Post by scotinexcile on Aug 2, 2010 8:24:17 GMT -8
Sorry no pics or video this round 
I actually signed up for practice as I had not been at Infineon for a while. the last couple of THill rounds I have not practiced on Saturday and have enjoyed the nice casual start to the day.
The morning was foggy and cold as we rolled thru tech. I am always amazed that all the registration and tech folks are setup ready to go by 6.30am on a Saturday and Sunday morning. Big THANK YOU to everyone who helps us get out on the track.
So laptimes were in the 1:53 to 1:55 range as I took it easy and got used to the new SC1 front and SC2 rear combo. playing with the pressures at about Front 31 of the warmers and Rear 28 off the warmers produced a really nice smooth wear on the tire. HUGE shout out to Chris and his crew at CT racing for busting tires on Friday evening which made Saturday SO MUCH easier.
I got a little confused about how many practice session we were getting and almost missed the 4th session that we got after lunch. I thought we were only getting 3 session due to the extra race
I was heading up to the announcers booth to announce the first couple of races the back down for my race which was the 4th race. Makes time go by faster when I am busy *LOL*
Formula 40 Lightweight
So many "old farts" on the grid that Formula 40 had to be split into 2 different races. Normally we run Lightweight, Middle weight and heavy weight in the same race 2 different "waves"(starts)
With a total of 78 bikes it had to be split so Lightweight got a race on it's own ;D
I had a good start and had my eyes on John Forman and Dave Sapsis who are my two measures of how I am riding. I have been chasing both of them since I started racing. Learning from them as I go along. As the first lap settled I found myself in 12th place.
I cant remember who I passed to get into 11th so I think it may have been due to a crash ahead of me. I think it was in turn 7 on the second lap?
Anyway I followed John and he was flying through Turn 6 and taking 6 - 8 bike lengths out of me there!!!!(see 650 Twins for a change
) I would close on him in Turn 8 and under brakes a little into Turn 9, we were pretty even else where on the track.
On lap 6 I got a good drive out of turn 8 and down the hill, got even with John and passed him on the brakes into 9. He came up on the inside into turn 11 but not quite enough to make the pass.
The next time into 7 he made a great pass into the corner on the brakes and I followed him around 7 into 8. I am not 100% sure if this was on the last lap or not. John ran a nice defensive line into 9 which meant I could not get on the inside using the brakes. I went wide into 9 then tight on the exit. I knew he would go tight into 11 running a similar defensive line. I set up wide entry to 11 for a tight exit and got on the drive just before John did.
We were right next to each other in a drag race to the line. I willed my 74 horses to gallop as fast as they could. John hit the rev limiter on his machine which caused him to drop back just a bit. Throttle all the way to the stop as we flashed across start finish I was ahead by less than half a wheel ;D A best lap time of 1:53:3 not to shabby on my prod bike, even if I say so myself
Ended up in 10th spot
What a great race and thanks to John for the good clean racing, and teaching me how to race
Right after racing I headed to registration then tech. We had to wait bit to get tech started as the last race got delayed. As soon as the race was done the Tech folks got started and the bike breezed thru tech and I was ready for Sunday.
Beth and I had dinner and got ready to go on the track walk with Dan Sewell, Dave Wallace and GO Go Branson. We left at 6.30pm and it was almost 9 when we got back to the pits. The advice was AWESOME and the results were obvious the next morning ;D Not giving away anything you have to be there to get the full effect
650 Twins Race #3 Sunday
Again a cold foggy morning had everyone wrapping their tire warmers in blankets to try and keep the heat in. I rode the scooter up the hill above turn 3 and the road was wet WTF. Looking down to the track it did not look that bad. Practice was slow for me but Bill Wickersham and John Forman were out there railing it
I had a pretty good start then lost it all into turn 2
as traffic settled down I was in 19th place again but this time in front of John. I put my head down and started to look for the lines I had leaned on the track walk. It took me a couple of laps to get them right and I was closing on a group of 3 bikes in front of me.
