Kurt'sSV
Thu 10/21/04, 2:45PM
Willow Springs Motorcycle Club, October 16-17, Round 10
This was the weekend of the third annual Toyota 200 at Willow Springs. The T200 is a big money race ($150,000 cash purse) and a couple of pro racers and teams enter the event. But that race was going to take place on Sunday and I was racing on Saturday. No big money for me.
The pits were packed with all the extra people so we had to pit all the way at the back fence. My races were close together so coming back to the pit and then heading out again a few minutes later seemed like a hassle. Instead we just decided that I would lean my bike up against the wall down by the bleachers after the first race and just hang out until I had to go to my next race.
It seemed like forever before the 550 superbike race was called to pre-grid. I was gridded in the middle of the pack and there was actually a good turnout for the class this month. 19 people were going to start this race. Little did I know that I was going to be the 19th person going in to turn one on the first lap. I mixed my shift pattern up in my head while I was cruising down the front straight to get into my grid position. On Friday I had ridden Shandra’s SV to and from work. Her bike has the standard shift pattern. My bike has the reverse shift pattern for quicker up-shifts. So instead of toeing my bike up into first, I kicked it down into sixth. When the green flag dropped, I wasn’t going very fast. The bike didn’t stall, it just rolled real slow. I didn’t understand what was wrong. I thought the bike was misfiring. What I did know is that everyone was long gone and I was still putting down the front straight. It took me about ten or fifteen seconds to realize what I had done wrong. Once I did figure out the problem, I toed the shifter up a couple of times; pissed because I just blew my chance at a good finish.
My goal for the weekend was to turn a 1:34 lap time. Being that I was dead last, now was the perfect time to throw down some fast laps. I rode as hard as I could so I could begin running people down. I caught the first person on the back straight and was in 18th going through turn 8. A rider went down in nine and there were waving yellows in that turn. I caught up to two bikes in that turn and had to wait until the front straight to pass them. I went by a rider under the brakes entering turn three and pushed by another guy coming down the hill to turn five. It was fun passing people. Normally in a race I’ll pass only one or two people after I get passed by a bunch of people in the first turn.
I rode around another guy in eight and saw that the next two bikes I was going to have to catch were SV’s. All these other bikes had looked like they were FZR 400’s with the exception of one RS250. The SV’s were going to be much faster and tougher to catch so I was going to have to really hustle to catch them. I was shown the crossed flags meaning the race was half over, but I still had some time. I was riding my bike harder than I ever had in my life, on every part of the track. I had a new belly pan on the bottom of my bike and I could hear it scraping the ground on every turn. I knew I was wearing a big hole in that thing. Coming out of two I wasn’t sure what I was dragging more, my knee or the belly pan. I flicked the bike from left to right going into four so hard that I almost lost it. I normally don’t touch my knee down in four A because I don’t put it out, but the ground was right there this time. Going down to five I saw that I had made up almost all the ground on the two SV’s ahead of me. I got a decent drive out of five and knew I had hit six hard because of all the head-shake I got from the bike as I crested the hill. I caught the SV’s in nine but couldn’t make the pass, there. Down the front straight we went in a three bike draft. The second SV pulled out of the draft of the first bike after we passed the start/finish line and I moved over with him. Once we hit the brake markers I moved out of his draft as well because I wanted to get by both of them in turn one. We were going in there three wide. I hope the people in the bleachers were watching this. I got by both of the SV’s, but entered the turn too hot and got a bad drive coming out of it. The bike I drafted down the front straight re-passed me before we went into turn two. I began rolling around his outside in two and we exited the turn side by side. I was confident, now, that I could put him behind me for good entering three. I out braked him and charged up the hill in front, hoping to see another bike or two within striking distance.
Unfortunately the next two bikes were Ken Ritchie and JC Gibbs. They were going over six as I was coming out of four B, so I knew right away that I would not be able to catch them in the remaining two and a half laps. Pushing as hard as I did those first couple of laps wore me out and putting it into conservation mode was the smart thing to do. I backed it off some the last two laps. A bike broke down on the fifth lap which moved me up another spot.
