Category: Racing

Well this was just a disaster of a race day. After only 2 hours of sleep I had to wake up at 4 am to pack up to leave by 4:30. 1.5 hours later, in record time, I was on the off ramp into Millville. There was a dump and I could hear something start to drag from the trailer. Quickly pulled over only to find my gas can dumping special fuel all over the road but that’s not where it ends. Fuel had gotten on the rear tire and melted the rubber which means I now have to purchase one, not in the budget. Needless to say, this did not put me in a good mood. Arrived to the track at 6:30, slowly everyone got up from the alcohol induced slumbers. Dunlop was open early, tire on, ready to go. Practice went well, had some fun with McGlade.

Supertwins was up first. Race #1 of 4 and it was a good one. Hoffman and myself battled every lap, back and forth. Clicking off 1:32s with ease, never riding out side of my comfort zone. Hoffman put a pass on me on the last lap but I knew if I could come around the last turn on his rear wheel I could draft him for the win. Everything was going according to plan until the front end decided to give out. Low sided with 2 corners to go.

Check back soon for write up. I’ve been slacking. Sorry Ben.

Results
Ultralight SBK – 3rd
Thunderbike – 2nd
Team Challenge Endurance – 4th
Supertwins – 3rd
Lightweight SBK – 8th

Will saying “I love you” right before my stint.

 

Busy weekend. 5 sprints and the Team Challenge, except that’s not where the weekend begins. Let’s rewind to the prior weekend where some discomfort starts to show up in my left flank (kidney area) while working on the bike. This goes on for the entire week and gets worse on Friday before it’s time to leave for NJMP. At this point, I assume it’s a kidney stone. Since everything is already packed I thought it would be a good idea to go to the E.R. just to make sure it’s what it appears to be. After couple hours in there I get the news that there is no infection and it’s a large kidney stone (1/4″) that is stuck. That is the information I needed to hear to send me on my way to Jersey. They wanted to hook up i.v. for pain relief but opted out as Jersey is a 2 hour drive and this time it was a 4 hour drive due to some traffic in the Philadelphia area. It was all worth it as I see the nice welcoming crew waiting at Jersey.

Ben says I need a photo of the ER wrist band for the next “Am I a Racer?” post.

Goals for the weekend were very simple. #1: Continue the moment from Summit and improve on lap times. #2: Finish the Team Challenge. Both were very met with flying colors.

Saturday’s racing couldn’t have gone much better. My previous best lap time was a 1:34 flat and in the GTL almost every single lap was a 1:33! The last lap however was not a 1:33, it was a 1:32 and did this get me excited. 7th out of 15 riders was pretty good for my short expert career so far. Next up was the Ultra-light Superbike race, again this couldn’t have gone much better. Got the holeshot and lead the first lap. Bart passed me on the front straight before the line but from there the race was on. Great battle with Bart, Hoffman, and McGlade. I finished the race almost touching Bart’s rear tire who was in 3rd place. This race was a gigantic confidence booster for me. I’ve never been able to keep up with those guys for 3 corners let a lone an entire race. Also another personal best lap time of a 1:31.789! I had back to back races, next was Supertwins. Here I battled with Eaton on his Ducati for 2nd place. Hoffman got away in the front but towards the end Mike and I started to real him in. Had another personal best in this race, 1:31.725.

Sunday started off with Lil Mazz testing the bike in practice. He said the bike was great everywhere but turn 2 which had some bad headshake so we were going to use McGlade’s damper which we got mounted up and then Markbilt shows up….starts making too many adjustments to the rear shock. I was worried with this as the bike was on rails Saturday and didn’t think anything needed to be adjusted. And I was right, the bike had major rear traction issues during the Team Challenge. Head shake gone but that is thanks to the second steering damper. Will started the the race and his goal (from me) was to be in the 1:35 range, possibly 1:34 range and he did it. Also threw in a 1:33 one lap. Our pit stops were a bit slow because of the slow dump can but we didn’t use much fuel. Mazziotto went out second with lap times ranging from 1:31 to 1:34. I went last and instantly almost highsided 3 corners in. Feet over rear tail. For the 18 or so laps out there it was scary. Rear traction was gone and it was very slippy. Still managed laps in 1:34-1:35 range. We were running in 3rd place when my stint started. We got lucky. 2nd place had some kind of radiator issue and had to DNF. We were 6-7 laps down from first but a 2nd place is more than alright in my book. Couldn’t be happier with the way Will and Anthony rode this bike that was lacking traction. I’m really kicking myself for letting Markbilt go near my bike, but live and learn.

