Kurt'sSV
Tue 9/27/05, 3:27PM
Willow Springs Motorcycle Club, Round 9, September 18
This will be my last race report for an indiscriminant amount of time. I finally had a get-off that was more than a simple low side, though as per the rest of my crashes, the bike took damage only to its left side.
The weather couldn't have been better for racing at Willow Springs that morning. I was confident that there would be some fast laps posted that day, and I was confident that I could turn a time in the 1:30 range. Unfortunately the motor acted a little funny coming out of turns one and three, both left-handers, but no where else during the morning warm-ups. It would hesitate when I would get back on the throttle, like it was low on gas, but that couldn't have been the problem because it had a full tank. Everything else about the bike felt fine, so I was hoping the problem would just go away for my first race, which was the first race of the day.
I was kind of excited to run Middle Weight Twins because I had not raced that class in several months. While my bike was probably the slowest on the grid, I had gotten a couple seconds faster, so I was looking forward to distancing myself from some guys on faster bikes. I was lined up on the inside of row two, so for the start, I was going to run it in deep like always, but real tight down low and try to sneak under some people. When the green flag flew, I reacted quickly, but the bike kind of got a weak launch. I might have let the RPM's drop too much while I was waiting for the flag. I made it down to turn one okay and came out in sixth place. I entered turn two fast and stayed a little wide. I drove around a Buell XB-12 pretty easily in the turn and was looking to go around a Ducati 748 as well, but the turn ended before I got the chance. I tried to outbreak the 748 going into turn three, but there was too much ground to make up and I almost got bucked off my bike, instead. Coming out of turn three, the bike stuttered a bit when I got on the throttle, but then it picked up. This still cost me a tenth or more. I got on the throttle real hard going down the hill to five and took that turn a little faster than I usual. Something I needed to start doing on a regular basis. I felt like I got a good drive out of five and over six, but by the time I got to turn seven, that XB-12 went flying by me. I followed him through turn eight at a speed that felt faster than usual. As we headed for turn nine, I decided I wanted to get back past this guy right away because I felt like I could outride him.
When I go into turn nine on my own, I'm cool. I just drive it in to my mark, back shift once and put the bike on my knee. When I'm following someone in, it can be kind of scary. I seem to run it in deeper than most people, so if I'm behind them, I find that I'm carrying a lot more entry speed and look to be about to run up their rear tire mid turn and I don't like hitting my front brake at full lean. So since I had decided I would try to get around this guy on the Buell in nine, I set myself up a little extra wide and drove in deep like I normally do. Within about a second of pitching the bike over to its side, I noticed out of my peripheral vision that I wasn't going to make the turn and I was running out of track. I was already at the outside edge of the track, and at the speed I was going, 130mph+, I was out of time to try to get the bike turned better, so I stood it up as quick as I could and road it off.
When I hit the dirt, the bike started moving around on me a lot, but then settled. I was surprised I didn't crash right away. I started hitting my rear brake to try to get the bike slowed, but it wasn't helping very much. Ahead of me was a dirt burm and beyond it by a few more feet was a brick wall that is about seven feet tall. At the speed I was going, I knew I wasn't going to get the bike stopped before I got to the burm. The last thing I remember was thinking if I should purposely lay the bike down or not. Apparently I didn't.
How I actually crashed and impacted the burm is unknown to me. I must have gone face first into something because that is where I had damage on my body. The rest of me barely has a bump or bruise with the exception of a right ankle sprain. I was unconscious long enough for the paramedics to consider calling in for a helicopter evac, but I regained consciousness after a few minutes. I don't remember the paramedics at all, or riding back to my pit in the ambulance, or signing a waiver saying I didn't want to go to Antelope Valley Hospital. By the look on my face, it was pretty obvious I didn't realize what was really happening, anyway. I do remember Dustin, Michael and Matt Quig helping my dad roll my bike into the back of the truck and also being impressed that I didn't get my leathers cut off me. Besides that, there isn't much else I remember until the drive home.
I got checked out at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach once we got back to my house. The CT scan on my head and the x-rays on my ankle came back negative for bad stuff, so I just had to live with having a foggy head and a hurt ankle for a few days.
My bike really isn't too bad, but it'll be a long time before I will get it fixed. I need to take a financial break from motorcycle racing for a while. It's a sport I love more than anything, so I'll return to it someday. Until then, I'll just be a regular spectator.
Big thanks to my parents for being there and taking care of me. I wouldn't have been able to drive home by myself. Also thanks to all my friends who helped me and helped load up all my stuff. That's really appreciated even though I don't remember any of it.