We started hitting lap traffic which I am still learning to deal with.
As we came out of 7 on the last lap I was right behind the group of 3 riders I had been chasing down. Bill, Robin and James I think. As we came towards the exit of 8 and the drive down the hill there was a backmarker which I dont think Bill saw to well as Robin and James were just in front of him.
Robin and James split to the inside of the rider and Bill split outside. I saw my chance and drove as hard as i could for the inside. Setting up a block pass into turn 9 as i got to the inside and killed Bills drive out of the corner. I did not know at the time but Mitch was right on my tail and was waiting to pounce *grin*.
I drove as hard as I dared towards 10 and then 11. Shoudl I go inside and block the line? Should I go for the drive? I stayed in the middle and got a good run around 11 and all the way to the line.
Finished in 15th with a new personal best of 1:51:309. Time to start the happy dance *LOL*
It was lunch so time to relax before race 6 650 Prod
650 Prod
I was gridded 4th, my first front row start. Got a FLYER off the line and was in front of Dave Raff for the only 8 seconds of my life. Robin was in from of my as we drove up the hill into turn 2. Dave came by us both on the inside really fast!!! and Tommy was behind me as we raced around the track.
I knew Tommy was riding Dan Sewells bike which has XXX horse power so I was on the gas as early as I could out of every corner. i was in third and wanted to keep it that way.
The line between stupidity and reality is pretty thin and I managed to cross it as I exited from turn 11. I was leaned way over adn got on the gas WAY to hard. Results = highside. the bike started to slide out from under meto the outside of the turn. I thought OK just stay on the throttle and see if it hooks up. I had NO idea how far it was actually already around. Those that saw it said the bike was already at 90 degrees to the direction of travel. Physics kicked in and those sticky tires got a grip. All that force was sent up through the frame and sent me skywards. I tried to keep a grip on the bars which only proceeded to make me tumble forward with a graceful!!!! forward roll *ha Ha* I hit the deck right arm first and rolled on my shoulder then my right hip slammed into the track taking my breath away for a second.
Quick check, fingers OK toes OK, I rolled onto my hands and knees trying to catch my breath. I looked to my right and there was my bike in the middle of the track. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....... shit that means i am in the middle of the track as well. Crawl get out of here my brain screamed at my arms and legs!!!!! I got to the infield of 11 and took stock. Nothing sharply painful, air bag vest WORKED again that thing is BRILLIANT i am sure it has saved me from 2 hospital visits so far.
The GREAT turn worker was out trying to get my bike off the track. the gear leaver was bent against the shift rod so it was difficult to shift the bike. I signaled that I wanted to help and the two of us pushed the bike to the side of the track. I managed to get it into neutral and leaned it against the wall.
I crossed over the hot pits to the wall nearest the garage and proceed to kick the wall in frustration. Luckily I did not break anything ;D Beth arrived to calm me down and tell me to take deep breaths and let it go, but I was in 3RD ahhhh stupid stupid stupid!!!!!!
The bike had just slammed down on the left side and the frame slider took most of the force. Clutch lever was broken, but everything else was just bent. I straightened things out and borrowed a clutch lever so i could be ready for the Formula 4 race. There was a accident in the race after mine which gave me more time. hope all the riders are not to bad and get back racing asap.
BIG THANKS to everyone who came by the pits and asked how I was, Beth and I really appreciate everyones friendship in the AFM family.
Formula 4
Cant say I was "up" for the race but I wanted to get back on the horse so to speak.
I was very timid on the throttle and my lap times showed it back to 53's adn 55's in one case. I was in 15th at the end of lap 1 and ended up in 17th. Good riding by Rory and Mitch who both passed me. John and Bill were both gone and rode great races.
Looking forward to the last round at THill hopefully I can build on what I learned and move forward.
