jkaiser
05-13-2008, 07:35 PM
This was my first time racing with OMRRA and my first time at PIR. What a great track! After riding Pacific for so long the new surface of PIR was like a dream once forgotten. I got started on Saturday morning with my Novice check rides. I couldn’t really experiment much because we had to perform certain task as a requirement of the check rides (line drills, no brake drills, etc.), but it was obvious that the track had a lot of traction. I finally got cut loose for the final NV4/NV5 practice session of the day.
I had overheard Sully saying that the key to speed at PIR was late braking T1 and T7 so I began there. All I can say is WOW! Every time I went into either T1 or T7 I waited longer before braking and I was continually amazed by how everything just hooked up and railed through. I need to spend some more time pushing that envelope. I knew my gearing was off coming in, but PIR really made me suffer for it. I hit red line before the start/finish and had the bike bouncing off the rev limiter all day. Even so, I still managed to put in a fastest lap of 1:13.7 by the end of practice.
When I returned to the pits someone pointed out that I had nearly worn a hole through the right side of my lower as I pushed corner clearance to the limit. While I saw this as merely interesting at the time, I would come to appreciate the real significance of it on Sunday.
Sunday morning came around and I was ready to head out for my first practice session. I almost didn’t go out, the bike felt good, I felt good. I guess I felt I had paid for the track time so I should try to take advantage of it. Anyway, long story short, while putting in some easy 1:15s I lost the front end near the exit of T9. Not too bad a crash as the air fence did it’s job in protecting my bike, but frustrating none the less. As I look back on it now I think what really happened was that I ran out of cornering clearance and lifted the front end. Over the winter I had some new case savers installed at EDR and the right side uses a delrin puck which pushes the body work out about ¾ of an inch.
In any case, I had a lot of work to do before the first race. A new windshield and a lot of duct tape took care of most of it but the forks twisted in the triples so I had to loosen everything up and straighten it out as best I could. I got it back together, got it through tech, and got my gear through tech with only minutes to spare.
Given that I didn’t have a chance to test the bike at all (150 mph tank slappers are no fun) I decided to take it easy in the first couple of laps. I grided D1 and got a great start going 3rd into T1. I was passed by a couple of bikes during the first lap as I felt everything out but I soon decided it was going to work well enough. I soon regained 3rd but by then 2nd place was entering T7 as I was exiting T4 so I rode it home for 3rd place keeping the pace around 1:14s.
As the second heat neared the weather became a factor. About 45 minutes before the race I talked with Butters who, with the utmost confidence, said “get the rains on”. By the time the race gridded Butters confidence was born out as it was now raining steadily. I was gridded again at D1 and got another great start going 2nd into T1. The racer out front was Mickey Fay Jr. who is a pretty fast 15 y/o with a lot of dirt track experience. His GSXR 750 was much better suited to the conditions and he held a steady lead pulling away a bit with each lap. At the end of lap 2 his lead was about 5 seconds and I was getting frustrated that I couldn’t catch him. At that moment I told myself to calm down, relax, ride a good line, and hope he makes a mistake. Amazingly, this worked and I began to close in on Mickey. By lap 5 I had cut his lead to about 2 seconds and we began to encounter lapped traffic. We headed into T3 and Mickey took an inside line hoping to get through before the slower riders. Unfortunately, the moment he committed to the line the lead rider in the slower group dove in, closing the door on Mickey. While all this unfolded in front of me, I saw that the outside line was wide open. I went around the outside and saw Mickey finally breaking free of the slower group, but it was too late. I powered the 1000 into T4 keeping a good line and launched the bike down the back straight. Between the 1st and 2nd race I had finally found time to change sprockets (thanks Gary), dropping two teeth in the rear. Now I was getting full use of the top end and Mickey had no chance of getting by. I held Mickey off for a lap and as I came down the straight for lap 6 I could see from Barry that Mickey was right on my ass, but in the next moment I also saw the white flag. I rode a solid but defensive lap making sure not to loose my head in my exuberance to take the win. I exited T9 with no sign of Mickey and pinned the throttle, crossing the finish for the win and a fastest lap of 1:20.1.
If you were looking (which you probably weren’t) you could have seen my grin through my helmet. This was my first race win ever! I felt like I had just won Moto GP, I’ll remember it forever.
I’ll always remember Barry Wressell giving me a hand clap at the finish. Thanks a lot Barry for being there and giving me lead info. I know it’s just a Novice “Heat” but it means the world to me that you were there. Barry Wressell and KFG Dunlop, all I can say is Thank You.
EDR Performance builds more that machines, they build racers. Their involvement and support of racers at every level of the sport are testimony to their passion for racing. I’d like to thank Eric, Gary, Chris, Sarah, and all the staff at EDR for their support. Racing means finding a competitive edge, I find mine at EDR Performance.
