jadeblue1
Mon 11/13/06, 12:41PM
Vegas classic course is a 1.75 mile point & shoot medley with no elevation change. there is very little contrast between the track & the dirt it’s sitting in, so it’s really hard to get visual references. it also has some bumps at the apexes of some of the turns, so your suspension bouncing around at full lean will give some added surprises.
I had never ridden the sv on this track before, and i had only been on it once on the fzr on a 110 degree dy over a year ago for 3 sessions during a very crowded track day, so i didn’t remember anything useful about the track. but with one day to learn the track, and having to place 2nd or better in both of my races, i was very motivated to figure it out. i was 1 point behind the guy in 1st place for the class championship for formula 2 novice, and 10 point ahead of the guy in 3rd for lightweight super bike novice, so only a 2nd or first place finish would keep me in 2nd place for the championship. As for formula 2, i needed to beat the guy that was 1 point ahead of me, and place 2nd or 1st to get far enough ahead of him to win.
so, armed with my trusty red sv650, the help of the TWF guys-Zoran, Joe, & Aaron, i set out to learn the track & do some serious riding. the layout consists of: a hard charge down the front straight-double downshift to 3rd gear for a 90 degree right followed by another 90 degree right. then you stand the bike up for a short straight drive in 4th to a “C” shaped left hander, 1 down to 3rd & really lean it over. be really really smooth on the throttle, because there’s a bump at the apex that’ll squirt the back end of your bike out from under you. stand it up on the exit, go to 4th for a quick straight drive to turn 5, a really decreasing right hander. this is a quick drop into 3rd and a toss to the right for a late apex and good drive onto the back straight. pin it & go up to 6th as fast as you can-at the end of the straight is a high speed sweeper, which is very similar to t8 at big willow. At the end of the sweeper is a tight right hander, you go down to 3rd, late apex it, stand the bike up briefly & the lay it into a tight left hander...this on is really tricky because you late apex it and square the exit off so you can get a straight drive into another 90 degree right hand turn that goes onto the front straight. 2 shifts up to 5th before t1 & your back into it...
there were some nevada highway patrol guys that were putting radar on the guys coming down the front straight. the 600’s were clocking at 127 mph in practice...the front straight is shorter than the front straight at big willow...
so it’s a fun & challenging track & a lot of work to ride. but it was fun, because you had to constantly be thinking about what you were doing. once i found a “groove” it was really fun to ride the track. by the end of the day on saturday, i felt good enough about it to race it-i know i had some sloppy parts, and my lines through the 2 turns after the sweeper were not that great and definitely costing me some time, but i felt confident enough to run well.
Sunday morning was sunny, windy, and chilly for vegas-it was only supposed to get up to 65 degrees and the wind was cold. there was an air show going on at nellis air force base, so both days when you weren’t watching the bikes, you could watch planes doing tricks-that was kind of fun too. my races were 6th & 13th.
the first race was lightweight super bike. there were 3 races that started in 1 wave- ltwt sbk expert, ltwt sbk novice, & some class that was only motards. the motards were right behind me, and the guy to my right (#918) can start really good, so i was a little nervous about this one. the flag dropped, the guy to my right got a good start, and so did the motards-2 of them squeezed around me going into t1. the first 2 laps of the race we were all pretty close-918 in first, the 2 motards, then me, all in a pretty tight group. i tried to sneak under the motards on the back straight on the 3rd & 4th laps of the race-918 hadn’t pulled out a huge lead, so i was still trying to catch him...but going into the sweeper, i kept checking up because i would look at the motards & lose sight of my line.
