Going into this round, I had a ton of things going on in my personal life which deterred my focus from the race weekend. I am starting a new job, and as a result of the interview process prior, I couldn't find time to get a trackday at Sonoma. I am getting married this summer, and the wedding planning is taking some time and focus. I am preparing for taking my GMAT test in June, which is a critical and rigorous test. In addition to all of this, my Grandfather became deathly ill just before the race weekend. Because of these things I hadn't even thought about the Sonoma round until Friday night when we showed at the hotel. I told myself after my poor performance at Buttonwillow that I would be prepared for Sonoma. Clearly, I was wrong.
Saturday
The first lap of the day I felt "cold" going out for practice. I had a new brake compound I was testing from my new sponsor, EBC Brakes, and wanted to give myself enough time in the first session to get a feel for them. (The GPFA compound is amazing by the way - tons of bite and linear feel)
Coming out of the sixth turn on the first lap, the bike right in front of me lets off a huge plume of smoke as it dumps oil all over the track in front of me and on the front of my bike. I immediately back off, knowing this won't end well. As #100, Ryder Morrison, tips into turn seven at the end of the back straight, his oil-laden bike slams to the ground and lights on fire. Only a half lap into the day, and I already have oil on me and have had to return to pits from an incident.
After about 10-15 minutes, race direction allows us to return to the track now that the oil has been cleaned. It doesn't take long before the exit of turn six decides to strike again. As I open the throttle entering the back straight section, my engine exclaims in protest, " Boom, ratta tat tat!". Only one lap into my restarted first practice session, and my weekend looks to have ended.
I get the bike back to the pits and begin the tear down. I already can tell that one cylinder is not operating correctly for one reason or another. I remove the airbox, fire up the engine, and place my hand over the throttle bodies. As I turn the throttle I feel each intake duct suck my hand into the chamber, until I get to the forth and final cylinder. A twist of the throttle results in my hand being forcefully shoved away from the engine and sprayed with a fine mist of fuel. I know then that I am screwed. I pull the spark plug for good measure and note that the lateral electrode has been pressed against the central electrode and a large strike mark has been placed across the face of the plug. It was obvious a valve broke and the piston slammed the valve against the spark plug.
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My focus shifted from being competitive and scoring a lot of points at my best rack, to simply getting points and going home. After a few hours, I am able to arrange to drive out to Pacheco, CA and pick up an engine from BRG racing's shop which #115 Berto Wooldridge donated to me. I have found an engine, now I just need to do a full motor swap and make it to my practice in time to jog around the track... this is going to be a long night.
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| 90% of my race weekend... playing mechanic |
Sunday
I arrive at the track with a different disposition. Despite waking up every 20 minutes during the night, I feel more rested and relaxed. I know my timeline to finish in order to make my races, I have come to terms with missing practice, and I now can work in daylight.
After the engine is installed and buttoned up, it fought me to get started but I got it going. It idled high and I figured it just needed to warm its old bones; it hadn't been started in many years and was a little rusty. But after a few minutes of a 4500 rpm idle, I knew I was in trouble. I had very little time left to get this working. After an inspection of vacuum hoses and intake boots, I wandered over to the BRG trailer and harassed KC for some advice. He suggested I swap the throttle bodies with the ones from the other engine, as the "new" ones are probably needing to be synced.
I ran back to my pit area and with the gracious help of former AFMer Conan Dooley and begin to tear in to the motor. My race is next and I have precious little time. Then, it happens. The sky opens up and suddenly hits us with a downpour. We quickly put up the canopy to cover us while we work. Will the races be cancelled? Will all this work be for not? Did Mr. Murphy really wait until I finished this huge job to rain out the weekend?
About 10 minutes before my first race, the rain let up and the grounds began to dry just as we were able to button up the bike, fire the engine, and watch it idle as it should. Wow! Did we really just: find a motor; drive to get the motor; do a swap in the darkness of Saturday night with only hand tools; and get it running Sunday morning just in time to make the race? Yes!
Formula 1
The call for the race came just after getting the bike back together and I had to rush to make the warm up lap. This was my first chance to check the engine and get a feel for the brakes and suspension at speed. We were unable to get any chance to set the suspension for Sonoma. Catalyst Reaction revalved the suspension over the winter, and as mentioned earlier I was unable to get any trackdays during the off-season. This left me with no basis for a setting. Dave Moss helped me get a base setting, but without being able to go run a few laps it certainly wasn't was it should be.
Finding the balance of going hard during the warm up lap to get a feel for things at speed and go slow so as to figure out if there are any critical issues is a tough balance. I almost lost the fight of that needed balance on the warm up lap when I went into the carousel. I entered at a moderate speed and began my braking as I would normally.Then next thing I knew I was in a full slapper, butt off the seat, and heading right for the mountain side at speed. I was able to wrestle the bike back with only inches to spare before ruining all my nights work in my first 30 seconds on the track.
