tjones23
05-11-2009, 05:03 PM
WMRRA Round2
Saturday
Practice
Things started out Saturday AM -- I rolled in set up with the awesome mates with Eastside Motorsports Racing. I was a tad nervous as I had just mounted new bodywork nicely painted by Valldog (looked great -- thanks Bro!). With a touch of laziness and slight rational toward experimentation, I went out on the same tires and gearing I ran at Portland the weekend before. Turns out the gearing just doesn't work, however the tires did, though maybe not at full race-pace. I only did 2 or 3 laps on the gearing as I didn't want to confuse myself. I changed back to my Seattle gearing for the second session and felt much more comfortable. While I understand why, its still amazing how sensitive 600s are to gearing.
600SS -- 3rd
To be safe I mounted a new set of Dunlop GP211 NTech DOT's. It was warming up and in practice the bike was moving around a little more, so Barry made a relatively small change to the rear shock and I went out on a soft rear. I had a good starting spot so I hoping to be able to just put my head down and follow Eli, Sully and Jervis for as long as possible. Just before going out I realized while I plugged in my warmers I didn't actually turn them on! I got a decent start, but didn't push immediately. Because of that I had to spend the first couple laps getting around Seehorn and Bertram -- no easy task, but made much more difficult by going out on cold tires. Sigh. After I put them behind me had a chance to put my head down, however I felt very ragged that race. I made a couple mistakes into the bus-stop which (almost!) killed me, however I guess I had put enough distance between myself and Seehorn to keep the spot. I was very relieved to not just finish that race, but to do so in 3rd. Sweet!
750SS -- 5th
The first 4 laps were awesome. I got a nice tow from Eli, Ross and Chancey, set my personal best time (1:27.445 -- almost a full second faster than I've gone before), however once I realized I just could not keep up with the 1:26's they were knocking off I backed off a little. Again I backed off a little too much as Todd Horn got past me as I was struggling just to survive. Unfortunately we should have flipped the rear before the race as the soft was not holding up that good for me, however there was not time to swap, so it just got totally chowdered. Bummer. It was great while it lasted.
Sunday
600 SBK - 8th
Mounted a used medium-soft slick. Had a 2nd row start and got a horrid launch. Because of thatI had too much work to do in the beginning and was just trying to make up too much lost time and distance. I got tired, was fighting the bike a tad too much and overall was not comfortable. I was not going all that fast, however about mid-race I physically faded real bad -- couldn't turn the bike very well in the back section and just was having a hard time entering corners -- but I did finish the race, so that has to count for something.
750 SBK - 5th
In an attempt to fix my upper body fade, I finally tried to put some grip on the tank as I was having a difficult time taking pressure off my arms by squeezing the tank as it and my leathers are a slickery combination. Phil Cook hooked me up and got me taken care of -- thanks Phil! That and a much better grid position and start meant I could just ride my race and not waste energy in traffic. Overall a better race. Still faded, and got taken by Todd again at the end (he had a long, long way to come, so good job by him), however I was pretty happy, even if wasn't jumping up and down.
Overall a good weekend, I set my personal best by a good margin, learned a few things along the way and had fun. I have work to do to be able to be up there with the truly fast guys for more than a lap or two. Awesome job to Dan Chancey for his first win -- he was riding really well. Also to Mike MacConaghy for not only beating, but smashing the lap record twice! Nice riding.
Many thanks to my sponsors and supporters: Yamaha, Dunlop and especially Eastside Motorsports, EDR Performance, VallDog Design for all the assistance my racing effort as received so far and in the future.
Saturday
Practice
Things started out Saturday AM -- I rolled in set up with the awesome mates with Eastside Motorsports Racing. I was a tad nervous as I had just mounted new bodywork nicely painted by Valldog (looked great -- thanks Bro!). With a touch of laziness and slight rational toward experimentation, I went out on the same tires and gearing I ran at Portland the weekend before. Turns out the gearing just doesn't work, however the tires did, though maybe not at full race-pace. I only did 2 or 3 laps on the gearing as I didn't want to confuse myself. I changed back to my Seattle gearing for the second session and felt much more comfortable. While I understand why, its still amazing how sensitive 600s are to gearing.
600SS -- 3rd
To be safe I mounted a new set of Dunlop GP211 NTech DOT's. It was warming up and in practice the bike was moving around a little more, so Barry made a relatively small change to the rear shock and I went out on a soft rear. I had a good starting spot so I hoping to be able to just put my head down and follow Eli, Sully and Jervis for as long as possible. Just before going out I realized while I plugged in my warmers I didn't actually turn them on! I got a decent start, but didn't push immediately. Because of that I had to spend the first couple laps getting around Seehorn and Bertram -- no easy task, but made much more difficult by going out on cold tires. Sigh. After I put them behind me had a chance to put my head down, however I felt very ragged that race. I made a couple mistakes into the bus-stop which (almost!) killed me, however I guess I had put enough distance between myself and Seehorn to keep the spot. I was very relieved to not just finish that race, but to do so in 3rd. Sweet!
750SS -- 5th
The first 4 laps were awesome. I got a nice tow from Eli, Ross and Chancey, set my personal best time (1:27.445 -- almost a full second faster than I've gone before), however once I realized I just could not keep up with the 1:26's they were knocking off I backed off a little. Again I backed off a little too much as Todd Horn got past me as I was struggling just to survive. Unfortunately we should have flipped the rear before the race as the soft was not holding up that good for me, however there was not time to swap, so it just got totally chowdered. Bummer. It was great while it lasted.
Sunday
600 SBK - 8th
Mounted a used medium-soft slick. Had a 2nd row start and got a horrid launch. Because of thatI had too much work to do in the beginning and was just trying to make up too much lost time and distance. I got tired, was fighting the bike a tad too much and overall was not comfortable. I was not going all that fast, however about mid-race I physically faded real bad -- couldn't turn the bike very well in the back section and just was having a hard time entering corners -- but I did finish the race, so that has to count for something.
750 SBK - 5th
In an attempt to fix my upper body fade, I finally tried to put some grip on the tank as I was having a difficult time taking pressure off my arms by squeezing the tank as it and my leathers are a slickery combination. Phil Cook hooked me up and got me taken care of -- thanks Phil! That and a much better grid position and start meant I could just ride my race and not waste energy in traffic. Overall a better race. Still faded, and got taken by Todd again at the end (he had a long, long way to come, so good job by him), however I was pretty happy, even if wasn't jumping up and down.
Overall a good weekend, I set my personal best by a good margin, learned a few things along the way and had fun. I have work to do to be able to be up there with the truly fast guys for more than a lap or two. Awesome job to Dan Chancey for his first win -- he was riding really well. Also to Mike MacConaghy for not only beating, but smashing the lap record twice! Nice riding.
Many thanks to my sponsors and supporters: Yamaha, Dunlop and especially Eastside Motorsports, EDR Performance, VallDog Design for all the assistance my racing effort as received so far and in the future.