2001
|
2001
|
|
Racing Notes from the 2001 Season April 28-29: The 2001 season opener was quite successful. I raced the new SV650 in two events and came home with a 2nd place finish in Heavyweight Sportsman and a 6th place finish in Lightweight Supersport. I also managed to take 4th place on the EX500 in Production Twins. The Production Twins race is always fun since all riders compete on evenly matched, bone stock EX500's. A couple of the guys from last year, Chris Vitto(#358) and Andy SanClemente(#619) in particular, figured out how to lose a couple of seconds off their lap times from last year. Glen Piro(#666) also managed to pull an early lead ahead of me and held on to it for the remainder of the race. I got stuck in traffic off the line and never managed to catch up to them. I ran the whole race, by myself, in 4th place. Unfortunately fellow racer Edgar Muller(#514), whom I always look forward to racing with, crashed out during an earlier race and was unable to compete in "Proddy Twins". Fortunately Edgar is fine and will return for the May 19'th event. The guys running in Production Twins are a great bunch and I'm looking forward to racing with them at the next event. Congratulations to Chris Vitto for his first win as a Junior! May 19-20: First the good news. I made enough points this weekend to advance to Expert. I just need to finish four more races to fulfill the 13 race requirement. Now the bad news. I crashed in my first race of the weekend. Sat. Race #9, LWSS: Knowing that rider #141 Rick Suhocki was a bit faster than myself, I planned on just trying to stay with him for the duration of the race. That went well for the first lap, but coming back around to turn 1, we came up on a couple of slower riders from a previous wave. Rick passed in T1 and I tried an outside pass in T1A. I didn't have enough drive to show the rider a wheel and got pinched into the curb of T2. I went up over the curb into the dirt. I tried to save it, but at the last second the bike spit me off in protest. I got up and ran over to the bike to try and re-enter the race. Unfortunately, a bent shift lever kept me on the sidelines for the remainder of the race. Sat. Race #11, HWSM: Having just returned from the track with a bent shift lever, I scrambled to bend it back so that I could use it. I still needed to go through technical inspection (required after a crash) before entering the race. Bob Perkins checked the bike out and was quick to get me back out onto the track. Rick was also entered in this race and this time I managed to hang in there with him. The race was red-flagged and ended prematurely. In the end, Rick took 1st place and I took 2nd. Sun. Race #4, Supertwins: This race was an experiment. I was grossly outclassed since this race allows 1000cc bikes and I was on my little 650. I still managed to pull off a 4th place finish and had fun doing it. Sun. Race #6A, PTWN: Off the line it was Chris Vitto, Glen Piro and myself. The race remained that way until the last lap. Coming around turn 12, Glen tried to get a better drive in an attempt to draft Chris V. Unfortunately, Glen's drive turned into a drag as he went down right in front of me. In the end Chris Vitto took the checkered flag, I took second and Uwe Gomringer cruised for third. June 9-10 Sat Race #9, LWSS: I guess I have some work cut out for me. Jonathan Adler #727 showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, and took 1'st place. Congrat's Dude. Good job. Brian Kjar #122 took second. (I'll get him next time). I chased Doug Cooper #525 around the track for 8 laps trying to figure out how to pass him, but he ran a good race and gave me no opportunity to pass. Doug took 3'rd and I took 4'th. That was fun, but watch out Doug... I'm studying your weaknesses ;-) Sat Race #11. HWSM: I got the hole shot and put my head down for four or five hot laps. A quick glance back halfway down the front straight showed no competition, so I backed off and just cruised for a while. On the last lap, I noticed that Eric Borch #517 was getting closer so I cranked up the speed a bit and came in 1'st place. Eric took second followed by Chris Parks #179, Jonathan Burbank #207 and Edgar Muller #514 rounding out the top five. Sun Race #4, STWN: More fast guys showed up this time. I'm definitely outclassed in this race. This may be the last time I run this one. Took 7'th place out of 11. I still had fun though and that's what it's all about. July 7 - 8 Sat Race #9, LWSS: I did better this time out. The weather was nice on Saturday and I got a decent launch off the line. I managed to pick off a few riders and made my way up to third place. I managed to get ahead of Doug Cooper this time, but I think that's going to be an ongoing battle. Doug's a really good rider and an even nicer guy. I finished the