As I approached the final turn during the warm-up lap, I realized that in all the rush and panic to make the race, we forgot to get my grid position. So when I rolled onto the grid, I pulled into the last position. Turns out this may have been the best decision of the weekend.
The green flag drops and I try to wrangle a rough running engine and a clutch for which I have not practiced starts. This clutch felt way different than my last engine. The reach was far and lacked any feedback. Considering this, I got an ok start. Despite the fact that my heart said "GO!!", my brain reminded me to GO easy and concentrate on getting points. Just as I crest turn two, I see #116 Keith Stie crash and slide in front of traffic where a collective of bikes come together. I saw one bike drive over Stie and catapult into the air. I am glad I wasn't caught in that, because I later came to find that my grid position was supposed to be on the second row just next to Stie. The race immediately went red and we were to return to the pits.
---Restart---
For the restart, I was able to start on my proper position on the grid. Now all I needed was to get a good launch and get in people's way. But when the race started, my clutch slipped like crazy and I lost any advantage I had. I ended up in the back of the grid in the blink of an eye.
I battled in that race, but it wasn't with other people. I had to battle with a incomplete suspension set-up which chattered the front like crazy during trailbraking. I had to battle with a motor filled with flat spots that made acceleration out of a turn feel like the mechanical bull at the Saddle Rack. It was an exhausting 8 laps, but I made sure to simply finish and learn the bike.
I ran 10 seconds behind my normal lap times but was still able to pull a 15th place finish out of 24 racers. I met my goals of making points toward the championship, but I was still frustrated at not being able to "race". In the end, I think it was the right decision to reduce the crash risk given the circumstances; not just for me, but for the safety of others on the track.
600 Superbike
Between the F1 and 600SB race, I was able to adjust my clutch somewhat to compensate for the old and burned plates in this engine. I was also able to make some adjustments to the suspension. But most importantly ( and most effectively ) I was able to think about how the bike was behaving and figure out how to ride given the situation.
My start was better, but this class is filled with amazing riders and I found myself being passed coming out of 2 like an old lady on the freeway going 45mph. I kept focused on the goal and my own riding, I had to keep telling myself that these "races" are actually practice sessions for me at this point.
In the end, I was able to pull my times down to only 7 seconds behind my normal times. It was better, but the bike was still rough to ride. I finished 25th out of 31 but most importantly, I scored points.
750 Superbike
A few more tweaks after the 600SB race and the bike was feeling better in regards to suspension and clutch. However, the engine was still mad at me from waking it from the long slumber on the shop floor. Every time I tried to open the throttle, it felt as though I was riding a BMX with someone jabbing a stick in the wheel spokes.
I did what I could after a fair start to get in the way and block for what positions I can salvage. I decided that if I was passed, I would not make any deep braking maneuvers or switchback passes in turn 9. I simply didn't feel confident in the bike nor myself.
I found myself running a quicker pace this race and getting less beat up form the bike. As soon as the fast boys passed me, I was seeing my girlfriend signaling me on the wall every lap that someone was on my ass. I went into block line mode and took tight lines and mid-track entries. About two laps to the end I begin seeing a wheel poke underneath me trying to get around. There was a few times where I thought for sure we were going to come together.
On the final lap I came out of the last turn and the motor began to sputter on me. I had to back off the throttle a little to maintain stability and be able to smoothly roll back on. I thought I was good to the finish line, but at the last moment I see a front wheel extend just past my left side and beat me to the line... Damn!
In the 750 race I was able to get even closer times to normal, this time only 4 seconds off pace. I ended up taking 15th place out of 24, just behind 4-time AMA champion and wild-card World Superbike rider, Eric Bostrom
I want to give a special thanks to those who made it possible for me to salvage this weekend:
Conan Dooley - Thank you for your help getting the final bit of the engine together just in time to make the race. I know I wouldn't have made in time without your help
Jovan Betton - Thank you for your helping hand dropping the motor on Saturday night. Pulling out that engine by myself would have probably caused me to break something... likely me.
Dave Wallis - I am thankful that you loaned me the special tool I needed to release the special spanner nuts holding in the engine. I have pulled a motor without it before, and it is a formula for disaster.
KC and Donna Gager - Thanks for your help in getting an engine to me and your sage advice with solving the idle issue
Berto Wooldridge - Couldn't have raced this round and may have been out for the season without your engine donation, thank you.
Dave Moss - It is hard to get a suspension setting with only two partial laps ran on the bike, but your ability kept me upright and alive.
Ed Guimaraes and Xs Jet - Your support this season made it possible to race. I wouldn't be able to have bad weekends with long stories of an engine replacement without the support; thank you!
