTF??? There should be 6 guys back there. I found out later, that I was doing 1:37's or 3-4 seconds a lap quicker than the 550SBK race, so either the suspension was working better or I had gotten used to the rear wiggling all over the place or a combination. Either way, I was going faster. Well, on lap 6 I looked back and noticed David #329 had caught up to me and he passed me on the outside of T2. There was no way I was gonna let my 5th place go, so I pushed the bike harder. I was either going to crash this bike or finish in front of David. So we ended up passing one other over the next lap and on the final lap going into T1 I just simply outbraked him and took the inside line, then gunned it through T2 letting the swingarm absorb as much as it could and praying that my Pirelli's would hold, then late braked into 3, took the entire uphill twisty section as best as I could, then pinned it going over T6 and all the way to T9. Made it through the last turn without seeing Daivid's front tire and as I was going down the front straight to the checkered flag, I took a quick look back and noticed he was quite a few bike lengths back. Even with this being the first time on this bike at this track and stock suspension, I felt pretty good with 5th. Once I get proper suspension and setup, I'll easily be fighting with the top 3.

So, two 4th's, two 5'th and two 8th's for a productive weekend. Also noticed my endurance is getting better when you race 150 miles and get at least one track day in per month.

This weekend was a weekend to remember. I arrived to the track on Friday around 5:00 pm to drop off my race trailer and talk to a few people who had just finished up Friday practice. Well, as I was driving to the track, I kept watching the digital thermometer in my Toyota Tundra climb well past 100 degrees F or 38 C. When I get to the track I find the air temp is 115 F or 46 C! I knew this was going to be a tough weekend right then and there.

 

Arrive at the track Saturday morning at around 06:45am to get the pit set up and bikes in order and by 8 am it’s already well past 80 degrees. I’ve brought a new sprocket with me to test on the FZR400, since I was running out of rpm’s the previous 2 months, so I’ve now dropped 2 teeth in the back to 43. This bike is the only reason why I’m even bothering to go out on the track on this day. I need to see how she goes. After 3 sessions the bike feels better, but I’m still running out of rpm’s entering T8 and going down the front straight, so next month I’m gonna drop the rear sprocket by another tooth.

 

After the 3^rd session of practice, I’ve had enough cause the heat is killing me and I have a 20 lapper / 50 mile race to get ready for at 4:45pm. It’s going be brutal. The TZ is freshly painted and looks good so I check everything over on the bike and get her ready for the Solo GT-GP race. Come 4:45 and I look on the grid and there are only 8 racers total for the combined Solo GT-GP/Lights race. Thin field… I wonder why? Cause it’s a bloody blast furnace on the track! Or maybe it’s because only crazy knuckleheads would subject themselves to this kind of torture? So the green flag flies and off we go. Got the usually bad TZ start (gearing is amazingly tall) but as soon as the power band hits, I was off. Managed to get myself into 5^th place overall after the first lap or so, and then kept an eye on the 4 in front of me. I recognized Jamie Lenore on his Prila 250 and some guy on an SV in front of me. I noticed that the guy on the SV was holding up Jamie, and as a result holding me up, so I just kept reeling both riders in at my own pace and still keeping an eye on the 2 leaders at the same time, but knew I had to pass both soon. So I lined both of them up and passed by as we crested T6. I gave Jamie a nice wave as I passed and then put my head down to catch the 2 leaders. They already had a few seconds lead on the entire field and this was going to be tough to catch them, especially since the heat was already killing me. My mouth felt like it had cotton in it and I was sweating badly.