I took the checkered flag in 9th place. I could have finished better if I was in the right gear at the start, but at was fun making all those passes. When I pulled in Shandra showed me my lap times. My first lap was a 1:54. Not good. My fourth lap, the lap where I was working to catch those two SV’s, was a 1:33.4! I was really stoked by this and the disappointment of a poor finish was made up by that lap time. Wanting to do a 1:34 was a pretty lofty goal for myself, but getting into the ‘33’s was beyond my expectations.
It wasn’t long before my next race was called up and it was a good idea to not go all the way back to my pit in between the races. This race was the Battle of the Twins: Middleweight. I had never raced this race before and it would be the first time I had done a race where my bike was the underdog since I left the novice class. In BOTT middleweight you could run up to a 750cc liquid cooled twin or a 1200cc air cooled, push-rod twin. So the dominant bike in this race was the Ducati 749/748. I was in the right gear this time for the start and got a good launch. It looked like just about everyone else got a good launch, too. I got pinched off really bad going over turn six on the first lap and lost touch with the fast bikes going down the back straight. I went by this 748 in turn eight and tried to catch up.
Due to the fast speed of WSIR, we get spread out really quickly. The only bike anywhere in sight was Ken Ritchie’s. He had a bit of a lead on me, but I knew I could catch him if I tried. I chiseled away at his lead on the second and third laps and on the fourth I was close enough to start thinking about making a pass. Last month I passed him coming down the hill from four to five. Earlier this morning, I passed him in the same spot during practice. I set myself up to make the same pass on him, but the little bastard took a tighter line coming out of four B and blocked me! Like an idiot I showed him my hand during practice, so he was ready for me during the race. I tried forcing my way past him on the outside, but I couldn’t get along side of him enough to force him to give it to me entering five.
On the next lap I passed him under braking entering three. Once ahead of Ken, I figured I had put him behind me for good. In seven I found that I was wrong. My line and drive from five to six still sucked, but his didn’t. He caught me on the back straight and went ahead of me as we left seven and dove in for eight. I thought about passing him on the inside going into nine. I had watched people do it in other races and even saw it done first hand to me by Bradley Adams during practice once. It seemed pretty easy. I had never passed anyone in nine before and when it came for the moment of truth, I didn’t put enough effort into it and could not get underneath him. I drafted him down the front straight and instead went by him on the brakes entering one. Like in the last race, though, I got into the turn too hot and got a bad drive coming out. Ken pulled up along side of me coming out of the turn. We were side by side going into two, but I had the inside position and I wasn’t giving it up. I saw him start to swing down into the turn, but I wasn’t going to back off and I made him back off. I was afraid we’d touch, but we didn’t, and I was in the driver’s seat. I knew I had to stay ahead of him through two so I could try to put as much distance between ourselves before we got onto the back straight. I tried to stay relaxed going into three but I think I was too relaxed. I overshot the turn and drifted so wide on the exit that I could not get on the gas until I was almost to four. There went my shot at getting a lead on him.
Not surprisingly he passed me again on the back straight. I stayed closer to him going into eight and ran up on his rear wheel coming out of the turn. I was now in the perfect position to try the inside pass entering nine. I had to make it work if I was going to beat him. I couldn’t get by before the finish line no matter how good my drive out of nine was if I stayed behind him. We both charged nine as hard as our bikes would go, but I hung on to my throttle just a second longer and that allowed me to get by him. Once in front I was in control. I slowed down a bit and drifted out some to try to get a decent drive out of nine. I was a little late on the gas at the apex, but I had a feeling it would be enough. Once onto the front straight I tried to make myself as small as I could and just hung on all the way to the checkered flag. I think our overall race times were about a tenth of a second apart. I’ve never raced so hard before. I made passes that I wouldn’t even consider trying a few months ago. I think I only got tenth in the race, and due to all the battling for position, my lap times weren’t that great, but I was still satisfied with my performance. You never know how good you really are until you’re tested to your limits.
Special thanks to Steve Slaughter for making me a belly pan to run on my bike and to Robert for figuring out how to attach it. Thanks to Zoran Vujasinovic for rebuilding my forks to proper race spec. The front end of the bike felt so much better. I appreciate my parents coming up to watch along with the “other” Steve riding out from Fontana. And of course big thanks to Shandra for helping me so much every race weekend.
Thanks for the support I get from my sponsors: Jadeblue Creative, Tustin Martial Arts, Galfer, LP Team Privateer and SoCalSVRiders.org.