race in third place. Sat Race #11, HWSM: I got into the top three off the line and managed to pick my way to first place within a few laps. I ran in the lead, but Angelo Timpano #166 and Jonathan Burbank #207 always made their presence known. I managed to take first place by about a second. Sun Race #6, LWSB: On Sunday it drizzled most of the morning and I get intimidated by a track that is partially wet. The traction becomes variable and it really messes you up. Off the line, Thomas Barry #758 got an incredible launch -- one of the best ones I've ever seen. I need to go find him and ask how he managed that. I set out to just take it kind of easy and feel out the track. A few laps into it, I got passed by Jason Owens #270. I thought to myself, "Good. I'll just follow him around and see what happens." A couple more laps into it, I found myself getting held up in a couple of the turns by Jason and decided that I would pass him in turn 3 on the next lap. Traction was actually pretty good, so I passed Jason and was looking for the next guy to pass. On the last lap, I came up on Bob Perkins #109 who was chasing Micky Curry #51 in turn 9. Since they were in a battle for position in a different race (Expert Production Twins), I decided it would be better to just hang out behind them and ride a defensive line in case someone came up from behind. On the front straight, I tried to pass Bob and Micky for the checkered flag, but they had a good drive out of turn 12 and we all crossed the finish within a tenth of a second of each other. That was fun. I took third place in my race. I've now got the required number of races and over double the number of points to advance to Expert. Next race weekend will be in the Expert class. Wish me luck. There's some really fast guys out there. July 28 - 29'th Race #3: GTL I decided to do a GTL race (30 minute endurance) just as a warm-up race. This was my first expert race. While I didn't do really well in the final results, my lap times were incredibly consistent. They were all within a second of each other for all 22 laps. I was pretty pleased with that. I managed to come in 14'th place out of 28 entries. My best lap was a 1:22 Race #9: Lightweight Supersport 11'th place out of 21 entries. I'll call it a "mid-pack finish". My best lap was a 1:22 and I seem to be fairly consistent in my lap times. With more practice and experience, I should be running consistent top 10 finishes before the end of the year. Race #11: Heavyweight Sportsman My goal for the year was to come in a top ten position. I managed to do it in this race. I finished 9th out of 21 entries and got my first few expert points. I didn't expect to do this well so soon. For the remainder of the year, I will focus on getting top ten finishes and lowering my lap times. August 18-19'th I only did two races this weekend. The weekend went pretty well for most. Since I didn't pre-enter for this weekend, I had to start at the back of the pack for both races. I still managed to get top 10 finishes in both. In one respect, this was a good decision since it allowed me to practice my passing skills on some of the riders who are close to my lap times. Passing can be difficult and is definitely one of the talents that you acquire when learning how to race a motorcycle. There was only one crash this weekend that appeared to be serious, but later turned out to be 'not so bad'. During a crash in T1, a rider got her leg caught in the rear tire/linkage of the motorcycle she was riding and it took about 40 minutes to get her untangled from the bike. There was a lot of concern at the time and things appeared to be worse than they turned out to be. She still got hurt, but a broken bone is much better than what could have happened. We all wish Linda a speedy recovery. In another incident, one rider had a banjo bolt that connects an oil passage on his engine fail. The bolt was safety wired and was still hanging by the wire when they got him off the track. Kudos to the Corner Marshalls who called for a red flag quickly, as he literally spewed the entire contents of his crankcase onto the track. The line of oil went from T4 through T5, T6, T7, T8 and into T9. It was an incredible mess to clean up. The Corner Marshalls went above and beyond all expectations and really did a great job of cleaning up that awful mess. They deserve something special for that. Great job guys 'n gals! Without you, we would never get through a race. Race #9: Lightweight Supersport I finished 10'th out of 21 entries. I started at the back of the pack. Off the line, I got a good start and hit T1 ahead of several riders. As the race progressed, I managed to pass about one rider for each lap that I did. It was difficult since these guys are really fast. On the last lap, I got behind a rider going