so the 5th lap i looked past them, and despite my urge to roll off the throttle going into the sweeper, i dove under them, turning in early, but getting under 1 motard cleanly before i started running wide & lost the pass on the 2nd one. i grabbed some sloppy brake, did my downshifts sloppy, all the while the back end of my back was sliding & bucking...but i knew the guy behind me was right behind me, so i threw it over right, and hit the throttle a little too hard & got a little spin on the tire. that was enough to give the motard a little room on the outside-i saw a tire, but i stood my bike up quick & threw it over to shut the door on him. too early into the last corner, ran out slightly wide.. corrected to go skidding in to the last right hander before the front straight. so now tangling with the motard has cost me some time, so i try to drive hard into t1 to pull some ground back on 918-but he’s up on me by about a second.
so i chase the 2nd motard around, trying to gain ground on him, but also not let anybody by me in corners, stay ing on the defensive line & just trying to get good drives. zoran & aaron passed me on the last lap of the race, and i got to follow them into the sweeper & the turns before the front straight. that was a whole lot of fun, because i got a tow, and i got to get a line correction before the next race. not mention, taking a checkered flag right behind the yellow bikes was kind of exciting.
my next race was the 2nd to last race of the day, everybody was packing up, and joe was kind enough to leave his generator out for me to use to keep my tires warm. i beat the guy in needed to beat in the 1st race, but not by much, and now he had seen my lines. was i going to be able to pull out a repeat performance? i sure hoped so.
aaron was in the first wave of the race, so i wanted to run a little faster this time so i didn’t get caught by a yellow bike. i also knew if i could get a good start, i’d be able to lead for at least a couple of laps-the guy to my right-176, was running about 1 sec faster than me, but he couldn’t start well. the guy to my left-688 was the guy i was 1 point behind-he usually starts about the same as me.
the flag drops, and i get a good start, and am aiming for t1, when 688 sneaks by me and just edges around me into the turn first....damn flatslides...anyways, i am not letting him get away, so i stay on his butt to see where i can get him. his bike is stronger in the straights, but i’m usually able to get him in turns. so while i’m tailing him, my plan was to stay on his butt until the 4th lap, then pass him into t1 & gap him before the back straight.
on the 3rd lap, 176 got around me in the straight between the 2 tight corners after the sweeper. we were still a pretty tight bunch going into t1. 688 was still in the lead-he looked back as we were setting up to enter t1, and as we went into the short straight before the “C” shape left hander, he looked back again. he got a wiggle going into the “C” & barely stayed in front of 176. as we exited & headed to the next tight one, i set up for an inside pass. i saw 176 do the same. 688 was a little wider than we were, then i saw smoke start coming off his back tire...he’d locked up his wheel. 176 dove under him, so did i, and turned in a little too early. i brought my bike back in to drive down the back straight thinking “holy crap-he crashed” then “no he didn’t-he’s right behind you”.
shaking it off turning my brain off, i rode like he was breathing down my neck. good thing too-because he was...when i got around to that turn on the next lap, there was no bike in the dirt, which means he saved it & was still in the race.
lap 5 of an 8 lap race is not the time to realize that you really need to finish your race, because then you start freaking yourself out. i made some errors, missed a couple of shifts, did a few boneheaded mistakes while my brain was turned on. and realized if i didn’t just focus, i was going to eat it. so i shook it off on the back straight, drove really hard into the sweeper & just saw the line. i’m racing the track, not the person behind me-the people are secondary. joe said don’t be a wussy, so i wasn’t going to lose this because i over thought it. i just tried to be as smooth as possible, look far ahead, and stay on the line. i was aware of the white flag, but more just focusing ahead, and when i saw the checkers, i realized i hadn’t seen aaron, i hadn’t seen anyone from the 1st wave...176 only finished about 1/2 a sec ahead of me, and as i pulled off the track, we all stopped for a moment & congratulated each other.