This was the weekend of the third annual Toyota 200 at Willow Springs. The T200 is a big money race ($150,000 cash purse) and a couple of pro racers and teams enter the event. But that race was going to take place on Sunday and I was racing on Saturday. No big money for me.
The pits were packed with all the extra people so we had to pit all the way at the back fence. My races were close together so coming back to the pit and then heading out again a few minutes later seemed like a hassle. Instead we just decided that I would lean my bike up against the wall down by the bleachers after the first race and just hang out until I had to go to my next race.
It seemed like forever before the 550 superbike race was called to pre-grid. I was gridded in the middle of the pack and there was actually a good turnout for the class this month. 19 people were going to start this race. Little did I know that I was going to be the 19th person going in to turn one on the first lap. I mixed my shift pattern up in my head while I was cruising down the front straight to get into my grid position. On Friday I had ridden Shandra’s SV to and from work. Her bike has the standard shift pattern. My bike has the reverse shift pattern for quicker up-shifts. So instead of toeing my bike up into first, I kicked it down into sixth. When the green flag dropped, I wasn’t going very fast. The bike didn’t stall, it just rolled real slow. I didn’t understand what was wrong. I thought the bike was misfiring. What I did know is that everyone was long gone and I was still putting down the front straight. It took me about ten or fifteen seconds to realize what I had done wrong. Once I did figure out the problem, I toed the shifter up a couple of times; pissed because I just blew my chance at a good finish.
My goal for the weekend was to turn a 1:34 lap time. Being that I was dead last, now was the perfect time to throw down some fast laps. I rode as hard as I could so I could begin running people down. I caught the first person on the back straight and was in 18th going through turn 8. A rider went down in nine and there were waving yellows in that turn. I caught up to two bikes in that turn and had to wait until the front straight to pass them. I went by a rider under the brakes entering turn three and pushed by another guy coming down the hill to turn five. It was fun passing people. Normally in a race I’ll pass only one or two people after I get passed by a bunch of people in the first turn.
I rode around another guy in eight and saw that the next two bikes I was going to have to catch were SV’s. All these other bikes had looked like they were FZR 400’s with the exception of one RS250. The SV’s were going to be much faster and tougher to catch so I was going to have to really hustle to catch them. I was shown the crossed flags meaning the race was half over, but I still had some time. I was riding my bike harder than I ever had in my life, on every part of the track. I had a new belly pan on the bottom of my bike and I could hear it scraping the ground on every turn. I knew I was wearing a big hole in that thing. Coming out of two I wasn’t sure what I was dragging more, my knee or the belly pan. I flicked the bike from left to right going into four so hard that I almost lost it. I normally don’t touch my knee down in four A because I don’t put it out, but the ground was right there this time. Going down to five I saw that I had made up almost all the ground on the two SV’s ahead of me. I got a decent drive out of five and knew I had hit six hard because of all the head-shake I got from the bike as I crested the hill. I caught the SV’s in nine but couldn’t make the pass, there. Down the front straight we went in a three bike draft. The second SV pulled out of the draft of the first bike after we passed the start/finish line and I moved over with him. Once we hit the brake markers I moved out of his draft as well because I wanted to get by both of them in turn one. We were going in there three wide. I hope the people in the bleachers were watching this. I got by both of the SV’s, but entered the turn too hot and got a bad drive coming out of it. The bike I drafted down the front straight re-passed me before we went into turn two. I began rolling around his outside in two and we exited the turn side by side. I was confident, now, that I could put him behind me for good entering three. I out braked him and charged up the hill in front, hoping to see another bike or two within striking distance.
Unfortunately the next two bikes were Ken Ritchie and JC Gibbs. They were going over six as I was coming out of four B, so I knew right away that I would not be able to catch them in the remaining two and a half laps. Pushing as hard as I did those first couple of laps wore me out and putting it into conservation mode was the smart thing to do. I backed it off some the last two laps. A bike broke down on the fifth lap which moved me up another spot.
