Last weekend was the first race for the AFM season at the world famous Buttonwillow Raceway (just kidding).
One of the great things about coming to this track is that my Mom and Dad live only a couple of hours away.
With two races at other clubs under my belt my personal expectations where high. I traveled with one of my SFMC teammates Eric Schiller Thursday night. We stayed at the local hot spot, The Red Roof Inn. The accommodations where far from fancy but they suited our needs just fine, and give AFM racers a discount.
Friday morning we where up early to get everything set up. After the quick tech inspection we where out on track. I hadn't been to Buttonwillow in two years so I wanted Friday to be a mellow day of relearning the track and adapt more to the new bike. At this point the bike wasn't so new and scary. It did surprise me how fast things felt. BW has several very fast sections and I don't remember them being that fast. That makes perfect sense seeing how my old bike just didn't go very fast! On Friday I had anticipated purchasing a new front wheel for my bike from fellow AFMer Kim Nakashima. This was too be a very trick 16.5" wheel, normal is 17", made from forged aluminum weighing several pounds less than my current wheel. The smaller size is the ultra trick set up professional racers are using. By lunch I had found Kim, but the wheel wasn't there yet. Bummer, there's always tomorrow. On Friday I had a chance to chase around my old nemesis, not really, John Forman, and that was good for me as he showed me some lines that would prove useful later on. By hand timer I has best lap in the 2:05 range. Probably 7 seconds better than my fastest time on my 500.
Saturday morning: Our third teammate Jim Hoogerhyde, now joined us. On Friday afternoon my parents joined us with their 5th wheel camper trailer. We took a whole corner of the paddock and made one hell of a SFMC racing compound. Once again I tracked down Kim, and this time I got my sexy new wheel. Too bad it was for a different year than I thought and didn't center up on my forks. So I missed my first practice session, which is a bummer as Saturday practice only gets 4 sessions total. Even with the abbreviated day Saturday was good, and I ended the day in the 2:04's. I would have liked to be a couple of seconds quicker, but I was lacking confidence in a couple of places, like T2, T7, and T11.
Sunday race day: I put on a new rear tire just for the races. The first race would be Formula 650 Twins, also known as 650T. Since I had never raced this class before I was gridded in the last row. Something like 49th place! I knew it was going to be a long uphill battle with 48 other riders in front of me, but I was feeling good, and ready for game on!
2 Board drop the shield on the helmet, 1 board bring the rev's up to 7k, sideways, get ready , Green flag go! I got a solid launch and drove deep into the middle of the pack, but as we neared the first turn I backed off a little. You see I got taken out in a big way a few years ago by a guy who charged up the inside and couldn't make the turn, so I tip toed through 1, and then got on the gas after that. T2 wasn't much better so I went around the outside and passed several people. Charging down into T3 I gtt on the brakes a little early and #649 of Code-4 gets inside of me as we enter T3a. I'm here to do the passing not the other way around so I let off the brake early and carry a little extra speed and stay to his outside of T3a which gives me the inside line into T3b. I stay on the gas going up the little hill toward 3c, and 649 thinks he's going to try the same trick I just pulled on him. I don't think so as I get on the gas and drift wide forcing him to roll off to keep from running into me. Yeah sucks to be him, that's racing! I begin making my up through the field passing people every couple of turns. I don't know how many because I was always focused on the next rider. There where two more bikes left within catching distance. I can't tell you why but I sucked in Turn 11 leading up to the front straight. I was really good on the rest of the track but not so good on that part. The bad thing about that is the pursued rider would put a gap on me down the fast front straight, and I would close up on him around the back side, but lose it on the front. I had reeled this guy in, and I knew I was running out of time. I told myself I was getting around him no matter what. That is a dangerous attitude on a race track! I had pulled up within a couple of bike lengths of him on the front straight, and I knew if I could get him into Turn 1 I he would never get a chance to get back around me. The idea was simple really. Don't use the brakes until he does, then count to 1, and hit the brakes really really hard. hahahahaha. OK I see him grab a hold, I wait, and go for it. At this point I'm waaaay farther down the track than I had been used to so I pulled a little harder which puts the bike in a reverse wheelie or stoppie. Yes I go flying by him with my back wheel hovering a few inches off the ground. At this I have several things going on in my head. I need to start turning soon, I need to down shift 2 gears, I need to get the back wheel on the ground. In what I consider an amazing feet of mental control this is how it played out. While the rear wheel was still floating I down shifted twice, gently left off the brakes, and set the wheel down, as soon as it touched I started the turn, and a beat later I opened the throttle to accelerate out of the corner leaving my opponent high and dry. whew... All of that happened in less than 2 seconds time. It's amazing how slow things seem when it's the only thing in the world you are focused on. Next lap one bike to go. I suck right up on the back of him as we enter T1, and I know I'm going for the pass in T2. He takes a super tight line either by mistake or to defend against me. I know he won't be able to carry much speed as he exits so my plan is to enter late and carry extra speed through and pass him on the exit. Half way though T2 as I start to add gas BAM down he goes. Too tight of a line, too far leaned over too much throttle. The guy is now sliding directly into my path of travel. I stand the bike up attempting to not run him over which will end badly for both of us. I stay on the gas because I can tell if I get on the brakes I'm going to t-bone him. He makes contact with me head first sending me into a violent Tank Slapper as I head out into the dirt. The BW dirt is very soft and I know not to hit the front brakes so I go to step on the rear brake, and there's no lever. It's bent 180° backwards. That explains the violent shaking motion. The fallen rider hit the brake lever with his head. Ouch! I gain control of my bike, and tip toe back onto the track as I watch rider after rider go by. I limped my bike around the final lap just fast enough to not get passed again, and finished a disappointing 24th.
Up next was the Formula IV race. Even though I was gridded in a much better spot I still finished 24th. I had lost some of the fire after my "Soil Sampling" experience.
There was nothing memorable of super interesting that happened so enough said.
It was a great weekend none the less. Jim finished 1st in both of his races, Eric finished 3rd in 500T, and I went faster than ever before. As always I have to thank my Mom and Dad for coming out and supporting me and my friends with love and lunch! A special thanks to Jennifer from Werkstatt for her race support, and Dave Moss from Catalyst Reaction for helping me get my bike dialed in. Next up is AHRMA at Willow Springs!
Here is link to some lo res pics as I haven't bought the CD yet. 4 The Riders
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