| Author | Message | ||
     Josh_ |
So a couple weeks ago I traveled to my local track club's "away" weekend at Hallett in Jennings, OK. While there I completed their race clinic incl mock race. Ordered a bellypan from Buell racing and signed up for a weekend of fun at GIR in St Louis - Saturday track day incl MCRA's local race program and Sunday CCS-sanctioned racing with TrackAddix. It was my first time at this track, so I opted into the track walk at 7:15 am. Prep work to do (I rode the bike in, so I had to tape up, add my numbers and remove my plate) and a line at tech made me late for my first session, but I got 10min in. Two more 20min sessions and its race time. Yeah, I know the track well enough to race! Why not?. Race is 2 waves, GT Lights Amature and Expert in the first wave, Sportsman in the 2nd wave. 8 guys in my group, mostly dedicated 600cc track bikes, most (all?) with race tires and warmers. Now, with no qualifying races, position is set by entry date/time. I entered early, so I'm in position 5b - one off the "pole" position for my wave (there are 2 empty rows between waves). Flag drops, wave 1 is gone. Flag drops and I hit the gas. Pole guy gets a good launch, and while the bike has enough to pass him before turn 1, I don't and follow him in. He is moving good and is pulling away at the chicane. Oh well, its a 20min race, I'm just hoping I'm not dead last. I head into turn 6(?) and see the guy ahead of me low-side off the track. Looks like an easy get-off and I'm long gone before the flags are out. Two corners later and I see the standing yellow so its all out down the front straight and back into the mix. Back into turn 6(?) and the downed bike is engulfed in flames. I'm wondering if he just got mad and threw a match on it, but red flags come out so its back to hot pit. They talk to us for a minute, and decide on a re-grid (original start positions) but one wave instead of two. This puts the two AM GT Thruxton's in my wave, and the guy who beat me to the first corner cleaning foam off his bike. Flag drops again and I launch it, passing one Thruxton and considering passing the other before turn 1. The EX GT guys are gone, so I get an open track to pretend I know what I'm doing. 2 laps later and I'm still ahead of my group and wondering when the EX GT guys will lap me. Then a 600 that was behind me goes right by (I find out later I was taking "interesting" lines and he wanted to be sure I was predictable before he passed). Two corners later and red flags are out and we see an ambulance on the track. Someone has gone down hard, apparantly into the concrete NASCAR wall at turn 7. We see a still form folded into the bottom of the wall, then I realize the 600 in front of me has grabbed his brakes and I just miss tagging him. Race is over. Guy turns out to have hit the wall pretty good, but from what I heard didn't break anything, just rung his bell. I also find out the guy who crashed in front of me crashed in the same spot his first time on the track a couple months back - and this is his first day back on the track. He'll crash there again before the weekend is over. A short break and the next race starts. No announcements were made about my race, so I figure they didn't have enough laps to make it official. Later I see people gathering for the trophy presentation, so my wife and I make our way over (hey, they have trophy girls and everything). They are lining up for the first presentation, but seem to be waiting for someone. I know it's not me beacuse I was in the 2nd wave of a 3 class race, and they are looking for the winner (and surely someone would have said something). Nope, they are looking for me. The guy who passed didn't get to complete a lap before the red, and thus "won" my first race. (Message edited by josh_ on August 17, 2008) | ||
| Josh_ |
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| Josh_ |
I get three more sessions on Saturday to work on my slow corners (which is to say, the track) At 4 TrackAddix open tech for people wanting to get a jump on Sunday. I pull up and hand the guy my paperwork. He walks around and stops and says "You have to disconnect your lights." I ask if thats a requirement or recommendation, and he admits he doesn't know - he hasn't seen a bike with working lights in years. I told him I didn't want to get to far into the lights as I had to ride it home Sunday night. He thinks he remembers the last person to ride in to race as some lade on a BMW back in 83. I point out the heated grips and he just shakes his head. We get into a discussion about oil filters ("uhm where is it?") and two drain plugs, then I get my sticker and get to head home for the day. Sunday starts with amature practice at 8am. Now, I had a full day so I'm up-to-speed right? Yikes. I'm sort of up to track-day speed, these guys are passing me like I'm on my niece's battery-powered Barbie trike. I want to wear a sign that says "Pass on this Side ->" I'm only signed up for two races, so after practice I wander around and count the Buells, two in a truck from the track day yesterday, a guy with two XBs (9 and 12) down from Milwaukee and a couple relative locals. There's also a 996, but the 1098 and 848 I saw at the track day are gone. My first race is "Unlimited Supersport" Now I'm only eligible for "SuperTwins" and anything that says "Unlimited" so I picked the shortest one that didn't say "Superbike" and signed up so I could get some track time before the SuperTwins race. So I grid up for the race with all the 1000s and up. Again in the first row of my wave, I manage to get a decent launch and hang in 2nd for about 2 corners before I start getting passed. Pretty soon its open track and I just wait for the EX to catch up. Sure enough, the start of lap 5 the main flag is telling me to move over or get run over, so I hug the outside and watch the fast two go by (they are clocking ~14 seconds a lap faster than me). But at turn 7, red flags come out and one of the two that blew me by low-side out of the turn 8 (I don't know if he flinched at the flag or the other guy did, or if it was unrelated to the flag). We shut it down and coast around. Someone has gone into the other stretch of concrete NASCAR wall and is down hard. Race is called and in we go. I check the results later and see that not only was I 8th of 8, but I've clocked the slowest "best" of the day (by ~1 second). Fortunately, 3 races later someone "beats" that by a second. I also later see the results were corrected and I was 7th of 8. Turned out the last guy to pass me wrecked before he crossed for lap 4. Now wait 5 hours for my next race and try no two dwell on the worst two wrecks (and and high proportion of all wrecks) are happening during my races.... First call comes and I work on getting me and the bike ready. My chiropracter (no joke) has just shown up to watch and he helps me get the bike ready. 