Kurt'sSV
Tue 6/20/06, 6:55PM
Willow Springs Motorcycle Club, Round 6, June 2006
So after last month I took the plunge and bought my own flat-slides, with a credit card of course. I don’t have that kind of cash. Andy Palmer ordered them for me though his shop, West Coast GP Cycles, and helped me install them and dyno tuned the bike for me. Very nice, especially considering we’re direct competitors on the track.
For Formula Twins Light Weight I lined up in pole position again. I got a pretty good start, but Tim Martinez got an even better one. He’s been working on his starts and his bike is still a tad faster than mine. I still almost got around him in turn one, but almost doesn’t count. I could keep with him, no problem, but getting by him was another issue. There should have been more urgency in getting around him because while Kevin Jump got a poor start on his Advanced Kawasaki sponsored (that’s his dealership) Ninja 650R, I knew he was coming and his bike is FAST.
Martinez has gotten better on the brakes going into three so I figured an easier way to pass him was to get a great drive out of nine and pass him down the straight with the help of the draft. Since I wasted so much time pussy footing around behind Martinez, Jump caught us at the end of the second lap in nine. I saw him trying to get around me in the turn, but he couldn’t quite do it. I fended him off down the front straight and stayed in behind Martinez.
I used to be really good at turn nine. That was before I got knocked out crashing in that turn last year. Jump takes the turn like I used to – wide and fast. That turn’s his strength, and he used it to pass me at the end of lap three, which was half way. The races were supposed to be eight laps, but due to massive delays from oil clean-up, all races from #5 on were shortened to six laps.
I tried for a pass on Jump going into three, but it looked like he had me beat. I was expecting him to turn in at any time, but he kept slowing and slowing. I didn’t understand what he was doing so I just kept looking at him while we were on the brakes waiting for him to turn in. He finally did but by then we were at a crawl and I was too dumb founded to take his line. That was my big chance at getting back in front of him, and I blew it. Jump then caught Martinez in nine to take the lead. I finally got the drive I’ve been waiting for out of nine and passed Martinez down the front straight and hoped I could stay in touch with Jump.
I started noticing bits of smoke coming out of the back of Jump's bike, like he was having engine problems. His bike didn’t seem as fast as I thought it would be, and I could make up ground on the brakes going into one and three. The smoke got worse and I was expecting him to get black flagged. The big difference in the race, though, was the traffic we caught. Jump was able to get through it all clean and I wasn’t. I finished a little over a second and half back from him for second place. On our cool down lap they had the black flag out for him. If our race was eight laps like originally scheduled, he would have been black flagged, handing the lead to me. That’s not the greatest way to win. Turns out it wasn’t his motor smoking, but his tire smoking from his exhaust rubbing against it. I’m not really happy with second. Next month I’ll need to pull my skirt down.
The wind was pretty bad for most of the day, Sunday, but by the time 550 Superbike rolled around the wind had actually died down some and was blowing in a different direction. The normal wind direction for Willow is South/South West, but this time it was blowing straight out of the West. What this would do is push you real good down the back straight into turn eight, but then when you’re turning South in eight, it would push you real hard out toward the dirt. So that kind of sucked.
I got a good start from pole, but again, Martinez got a better one. I took turn one too wide so he gapped me a bit going to turn two. I caught back up pretty easily so I wasn’t sweating it. As the 550 Superbike grid was kind of light, I wasn’t worried about anyone catching Martinez and I – we were on our own. So again I didn’t want to have to work to make the pass on him, I just wanted it to get handed to me.
The wind blowing from a different direction kind of goofed me up (almost pushing me off the track in eight was almost more than a bit of a goof up). I made a few mistakes allowing Martinez to stay ahead of me, and also the draft worked different. It finally dawned on my pee brain where I need to be behind him down the front straight for the wind to help my drafting. I passed him just before we got to the brake markers for one. Because I was entering the turn kind of shallow, I slowed a bit too much, allowing Martinez to carry more speed and get up next to me mid corner. We were real close and I’ll have to give him some props for making a pass like that.
He had position on me entering two, so I had to give it to him. I was a little pissed now, so I worked harder through that turn to get along side of Martinez at the exit. This time going into turn three I sucked it up and went under him on the brakes. After that, I didn’t see him again.
The only other bike I saw was a Buell that we caught from the Heavy Weight Twins race that started before us. I passed him down the front straight. No drafting necessary, just motor. Flat-slides kick ass. So it was good to get that win and I extended my points lead in that class. I also still have the points lead in Formula Twins Lightweight, but I need to win that race to keep my points lead from diminishing any more.
While I really wish I would have won F Twins, a first and a second on the day is pretty good. From the track I drove out to Buttonwillow to do a track day out there on Monday. That was fun, but I forgot to take my race face off and punted a guy out of my way in the first session. Oops. :o
Again I’d like to thank Andy Palmer and West Coast GP Cycles for helping make my bike fast. I’d also like to thank my personal sponsors: SoCalSVRiders.org, Michelin – for great tires and a contingency program that’s allowing me to get their great tires for free, now, and LP Team Privateer. I’d also like to thank the class sponsors: Little Big Racing and VP Fuels.