into the chicane. He had more motor than I did, but I managed to catch back up to him by T2. I was hoping to get him in T3, but no dice. His entry to T3 was as good as mine and I couldn't get him there. I remember thinking that I wouldn't have another chance to pass him, but I kept right on him. As we entered T9, I thought that I may have a chance to get him in T10. As we went through the apex of T10, I hoped that he would hesitate and give me an opportunity to pass. My front tire was literally 1 foot from his rear. Not only did he hesitate, he actually slowed. I drifted to his left to avoid hitting him, and when I did, he looked over his right shoulder to see where I was. He saw nobody. Since I figured he would then look over his left shoulder, I went to the right and hit the gas as hard as I could. I think he looked to his left while I passed him like he was standing still. It was a really exciting pass. From there, I still had my work cut out for me. I went into T11 and had a decent drive into and out of the chicane. Once back on the front straight, I gave it all I had since I knew he had more motor. He managed to catch up to me at the start/finish line, but in the end I took it by 0.010 seconds. That was fun! Race #11: Heavyweight Sportsman There was nothing spectacular about this race except for the fact that it was ton's of fun. Starting at the back of the pack, I managed to work my way up to 9'th place for the finish. I finally managed to beat Bob Poetzsch, but that doesn't count this time. Bob just returned from an injury and it was really good to see him 'back on track'. Bob is more than capable of kicking my butt and I await the day that I really give him a run for the money. Good to see 'ya back Bob! September 1-2 This weekend was outstanding. Once again I only entered two races on Saturday. Because I was looking forward to participating in my first endurance race on Sunday, I thought it would be wise to take it easy on Saturday and only enter a couple of races. I did a full day of practice on Thursday and I was pretty wiped out on Friday. I was feeling pretty tired for Saturday's races, but I managed to pull off my best results of the season. The three hour endurance event was held with some of my closest friends on Sunday. It turned out to be one of the best times I've ever had. You can view all the results on the '2001 endurance' page. Lightweight Supersport I finished 8th out of 22 entries. My lap times were consistent 1:21's for most of the race. I managed to get a pretty good start off the line and held my position. I passed a few people for position, but I couldn't catch up to the front-runners. It was a really good race and I hope to be able to get up with the guys in front and "catch a tow" to show me a faster racing line next weekend. Heavyweight Sportsman This race had quite a bit more dicing. Off the line, I got into about 6th place and struggled to get the lead on Jason Rice #199. I tried to get in front of Jason a couple of times, but couldn't manage to take it. On the second lap, I managed to get beside him while entering turn 2 and we wound up slamming each other's shoulders while going over the transition bump on turn 2. It felt more like a hockey game 'check' rather than a motorcycle race. I got the lead, but a red flag flew shortly afterward. Damn!!! I worked really hard for that position. When we went back to the pre-grid staging area, Jason was positioned directly next to me. I offered my apology for the close contact (and told him that his paint job is too pretty to scratch). Jason commented, "I guess I just need to ride faster." He did just that. On the second start, Jason got a pretty good lead on me and I couldn't catch him. He managed to pull off a 1:20 to best my 1:21 lap time. I wound up coming in 7th place. It was an incredibly fun race. Sept 29 - 30'th 2001 Not much to report for my normal races. It was a great weekend, a bit cool but lots of good racing to follow. I took 7'th place in Lightweight Supersport and 11'th place in Heavyweight Sportsman. The latter was not a great finish, and upset my top-10 streak, but I still had fun. The best part of the weekend was my 'surprise' entry in the Production Twins race. I borrowed my good friend Edgar Muller's EX500 for the Sunday race. Since I knew several of the guys that I used to race with would be moving up to Expert class for the last event of the season, I decided to borrow Edgar's bike and surprise them in what has become one of my favorite races. I think I managed to surprise a few of the seasoned Expert racers in the process. Overall, I was very happy with my finish. I took 5'th place in the race and did my best lap time on an EX500, 1:24.756, which is about a second off the fastest lap times. Hmmm.... Maybe an EX500 is in my future ;-)
|
|
|