This will be my last race report for an indiscriminant amount of time. I finally had a get-off that was more than a simple low side, though as per the rest of my crashes, the bike took damage only to its left side.
The weather couldn't have been better for racing at Willow Springs that morning. I was confident that there would be some fast laps posted that day, and I was confident that I could turn a time in the 1:30 range. Unfortunately the motor acted a little funny coming out of turns one and three, both left-handers, but no where else during the morning warm-ups. It would hesitate when I would get back on the throttle, like it was low on gas, but that couldn't have been the problem because it had a full tank. Everything else about the bike felt fine, so I was hoping the problem would just go away for my first race, which was the first race of the day.
I was kind of excited to run Middle Weight Twins because I had not raced that class in several months. While my bike was probably the slowest on the grid, I had gotten a couple seconds faster, so I was looking forward to distancing myself from some guys on faster bikes. I was lined up on the inside of row two, so for the start, I was going to run it in deep like always, but real tight down low and try to sneak under some people. When the green flag flew, I reacted quickly, but the bike kind of got a weak launch. I might have let the RPM's drop too much while I was waiting for the flag. I made it down to turn one okay and came out in sixth place. I entered turn two fast and stayed a little wide. I drove around a Buell XB-12 pretty easily in the turn and was looking to go around a Ducati 748 as well, but the turn ended before I got the chance. I tried to outbreak the 748 going into turn three, but there was too much ground to make up and I almost got bucked off my bike, instead. Coming out of turn three, the bike stuttered a bit when I got on the throttle, but then it picked up. This still cost me a tenth or more. I got on the throttle real hard going down the hill to five and took that turn a little faster than I usual. Something I needed to start doing on a regular basis. I felt like I got a good drive out of five and over six, but by the time I got to turn seven, that XB-12 went flying by me. I followed him through turn eight at a speed that felt faster than usual. As we headed for turn nine, I decided I wanted to get back past this guy right away because I felt like I could outride him.
When I go into turn nine on my own, I'm cool. I just drive it in to my mark, back shift once and put the bike on my knee. When I'm following someone in, it can be kind of scary. I seem to run it in deeper than most people, so if I'm behind them, I find that I'm carrying a lot more entry speed and look to be about to run up their rear tire mid turn and I don't like hitting my front brake at full lean. So since I had decided I would try to get around this guy on the Buell in nine, I set myself up a little extra wide and drove in deep like I normally do. Within about a second of pitching the bike over to its side, I noticed out of my peripheral vision that I wasn't going to make the turn and I was running out of track. I was already at the outside edge of the track, and at the speed I was going, 130mph+, I was out of time to try to get the bike turned better, so I stood it up as quick as I could and road it off.
When I hit the dirt, the bike started moving around on me a lot, but then settled. I was surprised I didn't crash right away. I started hitting my rear brake to try to get the bike slowed, but it wasn't helping very much. Ahead of me was a dirt burm and beyond it by a few more feet was a brick wall that is about seven feet tall. At the speed I was going, I knew I wasn't going to get the bike stopped before I got to the burm. The last thing I remember was thinking if I should purposely lay the bike down or not. Apparently I didn't.
How I actually crashed and impacted the burm is unknown to me. I must have gone face first into something because that is where I had damage on my body. The rest of me barely has a bump or bruise with the exception of a right ankle sprain. I was unconscious long enough for the paramedics to consider calling in for a helicopter evac, but I regained consciousness after a few minutes. I don't remember the paramedics at all, or riding back to my pit in the ambulance, or signing a waiver saying I didn't want to go to Antelope Valley Hospital. By the look on my face, it was pretty obvious I didn't realize what was really happening, anyway. I do remember Dustin, Michael and Matt Quig helping my dad roll my bike into the back of the truck and also being impressed that I didn't get my leathers cut off me. Besides that, there isn't much else I remember until the drive home.
I got checked out at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach once we got back to my house. The CT scan on my head and the x-rays on my ankle came back negative for bad stuff, so I just had to live with having a foggy head and a hurt ankle for a few days.
My bike really isn't too bad, but it'll be a long time before I will get it fixed. I need to take a financial break from motorcycle racing for a while. It's a sport I love more than anything, so I'll return to it someday. Until then, I'll just be a regular spectator.
Big thanks to my parents for being there and taking care of me. I wouldn't have been able to drive home by myself. Also thanks to all my friends who helped me and helped load up all my stuff. That's really appreciated even though I don't remember any of it.