Weekend Results
GTL – 7th
Ultralight-SBk – 4th
Supertwins – 3rd
Team Challenge – 2nd
Thunderbike – 5th
Lightweight SBK – 4th

Very happy to see the LWT Racer guys on the podium in #2 and #2 spot.

Katie snaps one during the TC

Fixing the gas cap before my stint in the Team Challenge.

Goal for the weekend, ride my own bike for every race. Mission accomplished. While it was a very up and down weekend with lap times and the bike. Overall everything went very well. Bike felt good, only needws to make a few clicks with the front forks. Power was down which I will look into but my friend Ben was able to pass down the straight at a good 10mph+ faster. This made it very difficult to get decent laptimes. Practice on saturday went decent turning 1:24 and 1:25 lap times on crap rear tire from 2010. The first race of the day did not go well either. Way off the pace, loosing focus. After this my spirit was pretty low but that would all change later. Next up was the Ultra-light SBK race which was very fun. Ben and I had a great race together but he edged me out in the end (damn his new fast bike). Ben rode fantastic, very happy for him and his new personal best laptimes. Something special had to happen in Thunderbike to save the weekend and it did. While the end result wasn’t the best, the race was great and the ride was good. I was able to catch up to Rob on his Ducati the last lap and pass him on the outside of turn 8. Even tho he motored me and finished it front of me, I knew there had to be a good lap time in there and there it was, a high 1:22. In no way shape or form did I expect to hit a 1:22 with this weekend running this dud of a motor. But it happened and it lifted my spirits for Sunday.

Sunday for the first 8 hours was a whole lot of nothing. Practice was about the same but there was a gigantic gap between practice and the first race, Thunderbike. Thunderbike went very well. I was stalking Jason Zelibor for most of the race in which allowed me to string together 5 laps in the 1:22’s. Fastest of a 1:22.4 which is a personal best by .5 a second. Finish in third a couple seconds behind Jason. But this race was boring compared to the race to come, Ultra-light Superbike. By far the best race I’ve ever had the privilege of entering. Wheel to Wheel for all 7 laps. 2nd through 6th place were attached. Swapping positions every lap, almost every corner. I went from 2nd, to 5th and everywhere else. You could throw a blanket over the bunch of us. I ended in 4th place at the line directly behind Mark Every who was on the rear wheel of 2nd place.

Saturday Results
Thunderbike : 5th
UltraLight SBK: 6th
Lightweight SBK: 8th

Sunday
Thunderbike : 3rd
UltraLight SBK: 4th
Lightweight SBK: 5th

Just like New Jersey, the weekend with my bike was over with in the first lap of practice. Since Saturday was a practice day this gave me all day to get something figured out. There was no fuel being sprayed. Bike was turning over, fuel pump was priming, just no fuel spraying through the injectors. Once again friends stepped up and lended me some bikes to ride. Wayne, who was back after a 2 year hiatus, took a session off and let me ride his. A bit later in the day I found myself once again on Chai’s SV. Track time is track time.

Sunday morning rolls around and I still have no bike to race. Brian rolls in with 2 SVs, one being the bike I rode at New Jersey. In practice he was kind enough to let me ride his superstock bike which was a great learning experience as the suspension set up was very different from any SV i’ve ridden before.

The only race to do on Sunday was Thunderbike. This I would pilot Wayne’s bike in. Managed a couple low 24’s but this was only good enough 9th place. There was a group of 4 riders in front of me that I managed to keep in my sights but unwilling to go any faster on Wayne’s machine.

Monday, no bike to practice on. Chai’s bike would be the bike for the Ultra-light superbike race. The front suspension felt like a jack hammer in a few corners and 11th out of 13 riders is the best I could manage. Can’t thank Chai and Wayne enough for letting me race their bikes.