As I entered T1, I made a mistake and missed my shift, then lost a lot of momentum entering T2. Lost a lot of time and then noticed as I was exiting T2 and going into T3, the guy on the SV had managed to catch back up to me. He took the inside line to T3, which is a slow and tight lefthander, and knew with the speed he was carrying he was attempting a pass block. He was obviously trying to push me wide and block my turn in. But I figured since he wanted it that bad, I’d let him have it, cause I knew it would be easy to pass him on the back straight anyway. So he left me with maybe 2 feet of track and since I had now lost all of my speed I was in the wrong gear, I down shifted twice, kicked the bike into gear and off I went. I got right back on his tail, waited for him to line himself up for the top of T6 and then shot by him. This time I make no mistakes and I leave the rest of the field behind. After lap 9 I take a quick look behind me on the front straight and I realized I’m now completely alone. The 2 leaders have snuck away, I’m dying of thirst and there is still another 10 laps to go. It’s on lap 10 that the worst thing possible happens. The bike starts jerking. I know immediately what’s wrong. The battery is dropping below 12.5 volts and the fuel pump is now going haywire. I’m praying to the gods of speed and steel to let me get another 10 laps out of the bike, cause I could cruise the next 10 laps and still finish in 3^rd overall and 2^nd in class, but it’s not to be. The battery fails completely on lap 11 and I bring the bike into the hot pit lane. I check the gas, in the off chance that I didn’t fill it all the way up, but it’s still half full. It was the battery. Damn, 2^nd place trophy gone, as was the contingency money. Time to start thinking about Sunday. That’s racing a 2 stroke GP bike for ya!?!

 

Sunday comes nice and early and I was hoping that maybe it would be cooler… but no. It’s well into the 80’s by 8 am. I have 3 races to prepare for on this day: Race 2 is 500 Modified Production with the FZR400, Race 5 is 500 Superstock with the FZR400 and Race 10 is the 250GP race with the TZ250. I was going to race in the 600 Modified Production Class in Race 4, but though better of it in this heat, plus I didn’t want to deal with back to back 8 lap races. Not this month!

 

Race 2 500 Mod Prod: I was grided near the front of the FZR pack and when the green flag flew, I had the best start I could have imagined. It was like drag racing and getting the perfect launch. Unfortunately, racing against the Modified FZR’s that have an additional 10 hp, I had 2 of them pass me by the first turn. I held onto 3^rd spot for a few laps, but then noticed that Ryan Sturz was coming by me on the outside of T6. Once again, he was out motoring me on the straights and here I was thinking that I had solved this problem by dropping 2 teeth on the rear sprocket. Guess I’m gonna have to drop another 1-2 next month. This passing on the straights is going to stop one way or another. As I go down the front straight I also notice Robert Gosney is creeping by me on the straight heading into T1. I fight back and hold him off, but I know this is inevitable. He’s going to motor by me on one of the straights as well, and there is little I can do to stop it. My only chance is to try and stay in his draft and pick up time in the turns. The ground is hot and my tires are slick, but I’ve got to hold on to Robert. About half way through I notice that JC Gibbs who was up leading the race with Clinton Whitehouse has pulled off the track, so now I’m sitting in 4^th place. I decided that I need to get back in front of Robert, so I slowly start reeling him in as best as I can with the last 2 laps winding down. Well, I thought we had 2 laps left, cause the white flag never came out. I have enough drive coming out of the last turn with what I thought was one lap to go to finally pull back in front of Robert, but to my surprise, the checkered flag is thrown. I was thinking to myself, WTF? So, I had to settle for 4^th cause the flagman screwed up. Well, back to the pits for water and to relax before coming back out in 3 races.

 

Race 5 500 Superstock: Okay, now everyone is on equal machinery, so the odds are equaled out. I’m up on the front row when the flag flies. Not quite as good of a start as before, but I’m in 3^rd place. Ryan Sturz got a phenomenal start and got the hole shot with Clinton Whitehouse behind him. The first 3 laps are uneventful with me keeping the same distance to Clinton and Clinton keeping the same distance to Ryan. But on T8 of lap 4, something must have happened to Clinton cause I flew by him like he was standing still. So now, I have taken over 2^nd place and doing my best to reel in Ryan. However, we are both doing the exact same pace and I just can’t get any closer to him, but he’s not gaining on me either. Unfortunately, with 2 laps left to go I start noticing that my engine is working right. The bike is bucking back in forth. I take quick glances down to see if the radiator is boiling over, but my thermostat still says I’m in the green. I don’t see any smoke coming out from under the fairing, but something is definitely amiss. Clinton comes back by me and there is little I can do. The power is gone in the bike and I’m slowing down. 1 lap to go and I look back from the front straight and luckily there is no one back there. I just need the bike to make it this last lap to hold onto 3^rd place. Please don’t die on me. I’m in 6^th gear and can’t get the bike to rev past 12000 rpm’s as I go through T8. Take another look behind me and I’m seeing the rest of the field catching up. I do everything I can to keep the rpm’s and speed up as best as possible and manage to get through the final turn and finish in 3^rd. Thank you FZR400 for holding together. As I do the cool down lap I’m looking at my bike for any leaks, any smoke, anything. There is nothing there. The temp gauge shows the bike still isn’t in the red. I get back to the pits and figure maybe I was low on gas or something. As soon as I pop the gas tank cover, I hear boiling water. I look into the gas tank and see that my fuel was boiling in the tank! Well, this is something you don’t see everyday. I left the top cracked and let the bike cool down. I really hope that it’s not this hot next month!

