This round was my second weekend of road racing motorcycles, my first time racing at Thunderhill, 1 year since my first track day and just over 2 years since formally learning to ride a motorcycle. My plan for this season is to just learn as much as I can about road racing with the goal of becoming competitive in 2012. And to have fun.
I picked up some new Bridgestone R10s from Jeff Viets with the harder compound rear since I knew we'd see track temps well into the 100s. I also had Dave Moss help me get the suspension set up for better corner exits.
Saturday started with the Clubman Middle Weight race where I lined up somewhere 1 or 2 rows off the back. For somebody new like me these races are pretty much just a blur of excitement and keeping track of passes can get confusing. Especially during the first lap shuffle. Fortunately I've been getting pretty solid starts and this race was no different as I moved just behind the lead pack going into turn 2. From there a couple mistakes and passes by faster riders had me somewhere mid-pack and I spent the rest of the race moving back up until I got a bit greedy and blew T14 giving up 2 spots for 16th place. Best lap 2:03.925.
Formula 40 was next up. I lined up on the back row and my start was pretty good. I managed to move up a few spots during the race but again a few mistakes killed my pace and I dropped back down a bit toward the end of the race giving up 2 spots in the final corner. My best lap was 2:03.925 and a 10th place finish. Scored my first AFM trophy with a Top Novice Award.
Sunday I was feeling pretty good heading out for the warm up session but one lap in I caught a false neutral on acceleration exiting 13, low sided into the dirt and bounced off the tire walls. Lucky for me my pit spot was nearby and with the help of Greg O., Paul J., Michelle S. and Jeff Viets. I put the bike back together and through tech just in time to roll out for my first race, 600 Superbike. I purposely lined up on the back row since I was on cold tires and just wanted to get my confidence back. I paced the pack on the start and really paid attention to the Bridgestone R10s which gave great feed back as they started to come up to temp. My laps started at 2:13 and dropped down to 2:04 just past the midpoint of the race. I managed to claw back a few spots as well for a 37th place finish.
My confidence was back for the last event of my weekend, 600 Production. I was grided on the back row and had a rather interesting start when the rider in front of me must have stalled. Once I was past that close call the rest of my race was fairly straight forward picking up a handful of spots and having some fun battling with PJ for a 29th place finish. I also managed to post my fastest lap at Thunderhill with a 02:02.8.
Over the past year I've learned how important it is to read the tires and I'm realizing just how much harder I can push the R10s. At the end of a full weekend of racing I was still able to push for my fastest lap times with confidence in 100+ degree weather and the tires clearly have more life left in them. Next round I'll be pushing for sub 2:00 laps times...
No comments:
Post a Comment