The weekend started off a bit sour. First practice, second lap, motor died. Start tearing everything off bike to see what happened. Rear exhaust valve bent. Thought the weekend was over for me but some good friends stepped up and found/got me bikes to ride. First up was Chai. Second practice he went out and did a couple laps then came into hot pit where I would mount up and give his SV650 a try. It was very noticeable that his bike could use some help in the handling department. Back at the pits, after talking with Chai and measuring his suspension, we added 3/4″ to the rear shock which is quite a bit. AFter Chai came back from his first race (GTL) it was clear he as happy about the change. I took it out then in Thunderbike and wow what a huge difference. The bike could now hold a line, didn’t have to fight to keep it leaned over, and the exiting was loads better. The bike and myself were able to pull off a 7th place finish. Next and last race of the day for us was the Ultralight superbike race which Chai was in. This is where Vadim’s SV650 came into play. Never rode the bike but got out there. This race did not go near as well as the Thunderbike. I think after it was over some good steps could now be made by Vadim to improve his bike. The suspension was very stiff and the clutch was almost impossible to pull in. During the day I had given Brian my airbox and Power Commander so he could get his newly imported SV650 from Ireland running. The bike gets running which will come in handy for me on Sunday.

Brian decides he didn’t want to ride the new bike and stick with his SS bike. I was able to ride this machine in practice and in the Supertwins race. Altho it was sprung way too heavy for me the bike handled amazing. It did lack some speed up top but still an extremely fun bike to ride. I got the holeshot and lead the first lap of the Supertwins race before getting passed by a Ducati 1199. The next lap by another SV and then finished the race in that order. With some more time on that bike and softer springs, I believe I could have beat my personal best time.

Thunderbike – 7th
Supertwins – 3rd
Ultralight SBK – 11th

What a great weekend of racing. I’ve never been to CMP before but after going there I cannot wait to head back. The track is loads of fun. Insanely hard braking points, fun corners, fast sections. All around great. It was also fairly easy to learn. I was able to just dip into the 1:43s. The battles all weekend were fantastic. Grid sizes were big and always someone to fight with.

There was one downturn to the weekend which was the Team Challenege race Will and I had been looking forward to all off season. They extended the race 1 hour to a 3 hour event. I talked to Will and we added Tommy Wilson to our team. Will had a sprint right before the start of the endurance so him and Tommy agreed that Will would go last. I started the race and for the first 10 laps kept some of those fast Ducati’s in my sight. After 10 laps the bike started to die on power. Lap 20 I came in and Tommy hop on and was off. Tommy picked up where I had left off doing 1:45’s which is a very good consistent pace. We did not fuel during the rider change and that came back to bite us. 1 lap before Tommy was going to come in the bike died on him in turn 1. Out of gas. Which wouldn’t have been a major issue if the bike hadn’t been on the infield. CCS would not retrieve the bike so we had to forfeit the race before Will even got to swing a leg over my SV. There was a chance that the bike may not have made the entire length of the race anyhow as the motor was very tired. I examined the motor over the next week only to find out that the compression was extremely low, 60psi lower than what it should have been and rear cylinder head had very bad loss.

I still had 2 more sprints after the endurance race and was just about to pack up when Russell Masecar offered me his SV to race. I’m glad he offered and I’m glad i took him up on it. It was a great learning experience to ride a completely different set up then my own. Not only did I gain that knowledge but also gained points in Thunderbike and Lightweight SBK.

Saturday – Thunderbike 6th
Saturday – Lightweight Superbike 12th
Saturday – Ultralight Superbike 8th
Sunday – Thunderbike 4th
Sunday – Lightweight Superbike 9th
Sunday – Ultralight Superbike 7th

Video from the Ultra-light SBK race from Sunday morning. What you don’t see in the video is the freight trainer of racers behind.

Thanks to a couple individuals, Stephen Ludwig and Andy Palmer of AP MotoArts, I was given the opportunity to fly out to LA and race at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. The trip as a whole was just awesome to say the least. I flew out of Philadelphia on Thursday and landed in LA early afternoon. It wasn’t long before Stephen and I were in his motorhome on our way to the desert. This track is in the middle of no where. And not like East coast no where with trees and small towns, I mean nothing for 30 min. Not even trees. We got arrived at the track around 10pm and to my surprise there were people hanging out at the sign in building. This is new to me. This does not happen here on he east coast. Riders sign in and get to the paddock. This is pretty awesome, at least to me. The track owners are right there at the gate and are friends with these racers.

