jadeblue1
Mon 5/29/06, 8:32PM
i’ve always wanted to race at fontana when wera is doing the ama course...i love that track, but i don’t love how much it costs to ride there. not to mention, i didn’t hink i had the skill level to do it. so up until sunday, i had ridden it a sum total of 4x.
flashback to last weekend at willow springs:
tom said “hey, you should come to fontana next weekend”... & i’m like “ i can’t, too expensive, track days are already sold out, i can’t get any practice in, blah, blah, blah:” & then tom said, “i’m not practiceing, zoran & i are just showing up, running the 2 practice sessions sunday before the races.”
so i rolled it around in my head for a day or so, & then i figured - how cavalier-just show up & race-so i did. first time ever i showed to race on a track that i didn’t know really well with no track time the day before to figure it out...
saturday afternoon i dropped my bike off in the garage & left with tom & zoran to grab some grub, get some sleep, & ride on sunday.
sunday morning-i got out for the first practice session-they run them just like willow springs before the races- 2 short warm ups before the riders meeting. the first session was interesting...more like a sighting lap at 75% speed... i was trying to figure out my turn points & braking points. i’m really horrible at t9 & the right hander after the yamaha bridge; but after the 2nd session, i knew that was as good as it was going to get, so i would have to try some gutsy passing in the parts of the track where i was fast & then park it in front of the competition & make them afraid to pass...:D
i still hold a novice license with wera, but the way they race is very different from wsmc & afm. they grid the experts up front, then a 5 row gap, then the novices, then another gap & the other waves behind that. so a wera grid could end up with 5 different races going at the same time on a 2 wave start. that can make traffic get very interesting.
1st race was formula 2-sv’s, buell’s, 250-2 strokes, etc. i was in row 9 on the far right side of the grid... i’m not sure how many people were in my race; there was more than one grid line & i was eyeballing the back row of the first wave, because that’s who i wanted to catch. however, there was a 2 stroke winding up right beside me, so i knew i was going to have to ride hard to stay ahead of whoever was behind me too... flag drops- i launch like i’m politley pulling out from a red light-wtf?- & i have to get on it pretty quick before i get pinched off on the turn into the infield. i lay over hard & run a rear tire through the dirt in t3 (but that’s ok) & see #688, 146, & 630 lined up in front of me like a parade line. as we head for the double apex left, i see 146 squirt away (he’s on a 2 stroke) & i dive for the inside & head off a bike trying to come around me.
i laid the bike into the 2nd part of the turn & go after 688-he’s got motor on me, but i catch up to him in 9, & then blow it as i turn in too soon & have to correct mid corner. we head under the yamaha bridge & into the other turn i’m not so good at & now we’re both catching up to 630, & 2 other bikes that balked the entry. 688 does the right-left -right transition & goes by one of the bikes...i stick on his tail & get by it too as we make the tight left towards the nascar bank... 2 more quick lefts & then we’re climbing- we catch the other bike headed towards the finish line & 688 out motors me as he heads for t1. i drift up the embankement to set up for the dive into the right-left chicane & as i flick the bike hard right i see a bike completely blow the turn & continue on the nascar straight & once past the chicane he drops in front of me like nothing happened...
ok, so now i’m a little nervous & a little pissed, but i passed this guy in morning practice, so in my head i say “ buddy, you’re getting passed, ‘cuz i don’t want to walk all the way to the office to protest you” so i start lining up on him for my first opportunity to pass...so i start mentally searching my bags of tricks for passing...DOH! i don’t have that many, so i decide to try one i’ve only done a couple of times in practice- get beside somebody & just make them flinch...I started creeping up beside him to do it in t9, since i turn too early there any way, it would completely mess him up...but suddenly there’s a waving yellow & a bike off the track in t9, so i drop just behind Foolio & try to poke around him before the yamaha bridge...can’t do it- he takes as bad of a line into the right-left-right as i do, so i chill & stay on his 6 as best as i can...he’s got motor on me too-it’s obviously a faster bike than mine, as we climb the bank, that’s when i realize he can’t make the turn into the chicane because he goes down the middle of the track instead of setting up for the turn.
so i watch him blow it again, but now i see tom-#630 just going into the chicane, i start watching him & ignore the other guy, who once again drops between us like nothing happened. so now we’re all on the brakes to turn left onto the infield part , i get a wheel throught the dirt again, & toss it right to chase those 2 into the double apex... Foolio sets up on the outside & i dive for the inside & keep it tight for the 2nd part of the turn, making him go behind me & then it’s into the chicane before t9...so i’m evil at this point & do the pass manuever i was going to pull on him before...cut it early & take the scariest line i can to make him check up.. but this time i’m doing it while ahead of him to block a pass from him & kill his drive off the corner...it works & i now i’m riding like a maniac to catch tom.