Special thanks to CT Racing and safermoto.com your products and GREAT service keep my coming back again and again ;D
I actually signed up for practice as I had not been at Infineon for a while. the last couple of THill rounds I have not practiced on Saturday and have enjoyed the nice casual start to the day.
The morning was foggy and cold as we rolled thru tech. I am always amazed that all the registration and tech folks are setup ready to go by 6.30am on a Saturday and Sunday morning. Big THANK YOU to everyone who helps us get out on the track.
So laptimes were in the 1:53 to 1:55 range as I took it easy and got used to the new SC1 front and SC2 rear combo. playing with the pressures at about Front 31 of the warmers and Rear 28 off the warmers produced a really nice smooth wear on the tire. HUGE shout out to Chris and his crew at CT racing for busting tires on Friday evening which made Saturday SO MUCH easier.
I got a little confused about how many practice session we were getting and almost missed the 4th session that we got after lunch. I thought we were only getting 3 session due to the extra race
I was heading up to the announcers booth to announce the first couple of races the back down for my race which was the 4th race. Makes time go by faster when I am busy *LOL*
Formula 40 Lightweight
So many "old farts" on the grid that Formula 40 had to be split into 2 different races. Normally we run Lightweight, Middle weight and heavy weight in the same race 2 different "waves"(starts)
With a total of 78 bikes it had to be split so Lightweight got a race on it's own ;D
I had a good start and had my eyes on John Forman and Dave Sapsis who are my two measures of how I am riding. I have been chasing both of them since I started racing. Learning from them as I go along. As the first lap settled I found myself in 12th place.
I cant remember who I passed to get into 11th so I think it may have been due to a crash ahead of me. I think it was in turn 7 on the second lap?
Anyway I followed John and he was flying through Turn 6 and taking 6 - 8 bike lengths out of me there!!!!(see 650 Twins for a change
) I would close on him in Turn 8 and under brakes a little into Turn 9, we were pretty even else where on the track.On lap 6 I got a good drive out of turn 8 and down the hill, got even with John and passed him on the brakes into 9. He came up on the inside into turn 11 but not quite enough to make the pass.
The next time into 7 he made a great pass into the corner on the brakes and I followed him around 7 into 8. I am not 100% sure if this was on the last lap or not. John ran a nice defensive line into 9 which meant I could not get on the inside using the brakes. I went wide into 9 then tight on the exit. I knew he would go tight into 11 running a similar defensive line. I set up wide entry to 11 for a tight exit and got on the drive just before John did.
We were right next to each other in a drag race to the line. I willed my 74 horses to gallop as fast as they could. John hit the rev limiter on his machine which caused him to drop back just a bit. Throttle all the way to the stop as we flashed across start finish I was ahead by less than half a wheel ;D A best lap time of 1:53:3 not to shabby on my prod bike, even if I say so myself
Ended up in 10th spotWhat a great race and thanks to John for the good clean racing, and teaching me how to race
Right after racing I headed to registration then tech. We had to wait bit to get tech started as the last race got delayed. As soon as the race was done the Tech folks got started and the bike breezed thru tech and I was ready for Sunday.
Beth and I had dinner and got ready to go on the track walk with Dan Sewell, Dave Wallace and GO Go Branson. We left at 6.30pm and it was almost 9 when we got back to the pits. The advice was AWESOME and the results were obvious the next morning ;D Not giving away anything you have to be there to get the full effect
650 Twins Race #3 Sunday
Again a cold foggy morning had everyone wrapping their tire warmers in blankets to try and keep the heat in. I rode the scooter up the hill above turn 3 and the road was wet WTF. Looking down to the track it did not look that bad. Practice was slow for me but Bill Wickersham and John Forman were out there railing it
I had a pretty good start then lost it all into turn 2
as traffic settled down I was in 19th place again but this time in front of John. I put my head down and started to look for the lines I had leaned on the track walk. It took me a couple of laps to get them right and I was closing on a group of 3 bikes in front of me.We started hitting lap traffic which I am still learning to deal with.
