2008
Season, Round 4 - Blackhawk Farms, May 30 / Jun 1
The weather could not have been
prettier at Blackhawk Farms. All the racer's seemed to respond
by bringing their "A Game".
My goal this weekend was to get
comfortable in the 12's and try to pull off some 11's as well.
I am quickly learning that in order to be successful in the
CCS Midwest Region as an Expert, I need to be able to run 10's
or better at Blackhawk...and that is easier said than done.
Thankfully some of the real fast guys showed up and class was
again in session.
Saturday, May 30
GTO (25 minute)
Part 1
Part 2
The GTO race was effectively
split into two short sprint races due to a red flag and subsequent
yard sale in turn 6 on the 5th lap. I needed about 2.5 seconds
to be able to run with Feuerstahler and Farrell and it just
was not happening at all. I struggled to get into the 12's and
just wasn't feeling it. I wound up with a fourth place finish
after focusing too much on the two leaders I was chasing and
not realizing that I was also being chased. I got passed into
the last corner on the last lap - ouch. It is true that it is
better to give than receive, especially when you are the one
GIVING that last lap pass to the guys you are chasing instead
of being on the RECEIVING end of that pass.
I was not real happy
with how the bike felt on the exits, and my drives were struggling.
Basically, I needed to get the bike to be able to change directions
better while I was on the throttle. So, we rolled the dice and
made some pretty major suspension changes during the evening
on Saturday evening.
Sunday, June 1
Unlimited Superbike (8 lap
sprint)
The changes we made to the bike
were definitely a step in the right direction as the bike felt
much better during the morning practice sessions. My wife and
daughters were also there to cheer me on and offer their encouragement
and support. We had standing room only at the Chapel service
as Don shared some encouraging scriptures about heaven and how
awesome that will be for eternity. So, as I lined up for this
race I felt confident and excited to be here and racing on a
beautiful Sunday afternoon with friends and family. These are
the good old days that we will be remembering when we too old
to do anything but sit around and reminisce.
Seems, I wasn't the only one
feeling good. The pace was blistering at the front with Andy
Feuerstahler laying down track record laps. After the race,
I went over to congratulate him and his lap timer showed a string
9's with a best of 1:09:62. That is some good motorcycle riding,
in case you were wondering. Wow.
I was also able to run my personal
best times at Blackhawk this weekend. I did several 11's, but
found that I was just not comfortable yet at that pace. My brain
simply could not keep up with everything that was going on at
that level. The bike was great, the track was great and all
of the sudden I was definitely the limiting factor in a big
way. I found myself running wide in the corners, missing downshifts,
getting the bike all out of shape on the brakes and generally
feeling really rushed all the time. Basically, I was just riding
a bit over my head.
My pit board showed I had built
up a little bit of a gap, so I tried to relax a little and just
focus on being smooth. I was then able to run off a nice string
of 12's and brought her home in 3rd place.
Unlimited GP (8 lap sprint)
My cameras were hit or miss this
weekend and I didn't get any video of this race or the last
race. Of course, this being the money race the grid was huge
as lots of fast guys signed up for this one in hopes of getting
paid.
I quickly realized that the game
had turned serious as I got the holeshot and headed into turn
1 in the lead. As I bent the bike down to the apex on the brakes,
Tommy G leaned over on me and grazed his elbow across my leg
as he went around the outside. We both got on the gas hard and
were drag racing into turn 2 at ridiculous pace with Tommy G
not giving an inch of real estate away. I had to back out and
fall in behind him into the carousel. He had his head down as
he slid both tires through the entrance of the carousel, it
was a thing of beauty ... but my Pirelli's were stuck like glue
and I close the gap on him into the bus stop. As he flicked
that little 600 through the tight bus stop section, I muscled
the big GSXR through there right on his tail. My plan was to
square up turn 5 and get him on the brakes into 6, I had to
stay close as we went into turn 4 and I ran it just a little
wide and let him open up a tiny gap on me as we both leaned
it all the way to the ragged edge of the left side of the tires
through turn 5.
I squared up turn 5 and got a
solid drive on him, but that little gap through turn 4 made
it impossible for me to get him on the brakes into turn 6. Just
as I fell back in behind him, Ducato dove up the inside of me
on the brakes while Feuerstahler dove up inside of Ducato on
the brakes! So all of the sudden, we are 3 wide through turn
6 with everyone trying to muscle their way through there with
elbows out.
The game had turned serious indeed.
I know gas prices are up, but does everyone really need the
money that bad?!?!? LOL!
It was some great racing and
I wish I had a little more pace to be more competitive cause
it was just a matter of time before Ortega and Farrell came
by me running 10's. I found out that 12's aren't gonna cut it.
This turned out to be a nice slice of humble pie as I finished
in 6th place.
I guess I have to keep some perspective
here, all the guys who beat me and very experienced racers with
more than a few being fast AMA guys...and it is my first year
racing...but all that still sounds like a bunch of lame excuses
to me. The truth is that
everyone (except me) stepped up their game a notch for this
race.
Unlimited Supersport (8 lap
sprint)
Last race of the day and I really
wanted to run a solid race. I got off to a good start and was
able to get comfortable in the low 12's hitting my marks consistently
in every corner and feeling much more relaxed on the bike. I
earned a solid 3rd place finish, but was gifted a 2nd place
finish after Ducato went down in turn 1. Good ending to a very
challenging weekend.
Summary
I got a 2nd, a 3rd, a 4th and
a 6th.
I learned that to beat the fast
guys at Blackhawk when the weather is really nice, you have
to be a really fast guy on a really fast bike and you also have
to be willing to take more than a few risks.
Yes indeed, I learned alot this
weekend and I am pleased with how things went overall. In hind
sight, I ran my best times ever, took a big step forward with
the bike setup and learned a ton. Even in the shower on Monday
morning rethinking, retracing and replaying the weekend's laps
in my head, I was still learning.
My goal was to get more comfortable
in the 12's and run some 11's. I did that. AND, after watching
some of the video and rethinking some things, I know exactly
where those couple of seconds are hidden. Can't wait to get
out there and do it again.