for the next 2 laps i’m trying to figure out where to pass him..i’ve got him on the brakes to the infield, but i don’t want to try it there, & he takes a similar line through some of the other corners.. so i spend a lap catching up just to watch him pull away on the nascar bank (one of these days i need to build my motor!) ok now the 2nd lap into this, i’m not playing around & as we go into the infield, i set up to take him in the double left. just then, Z-Man Elite goes flying by with 2 angry bees (2 stroke’s) hot in pursuit...
they weave between us into & out of the double left, so i’m scrabbling for ground as we head into t9 & i take the weird too-tight line i did on the other guy & hope i don’t make the rear end step out from lighting up the throttle... as we go through t9, i get beside him & out of the corner of my eye see him check up, so i nail it-over the curbing towards the yamaha bridge...it’s the last lap of the race, because the lead guys caught us, so i'm going to go too hot into the right turn after the bridge & trailbrake to the apex & flick the bike hard & left & keep my fingers crossed that what keith code said about “there’s no such thing as flicking a bike too fast” holds true...at this point, i’m not afraid of crashing-i’m grinning ear-to-ear because finally all the higher speed stuff i’ve been shown how to do, i’m finally trying...into the corner-hard-i’m gently releasing the brake like you’re supposed to do, but i can still feel the front end loading up...but the coolest thing happens when i finally let off the brake, gently turn on the throttle- step on the left peg hard -press down hard on the left handlebar...the bike is completely on the edge of the front tire, and it’s holding...and then i’m hard on the right peg, pressing on the right handgrip hard & quick...(keith code was right!) I make the final left turns onto the nascar bank & pin it to win it (or in this case, place 3rd)
now this is the most fun i’ve had on my bike EVER!! (it just keeps getting better) michelins are the best tire in the world, because they grip like nobody’s business. and i think i’m going to have to start calling my motorcycle my significant other, because i will have ridden it for 5 weekends straight by the time this whole thing is over: last weekend-wsmc races, this weekend-wera west & hypercycles, next weekend-thunderhill, then wera west at miller in utah, then afm at thunderhill...
big big big thanks to zoran for the bike help, suspension work & advice, tom for encouraging me to go to the “dark side”, racer’s edge for the tires & taking such good care of me, crago racing for all the help, bike work, advice, etc-especially when i couldn’t do it myself, graffiti palace for the encouragement, $$ for fuel, gate fees & misc expenses, catalyst reaction for the suspension work & help at the track, hypercycles for the track support, and socalsvriders.org for letting me spout my race reports here & the knowledge base on sv’s in general (especially kurterator for the grammar & syntax corrections as i hate typing :D)
flashback to last weekend at willow springs:
tom said “hey, you should come to fontana next weekend”... & i’m like “ i can’t, too expensive, track days are already sold out, i can’t get any practice in, blah, blah, blah:” & then tom said, “i’m not practiceing, zoran & i are just showing up, running the 2 practice sessions sunday before the races.”
so i rolled it around in my head for a day or so, & then i figured - how cavalier-just show up & race-so i did. first time ever i showed to race on a track that i didn’t know really well with no track time the day before to figure it out...
saturday afternoon i dropped my bike off in the garage & left with tom & zoran to grab some grub, get some sleep, & ride on sunday.
sunday morning-i got out for the first practice session-they run them just like willow springs before the races- 2 short warm ups before the riders meeting. the first session was interesting...more like a sighting lap at 75% speed... i was trying to figure out my turn points & braking points. i’m really horrible at t9 & the right hander after the yamaha bridge; but after the 2nd session, i knew that was as good as it was going to get, so i would have to try some gutsy passing in the parts of the track where i was fast & then park it in front of the competition & make them afraid to pass...:D
i still hold a novice license with wera, but the way they race is very different from wsmc & afm. they grid the experts up front, then a 5 row gap, then the novices, then another gap & the other waves behind that. so a wera grid could end up with 5 different races going at the same time on a 2 wave start. that can make traffic get very interesting.
1st race was formula 2-sv’s, buell’s, 250-2 strokes, etc. i was in row 9 on the far right side of the grid... i’m not sure how many people were in my race; there was more than one grid line & i was eyeballing the back row of the first wave, because that’s who i wanted to catch. however, there was a 2 stroke winding up right beside me, so i knew i was going to have to ride hard to stay ahead of whoever was behind me too... flag drops- i launch like i’m politley pulling out from a red light-wtf?- & i have to get on it pretty quick before i get pinched off on the turn into the infield. i lay over hard & run a rear tire through the dirt in t3 (but that’s ok) & see #688, 146, & 630 lined up in front of me like a parade line. as we head for the double apex left, i see 146 squirt away (he’s on a 2 stroke) & i dive for the inside & head off a bike trying to come around me.