 

Race 10 250 GP: I’m way down on the grid for this race, cause I don’t have a lot of points. This is only my 2^nd time racing in this event this year. I have charged the battery up to ensure that it doesn’t die on me during this 8 lap sprint race! The green flag drops and I barely have any strength left after the previous two races, but I get a descent start. Not sure where I’m at in this race and no one is passing me. The entire race is a blur. All I can think about is water and how hot the air is in my helmet. I vaguely remember seeing the crossed sticks indicating the halfway point at the start/finish line and think to myself that this race really needs to be over. The bike is performing well and no gremlins have reared their ugly heads, so I just keep pushing the bike trying to maintain consistent lap times. The tires are holding up really well too, so kudos to Pirelli for giving me another set of great tires. No sliding at all, and it appears my lap times are only about 1 to 1.5 second slower than last months. Kris Provost was in front of me and I had been catching him for the first half of the race, but towards the last few laps, I realized that pushing any harder in my condition was stupid, so I let him go and settled into my 7^th position. I finished the race and was happy just to go home with some good showings on such a miserably hot weekend. I hope that August has cooler temps since it’s going to be a double points race weekend. Until then, Ciao.

Race Report for 17-19 June 2005

Location: Willow Springs Int’l Raceway

Team: Sportbikeswest.com

Bikes Raced: TZ250, R6 and FZR400

 

Arrived late Friday and dropped the trailer off with the bikes at the racetrack in order to get a good pit location for the weekend, then headed to the hotel for some sleep. Arrived back to the track Saturday morning at around 6:30 am in order to get the bikes unloaded and shortly thereafter Mike arrived and we set up the big 20 foot canopy and got the pit arranged. Mike was bringing the newly painted R6 to me which had just been transformed from the rattle can jobber I did into a professional looking race bike. (My first “real” paintjob, and it looked fantastic. Thanks to Angelloti Motorsports for the excellent work!)

 

Saturday would be practice sessions followed by the 20 lapper Solo GT-GP (50 mile) mini-endurance race at 5:15 pm. I needed the practice on the FZR400, cause the engine had just been cleaned out and all the stuff that was wrong with it like loose head bearing, pinched tubes, out of sync carbs had all been fixed. After a few practice sessions between all three bikes everything seemed good. No problems with any of the bikes. I was set for the Solo GT-GP race.

 

There wasn’t very many people on the grid for our race. I think we totaled maybe 10 on the entire grid. The green flag waved and we were off, and I think I was still in 6 hour endurance race, cause after looking at my times I was about 4-6 seconds a lap off my normal pace and the front 3 guys just left me, including an Aprilia RS250. When Jamie Lenore came by on his Aprilia RS250 on lap 10, I think it shook the cobwebs loose from my head and at that point the fuse was lit. I went back to close to normal race times and dropped several seconds a lap off my previous laps. The last 8 laps were pretty lonely. I was just circulating and finished in 4^th. On a TZ you have to shift about twice as often as on the R6 and by the 18^th lap, I couldn’t shift anymore. I had to physically lift my entire left leg to downshift. I was more exhausted after those 20 laps than doing 40 laps on the R6 two weeks prior. I also looked at my rear tire at the end of the race and the right side was completely destroyed. I had taken a huge divit out of that side. I’m surprised I didn’t have any problems. At least this race showed me that I need some rear suspension changes. Something like that hasn’t shown up in a normal 8 lap race. But I’ll take the 4^th.

