PDB
09-22-2003, 01:44 PM
Talk about rusty, holy crap. It felt so good to get out on the track, but it was so frustrating because I felt like I was going so slow. It had been a month since we last raced. And the last two race weekends were at different tracks (very fast tracks) than my home track. Not only that, my tires had a ton of heat cycles on them and were sliding all over the place. Even though I felt like I was going slow, I was still going very well.
Saturday Endurance:
Gridded outside of row one, which is probably the best spot to be in. Got a so-so start. Randy was 3rd on the grid and he cut across in front of me to go outside, I cut back down on the inside and held him off through turn one. Then it was Alex, Troy and I racing up front with Randy playing catchup, just like it normally is. Second, third and fourth laps, coming out of the hairpin I would grab second gear, tip it into the next corner and the bike would go into neutral and die. First time nearly made me crash. Second time I got pissed and wondered wtf was going on. Third time infuriated me. Still don't know what it was, but it didn't do it after the fourth lap. We ran hard for the first 10 laps, then I started sliding and backed the pace off slightly. Alex gapped a bit on Troy, Troy gapped a bit on me. At the 5 minute mark (we do 30 mins and he holds up five fingers for 5 minutes left) I was catching Troy a little. Then I come around the last corner onto the front straight and I don't see him. First thought was "Damn he just put in a good lap!" then I was watching for him...saw Alex...never saw Troy. Then as I was coming out of the hairpin, I saw Troy entering it. Wth, how'd I get by him and I never even saw him?! Heh, Troy got bit by the last corner...again. He hates that corner. A lap later the white flag comes out and I manage to hold Troy off for the last lap. Thanks for giving me 2nd Troy!
Sunday morning:
Arrive at the track at 7:30, switch out my shagged tires for some fresh rubber and go scrub them in during morning practice. Man I forgot how nice fresh rubber is, I could hammer it coming out of the corners and no movement. I realized that is what felt wrong all day Saturday, just on old tires that wouldn't stick.
Novice GTU, heat 1:
Shiiiiiiiity start, go into turn 1 in 7th from the front row. End up having a close call with Shana and someone else in 1, but we manage okay. I see Troy and Alex disappear out front as I settle in to work on the guys in front of me. I get by one on the first lap, then start chasing down the next group who managed to gap slightly. Caught them, passed into 5th up the inside into one, did the same thing up into 4th on the next lap then got Randy up the inside into the hairpin. Started reeling Troy and Alex in and got right on the back of Troy's tire when he started going through lapped traffic. Then he pulled a crazy up the inside pass and got by a lapper and I got stuck behind him and there went my chance at passing Troy. Finished up 3rd, not too bad.
Novice GTO, heat 1:
Much better start this time, went into turn one in 3rd, behind Randy and Troy. Troy suddenly slows WAY down in the middle of turn one and causes Randy to check up and me nearly rearending Randy. Found out later Troy hit neutral in turn one. Dunno what he was doing shifting in the middle of the turn, silly guy. Anyhow, coming out of turn 1, Randy and Troy get a good drive out, then this R1 comes flying by me. Wtf?! Who are you?! Never saw the guy before that day, was his first race. So we are all 4 going trucking into turn 2, I see Troy fall into line behind the R1 and Randy, I say screw this and go up the inside way late on the brakes and get all 3! Sweet! The R1 ended up getting by Randy and holding both Randy and Troy up as I checked out. Ended up with a 10-15 second lead at the checkered flag. Finished first, the day is just getting better!