7 in Supertwins, 3 EX(I think 2XBs and some Honda), 4 AM (Me, two XB12s, and a 996). I'm in the second position, but the 996 is two to my right and I've watched his times all day. The two Buells I'm with have run 2 and 3 seconds better than me, but the 996 has been running 10 seconds better - and in all 4? of his races so far, his best lap are within .1 second of each other. Flag drops, I get a good launch but the duck is g-o-n-e. He mixes with the EX guys the rest of the race. I hold on to 2nd for maybe 3 laps, then start to get a little loose into the turn I saw the guy low-side in yesterday, and a XB12R gets by me. I catch him in the straight, but decide that's not really fair and he'll probably just pass me again anyway so I let him go. Good call as my concentration and energy are running low and I really blow the corner I slipped in earlier and the other XB goes by. I watch them for awhile, then the race is over. 4th for me, but there were only 4. No wrecks. I already know the 996s time, the other Buells ran pretty close to each other and beat their earlier times. I ran 3 seconds better than my first race. Back to the pits to pull the belly pan and put the kickstand and lic plate back on to head home and I realize I need to re-think my install as I have to cut one bracket to remove it. ce la vie Fun day at the track tho. | ||
| Josh_ |
SuperTwins Launch    I'm back row, second from the near wall. ie left of the Ducati. | ||
| Court |
That is SOOOOO cool! | ||
| Alessio66xb12r |
nice posting thank you | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Josh, that's cool stuff!! | ||
| Skinstains |
Showoff | ||
| Kcfirebolt |
I was calling the races yesterday, and Buell was well-represented. Josh, we talked briefly, but congrats to you. You looked great out there! | ||
| Josh_ |
Were you calling most of the races? I didn't get all the Buell guy's names or locations, but there were at least 4 other guys racing Buells. I was trying to talk our local dealer into more support (they have a portable dyno) and maybe an Inside Pass, but we'll see. | ||
| Kcfirebolt |
Ralph Longus (Gearhead on the Badweb) was there. His friend Troy Wolbaum was racing there too, but I do not remember his Badweb handle (he was in one of your races). Matt Sheehan (#91) was there, but I do not think he posts on badweb very often. I do not know if David Myers haunts the bad web at all (#16), but he sure was fast! | ||
| Deltadave |
Josh, Great job at Gateway this weekend and excellent reporting also. Nice pics too! I am front row center Dave Myers #16. | ||
| Turnagain |
Josh, good show! | ||
| Skinstains |
I was only jokin' | ||
| Gearhead |
Josh, Congrats on your racing, I actually own the slowest lap times of the weekend! It was fun travelling down to Gateway but I never really got comfortable in the last two turns before entering the back section banking so I was happy to run strong where I was confident and concentrate on keeping the bike on two wheels! I also saw all the crashes on Saturday!!! I never raced with you but I watched the SuperTwins race and it was cool to see a street bike run that well!! I also have an 1125R as a street bike so even though my travelling partner, Troy Walbalm got by you, I was sure impressed with your ride. | ||
| Gearhead |
Kcfirebolt, Thanks for your continued support and great race announcing!! Troy told me that when you called my name during LWF-40, you said, "Ralph, gearhead, Longus"! No wonder everyone pointed and waved at me on the cool down laps! I had a great time and lucked into some big points inspite of being a back marker! I'm looking forward to Hastings and being a little quicker on a more familiar track. I may be slow but noone else out there is having as much fun as I am!! I'm still lobbying for a Formula 50, though!! | ||
| Josh_ |
Listening to the race announcing was almost better than running. Better than a lot of the announcing you'd get on TV. I bet if Gateway had an AM broadcast anyone tunning in would have made it over to the track to get in on the fun! Nice meeing you Charles and thanks for the work! Ralph, you guys were in the pop-up south of the garage near Matt (#91x)? Incidentally, the Corsa III tires worked great and at the price you pay for the life(rear now has 3 track days + 2 races and isn't at 50% yet) I think I'll stick with them. Nice meeting you David, I don't know if I'll make Oct12, but I'll probably keep showing up at the MCRA meetings. Anyone know if we can get the laptimes from Track Addix? I mean, it must be in the computer, right? (Message edited by josh_ on August 19, 2008) | ||
| Deltadave |
Josh, Your lap times are posted on mylaps.com. Just scroll down to Gateway and select the race and then your name. There is no need to log in. | ||
| Josh_ |
Cool! Thanks! Now I can really see how I was holding up the XBs behind me!  | ||
| Josh_ |
Anyone file for Buell contingency money before? I don't see a field minimum? Not really fair for me to claim it since I'm not a real racer, but it would be kind of cool | ||
| Gearhead |
Josh, You'll have had to be registered with Buell Racing, display Buell Racing decals on your bike and indentify Buell as a contingency sponsor on your tech forms. Go to http://www.buell.com/en_us/racing/racer-profiles/ or contact Henry Duga at Buell Motor Company to get registered and added to the Racer Profiles on Buell.com | ||
| Sd26 |
Do they have decals at the track? | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Just check with Paul James, Dave. He has a ton. | ||
| Sd26 |
Yeah, I suppose he will. I got some cool Buell kneesliders. That rocks! |
