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Turn 2
Turn 1a |
Thursday
Practice
Got
there on Thursday for practice at around 12pm. Track was excellent (No
debris or oil). It was HOT!! and HUMID!!. After each session I had to come
in and completely De-leather and sit inside the AC'ed trailer. Anyway,
Good practice times. Consistent mid thirties. The third session out, I
came out of 12 and the bike started sputtering a little. Uh-oh, running
out of gas. Thought I might be able to make it back around to pit road if
I ran a slow lap.....I only made it to the exit of the bowl. It is a long
push out the access gate behind 6, through the tunnel and back to the
grass infield where we pitted...In full gear. Needless to say after that I
was done for the day. Overall, I felt good for those 3 practice sessions,
my times were coming closer together and my lines were coming together. I
was having trouble with turn 10, I kept running wide on exit. Turn 1-1a-2
felt a little slow too. I learned 2 valuable lessons....When the bike
sputters at 12, you can't make it around the track and make sure you check
gas at each session.
Friday brought the Penguin practice.
Got 4 sessions in that day. I went out with the novices. I got to follow a
couple of fast novices that I figure are cherry picking a little. It
helped me to smooth out some of my lines...a little. I started to get
really quick through the 3-4-5 transition. Over the hill on 5 the front
end was getting really light. I also was getting pretty quick on 6-7-8. I
stopped using the brakes before 9 and just gave them a tap before tipping
in for 10. 10 is still kicking my butt. The other thing that plagued me
for the both practice days was gear choice. I downshifted 2 gears for 3 to
get drive out but would be forced to shift up in a full lean exiting 4. It
was kind of a pain. Also, I wasn't shifting between 10 and 11 and had to
(don't laugh) downshift after exiting 12 to get some kind of drive down
the straight. I corrected that by the third practice for the most part. I
didn't run out of gas on Friday Smile
Saturday (My first race day)
Holy smokes what a hectic morning. I learned a valuable lesson on that
day....Pre-register and get teched the night before. Since I was in
Novice, I had the first practice session at 8am. I went over to the gate
to register at around 6:30am thinking I would be first in line. Ha ha, I
was like 20th in line waiting for the windows to open. So I pick up my
transponder, register and at around 7:40, head back to the infield to grab
my bike and go to Tech. Tech went smooth, the guy was impressed with the
cleanliness and prep of my bike. I get back to the trailer at about 8:05
and by the time I am dressed, I missed my session. So I go inside the
trailer to cooldown, (the heat was already oppressive at 8:00 in the
morning. They never announced my second session so I missed that one too
Sad
Rookie
Race
I had to do the rookie race that day so I went to the rookie meeting where
we talked mostly about gridding, wave starts and the launch. Went out for
the rookie race at Noon. Sat on the pre-grid for about 10 minutes just
baking in the hot sun. By the time they let us go, I just wanted to get
out and cooldown. Went out for the warm up lap. Felt very good. Got on the
grid for the Start....3....2....1 Green. Got an amazing launch for my
first one ever, I think. Back tire spun just a little, front tire came
about 2 inches off the ground and stayed there for about 25 feet. I
started 3 rows back and entered turn one in 4th. Around turn 1 exiting 2,
then I remembered it was the rookie race, so I backed off...a lot. I
posted a 1:39, 1:38, and a 1:40 for the rookie race. That was fine since
that was an obstacle that I had to get by.
Lightweight
Supersport
I was in Race 8 which started at about 2pm. Got on the pre-grid Lined up
at B-7 (way back, there is that pre-registration lesson again). I was so
nervous leading up to this race. Once I was on the pre-grid, It all went
away. Went around for the warm up lap, good pace, confirmed my marks,
thought about shift points etc.. Gridded up and got ready for my first
road race...ever! 3...2...1 Green, Didn't get as good of a launch on this
one, had to back off just a smidge since the tire wanted to come up. I got
a little quick with the clutch. Not bad just not as good as the first one.
The rider in the A-5 position did 3 vertical wheelies in a row (I was kind
of chuckling inside my helmet as I passed him. It looked like someone
riding a bucking bronco). Anyway headed for T-1 to get my first view of
the melee that is Turn 1 during a race. I only passed 4 or so people on
the start so I was around 20th position. This guy right in front of me (6
ft) tucks the front end and takes out 2 other riders. I aim to the inside
of him but his bike slides forward and not out. I have to slow down and go
around him. I get a good redrive out of 1a to 2 and down to 3 passing
about 2 people and someone crashes in 3 right in front of me and they red
flag the race. Back down to the hot pit for another pre-grid, another warm
up lap and a restart. Good start this time, gained a couple of positions.
Entered turn 1 side by side with a guy, I was on the outside and he
blocked me at 1a. After watching the turn 1 action during the last start,
I backed off instead of trying to slip on the inside of him. This proved
to be good because I had a better line in 2 and gained some ground on him
there then passed him on the outside entering 3. (my wife got a really
good picture of the pass) The race turned into crash fest 2005. Some guy
crashed in Turn 3 right in front of me on lap 3. Some guy took a ride up
the bowl on lap 3. The guy that crashed in Turn 3 was trying to get back
in it during lap 4, and was waiting by the tires on the outside for the go
ahead from the corner worker when he was t-boned by someone who went way
wide. They red flagged the race at 5 and called it ended. I ended up 12
out of 22 in LWSS and 16 out of 36 overall. My best time was 1:33:74. All
of my 5 lap times were under a second apart except for the first one
(because of the start) I DIDN'T CRASH!! So overall, I was very satisfied
with my first race and my times considering it was only my 5th day riding
at Loudon.
Sunday
(Rained Out)
I registered for LWSB on Sunday which was race 11 but when they made the
2nd call for that race (I was all suited up ready to go, tire warmers off)
the sky opened up and dumped the entire contents onto NHIS. I really
wasn't ready to compete in a rain race and definitely not one where there
was 1/2 inch or more of standing water over most of the track (not to
mention that my wife was really nervous) . So I opted not to chance it
this time. This is a learning year for me and I am not competing for a
championship. I did get both practice sessions in during the morning so it
wasn't a total loss. Those felt pretty good but were slow. I put on a
fresh set of tires the night before and was scrubbing them in.
Thanks
to LP Team Privateer, Hotbodies Racing, Wareham Cycle,
Street and Competition, and Pete at GMD
Also
thanks to My Wife, Tim, Dave, Jarret, John, and John |
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