 

Sunday morning comes and I have a busy morning. Races 1, 3 and 4. Race 1 will be 500cc Mod Prod. I’ve put a 120 front on this month and the bike felt much better during practice over the 110 I was using. As the green flag dropped, the other 400’s with modified engines making about 10 more hp just took off. Not that it mattered. The top 4 guys in this class are faster than me, but I’ve found that my gearing is off by 2 teeth in the back. I’m using a 45 rear tooth sprocket and I’m dropping that to 43 next month. I’m redlining in 6^th gear entering turn 8 and down the front straight and everyone is passing me. We’ll see what happens next month! But this race, I got a good start and was in 4^th or 5^th about half way through when Ryan Sturz comes by me down the front straight. I was as aerodynamic as possible, completely pinned and he still went by me with ease. I was pissed. I hate being beat cause the bike is limiting. I could catch back up to Ryan in the turns, but down the straights he kept pulling on me. I had to settle for 5^th.

 

Race 3 is 600 Mod Prod. I’m so far back in the field that I can barely see the flag man. When he drops the flag we all take off. This is hairy going into T1 with about 20 other guys around you, all fighting for position. I got pushed to the outside, and got a bad drive, losing several spots. T2 wasn’t much better. Still lots of guys fighting for elbow room. By T3 we had settled down and I could see about 20+ bikes in front of me. Man I had starting from way back on the grid. The only good thing about this race was I had my own little battle going on with 2 other guys as we were fighting it out for 23^rd place. Carlo Miranda and John James came by on lap 3 and passed me in T2. That was all the incentive I needed. I started clicking off faster and faster lap times, and my last lap ended up being my fastest. I was able to get by Carlo on the last lap and just missed beating John by a tenth of a second. That made it a good race. I had fun, even though I finished way, way down from where I wanted to.

 

Race 4 was 500 Superstock. Much like race 1, I was down on power on the straights. I kept thinking to myself, go faster bike, please go faster. Def gonna change that  rear sprocket! The race started much the same as the first, the 4 faster guys getting away from me and me clicking off the same lap times, lap after lap, and then on lap 6 both Ryan Sturz and Eric Angel pass me. Damn it, not again. My only hope is to outbrake both of them entering the turns, stay on both of their asses as close as I can in the turns and use their draft to help tow me along on the straights. So, this is what I do on lap 7 and now entering the last lap, my only chance of beating both of them is to take Ryan who is currently in 6^th (as we entered T8 for the last time) entering T9 on the inside (which is what I do), and then get a good drive and pass Eric as we go down the line (which is what I do.) So as I’m drafting passed Eric, Ryan passes both of us. I guess even though I kept him to the outside entering T9, he was able to get a better drive and draft both me and Eric down the line. So, Ryan got 5^th and beat me for the second time in 1 day! That’s gonna stop next month. You hear me Ryan!!!

 

Race 10 is the 250 GP race. Since we are already half way through the year and this is my first race in this class, I’m gridded next to dead friggin last. I was 22^nd on the grid out of 23 racers. I got an okay start at the flag and passed about 6 other guys and then just stuck my head down. I started clicking off faster and faster lap times as the race went on and had just gotten a good rhythm at the half way point, passing Jamie Lenore and Kris Provost and was right on Mike Pastore’s ass when a red flag was thrown due to a bike lying on the ground in T4b. I knew they were gonna call the race, so I settled for 9^th. I’m hoping with those little bit of points, I can move up a few spots for next month. It’s tough to get up front when you start all the way at the back of the grid. I also need to drop my lap times down about 3.5 more seconds to be on the podium. That is def feasible as I continue to learn the TZ.

 

Well, that was the end of this race weekend. A 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 9^th and a lowly 24^th. No podium this time, so I’ll have to shoot for next month.

Report from WERA National 6 Hour Endurance Race

Team: Need a Sponsor

Plate #: 37

Place: Willow Springs Int’l Raceway, Rosamond, Ca.

Riders: Aaron, Sean Hill and Lloyd Magruder

 

I was asked to help ride for this team, since Aaron had broken his scapula a couple weeks prior, I knew both riders from a couple of years back when I rode at Jennings GP track in North Florida and I had experience with Willow Springs Int’l Raceway.

 

We met up Friday morning at the track to practice on the bike we’d be running, a 2003 Yamaha R6 in the Middleweight Superstock series of the Endurance race. They had been there since about 8 am and I arrived from my house at around 11am. Fortunately for me an oil spill had the track closed from 9am until about 20 minutes after arrived, so none of the team had even been on track yet. I gave them as much info on the track as I could, and then Sean and Aaron went out to ride the track. As they came in I gave them more info and as we progressed throughout the day both of them dropped their lap times significantly, going from 1:44’s to 1:35’s. We also had to sort the bike out via the suspension (and a special thanks goes out to Dave from Catalyst Racing Suspension for the help he gave us) so that the bike wasn’t pogoing and tank slapping all over the track. By the end of the day we were pretty well sorted. It was a good first day of practice.