I took the checkered flag in 9th place. I could have finished better if I was in the right gear at the start, but at was fun making all those passes. When I pulled in Shandra showed me my lap times. My first lap was a 1:54. Not good. My fourth lap, the lap where I was working to catch those two SV’s, was a 1:33.4! I was really stoked by this and the disappointment of a poor finish was made up by that lap time. Wanting to do a 1:34 was a pretty lofty goal for myself, but getting into the ‘33’s was beyond my expectations.
It wasn’t long before my next race was called up and it was a good idea to not go all the way back to my pit in between the races. This race was the Battle of the Twins: Middleweight. I had never raced this race before and it would be the first time I had done a race where my bike was the underdog since I left the novice class. In BOTT middleweight you could run up to a 750cc liquid cooled twin or a 1200cc air cooled, push-rod twin. So the dominant bike in this race was the Ducati 749/748. I was in the right gear this time for the start and got a good launch. It looked like just about everyone else got a good launch, too. I got pinched off really bad going over turn six on the first lap and lost touch with the fast bikes going down the back straight. I went by this 748 in turn eight and tried to catch up.
Due to the fast speed of WSIR, we get spread out really quickly. The only bike anywhere in sight was Ken Ritchie’s. He had a bit of a lead on me, but I knew I could catch him if I tried. I chiseled away at his lead on the second and third laps and on the fourth I was close enough to start thinking about making a pass. Last month I passed him coming down the hill from four to five. Earlier this morning, I passed him in the same spot during practice. I set myself up to make the same pass on him, but the little bastard took a tighter line coming out of four B and blocked me! Like an idiot I showed him my hand during practice, so he was ready for me during the race. I tried forcing my way past him on the outside, but I couldn’t get along side of him enough to force him to give it to me entering five.
On the next lap I passed him under braking entering three. Once ahead of Ken, I figured I had put him behind me for good. In seven I found that I was wrong. My line and drive from five to six still sucked, but his didn’t. He caught me on the back straight and went ahead of me as we left seven and dove in for eight. I thought about passing him on the inside going into nine. I had watched people do it in other races and even saw it done first hand to me by Bradley Adams during practice once. It seemed pretty easy. I had never passed anyone in nine before and when it came for the moment of truth, I didn’t put enough effort into it and could not get underneath him. I drafted him down the front straight and instead went by him on the brakes entering one. Like in the last race, though, I got into the turn too hot and got a bad drive coming out. Ken pulled up along side of me coming out of the turn. We were side by side going into two, but I had the inside position and I wasn’t giving it up. I saw him start to swing down into the turn, but I wasn’t going to back off and I made him back off. I was afraid we’d touch, but we didn’t, and I was in the driver’s seat. I knew I had to stay ahead of him through two so I could try to put as much distance between ourselves before we got onto the back straight. I tried to stay relaxed going into three but I think I was too relaxed. I overshot the turn and drifted so wide on the exit that I could not get on the gas until I was almost to four. There went my shot at getting a lead on him.
Not surprisingly he passed me again on the back straight. I stayed closer to him going into eight and ran up on his rear wheel coming out of the turn. I was now in the perfect position to try the inside pass entering nine. I had to make it work if I was going to beat him. I couldn’t get by before the finish line no matter how good my drive out of nine was if I stayed behind him. We both charged nine as hard as our bikes would go, but I hung on to my throttle just a second longer and that allowed me to get by him. Once in front I was in control. I slowed down a bit and drifted out some to try to get a decent drive out of nine. I was a little late on the gas at the apex, but I had a feeling it would be enough. Once onto the front straight I tried to make myself as small as I could and just hung on all the way to the checkered flag. I think our overall race times were about a tenth of a second apart. I’ve never raced so hard before. I made passes that I wouldn’t even consider trying a few months ago. I think I only got tenth in the race, and due to all the battling for position, my lap times weren’t that great, but I was still satisfied with my performance. You never know how good you really are until you’re tested to your limits.
Special thanks to Steve Slaughter for making me a belly pan to run on my bike and to Robert for figuring out how to attach it. Thanks to Zoran Vujasinovic for rebuilding my forks to proper race spec. The front end of the bike felt so much better. I appreciate my parents coming up to watch along with the “other” Steve riding out from Fontana. And of course big thanks to Shandra for helping me so much every race weekend.
Thanks for the support I get from my sponsors: Jadeblue Creative, Tustin Martial Arts, Galfer, LP Team Privateer and SoCalSVRiders.org.