2009 CCS Season, Round 9 - Blackhawk Farms, Sep 26-27

(photo credit: Gron4)

"Blume's day in the sun ... FINALLY"

by Brian Blume

Final weekend of the season at Blackhawk and on the way down I reflected on how far I have come as a rider and racer. I am very thankful to all the people that have helped me along the way. My wife, for her love and support while I chase my dream of racing motorcycles. My teammate Ron Hix, for being my “coach” in life as well as on the track. Stephen Hall, Ian Flaws, Jesse Lehman and Mike Neely, for all the help throughout the year in the pits. And everyone else, for being there to give me a pat on the back when I have done well and help pick me up when things haven’t been good.

GTO

As Saturday rolled around the weather did not look promising. It had rained the night before and the track was wet. Ron and I went out the 2nd practice session and rolled around trying to get a feel for the track, we were a good 13 seconds off race pace and we were a little worried that with all the clouds it wouldn’t dry out by race time. Our 3rd practice session felt much better and we were able to get much closer to race pace, the clouds had started to move out of the area and the sun was popping through, it was going to be a good day.

I didn’t get a horrible start (by my standards) and went into turn one in 6th place. I worked my way through the pack and was in third place for quite a few laps. On lap 12 I started to close on a rider and to my surprise it was my teammate Ron. If you read my last write up you would know that I have never beat Ron in a sanctioned race and beating him was a goal of mine for this year. As I closed in on him I realized that he must be suffering from “arm pump” and was having difficulty running his race pace because I was reeling him in way too fast. As I settled in behind him I realized that getting past would not be easy as we both are very strong in some areas of the track and weak in others...the problem was that our strengths and weaknesses mirror each other. I followed Ron for the next three laps waiting for the right opportunity and finally found it in turn 6. Ron came into turn 6 and checked up a little early as he didn’t have very good use of his brake/throttle hand due to his arm pump. I came by him on the inside and protected the line as I went through turn 6.

Ron and I are VERY competitive with each other and I knew that me coming by him in a race would not sit well with him, knowing this I figured that I would have to drop him and drop him fast because if he stuck with me he would get a renewed energy as the race closed out and might be able to get past me again. I put my head down and pushed as hard as I possibly could to get away from him, I went deeper on the brakes in turn one, pushed hard into turn 2 and three, flew through the bus stop all the while hoping that he wasn’t sitting right behind me keeping the pace.

As I rounded turn 7 and headed down the front straight I sneaked a peak at my GPS laptimer and saw that I had turned a 1:09.88 which was a new personal lap record for me. Even though I was excited about the lap I had just run I didn’t dare look behind me for fear that Ron was stalking me waiting for the opportunity to cruise past me on the brakes or outdrive me out of a corner like he has done so many times before. As I crossed the start/finish line underneath the checkered flag I felt good about beating Ron for the first time, but also felt as though I had beat someone that was wounded. I know how bad arm pump can be and how it just prevents you from doing what you know you can on the bike.

As we circled around on the cool down lap Ron pulled up next to me with a big smile on his face and clapping for me. I motioned to my forearm and pointed to him to ask him if he had gotten arm pump and he shook his head with an emphatic yes. When I got back into the pits Ron was the first to congratulate me and let me know he considered the victory over him a job well done. I really couldn’t ask for a better teammate…Ron is an accomplished racer and a great friend.

After going up to the tower to check the “official” timing it turns out that the transponder had scored me a little slower than my GPS…showing a 1:10.096, even though I hadn’t officially got into the 9’s it was great to finally get something other than a 3rd place finish as an expert.

UNLIMITED SUPERSPORT

Overall a pretty uneventful race, I have been improving on my starts gradually but wasn’t focused at all when I lined up on the front row. When the flag flew I was slow getting off the line and headed into turn one in the back of the pack. Once again I had to work my up through the pack and ended up finishing 5th, my only consolation in finishing 5th was that every single person in front of me was an AMA licensed racer who has turned 9’s at Blackhawk.

UNLIMITED GP

Another uneventful race, I did get a much better start and headed into turn one in 6th. I managed to work my way into 3rd place and ended the race there.

UNLIMITED SUPERBIKE

I had always done very well in the GTO and Unlimited Superbike class so I looked forward to this race. I got another decent start and managed to head into turn one in 5th place. I quickly worked my way into fourth place and fell in behind my teammate Ron. I was right on him and starting searching for a way to get around him. I tried making a move up the inside of him on turn 6 but couldn’t get it done safely. Ron gets an awesome drive out of corners and pulled away from me going down the front straight. I would reel him in on the brakes going into one and then we would repeat the same process over again … I would try and get past him and he would shut the door just in time.

On lap 5 he pushed a little wide in the carousel and I tried to drive up the inside of him and got about ¾ of the way up his bike and he moved over on me to set up for the kink and forced me to back out. I tried another pass up the inside of 6 that failed and fell in behind him once again.

As we came down the front straight I saw the white flag flying and new this was it….I needed to get by this lap. I tried to anticipate his entry into the carousel and guessed wrong as he shut the door on me. We flew around turn 5 and I was going to try another pass into 6 when I saw we were coming up on a lapped rider. Ron checked up a little bit behind the lapped rider to get a strong drive out of turn 6 to complete the pass …. as soon as I saw him do this, I knew it was my chance.

I drove deep into turn 6 on the brakes and got past him and fell in behind the lapped rider waiting to get a strong drive out of 6b. As we exited Turn 6b I got on the gas early and hard and made a move to go around the outside of the lapped rider but that rider moved over more quickly than I anticipated as he was driving out of the corner and forced me to check up.

I knew immediately that I had made an error in choosing to go on the outside of him instead of the inside … I was trying to pass him in exactly the place he would be driving out of the corner. I thought I could get past him before he got out to the edge of the pavement but I guessed wrong. As the lapped rider saw me he moved over to give me a little room, I pinned the throttle again but it was too late as Ron crept past him on the inside.

I chased Ron down into turn 7 and was right on his back wheel … I took a chance and dropped it into first hoping to get a monster drive out of 7 and draft Ron down the front straight so I could pop out of the draft at the last second and sneak past him. I carried as much speed though 7 as I dared and was off the bike as much as I could be as I pushed it up onto the meat of the tire and opened up the throttle, I did get the monster drive that I was looking for and clicked into 2nd sitting in his draft.

Since this type of battle was new to me I never contemplated the exact mechanics of what I was doing and since I normally come out of turn 7 in 2nd gear my shift points were not going to be the same as in 1st gear. As we barreled down the front straight I heard my bikes RPM’s coming up and then heard the sound of the engine bouncing off the rev limiter … My focus on chasing down Ron was so intense, I had forgot that my shift points would different and that I would need to shift faster and sooner than I had ever done before.

As the engine bounced off the rev limiter I saw Ron start to pull away from me. I clicked into third knowing that my opportunity to beat Ron when he was “healthy” had slipped away. I crossed the finish line 2/10ths of a second behind him. As we circulated the track on the cool down lap I felt as though I had missed an opportunity.

It truly was an epic battle that is very hard to put in words … in the end though I got beat by someone that I have a great amount of respect for and I suppose that is better than losing a close race against a bitter rival. Ron kidded around with me telling me that I will have the entire off season to replay that race in my head …. he is absolutely correct … I will play that race in my head during the off season and hopefully I will take enough away from it to come out on top the next time I go to battle.

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CONTACT INFO: ron@ronhix.com or 630.430.7449