 

Sunday came and we arrived at the track around 8am to set the pit up for the race. I had learned how to ride the bike as well as I could with the standard shift pattern (I haven’t used standard shift in years, but figured it out again) and the Michelin tires (I’m not a big fan of Michelin), so Sean and Aaron used all the practice sessions to get their times down into the 31’s-33’s. We were set for the race.

 

Race time comes and Sean is the first rider out. He’s gonna go til the gas light comes on, then it’s my turn. First 100 miles is good and we’re in 5^th place in our series, but Sean was making time on everyone in front of us, as he became more comfortable on the track. He came in and I went right out with a quick splash of gas. I matched his lap times perfectly keeping the rhythm going and we moved into 3^rd. (Remember this is not 3^rd overall, but 3^rd for Middleweight Superstock). I come in when the gas light comes on and another 100 miles down. Aaron (broken scapula and all) goes out next and he matches the lap times Sean and I did keeping us in our position. However, the pain from the break brings him in early. Sean decided that a rear tire change will be in order on the next rider change and since he can do it the quickest, we decide that I’ll go out again, and then change the tire and let Aaron go back out after he rests for an hour. So I hop back on the bike as Aaron comes in and about 10 laps into it, the front washes out in T2 at 100mph. Not sure why it happened, as I wasn’t even leaned over far enough to drag my knee and I was taking it pretty easy through that section. The bike looks fine, not damage that I can see, so I try to lift the bike back up. Not gonna happen! I wait about 5 minutes for the crash truck to arrive and get one of the guys to help me lift it. Bike starts right back up and I get to the pits as fast as possible (without a face shield on my helmet mind you! Man bugs hurt when the hit you in the face!) Anyway, the only damage we can see is one of the coolant hoses has a small tear and the right frame slider is snapped off. Levers, pipe and everything else is good. The front tire needs to be changed out though as well. Unfortunately for us, a red flag comes out and we are forced to stop working on the bike per the rules. As soon as the race starts back up we are fixing the bike. Front and rear tires and the hose is fixed via a swap out with a good one. However, it looks as though my day is done, cause it appears the crash has broken the pinky finger on my right hand. Usually, when you finger is sticking up from the middle joint it’s not good, so I finish the next three hours off helping in the pits. Sean becomes the work horse (and he’s riding so hard he breaks of the left clip-on during one of his stints and comes back to the pits for a quick fix), with Aaron filling in as best as possible (and Aaron does an incredible job for riding an extreme amount considering his condition). We manage to work our way back up from 5^th to 4^th place with time running out, but with the loss of 30-45 minutes with the tire changes and hose changes and the time for me to get back to the pits, we’re down 20 laps on 2^nd and 3^rd place. Aaron and Sean manage to keep the times consistently between 1:31 and 1:33 for the rest of the race. Even though we finished in 4^th place, I thought it was a good race and I learned a lot about endurance racing. It gives you a whole new respect for the guys that do this all year long! I hope that Aaron and Sean will allow me to race with them again next year at Willow Springs. They are both great people and racers and I wish them the best of luck for the remainder of their season.

Dave Moss with CRS Tuning has decided to sponsor me for the season. I had been using him to help sort my suspension problems on my various bikes since the beginning of this season, and he's done a fantastic job. Dave has helped out various track organizations and race racing organizations and is now helping me out personally. If you are looking to go to the track, live in California and are in need of suspension work on the bike or looking to learn about suspension check out his site. You won't be disappointed.

http://www.crstuning.com - Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning

Well, after busting my hand in the AFM race at ButtonWillow in the beginning of April, this was my first race back and my first race in the expert ranks. My left hand was at about 80% strength, but enough to pull the clutch in, so I was ready. My TZ250 was still having issues however. I had to buy a few more parts and had them overnighted to the track. They were set to arrive at 11am on Friday.