688-william wu did win the lightweight super bike novice class championship, i came in 2nd. i won formula 2 novice class championship, he came in 2nd. it’s always fun when you have someone to race against. i think we’ll be having some fun next season on the expert grids.
a HUGE THANK YOU TO THE SPONSORS! crago racing, graffiti palace, twin works factory, socalsvriders.org, michelin, catalyst reaction, ofd racing, lockhart philips, gpr stabilizer, the track club, and hypercycles. if it wasn’t for all your help & support, i wouldn’t be able to keep it on the track :D
I had never ridden the sv on this track before, and i had only been on it once on the fzr on a 110 degree dy over a year ago for 3 sessions during a very crowded track day, so i didn’t remember anything useful about the track. but with one day to learn the track, and having to place 2nd or better in both of my races, i was very motivated to figure it out. i was 1 point behind the guy in 1st place for the class championship for formula 2 novice, and 10 point ahead of the guy in 3rd for lightweight super bike novice, so only a 2nd or first place finish would keep me in 2nd place for the championship. As for formula 2, i needed to beat the guy that was 1 point ahead of me, and place 2nd or 1st to get far enough ahead of him to win.
so, armed with my trusty red sv650, the help of the TWF guys-Zoran, Joe, & Aaron, i set out to learn the track & do some serious riding. the layout consists of: a hard charge down the front straight-double downshift to 3rd gear for a 90 degree right followed by another 90 degree right. then you stand the bike up for a short straight drive in 4th to a “C” shaped left hander, 1 down to 3rd & really lean it over. be really really smooth on the throttle, because there’s a bump at the apex that’ll squirt the back end of your bike out from under you. stand it up on the exit, go to 4th for a quick straight drive to turn 5, a really decreasing right hander. this is a quick drop into 3rd and a toss to the right for a late apex and good drive onto the back straight. pin it & go up to 6th as fast as you can-at the end of the straight is a high speed sweeper, which is very similar to t8 at big willow. At the end of the sweeper is a tight right hander, you go down to 3rd, late apex it, stand the bike up briefly & the lay it into a tight left hander...this on is really tricky because you late apex it and square the exit off so you can get a straight drive into another 90 degree right hand turn that goes onto the front straight. 2 shifts up to 5th before t1 & your back into it...
there were some nevada highway patrol guys that were putting radar on the guys coming down the front straight. the 600’s were clocking at 127 mph in practice...the front straight is shorter than the front straight at big willow...
so it’s a fun & challenging track & a lot of work to ride. but it was fun, because you had to constantly be thinking about what you were doing. once i found a “groove” it was really fun to ride the track. by the end of the day on saturday, i felt good enough about it to race it-i know i had some sloppy parts, and my lines through the 2 turns after the sweeper were not that great and definitely costing me some time, but i felt confident enough to run well.
Sunday morning was sunny, windy, and chilly for vegas-it was only supposed to get up to 65 degrees and the wind was cold. there was an air show going on at nellis air force base, so both days when you weren’t watching the bikes, you could watch planes doing tricks-that was kind of fun too. my races were 6th & 13th.
the first race was lightweight super bike. there were 3 races that started in 1 wave- ltwt sbk expert, ltwt sbk novice, & some class that was only motards. the motards were right behind me, and the guy to my right (#918) can start really good, so i was a little nervous about this one. the flag dropped, the guy to my right got a good start, and so did the motards-2 of them squeezed around me going into t1. the first 2 laps of the race we were all pretty close-918 in first, the 2 motards, then me, all in a pretty tight group. i tried to sneak under the motards on the back straight on the 3rd & 4th laps of the race-918 hadn’t pulled out a huge lead, so i was still trying to catch him...but going into the sweeper, i kept checking up because i would look at the motards & lose sight of my line.
so the 5th lap i looked past them, and despite my urge to roll off the throttle going into the sweeper, i dove under them, turning in early, but getting under 1 motard cleanly before i started running wide & lost the pass on the 2nd one. i grabbed some sloppy brake, did my downshifts sloppy, all the while the back end of my back was sliding & bucking...but i knew the guy behind me was right behind me, so i threw it over right, and hit the throttle a little too hard & got a little spin on the tire. that was enough to give the motard a little room on the outside-i saw a tire, but i stood my bike up quick & threw it over to shut the door on him. too early into the last corner, ran out slightly wide.. corrected to go skidding in to the last right hander before the front straight. so now tangling with the motard has cost me some time, so i try to drive hard into t1 to pull some ground back on 918-but he’s up on me by about a second.