Friday was a trackday with Trackdaz which was great so I could learn the track before racing it. Other than some slow groups the day was great. Bike was awesome even tho it was set up for a #240 rider. Track is a ton of fun. Not much shifting or heavy braking like the tracks here. Couple cool switch backs, double apexes, and a huge bowl turn. I was feeling semi confident for the racing on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday morning practice went very well and qualifying even better. Landed down in the 2:01 range which was close to my goal for the whole weekend of a 2 minute flat. The two races I had were Formula Twins and Formula 2. The goal was just to be in the mid pack battle and that is exactly what happened. Both races were awesome and couldn’t be happier with where and who I was fighting with. I didn’t expect to be anywhere close to these guys. Fatigue did start to set in mid way through the Formula 2 race but still a great day. Saturday night was fantastic. Almost the entier paddock got together to eat, drink and watch UFC fights which were projected on the side of a trailer. I haven’t experienced this sort of thing at the race track. Back east we have smaller cliques. They get the entire paddock together.

Sunday. Formula Twins. Got a good start and battled almost the entire race with people. Just one of those races that you are 100% happy with the out come. I finished mid pack right behind Andy Palmer. Lap times were constantly in the 2:00 range and never left my comfort zone. I decided to skip the Lightweight shootout as my rear tire was shot and so was my body. Formula 2 was the last race and this well, this did not go all that great. Nothing bad happened, I was just so worn out. First 2 laps were good and then a brick wall showed up. Dropped way way way off the pace and limped it in. All in all an awesome weekend with some fantastic people. Will definitely do it again.

I can’t believe this is it. The last race weekend for me of the 2013 CCS race season. This is also a twin sprint weekend which means it is an expensive one. Signed up for 8 totals races. Thunderbike x2, Supertwins x2, Ultralight Superbike, Lightweight GP, and Lightweight Superbike x2.

Saturday morning practice did not go so hot. Bike was a bit out of whack and my tires were getting destroyed. Second practice after some suspension changes the bike was more settled but tires still getting chewed up. After practice I got a new set of Bridgestone slicks put on. My first race of the day was Supertwins so this would basically be just another practice session. Some more adjustments were made after the second practice and bike was even better during the supertwins race. Tire wear was perfect so far. Next up was the Lightweight Superbike race. Made some more changes to suspension but this went in the wrong directions. For the next race, Lightweight GP, I knew the suspension had to for me to meet my goal of 1:33 lap times which so far, I was no where close to. I also wanted to keep Brian in my sights for the entire race.

The start of the Lightweight GP race was great. Got an awesome launch and for the first time this year lead Brian for almost an entire lap. Once he got by me in turn 8 I knew I had to stay on him to get my lap times down. I managed to do so for the entire race and hitting a 1:34.2 in the process. Coming in 6th overall out of 20 riders. I was pretty happy about this race.

My last race of the day Saturday was Thunderbike. This went perfect. Got the hole shot and never saw a wheel. Took the win and secured the class championship. Everything was looking great for Sunday. Bike set up was on point, tire wear was great, and I had got a lap time that was close to my goal.

Sunday was a long day. CCS had the 3 hour team challenge even which would create a very long lunch break. Practice the bike felt great but coming back the tire wear was not good.

First race of the day was Ultra-light superbike. In this I had to deal with Brian and Matt who I had yet to beat this year. Again I got another great start, just not as good as the #999 ( Brian ). We started to work our way through the experts and eventually the Heavyweight SuperSport race. Matt had passed me as I got hung up on some experts. I was able to get Matt back for 2nd place and hold it till the end. 1:34.1 was my fastest time of the race. Getting very close to the 33’s.

After the 4 hour break for the Team Challenge event it was now time for the Lightweight Superbike race. This race did not go as well as I had hoped. Brian got away and my lap times were not good. But a second place is a second place. Battled with some experts I know I will be seeing next year as I will be moved up.

Thunderbike was next. This went almost identical as the race on Saturday winning by 30+ seconds. Even with a destroyed tire I was able to do consistent lap times just not the lap times I wanted.

Saturday

Thunderbike – 1st
Lwt Superbike – 2nd
Lightweight GP – 2nd
Supertwins – 2nd

Sunday

Thunderbike – 1st
Ultra-lwt SBK – 2nd
Lwt Superbike – 2nd
Supertwins – 2nd

Thanks to everyone who made this season a great one.

Thanks to Suomy/Van Leeuwen for getting me the new helmet in time for the weekend!