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CMRA Round 3 from TWS

1K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  dnwhoop02 
#1 · (Edited)
Ok, since Alton posts all his race reports on here, I guess I will too :smile:

Sunday started off really foggy and damp. I decided to skip lightweight practice and see what those that went out thought about the track when they got back. After hearing reports that the track was good, I suited up and went out for novice practice. The bike felt good, and the track was surprisingly grippy for the weather conditions. The second session I went out with lightweight practice and went about 5 seconds faster than the first session.

My first race of the day was Formula 2. I was gridded around row 17 on the left. I got a mediocre start, then when I reached turn one I was in the middle of a big pack of bikes. I guess I'm still a little worried about crashing, so I dropped back then tried to pass around the outside. That didn't work so well, and I spent the whole race trying to get around the same couple of riders. Every time I would pass one of them, I'd get held up by the next one, and the guy I just passed would come back around me. It sucked. I just wasn't feeling it I guess. Looking back, I can tell that I just wasn't riding aggressively enough, and was too tentative in passing. I still had the endurance mentality of going fast, but leaving some in reserve and first and foremost not crashing. This just doesn't work when everyone else has a fight to the death sprint mentality.

My second race, the Lightweight Twins race, went a lot better. I was gridded around the 13th row or so, again on the left. I figured out that I hate being gridded on the inside, but if I can get a good start it's not that big of a deal. I did indeed get a much better start, and was able to hold it open a little longer in turn one so that the pack thinned out a bit and I got shuffled in there in the middle. In that race, I made some good passes, and started to ride a little more aggressively. Near the end of the race, I got out in front of a few riders and the next guy ahead of me was waaaay off, so I figured I should just cruise to the finish, being the last lap and all. That was until Joe Tolaro flew by me in turn one like a white rabbit begging to be chased. I caught up to him on the back straight and stayed with him until the carosel, when three riders crashed in the next turn and the red flag came out. I never got around him, but unfortunately for him scoring reverted to the last completed lap, so his pass was nullified and I finished ahead of him.

The third race, Superbike D, was interesting. I was gridded on the 10th row, on the right (finally!). I didn't get a stellar start, but had a clear path ahead of me to go around the outside in turn one. During this race, I decided that I needed to be much more aggressive, and really push. I was passing people pretty good, and pushing the tires to the point of big rear wheel slides coming out of the carosel and the chicane. Twice, in turn two the front and rear slid a bit and caused a nice little drift. I'm sure to faster racers these slides are no big deal and just a normal part of their racing, but it's kind of new to me.

The last race of the day, Superstock D, was pretty uneventful, except for my terrific start. I was gridded around the 15th row or so, on the left again. This time I rev'd the bike up to 4,500 and kept my eyes trained on the starter's right arm, holding the green flag at his side. When his arm twitched, I quickly let out the clutch and veered to the left, wheelieing past the rows directly in front of me, all the way up to fourth place in my wave through turn one. I just remember looking at the back of Igal's bike thinking, "holy crap... he's right there... maybe I can stay with him" .... but that question was quickly answered as he pulled away from me on that first lap, gaining a sizeable lead by the time we got back to turn one again. All in all it was a good race, although the DOT's I put on just for that race, having only one sprint race on them, were sliding around as much as the slicks I had been running, which had a 5 hour endurance w/ practice, and now 6 sprints on them. In the end, I caught up to 4th place and drafted him onto the front straight, passing him and finishing just 0.077 seconds ahead of him. Pretty exciting.

Results:
F2: 9th
LWT: 9th
SBD: 4th
SSD: 4th

This is the only pic so far, but like Alton, I'll post some pics when I have them.
 

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#2 ·
NIce write up dood!

Good job out there. That picture looks good too.
 
#7 ·
Well based on my extensive racing background...:eek:

Id say that youre not really gettin off the bike at all. And the little bit you do get your lower half off...your head and shoulders are gettin crossed up.

And it doesn't seem like your leaning foreward much.

In pic 20...it almost looks like your bike is leaning more than you are. :dontknow:
 
#11 ·
ok in my defense, a lot of those pictures were taken when I was being held up in the first couple of races, so I was not really hanging off much. I just need someone to ride behind me at a trackday with a bike-cam so I can see what I'm doing and work on it. I'm thinking that improving my body position may allow me to carry more corner speed, since right now I'm on the edge of the tires....

Alton, I emailed the LSTD guys to see about cornerworking for a credit for the trackday at TWS on the 15th... any chance you might go to that one?
 
#12 ·
dnwhoop02 said:
ok in my defense, a lot of those pictures were taken when I was being held up in the first couple of races, so I was not really hanging off much. I just need someone to ride behind me at a trackday with a bike-cam so I can see what I'm doing and work on it. I'm thinking that improving my body position may allow me to carry more corner speed, since right now I'm on the edge of the tires....

Alton, I emailed the LSTD guys to see about cornerworking for a credit for the trackday at TWS on the 15th... any chance you might go to that one?
Well yah asked so...lol :dontknow:
 
#13 ·
dnwhoop02 said:
ok in my defense, a lot of those pictures were taken when I was being held up in the first couple of races, so I was not really hanging off much. I just need someone to ride behind me at a trackday with a bike-cam so I can see what I'm doing and work on it. I'm thinking that improving my body position may allow me to carry more corner speed, since right now I'm on the edge of the tires....

Alton, I emailed the LSTD guys to see about cornerworking for a credit for the trackday at TWS on the 15th... any chance you might go to that one?
Prolly not man...

Im outta funds and low on vacation.

prolly be June before I ride again.
 
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