i laid the bike into the 2nd part of the turn & go after 688-he’s got motor on me, but i catch up to him in 9, & then blow it as i turn in too soon & have to correct mid corner. we head under the yamaha bridge & into the other turn i’m not so good at & now we’re both catching up to 630, & 2 other bikes that balked the entry. 688 does the right-left -right transition & goes by one of the bikes...i stick on his tail & get by it too as we make the tight left towards the nascar bank... 2 more quick lefts & then we’re climbing- we catch the other bike headed towards the finish line & 688 out motors me as he heads for t1. i drift up the embankement to set up for the dive into the right-left chicane & as i flick the bike hard right i see a bike completely blow the turn & continue on the nascar straight & once past the chicane he drops in front of me like nothing happened...
ok, so now i’m a little nervous & a little pissed, but i passed this guy in morning practice, so in my head i say “ buddy, you’re getting passed, ‘cuz i don’t want to walk all the way to the office to protest you” so i start lining up on him for my first opportunity to pass...so i start mentally searching my bags of tricks for passing...DOH! i don’t have that many, so i decide to try one i’ve only done a couple of times in practice- get beside somebody & just make them flinch...I started creeping up beside him to do it in t9, since i turn too early there any way, it would completely mess him up...but suddenly there’s a waving yellow & a bike off the track in t9, so i drop just behind Foolio & try to poke around him before the yamaha bridge...can’t do it- he takes as bad of a line into the right-left-right as i do, so i chill & stay on his 6 as best as i can...he’s got motor on me too-it’s obviously a faster bike than mine, as we climb the bank, that’s when i realize he can’t make the turn into the chicane because he goes down the middle of the track instead of setting up for the turn.
so i watch him blow it again, but now i see tom-#630 just going into the chicane, i start watching him & ignore the other guy, who once again drops between us like nothing happened. so now we’re all on the brakes to turn left onto the infield part , i get a wheel throught the dirt again, & toss it right to chase those 2 into the double apex... Foolio sets up on the outside & i dive for the inside & keep it tight for the 2nd part of the turn, making him go behind me & then it’s into the chicane before t9...so i’m evil at this point & do the pass manuever i was going to pull on him before...cut it early & take the scariest line i can to make him check up.. but this time i’m doing it while ahead of him to block a pass from him & kill his drive off the corner...it works & i now i’m riding like a maniac to catch tom.
for the next 2 laps i’m trying to figure out where to pass him..i’ve got him on the brakes to the infield, but i don’t want to try it there, & he takes a similar line through some of the other corners.. so i spend a lap catching up just to watch him pull away on the nascar bank (one of these days i need to build my motor!) ok now the 2nd lap into this, i’m not playing around & as we go into the infield, i set up to take him in the double left. just then, Z-Man Elite goes flying by with 2 angry bees (2 stroke’s) hot in pursuit...
they weave between us into & out of the double left, so i’m scrabbling for ground as we head into t9 & i take the weird too-tight line i did on the other guy & hope i don’t make the rear end step out from lighting up the throttle... as we go through t9, i get beside him & out of the corner of my eye see him check up, so i nail it-over the curbing towards the yamaha bridge...it’s the last lap of the race, because the lead guys caught us, so i'm going to go too hot into the right turn after the bridge & trailbrake to the apex & flick the bike hard & left & keep my fingers crossed that what keith code said about “there’s no such thing as flicking a bike too fast” holds true...at this point, i’m not afraid of crashing-i’m grinning ear-to-ear because finally all the higher speed stuff i’ve been shown how to do, i’m finally trying...into the corner-hard-i’m gently releasing the brake like you’re supposed to do, but i can still feel the front end loading up...but the coolest thing happens when i finally let off the brake, gently turn on the throttle- step on the left peg hard -press down hard on the left handlebar...the bike is completely on the edge of the front tire, and it’s holding...and then i’m hard on the right peg, pressing on the right handgrip hard & quick...(keith code was right!) I make the final left turns onto the nascar bank & pin it to win it (or in this case, place 3rd)
now this is the most fun i’ve had on my bike EVER!! (it just keeps getting better) michelins are the best tire in the world, because they grip like nobody’s business. and i think i’m going to have to start calling my motorcycle my significant other, because i will have ridden it for 5 weekends straight by the time this whole thing is over: last weekend-wsmc races, this weekend-wera west & hypercycles, next weekend-thunderhill, then wera west at miller in utah, then afm at thunderhill...
big big big thanks to zoran for the bike help, suspension work & advice, tom for encouraging me to go to the “dark side”, racer’s edge for the tires & taking such good care of me, crago racing for all the help, bike work, advice, etc-especially when i couldn’t do it myself, graffiti palace for the encouragement, $$ for fuel, gate fees & misc expenses, catalyst reaction for the suspension work & help at the track, hypercycles for the track support, and socalsvriders.org for letting me spout my race reports here & the knowledge base on sv’s in general (especially kurterator for the grammar & syntax corrections as i hate typing :D)