So after last month I took the plunge and bought my own flat-slides, with a credit card of course. I don’t have that kind of cash. Andy Palmer ordered them for me though his shop, West Coast GP Cycles, and helped me install them and dyno tuned the bike for me. Very nice, especially considering we’re direct competitors on the track.
For Formula Twins Light Weight I lined up in pole position again. I got a pretty good start, but Tim Martinez got an even better one. He’s been working on his starts and his bike is still a tad faster than mine. I still almost got around him in turn one, but almost doesn’t count. I could keep with him, no problem, but getting by him was another issue. There should have been more urgency in getting around him because while Kevin Jump got a poor start on his Advanced Kawasaki sponsored (that’s his dealership) Ninja 650R, I knew he was coming and his bike is FAST.
Martinez has gotten better on the brakes going into three so I figured an easier way to pass him was to get a great drive out of nine and pass him down the straight with the help of the draft. Since I wasted so much time pussy footing around behind Martinez, Jump caught us at the end of the second lap in nine. I saw him trying to get around me in the turn, but he couldn’t quite do it. I fended him off down the front straight and stayed in behind Martinez.
I used to be really good at turn nine. That was before I got knocked out crashing in that turn last year. Jump takes the turn like I used to – wide and fast. That turn’s his strength, and he used it to pass me at the end of lap three, which was half way. The races were supposed to be eight laps, but due to massive delays from oil clean-up, all races from #5 on were shortened to six laps.
I tried for a pass on Jump going into three, but it looked like he had me beat. I was expecting him to turn in at any time, but he kept slowing and slowing. I didn’t understand what he was doing so I just kept looking at him while we were on the brakes waiting for him to turn in. He finally did but by then we were at a crawl and I was too dumb founded to take his line. That was my big chance at getting back in front of him, and I blew it. Jump then caught Martinez in nine to take the lead. I finally got the drive I’ve been waiting for out of nine and passed Martinez down the front straight and hoped I could stay in touch with Jump.
I started noticing bits of smoke coming out of the back of Jump's bike, like he was having engine problems. His bike didn’t seem as fast as I thought it would be, and I could make up ground on the brakes going into one and three. The smoke got worse and I was expecting him to get black flagged. The big difference in the race, though, was the traffic we caught. Jump was able to get through it all clean and I wasn’t. I finished a little over a second and half back from him for second place. On our cool down lap they had the black flag out for him. If our race was eight laps like originally scheduled, he would have been black flagged, handing the lead to me. That’s not the greatest way to win. Turns out it wasn’t his motor smoking, but his tire smoking from his exhaust rubbing against it. I’m not really happy with second. Next month I’ll need to pull my skirt down.
The wind was pretty bad for most of the day, Sunday, but by the time 550 Superbike rolled around the wind had actually died down some and was blowing in a different direction. The normal wind direction for Willow is South/South West, but this time it was blowing straight out of the West. What this would do is push you real good down the back straight into turn eight, but then when you’re turning South in eight, it would push you real hard out toward the dirt. So that kind of sucked.
I got a good start from pole, but again, Martinez got a better one. I took turn one too wide so he gapped me a bit going to turn two. I caught back up pretty easily so I wasn’t sweating it. As the 550 Superbike grid was kind of light, I wasn’t worried about anyone catching Martinez and I – we were on our own. So again I didn’t want to have to work to make the pass on him, I just wanted it to get handed to me.
The wind blowing from a different direction kind of goofed me up (almost pushing me off the track in eight was almost more than a bit of a goof up). I made a few mistakes allowing Martinez to stay ahead of me, and also the draft worked different. It finally dawned on my pee brain where I need to be behind him down the front straight for the wind to help my drafting. I passed him just before we got to the brake markers for one. Because I was entering the turn kind of shallow, I slowed a bit too much, allowing Martinez to carry more speed and get up next to me mid corner. We were real close and I’ll have to give him some props for making a pass like that.
He had position on me entering two, so I had to give it to him. I was a little pissed now, so I worked harder through that turn to get along side of Martinez at the exit. This time going into turn three I sucked it up and went under him on the brakes. After that, I didn’t see him again.
The only other bike I saw was a Buell that we caught from the Heavy Weight Twins race that started before us. I passed him down the front straight. No drafting necessary, just motor. Flat-slides kick ass. So it was good to get that win and I extended my points lead in that class. I also still have the points lead in Formula Twins Lightweight, but I need to win that race to keep my points lead from diminishing any more.
While I really wish I would have won F Twins, a first and a second on the day is pretty good. From the track I drove out to Buttonwillow to do a track day out there on Monday. That was fun, but I forgot to take my race face off and punted a guy out of my way in the first session. Oops. :o
Again I’d like to thank Andy Palmer and West Coast GP Cycles for helping make my bike fast. I’d also like to thank my personal sponsors: SoCalSVRiders.org, Michelin – for great tires and a contingency program that’s allowing me to get their great tires for free, now, and LP Team Privateer. I’d also like to thank the class sponsors: Little Big Racing and VP Fuels.