Novice Open, heat 1:
An even better start this time, go into turn 1 in second behind Troy. I go a little wide to get a better drive out so I can pass Troy, Troy ducks down to the line to defend it from Alex (who always gets a better drive out of 1 than either Troy or I), and then who do I see sticking their front wheel between us? Alex! You bastard, get out of there! He starts drifting high towards me and I back off slightly, grrr. We were all three almost side by side down the back straight into 2, then Alex takes the lead and we all fall into our normal positions. Continues this way with about a second separating us until lap 4, Troy leaves an opening when he runs slightly wide going into 1. I rail up the inside and pull even and we drag race towards turn 2 side by side. Grr, there goes my brake marker, hit your brakes already dammit! Troy disappeared from my peripheral, I slam on the brakes as I hit the bump into 2 and holy shit my bike got upset. My rear end goes wallowing as I try to turn it in and it doesn't want to turn. I run WAY wide and am just praying Troy wasn't trying to repass me on the outside cause I would've run him into the dirt. He didn't and had followed me through. So now I'm up to second and put my head down and try to catch Alex. Closed about a half second on him in the remainder of that lap. Sweet, I can catch him and maybe pass him. Come trucking out of turn 4 and then hard on the brakes...trail braking into 5, start to bend it in...still braking...okay...getting ready to get off the brakes....SCREIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH....sliiiii iiiiiiiding...shit, so this is what it's like to surf on pavement. Ended up nearly taking Troy's front wheel out with my body as he went by me as I was sliding on the pavement. Off the pavement into the dirt for another 20 feet or so and then came to a stop. Argh, dammit, I threw that 2nd spot away! Stood up and went to the bike and killed it, then picked it up and moved it back to the tires and inspected damage. Only a broken pedal on the brake pedal arm. Sweet, I can fix that quick and get back to racing after lunch. After the race I head back to the pits and start stripping her down when I notice a puddle forming under my right fork. Grr, blew the seal and the fluid was just dripping out. Didn't want to rush fixing the fork and cleaning it all up so I called it a day. Only other damage was ground my right peg down about halfway, ground off some of the frame slider, busted up the right ram air tube and did some minor bodywork damage. All easily fixable.
Novice GTU, heat 2:
Rode Randy's super motard (which still has knobbies on it) and had some fun, but not as much fun as it should've been, plus I don't really care about points so I called it a day and missed the last two races. Got to sit up in the air conditioned scoring booth and watch the races though. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
All in all a good day and my first real crash, got to test the leathers on the pavement and they held up great, just some scuffs on the right elbow. Just frustrating that something as simple as a seal would keep me from racing the rest of my races. Live and learn...
Didn't take any pictures at all this weekend, wasn't really in the mood. Bike is still on the trailer, I'll take a picture of the damage sometime this week.
Saturday Endurance:
Gridded outside of row one, which is probably the best spot to be in. Got a so-so start. Randy was 3rd on the grid and he cut across in front of me to go outside, I cut back down on the inside and held him off through turn one. Then it was Alex, Troy and I racing up front with Randy playing catchup, just like it normally is. Second, third and fourth laps, coming out of the hairpin I would grab second gear, tip it into the next corner and the bike would go into neutral and die. First time nearly made me crash. Second time I got pissed and wondered wtf was going on. Third time infuriated me. Still don't know what it was, but it didn't do it after the fourth lap. We ran hard for the first 10 laps, then I started sliding and backed the pace off slightly. Alex gapped a bit on Troy, Troy gapped a bit on me. At the 5 minute mark (we do 30 mins and he holds up five fingers for 5 minutes left) I was catching Troy a little. Then I come around the last corner onto the front straight and I don't see him. First thought was "Damn he just put in a good lap!" then I was watching for him...saw Alex...never saw Troy. Then as I was coming out of the hairpin, I saw Troy entering it. Wth, how'd I get by him and I never even saw him?! Heh, Troy got bit by the last corner...again. He hates that corner. A lap later the white flag comes out and I manage to hold Troy off for the last lap. Thanks for giving me 2nd Troy!
Sunday morning:
Arrive at the track at 7:30, switch out my shagged tires for some fresh rubber and go scrub them in during morning practice. Man I forgot how nice fresh rubber is, I could hammer it coming out of the corners and no movement. I realized that is what felt wrong all day Saturday, just on old tires that wouldn't stick.
