Monsterdood
Sun 5/6/07, 8:46PM
May 2007 - Streets of Willow
Cut to the chase, good weekend, went 2 seconds faster than last month, got the hole shot in all 3 races, got two 3rd's and a 2nd place. One of the 3rd places was in a cash paying class so I got a $40 bonus for my efforts, and the track photographers got some good pictures so all in all it was a pretty good weekend.
http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.speights/0705MayStreets
The longer story 80% of you don't care about is as follows:
Roll up the track late Saturday morning figuring I'll miss one or two sessions but still get planty of track time. Wrong, I got there at 9:30 and wasn't able to get on the track until 1:30 because about 1/3 of the track had oil on it. A dude's drain plug came out and after the belly pan was full and oil was spilling out the sides before he finally realized it. Most people would have crashed with an oily rear wheel, but he was on his first lap going at a red flag pace on the sighting lap..... that was a bummer for everyone at the track, but crap happens....
Got in two sessions, felt okay, but not great, and had some Mexican dinner with Michael and some others to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Camped in the tent which was alright this time since the wind was pretty low, Kurt wakes me up at 7AM when he gets to the track and I get in the 1st practice session. My front tire is chattering / sliding through turn 1, a 5th gear, knee dragging high speed corner and I decide new tires would be better than another practice session.
Fresh Dunlop slicks with a new 125/80-17 see me into the BOTT MW race to start the day. I get the hole shot, but am taking it easy because I didn't think I scrubbed in and warmed up the tires in a single lap, so I waited until the 2nd lap to really get after it at which point I was already in 3rd and not going to gain on the 2 guys in front of me. Stevan gave me a good battle for a little bit, but I was able to put a little space between us for a solid 3rd.
550 SBK saw me get another hole shot, and I got demoted to 2nd going into turn 4 but was able to hang on to Raff's tail for a little bit. JT Wood got by me pretty early but I was able to repass him going through the chicane on the back straight, it was a pretty fun pass, but I couldn't hold him off since he had me through the esses and the bowl every time. I would pull him through turns 1-4 and 10-13, but that wasn't enough so I took 3rd a second or so behind him. I ended up with a best lap of 1:23.7 compared to his 23 flat. Raff ran a 22 flat so I was within 2 seconds of a KFG and took 2 seconds off my best time from a month ago.
Wood wasn't racing in F-Twins Lw so I figured I would bug Raff as long as I could and then settle down and bring it home in one piece. I got the hole shot again, and thought I had a bigger gap and left a big opening on the inside going into 3 and Raff comes right through surprising me. I lost a little time through the esses and then through and out of the bowl and that was about all she wrote. I worked on lines, body position in left hand corners, and brought her home in a solid 2nd place.
By the way, did I mention I really like that new Dunlop front slick I was running?... I mean it was crap and you shouldn't waste your time running it.... It gave a lot of corner entry feel and let me trail brake when needed with a lot more confidence in the tire. I think the extra sidewall really suits the slight stiffness in the GSXR 1000 forks I have so I was pretty pleased with those.
So a pretty good weekend, and focusing on the SV seems to be paying off. Hopefully some more laps and some new tracks will help me even more this year....
Cut to the chase, good weekend, went 2 seconds faster than last month, got the hole shot in all 3 races, got two 3rd's and a 2nd place. One of the 3rd places was in a cash paying class so I got a $40 bonus for my efforts, and the track photographers got some good pictures so all in all it was a pretty good weekend.
http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.speights/0705MayStreets
The longer story 80% of you don't care about is as follows:
Roll up the track late Saturday morning figuring I'll miss one or two sessions but still get planty of track time. Wrong, I got there at 9:30 and wasn't able to get on the track until 1:30 because about 1/3 of the track had oil on it. A dude's drain plug came out and after the belly pan was full and oil was spilling out the sides before he finally realized it. Most people would have crashed with an oily rear wheel, but he was on his first lap going at a red flag pace on the sighting lap..... that was a bummer for everyone at the track, but crap happens....
Got in two sessions, felt okay, but not great, and had some Mexican dinner with Michael and some others to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Camped in the tent which was alright this time since the wind was pretty low, Kurt wakes me up at 7AM when he gets to the track and I get in the 1st practice session. My front tire is chattering / sliding through turn 1, a 5th gear, knee dragging high speed corner and I decide new tires would be better than another practice session.
Fresh Dunlop slicks with a new 125/80-17 see me into the BOTT MW race to start the day. I get the hole shot, but am taking it easy because I didn't think I scrubbed in and warmed up the tires in a single lap, so I waited until the 2nd lap to really get after it at which point I was already in 3rd and not going to gain on the 2 guys in front of me. Stevan gave me a good battle for a little bit, but I was able to put a little space between us for a solid 3rd.
550 SBK saw me get another hole shot, and I got demoted to 2nd going into turn 4 but was able to hang on to Raff's tail for a little bit. JT Wood got by me pretty early but I was able to repass him going through the chicane on the back straight, it was a pretty fun pass, but I couldn't hold him off since he had me through the esses and the bowl every time. I would pull him through turns 1-4 and 10-13, but that wasn't enough so I took 3rd a second or so behind him. I ended up with a best lap of 1:23.7 compared to his 23 flat. Raff ran a 22 flat so I was within 2 seconds of a KFG and took 2 seconds off my best time from a month ago.
Wood wasn't racing in F-Twins Lw so I figured I would bug Raff as long as I could and then settle down and bring it home in one piece. I got the hole shot again, and thought I had a bigger gap and left a big opening on the inside going into 3 and Raff comes right through surprising me. I lost a little time through the esses and then through and out of the bowl and that was about all she wrote. I worked on lines, body position in left hand corners, and brought her home in a solid 2nd place.
By the way, did I mention I really like that new Dunlop front slick I was running?... I mean it was crap and you shouldn't waste your time running it.... It gave a lot of corner entry feel and let me trail brake when needed with a lot more confidence in the tire. I think the extra sidewall really suits the slight stiffness in the GSXR 1000 forks I have so I was pretty pleased with those.
So a pretty good weekend, and focusing on the SV seems to be paying off. Hopefully some more laps and some new tracks will help me even more this year....