This round my main goal was to improve my lap times and hopefully get under the 2:00 mark. I picked up a new set of harder compound Bridgestone R10s from Jeff Viets earlier in the week and installed a new set of Galfer Black brake pads and I was all set. I knew the weather would be similar to round 6 on Saturday; blazing hot with cooler conditions on Sunday.
First race of the weekend for me was Clubman Middle Weight where I started 16th. I sort of blew the start but made it back up by the time I got to T1 and then moved up a few spots. From there I put my head down and really focused on getting solid drives out of the corners. I managed to post my best result to date in 6th place with a 2:00.9 lap time.
Next race was the Formula 40 Middle Weight event were I started 12th in my class. Got off to a decent start with a fun battle where I lost a position between T3-T4 only to gain it back with a block pass through the risky T5. This was the first time my bike had become “invisible” to me and I could focus 100% on hitting my marks and driving out of corners as the R10s felt solid and grippy. After a couple more passes I managed to find myself behind a couple riders h♦aving a good battle. They were just fast enough for me to keep pace with them and I knew I could set the trailing rider up for a pass between T9-T10 if I got a good drive out of 8. So lap 5 I set up the drive and stayed on his wheel right out of T9 and completed the pass going into T10. That resulted in a 6th place finish, 1:59.9 lap time and a Top Novice Trophy.
Sunday started with much cooler conditions. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to check in with Dave Moss to adjust settings.
The 600 Production race went pretty well as I had a decent start from 29th on the grid and the bike was feeling OK. As we hit T1 everyone around me felt the need to be at the apex at the same time which opened up the whole outside of the track for me to move up a few spots. I spent the next few laps moving up until I found a couple riders having a little battle. I found my way past one only to have the next rider run wide in T1 and low side into the dirt which left me to finish the race in 20th place.
The final race of the weekend was 600 Superbike which was red flagged on the first lap due to a crash in T3. On the restart I got and ok launch and made few solid passes but by half way through lap 2 I started to experience some front end problems with head chatter into 5 and wrestling the bike around the rest of the track. I ended up giving up a couple spots for an 18th place finish but on the positive side I learned how to deal with an ill handling bike during a race...and to check in with Dave Moss when conditions change enough to warrant bike adjustments.
In the end it turned out to be the best weekend of racing for me so far this season as I finished between 6-10 spots up from my start position in each race while dropping my best and average lap times even further. Thanks to Jeff Viets, Greg O. and Michelle S. for all there help.
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