so i chase the 2nd motard around, trying to gain ground on him, but also not let anybody by me in corners, stay ing on the defensive line & just trying to get good drives. zoran & aaron passed me on the last lap of the race, and i got to follow them into the sweeper & the turns before the front straight. that was a whole lot of fun, because i got a tow, and i got to get a line correction before the next race. not mention, taking a checkered flag right behind the yellow bikes was kind of exciting.
my next race was the 2nd to last race of the day, everybody was packing up, and joe was kind enough to leave his generator out for me to use to keep my tires warm. i beat the guy in needed to beat in the 1st race, but not by much, and now he had seen my lines. was i going to be able to pull out a repeat performance? i sure hoped so.
aaron was in the first wave of the race, so i wanted to run a little faster this time so i didn’t get caught by a yellow bike. i also knew if i could get a good start, i’d be able to lead for at least a couple of laps-the guy to my right-176, was running about 1 sec faster than me, but he couldn’t start well. the guy to my left-688 was the guy i was 1 point behind-he usually starts about the same as me.
the flag drops, and i get a good start, and am aiming for t1, when 688 sneaks by me and just edges around me into the turn first....damn flatslides...anyways, i am not letting him get away, so i stay on his butt to see where i can get him. his bike is stronger in the straights, but i’m usually able to get him in turns. so while i’m tailing him, my plan was to stay on his butt until the 4th lap, then pass him into t1 & gap him before the back straight.
on the 3rd lap, 176 got around me in the straight between the 2 tight corners after the sweeper. we were still a pretty tight bunch going into t1. 688 was still in the lead-he looked back as we were setting up to enter t1, and as we went into the short straight before the “C” shape left hander, he looked back again. he got a wiggle going into the “C” & barely stayed in front of 176. as we exited & headed to the next tight one, i set up for an inside pass. i saw 176 do the same. 688 was a little wider than we were, then i saw smoke start coming off his back tire...he’d locked up his wheel. 176 dove under him, so did i, and turned in a little too early. i brought my bike back in to drive down the back straight thinking “holy crap-he crashed” then “no he didn’t-he’s right behind you”.
shaking it off turning my brain off, i rode like he was breathing down my neck. good thing too-because he was...when i got around to that turn on the next lap, there was no bike in the dirt, which means he saved it & was still in the race.
lap 5 of an 8 lap race is not the time to realize that you really need to finish your race, because then you start freaking yourself out. i made some errors, missed a couple of shifts, did a few boneheaded mistakes while my brain was turned on. and realized if i didn’t just focus, i was going to eat it. so i shook it off on the back straight, drove really hard into the sweeper & just saw the line. i’m racing the track, not the person behind me-the people are secondary. joe said don’t be a wussy, so i wasn’t going to lose this because i over thought it. i just tried to be as smooth as possible, look far ahead, and stay on the line. i was aware of the white flag, but more just focusing ahead, and when i saw the checkers, i realized i hadn’t seen aaron, i hadn’t seen anyone from the 1st wave...176 only finished about 1/2 a sec ahead of me, and as i pulled off the track, we all stopped for a moment & congratulated each other.
688-william wu did win the lightweight super bike novice class championship, i came in 2nd. i won formula 2 novice class championship, he came in 2nd. it’s always fun when you have someone to race against. i think we’ll be having some fun next season on the expert grids.
a HUGE THANK YOU TO THE SPONSORS! crago racing, graffiti palace, twin works factory, socalsvriders.org, michelin, catalyst reaction, ofd racing, lockhart philips, gpr stabilizer, the track club, and hypercycles. if it wasn’t for all your help & support, i wouldn’t be able to keep it on the track :D