cbrsmurf
10-15-2006, 10:12 PM
Here's how my 2nd WSMC race day went:
Got off to a bad start today, getting to the track at around 9am, thinking practice didn't start til then... but I guess it starts earlier, hah! So I miss the first practice and only get a 2nd practice in before my race. Everything felt OK and I was very surprised I pulled a 1:34 best considering I didn't feel like I went faster (my first race, I only managed a 1:39).
Riders meeting was nice. There was a moment of silence for Jesus (#980) passed away at last month's race. His bike was ridden around the track alone while 'Amazing Grace' was sung and many riders were sporting #980 armbands and stickers.
I slapped on a new rear 209 from dunlop ($212 :shocked: for one frickin tire!) and took my place on the grid on 13 out of 26 riders. Thinking I was going to get a much better start than from the back of the grid last month, I had probably one of the fugliest starts. Released the clutch too quick and the front wheel popped up. Getting a great view of the sky, I pulled in the clutch and little gas and the front slammed down hard while the most of the 2 rows behind me passed me off the line.
While everyone was moving towards the middle and outside for T1, I went to the inside and squeezed into a slot going into T1 and made up a few spots that way. Dove inside someone going into T2 and passed another on the outside.
I don't recall the next few laps too well but I remember almost binning the bike while outbraking someone going to the inside of T5. The front must've tucked or slid as the front jerked violently, came off the ground and skipped across the apex of T5, but the bike righted itself (I didn't do anything except pucker my butt on the seat). Somehow I had managed to get in 3rd and was about a second back from 2nd -- a 600rr. Right about now, I was thinking it was a miracle I was going to be on the podium but a kawi (stupid kawi's :p) passed me at T7. I was kind of bummed as it was obvious he was putting it down and I would not be able to catch up. However, as he closed in on 2nd, I was hoping they would battle it out with each other so that I could catch up.
Sure enough, the Kawi closed in and passed on the inside of T6 causing the 600rr to checkup and probably causing the Honda to lose momentum. I was able to pass the 600RR on the outside of T8. The Kawi was again at least a second ahead of me by now and I was hoping he would catch 1st and slow him down. However, the race wasn't long enough and I finished 3rd with a best time of 1:31.8 on the clear last lap! The 2nd best time of the race!
I was/am still super stoked as I just hoping to finish in the Top 10 and I have no idea how I pulled a 1:31.8 as I am still running stock everything and made no changes from the last hypercycles trackday. Unfortunately, I didn't think I was going to even come close to the podium, so I didn't have any Dunlop stickers on my bike and lost out on a $60 contigency :( Still, I got a nice 3rd place plaque out of it :)
Got off to a bad start today, getting to the track at around 9am, thinking practice didn't start til then... but I guess it starts earlier, hah! So I miss the first practice and only get a 2nd practice in before my race. Everything felt OK and I was very surprised I pulled a 1:34 best considering I didn't feel like I went faster (my first race, I only managed a 1:39).
Riders meeting was nice. There was a moment of silence for Jesus (#980) passed away at last month's race. His bike was ridden around the track alone while 'Amazing Grace' was sung and many riders were sporting #980 armbands and stickers.
I slapped on a new rear 209 from dunlop ($212 :shocked: for one frickin tire!) and took my place on the grid on 13 out of 26 riders. Thinking I was going to get a much better start than from the back of the grid last month, I had probably one of the fugliest starts. Released the clutch too quick and the front wheel popped up. Getting a great view of the sky, I pulled in the clutch and little gas and the front slammed down hard while the most of the 2 rows behind me passed me off the line.
While everyone was moving towards the middle and outside for T1, I went to the inside and squeezed into a slot going into T1 and made up a few spots that way. Dove inside someone going into T2 and passed another on the outside.
I don't recall the next few laps too well but I remember almost binning the bike while outbraking someone going to the inside of T5. The front must've tucked or slid as the front jerked violently, came off the ground and skipped across the apex of T5, but the bike righted itself (I didn't do anything except pucker my butt on the seat). Somehow I had managed to get in 3rd and was about a second back from 2nd -- a 600rr. Right about now, I was thinking it was a miracle I was going to be on the podium but a kawi (stupid kawi's :p) passed me at T7. I was kind of bummed as it was obvious he was putting it down and I would not be able to catch up. However, as he closed in on 2nd, I was hoping they would battle it out with each other so that I could catch up.
Sure enough, the Kawi closed in and passed on the inside of T6 causing the 600rr to checkup and probably causing the Honda to lose momentum. I was able to pass the 600RR on the outside of T8. The Kawi was again at least a second ahead of me by now and I was hoping he would catch 1st and slow him down. However, the race wasn't long enough and I finished 3rd with a best time of 1:31.8 on the clear last lap! The 2nd best time of the race!
I was/am still super stoked as I just hoping to finish in the Top 10 and I have no idea how I pulled a 1:31.8 as I am still running stock everything and made no changes from the last hypercycles trackday. Unfortunately, I didn't think I was going to even come close to the podium, so I didn't have any Dunlop stickers on my bike and lost out on a $60 contigency :( Still, I got a nice 3rd place plaque out of it :)