I did the Advanced Racers Clinic on Friday on the 1990 FZR400 I recently aquired, and I really wanted it to learn the lines from the fast guys. That was my only objective. We went out and walked the track and I found out specifically where I needed to be at each turn. This was important to me and worth the $130 I spent. So Friday was nothing more than track time on the FZR and learning proper lines. At the end of the day, I got to work on the TZ replacing the entire wiring loom, fuel pump and CDI (electrnoic gizmo that is the brains). Then had the battery connections redone so they were soldered better.

Saturday came and finally got the TZ running, but not until the end of the day. So I went out and practiced on the R6 and the FZR400. Again just going over the proper lines. Speed wasn't important to me at this point, and that became really clear to me as Kevin came flying by me in T2. I also had to prepare for my first race which was a 50 miler at the end of the day.

Solo Series Lightweight GT - 20 laps (50 miles):

Since the TZ didn't get finished in time for this race I went out on the FZR. Little did I realize that the SV650's were in the same class as me, so now realized I had no chance! Got a crappy start and think I was dead last going into T1. Not really a problem, cause after sizing up the field, this became a long track session in my book. Just finish the race and see how I feel after ward. Find out how much gas was lost and how tires would fair. Unfortunately, on lap 3 the valve stem going into the tire exploded as I was going down the front straight and heading into T1! The tire went immediately flat. I didn't realize at the time that this had happened, so as I try to turn left, the front tire just slides. I pick the bike up and attempt to turn again. I'm quickly running out of room! The front tire slides again, and by now I have no choice but to go dirt tracking. Luckily, I have a lot of experience with going off course at high speeds, and I'm able to keep the bike upright doing over 90 mph with a flat front tire and lots of dirt and rocks. Scrub race 1. A DNF due to mechanical.

Sunday comes and I have races 2, 3, 10, 15 and 17. My TZ is working and I do the morning practice sessions with it. I get back up to speed quickly on it, only 1 second off what I was running the previous month.

Race 2 600 Mod Prod:

I'm gridded 22nd out of 30 riders and get a great start. So good, I'm up front with the front 10 guys. I'm right behind my buddy Jason "Shaggy" Schnieder and watch as another racer Dustin Coyner is actually leaning on Shaggy through T2. I'm not joking. His entire body was on Shaggy's bike.  I thought for sure they were gonna crash, so I gave them an extra 2 bike lengths. Well, they got through there okay and the race resumed. I'm in the top 10 and have a really good rythem going, and then it happens... red flag! Damn. Now I have to go all the way back to grid 22nd again. All that hard work for nothing. Restart and I don't get the launch I need and I end up losing a couple of places. I make them back up and end up 15th for that race. Damn red flag! Anyway, I have to get back to the hot pit entrance and hop on the FZR for Race 3. No rest for me.

Race 3 400 Superstock:

This is my first time racing this bike and got the suspension kind of sorted the previous day. Now instead of pogoing all over the place, it's sort of stable. I've never had a start on this bike and not really sure what to do. Well, the green flag drops and I get a horrible start. Luckily, on the first lap red flag comes out. Bike on track. I know cause the guy crashed right in front of me. Good for me this time, so I can get a better start. Restart the race. I get a hella lot better start this time and am running in 4th, but then it happens again... another red flag! What the hell. It's really hot out. I'm sweating, I've now done 10 laps and I'm really thirsty. Luckily, they let us go back to the pits for 10 minutes while they clean up the mess. I drink and then go back out when called. Restart: I get a good launch again, and am in 4th for nearly the entire race getting used to the little FZR and the lack of any power with it. On lap 5 of 6 on this restart though, I'm either tired or the bike is having issues, cause Ryan Sturtz (another friend of mine) flew by me on the front straight and pulled about 5 seconds on me in the next lap. I finish in 5th.

Race 10 250 GP:

DNS. Damn batter went dead on me as I went out for the warm up lap. I was pissed to say the least. All that work and money spent to get it working and I don't even race.

