PRACTICE
Saturday morning dawned clear but cold -- as in see your breath cold. I had set up the awning the night before, and got things situated so most of my time could be set up on bike and rider prep than anything else. I realized that morning that while I had been on bikes and had attended a few trackdays since, my last race was in May of 2007. I might be a bit rusty. We only had 2 practice sessions scheduled before any of the races, and I had 2 ULGP races and one Cdn Thunder race that day. With that in mind, I decided to go out on the supermono first, and then the ex650.
Practice nearly ended on lap 3 as I had a near-highside coming out of turn 9. The tires were not at all up to temps, and being street tires and with no warmers, I needed to be a tad more patient! The head referee and a few of the other riders pitted near that corner commented later on my "nice save" -- the reality being that I had little to do with the "save" other than to simply hold on. Sorta a, "Thanks God, I have control" moment once the occilations stopped and my feet went back on the pegs. I was out of the seat quite a bit -- so much so that I came down groin first on the tailsection, cracking it slightly -- and spoke in a higher pitch for awhile afterward. I came in to check if anything else had been damaged, or the tire was problematic, but nothing untoward was visible. I went back out for the remainder of the session and tried my best to relearn the track. My lap times posted were competitive, but I felt I had a lot more to come. The tires were a real drawback -- my counting on rain of course ensured the day was dry throughout -- shoulda left the slicks on!!!
The second session saw me out on the ex650 and having rode for 2 days at MAM only a month prior, the bike felt quite familiar, even with the new RC8 fairing quickly mounted up. I was soon within 2 seconds of the fastest guys in Thunder, so it was an enjoyable session that way. Another rider on a 600 caught me with his rear-mounted camera. I come into view at about 1:05, with the black leathers and grey fairing (unpainted) -- I keep up for about a lap, and then the power of the bike (and the other rider's talent) makes a difference.
Note that the video is entitled, "crash" -- watch it till the end and you'll see an sv650 rider go down.
With the 2 sessions done and me satisfied with how things were, it was time to race...
RACE 1: ULGP (12 LAPS)
Luck of the draw saw me gridded in the 3rd spot. This was the first ever ULGP race that the MRA has run, and I am going to take some credit for creating the class. 8 riders took to the grid, 4 experts and 4 notices. An interesting mix of bikes, as the experts had the oldest/least horsepower bikes, while the novices were all on newer and more powerful machinery. There were a few RZ350s, a GSXR400, and RGV250, a RS250 Aprilia, and a TZ125 GP bike, as well as my KLX400 powered Supermono... an eclectic mix, to say the least. The flag dropped and off I went with no expectations. Almost immediately the 125 leapt to the front and took off. A 2002 bike, it likely made similar hp to me, but with 50lbs less, and a good rider, with race slicks. No chance; that machine consistently lapped around 2 seconds a lap faster than everyone else. I was left to fight over 2nd place overall with Mert on his RGV250. He was much faster down the straights, but I was able to catch back up in the infield. A real ding-dong battle that lasted the entire 12 laps. I was able lead a few times across the finish line, but he would re-pass me before turn 1. Part way through the race I tucked my left hand behind me, trying to crawl under the paint to maintain as much speed as possible, to no avail. On the last lap, I again harried Mert right into the final corner, and was able to make a pass on the inside exiting the turn, stretching the throttle cable to the limit, I was able to cross the line in second place on track, and bizarrely, first expert overall as the tz125 rider was a novice. I'm calling it a 2nd place, but a podium on my first race bike, on a bike I engineerend and built much of myself was tremendously satisfying and somewhat emotional. I was "chuffed" to say the least.
RACE 2: ULGP#2 (12 LAPS)
This race was quite similar to the first, with some of the same protagonists. While I didn't get the holeshot, I made the pass for the lead going into turn 3 on the first lap, but surrendered the lead before the end of the first lap to the tz125. Didn't see Mert during this race, but again chased after another 250, this time the Aprilia. The accordion effect took over here again, but this time I wasn't able to succeed, crossing the line in 3rd on the track, but again first overall in expert. I am uploading video of this race; keep in mind it might be a bit boring, and being the first time mounted to the mono, the camera is strapped to the triple clamp -- a CMA sticker gets in the way, but again the drift camera worked well. Honestly, not a whole lot of action, aside from some passes and a bit of close proximity stuff. As well, youtube does not allow any more than 15 minutes of video, so the end of the flic is cropped off.
RACE 3: CANADIAN THUNDER GP (15 LAPS)
By now I was hoping my conditioning would be taking over and helping me out, until I realized I was one of a few who was on their third race of the day. For most of the thunderbikes, this was their first race, after quite a break from their second practice that morning. Being sure to swap over the transponder, I took to the grid, again in the 3rd spot (random draw). I knew the fast guys today would be Wilson on his TZ250, Doug on his ex650, and Pete on his Buell, with any number of other riders in the mix. My goal was for a top 6, considering the limited amount of time I had on this bike. After our warmup laps (again critical for me sans tire warmers) the flag dropped. I got a good start, but surrendered positions to Wilson, Doug, and Pete by the exit of turn 1. I was able to keep them in sight for 3 or so laps, but then lost sight of them slowly but surely afterwards. From then I wanted to consolidate my position and maintain 4th, which I was able to do so. A bit of a boring race, actually, aside from lapped traffic making for some interesting passing conditions. In the end, no argy-bargy, and no one else showed me a wheel. I was painfully consistent, all my laps falling within 1 second of each other, with a quickest in the 1:08s. Still quite a ways to go, but a goal to shoot for nonetheless. The onboard lap timer is critical, and gives me some real time feedback as to my technique.
All in all, a successful weekend's return to racing. A 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, with lots of ideas on how to go faster. The equipment held up, with some tweaks to be done to increase speed and improve handling. Points haven't been posted yet, but I assume I'm leading ULGP by a healthy stretch. Thunderbikes is another issue altogether, with a single 4th from 3 starts (not being there I DNS 2 races on Sunday), that championship may have already sailed. It is a long season however, and as I knock the rust off the old body here, I should only get quicker.
So will everyone else, however!
Going to spend some time this weekend going over the bikes and finalizing the RC8 fairing fitment to the ex650. Gearing changes and suspension adjustments to follow. Stay tuned!
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