Thank you to all the OMRRA staff (especially Janice) for making me feel at home in Portland. Everyone was very patient with me and helpful in finding my way through OMRRA procedures. I’m very happy to be a license holder in this club and look forward to getting to PIR often. Thanks also to the PIR staff and especially the corner workers (having met some personally) who keep us safe and catch us when we fall.
See you in June!
I had overheard Sully saying that the key to speed at PIR was late braking T1 and T7 so I began there. All I can say is WOW! Every time I went into either T1 or T7 I waited longer before braking and I was continually amazed by how everything just hooked up and railed through. I need to spend some more time pushing that envelope. I knew my gearing was off coming in, but PIR really made me suffer for it. I hit red line before the start/finish and had the bike bouncing off the rev limiter all day. Even so, I still managed to put in a fastest lap of 1:13.7 by the end of practice.
When I returned to the pits someone pointed out that I had nearly worn a hole through the right side of my lower as I pushed corner clearance to the limit. While I saw this as merely interesting at the time, I would come to appreciate the real significance of it on Sunday.
Sunday morning came around and I was ready to head out for my first practice session. I almost didn’t go out, the bike felt good, I felt good. I guess I felt I had paid for the track time so I should try to take advantage of it. Anyway, long story short, while putting in some easy 1:15s I lost the front end near the exit of T9. Not too bad a crash as the air fence did it’s job in protecting my bike, but frustrating none the less. As I look back on it now I think what really happened was that I ran out of cornering clearance and lifted the front end. Over the winter I had some new case savers installed at EDR and the right side uses a delrin puck which pushes the body work out about ¾ of an inch.
In any case, I had a lot of work to do before the first race. A new windshield and a lot of duct tape took care of most of it but the forks twisted in the triples so I had to loosen everything up and straighten it out as best I could. I got it back together, got it through tech, and got my gear through tech with only minutes to spare.
Given that I didn’t have a chance to test the bike at all (150 mph tank slappers are no fun) I decided to take it easy in the first couple of laps. I grided D1 and got a great start going 3rd into T1. I was passed by a couple of bikes during the first lap as I felt everything out but I soon decided it was going to work well enough. I soon regained 3rd but by then 2nd place was entering T7 as I was exiting T4 so I rode it home for 3rd place keeping the pace around 1:14s.
As the second heat neared the weather became a factor. About 45 minutes before the race I talked with Butters who, with the utmost confidence, said “get the rains on”. By the time the race gridded Butters confidence was born out as it was now raining steadily. I was gridded again at D1 and got another great start going 2nd into T1. The racer out front was Mickey Fay Jr. who is a pretty fast 15 y/o with a lot of dirt track experience. His GSXR 750 was much better suited to the conditions and he held a steady lead pulling away a bit with each lap. At the end of lap 2 his lead was about 5 seconds and I was getting frustrated that I couldn’t catch him. At that moment I told myself to calm down, relax, ride a good line, and hope he makes a mistake. Amazingly, this worked and I began to close in on Mickey. By lap 5 I had cut his lead to about 2 seconds and we began to encounter lapped traffic. We headed into T3 and Mickey took an inside line hoping to get through before the slower riders. Unfortunately, the moment he committed to the line the lead rider in the slower group dove in, closing the door on Mickey. While all this unfolded in front of me, I saw that the outside line was wide open. I went around the outside and saw Mickey finally breaking free of the slower group, but it was too late. I powered the 1000 into T4 keeping a good line and launched the bike down the back straight. Between the 1st and 2nd race I had finally found time to change sprockets (thanks Gary), dropping two teeth in the rear. Now I was getting full use of the top end and Mickey had no chance of getting by. I held Mickey off for a lap and as I came down the straight for lap 6 I could see from Barry that Mickey was right on my ass, but in the next moment I also saw the white flag. I rode a solid but defensive lap making sure not to loose my head in my exuberance to take the win. I exited T9 with no sign of Mickey and pinned the throttle, crossing the finish for the win and a fastest lap of 1:20.1.
If you were looking (which you probably weren’t) you could have seen my grin through my helmet. This was my first race win ever! I felt like I had just won Moto GP, I’ll remember it forever.
I’ll always remember Barry Wressell giving me a hand clap at the finish. Thanks a lot Barry for being there and giving me lead info. I know it’s just a Novice “Heat” but it means the world to me that you were there. Barry Wressell and KFG Dunlop, all I can say is Thank You.
EDR Performance builds more that machines, they build racers. Their involvement and support of racers at every level of the sport are testimony to their passion for racing. I’d like to thank Eric, Gary, Chris, Sarah, and all the staff at EDR for their support. Racing means finding a competitive edge, I find mine at EDR Performance.
Thank you to all the OMRRA staff (especially Janice) for making me feel at home in Portland. Everyone was very patient with me and helpful in finding my way through OMRRA procedures. I’m very happy to be a license holder in this club and look forward to getting to PIR often. Thanks also to the PIR staff and especially the corner workers (having met some personally) who keep us safe and catch us when we fall.
See you in June!