Race 15 600cc Superstock:

Start 25th on the grid, and got an okay start, but not near as good as I got in the first race. I'm somewhere mid pack and set out to get a rythem going. It's difficult in this race though cause there are more bikes in the SS race and some guys are slower, but started in front of me, so making my way through traffic is difficult. I finally end up in 14th with about 3 of the 8 lapper to go when a guy on a Honda 600RR comes by me in T2. Oh HELL NO. I'm not letting a Honda take down this R6. So I follow him around for one lap to see where he is slow and where he is fast. With 2 laps to go I retake him in T2 and then the battle was on. He retakes me and I retake him. Because of this we are both going slow now (doing 1:31's and little do we know, this allows a Kawaski rider to catch us, but he's still behind.) So, when the white flag comes out signaling one lap left, I let the Honda by me. My plan is to stay on his ass and take him in T8. Which is exactly what happens. Thanks to the ARC class I have learned how to take T6-T8 perfectly, getting awesome drive which allows me to pass just prior to entering T8. My next plan of attack is to take the low line, dump 2 gears, and get through T9 as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I gave it gas to soon and the rear end slides way out nearly highsiding me off the bike. I save it, laning back in the seat, but by now both the Honda and Kawasaki pass me. I am able to get into the draft, but the checkered flag came too soon. We all finish with in 1 bike length of each other, but I'm relegated to 16th.

Race 17 500 Modified Production:

Back on the FZR for the last race. Get a great start and I'm in 4th going into T1. The guy in 3rd ends up going dirt bike riding into T3 and I try to stay with the leaders, but it's not possible. I'm just not comfortable on this bike yet. I race a lonely race in 3rd all the way to the finish, although Ryan Sturtz did close on me significantly on the final 2 laps. So I finsh 3rd and get a trophy or plaque in this case.

So to tally it all up. 2 DNF's due to mechanical issues, a 3rd, 5th, 15th and 16th. An okay weekend considering I was still supposed to be in a cast and I had bike issues to deal with. I'll take the points though!

Well, it could have gone a lot better today and on reflection, I shouldn't of even raced at all.

I didn't go to the Saturday practice since I had been to the track 3 times last month, so I knew the layout pretty well. On Saturday I started the bike, put my AFM #'s on and inspected everything thoroughly. My TZ250 was spit polished and looking new. I started her up and she sounded good. Put her to bed for the night as I would be leaving at %;30am to get to the track on time today.

So I get there, waiting on Mike aka SPEED and Mark aka CBRRidingFool to show up, so figured I'd start the bike up since I was in the 3rd practice session, well nothing, nada, silzch! WTF! It started up no problem yesterday. Damn 2 strokers, right? So I pull the plugs and they are oily, gotta replace them. Check the battery.. it's at 8.8 Volts! Just charged it yesterday. Again WTF! At this point, everything in my being is telling me to just pack up and go home and don't race! Do I listen? Nope. So replace the battery and the plugs and she fires right up. I'm good to go, but at this point, I've already missed my practice.

I go to the riders meeting and afterward find out my grid position. Yep, just what I figured dead friggin last. 39 out of 39. Great. My little voice is telling me to go home really loudly now.

So I gear up as I'm the first race with Formula II and take my practice lap, then find out where last place is: Row 9, position 39. At least I can see the guy with the number board and green flag. He drops the flag and I'm off. And I mean I'm off. I pass half the field before they are even moving. I've gained about 15 positions by turn 1. After the first lap, I'm 19th, I catch Mike Lytle on lap 2 and work my way around him and by lap 3 I'm in 14th. The lead group was already gone by now and my little voice was telling me to slow up, what's the point. I'm the lead novice and I've already passed most of the experts, and lapped the wave 2 550 sportbikes. Do I listen?

I push it going into lost hills the blind right hander hill, and as soon as I crest it and start giving the bike gas, the rear tire lets go completely. I'm already leaned over to the right, so it slides right out from under me. I try holding on to the left clip-on trying to minimize the damage, but that was a mistake. I slide all the way across the track and hit the dirt and start rag doll rolling. The bike is missing a lot of the bits, but doesn't appear to bad. My left hand appears to be broken from trying to hang on, but haven't bothered to go to the ER, since I can move my fingers and there is minimal pain. I'll go to medical in the morning. Can't afford a cast or a break, cause April is double points at Willow Springs. I got to weeks to fix my bike and my hand.

So after all this, I bin the bike leading all the novices, would have picked up nice points even if I had finished 14th and not picked up another spot. Now I've got to get this bike ready with 2 weeks and need lots of parts. Damn!

Pics will follow. It's tough typing with a broken left hand.

Here it is Monday the 28th of March, 2005 and I've finally got my own Blog and using one for the first time. :)