mydogfarted
14th June 2004, 01:20 PM
Friday after work I rush home to pack so I can hit the road by 6:00. 5:50 I'm pulling away from the house and on the road. 7:30 I realize I left half my tools and some other stuff I need at home - screw it, I'm not turning back now and I can borrow most of the stuff if I REALLY need it. Arrive at the track around 11:00 to find that the crew has taken up the entire garage so I have to pit outside. This apparently turns out to work in my favor as 3/4 of the guys in the garage had at least 1 crash! Someone needs to bring a priest or a shaman to exercise the deamons before I pull my bike in there! :D
Saturday morning I rush to registration to wait on lines. Get back to the pits, tech and out for practice one. Bike feels better with the GSXR1000 shock, but a little more pre-load and the bike is great. Come back to the pits to find I didn't put my transponder on, so no lap times for me. Put transponder on for practice 2 and find out I'm flying (for me anyway). I cut 3 1:26 laps, including a 1:26.03 - my fastest race lap before that was a 1:27.9! Now I can't wait for my race.
First race, Saturday race #2 HW Supersport - horrible start, from 17th on the grid to near the back of the pack by turn one. Traffic thins a bit and I tried to put my head down. I must have done something right because I finish in 17th out of 33 and ran a best lap of 1:25.393! That's more than two and a half seconds off my best time! Spend the day watching the red flags fly as riders were crashing everywhere.
Second race, Sunday race #5 HW Superbike - better start and it was on! I pulled into the grid in the wrong spot so I ended up kind of angled when I moved over. It gave me a clean shot through the pack and I found myself running in the same position from start to finish! Ran another 25 and finish 10th in class and 12th overall. I had a close moment in T3 where I came in too hot and had to stand the bike up to slow down enough to not run into the tire wall. This became the theme for the rest of the day - 4 times I over cooked T3 and discovered my new enemy.
Third race, Sunday race #8 Supertwins - best start yet. Combined race with MW Grand Prix, so we were the second wave. Into turn 1 in fourth where I again found myself running the entire race where I started. Managed to reel in and pass a couple of guys from the first wave and finish in fourth.
Laptimes are falling, confidence is building and lots of fun still being had.
Saturday morning I rush to registration to wait on lines. Get back to the pits, tech and out for practice one. Bike feels better with the GSXR1000 shock, but a little more pre-load and the bike is great. Come back to the pits to find I didn't put my transponder on, so no lap times for me. Put transponder on for practice 2 and find out I'm flying (for me anyway). I cut 3 1:26 laps, including a 1:26.03 - my fastest race lap before that was a 1:27.9! Now I can't wait for my race.
First race, Saturday race #2 HW Supersport - horrible start, from 17th on the grid to near the back of the pack by turn one. Traffic thins a bit and I tried to put my head down. I must have done something right because I finish in 17th out of 33 and ran a best lap of 1:25.393! That's more than two and a half seconds off my best time! Spend the day watching the red flags fly as riders were crashing everywhere.
Second race, Sunday race #5 HW Superbike - better start and it was on! I pulled into the grid in the wrong spot so I ended up kind of angled when I moved over. It gave me a clean shot through the pack and I found myself running in the same position from start to finish! Ran another 25 and finish 10th in class and 12th overall. I had a close moment in T3 where I came in too hot and had to stand the bike up to slow down enough to not run into the tire wall. This became the theme for the rest of the day - 4 times I over cooked T3 and discovered my new enemy.
Third race, Sunday race #8 Supertwins - best start yet. Combined race with MW Grand Prix, so we were the second wave. Into turn 1 in fourth where I again found myself running the entire race where I started. Managed to reel in and pass a couple of guys from the first wave and finish in fourth.
Laptimes are falling, confidence is building and lots of fun still being had.