As we came out of 7 on the last lap I was right behind the group of 3 riders I had been chasing down. Bill, Robin and James I think. As we came towards the exit of 8 and the drive down the hill there was a backmarker which I dont think Bill saw to well as Robin and James were just in front of him.
Robin and James split to the inside of the rider and Bill split outside. I saw my chance and drove as hard as i could for the inside. Setting up a block pass into turn 9 as i got to the inside and killed Bills drive out of the corner. I did not know at the time but Mitch was right on my tail and was waiting to pounce *grin*.
I drove as hard as I dared towards 10 and then 11. Shoudl I go inside and block the line? Should I go for the drive? I stayed in the middle and got a good run around 11 and all the way to the line.
Finished in 15th with a new personal best of 1:51:309. Time to start the happy dance *LOL*
It was lunch so time to relax before race 6 650 Prod
650 Prod
I was gridded 4th, my first front row start. Got a FLYER off the line and was in front of Dave Raff for the only 8 seconds of my life. Robin was in from of my as we drove up the hill into turn 2. Dave came by us both on the inside really fast!!! and Tommy was behind me as we raced around the track.
I knew Tommy was riding Dan Sewells bike which has XXX horse power so I was on the gas as early as I could out of every corner. i was in third and wanted to keep it that way.
The line between stupidity and reality is pretty thin and I managed to cross it as I exited from turn 11. I was leaned way over adn got on the gas WAY to hard. Results = highside. the bike started to slide out from under meto the outside of the turn. I thought OK just stay on the throttle and see if it hooks up. I had NO idea how far it was actually already around. Those that saw it said the bike was already at 90 degrees to the direction of travel. Physics kicked in and those sticky tires got a grip. All that force was sent up through the frame and sent me skywards. I tried to keep a grip on the bars which only proceeded to make me tumble forward with a graceful!!!! forward roll *ha Ha* I hit the deck right arm first and rolled on my shoulder then my right hip slammed into the track taking my breath away for a second.
Quick check, fingers OK toes OK, I rolled onto my hands and knees trying to catch my breath. I looked to my right and there was my bike in the middle of the track. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....... shit that means i am in the middle of the track as well. Crawl get out of here my brain screamed at my arms and legs!!!!! I got to the infield of 11 and took stock. Nothing sharply painful, air bag vest WORKED again that thing is BRILLIANT i am sure it has saved me from 2 hospital visits so far.
The GREAT turn worker was out trying to get my bike off the track. the gear leaver was bent against the shift rod so it was difficult to shift the bike. I signaled that I wanted to help and the two of us pushed the bike to the side of the track. I managed to get it into neutral and leaned it against the wall.
I crossed over the hot pits to the wall nearest the garage and proceed to kick the wall in frustration. Luckily I did not break anything ;D Beth arrived to calm me down and tell me to take deep breaths and let it go, but I was in 3RD ahhhh stupid stupid stupid!!!!!!
The bike had just slammed down on the left side and the frame slider took most of the force. Clutch lever was broken, but everything else was just bent. I straightened things out and borrowed a clutch lever so i could be ready for the Formula 4 race. There was a accident in the race after mine which gave me more time. hope all the riders are not to bad and get back racing asap.
BIG THANKS to everyone who came by the pits and asked how I was, Beth and I really appreciate everyones friendship in the AFM family.
Formula 4
Cant say I was "up" for the race but I wanted to get back on the horse so to speak.
I was very timid on the throttle and my lap times showed it back to 53's adn 55's in one case. I was in 15th at the end of lap 1 and ended up in 17th. Good riding by Rory and Mitch who both passed me. John and Bill were both gone and rode great races.
Looking forward to the last round at THill hopefully I can build on what I learned and move forward.
Special thanks to CT Racing and safermoto.com your products and GREAT service keep my coming back again and again ;D