Novice GTU, heat 1:
Shiiiiiiiity start, go into turn 1 in 7th from the front row. End up having a close call with Shana and someone else in 1, but we manage okay. I see Troy and Alex disappear out front as I settle in to work on the guys in front of me. I get by one on the first lap, then start chasing down the next group who managed to gap slightly. Caught them, passed into 5th up the inside into one, did the same thing up into 4th on the next lap then got Randy up the inside into the hairpin. Started reeling Troy and Alex in and got right on the back of Troy's tire when he started going through lapped traffic. Then he pulled a crazy up the inside pass and got by a lapper and I got stuck behind him and there went my chance at passing Troy. Finished up 3rd, not too bad.
Novice GTO, heat 1:
Much better start this time, went into turn one in 3rd, behind Randy and Troy. Troy suddenly slows WAY down in the middle of turn one and causes Randy to check up and me nearly rearending Randy. Found out later Troy hit neutral in turn one. Dunno what he was doing shifting in the middle of the turn, silly guy. Anyhow, coming out of turn 1, Randy and Troy get a good drive out, then this R1 comes flying by me. Wtf?! Who are you?! Never saw the guy before that day, was his first race. So we are all 4 going trucking into turn 2, I see Troy fall into line behind the R1 and Randy, I say screw this and go up the inside way late on the brakes and get all 3! Sweet! The R1 ended up getting by Randy and holding both Randy and Troy up as I checked out. Ended up with a 10-15 second lead at the checkered flag. Finished first, the day is just getting better!
Novice Open, heat 1:
An even better start this time, go into turn 1 in second behind Troy. I go a little wide to get a better drive out so I can pass Troy, Troy ducks down to the line to defend it from Alex (who always gets a better drive out of 1 than either Troy or I), and then who do I see sticking their front wheel between us? Alex! You bastard, get out of there! He starts drifting high towards me and I back off slightly, grrr. We were all three almost side by side down the back straight into 2, then Alex takes the lead and we all fall into our normal positions. Continues this way with about a second separating us until lap 4, Troy leaves an opening when he runs slightly wide going into 1. I rail up the inside and pull even and we drag race towards turn 2 side by side. Grr, there goes my brake marker, hit your brakes already dammit! Troy disappeared from my peripheral, I slam on the brakes as I hit the bump into 2 and holy shit my bike got upset. My rear end goes wallowing as I try to turn it in and it doesn't want to turn. I run WAY wide and am just praying Troy wasn't trying to repass me on the outside cause I would've run him into the dirt. He didn't and had followed me through. So now I'm up to second and put my head down and try to catch Alex. Closed about a half second on him in the remainder of that lap. Sweet, I can catch him and maybe pass him. Come trucking out of turn 4 and then hard on the brakes...trail braking into 5, start to bend it in...still braking...okay...getting ready to get off the brakes....SCREIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH....sliiiii iiiiiiiding...shit, so this is what it's like to surf on pavement. Ended up nearly taking Troy's front wheel out with my body as he went by me as I was sliding on the pavement. Off the pavement into the dirt for another 20 feet or so and then came to a stop. Argh, dammit, I threw that 2nd spot away! Stood up and went to the bike and killed it, then picked it up and moved it back to the tires and inspected damage. Only a broken pedal on the brake pedal arm. Sweet, I can fix that quick and get back to racing after lunch. After the race I head back to the pits and start stripping her down when I notice a puddle forming under my right fork. Grr, blew the seal and the fluid was just dripping out. Didn't want to rush fixing the fork and cleaning it all up so I called it a day. Only other damage was ground my right peg down about halfway, ground off some of the frame slider, busted up the right ram air tube and did some minor bodywork damage. All easily fixable.
Novice GTU, heat 2:
Rode Randy's super motard (which still has knobbies on it) and had some fun, but not as much fun as it should've been, plus I don't really care about points so I called it a day and missed the last two races. Got to sit up in the air conditioned scoring booth and watch the races though. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
All in all a good day and my first real crash, got to test the leathers on the pavement and they held up great, just some scuffs on the right elbow. Just frustrating that something as simple as a seal would keep me from racing the rest of my races. Live and learn...
Didn't take any pictures at all this weekend, wasn't really in the mood. Bike is still on the trailer, I'll take a picture of the damage sometime this week.