BOOM!!!

To say this has been a rough start to the 2013 race season is an incredible understatement. Round 1 was a total mess and round 2 was only worse.

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.

Results of the BOOM

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.



90% of my race weekend... playing mechanic

By the time 10:30 pm rolled around I had already swapped motors and was close to finishing the bike, in theory. I was so stressed and worn of the way this weekend started in addition to everything else going on, I swear I was on the verge of throwing my tools in the air and start crying like a teenage girl. Jobs that should take no time at all are taking an excessive amount of time due to the smallest little things. My brand new, fresh out of the box, drive chain had a few link pins which were not set correctly. As I sit in the dark trying to get these little tiny pins to sit exactly where they belong using a tool which requires an annoyingly tedious process to operate, I give up on being able to make practice in the morning and go back to the hotel. I simply couldn't handle it anymore.

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!

Already!?

The word "already" can mean a lot of things. It could mean as it originally derived, "all ready", meaning one is completely prepared.

Already can also convey shock: "It is race season already?"

It can be used to describe the relation between action and time: "We have already searched this area for the key to the race bike"

Another common usage is to imply disgust: "Enough already!"


This race weekend, "already" seemed to be the theme for me. I knew it to be the case pretty early in the morning on Saturday after I had an engine problem on the very first lap of practice. I came into the pits, took off the gas tank and tore into the engine. After about five minutes, my long-time rival Kyle Schirrmacher rolled up on a scooter and shockingly questioned, "Already!?"; with that one word, Kyle said a lot. All I could do was look up from the bowels of the bike, smile, and say "yup". I threw some band-aids on the engine to get through the weekend, but it wasn't running perfect to say the least.

By the time the second practice came around, I was able to throw on my leathers and finally get some track time. Everyone else came to Buttonwillow prior to the race weekend and got some practice time. I, however, haven't put a leg over the race bike since the last race of 2012. I hadn't even been riding my street bike for the last 8 months, and my lap times proved it.

I have only been to Buttonwillow twice, the last of which was two years ago during a slightly damp race weekend with a new (to me) race bike. Since then, I have gotten faster on the bike on other tracks and expected to be a little faster at Buttonwillow. But as mentioned earlier, I haven't ridden in a while and I was stuck running times 10 seconds slower than my previous lap times. I've only been at Buttonwillow for a few hours and I am already pissed at myself.


SUNDAY

The alarm clock blares as is ask myself, "6am already?". The guy next door in the hotel had been snoring so loudly all night that he kept my girlfriend awake, which in turn kept me awake. I was already riding like crap this weekend and didn't need to try and race with only 3 hours of sleep in total.

Formula 1

I had to start the F1 race from the second to last position on the grid. I saw the practice times of everyone else and decided my objective for the race was to: 1) get a good start, there is no one behind me to worry about; 2) stay upright and don't crash, what I need is point sin this class not a huge repair bill; 3) pick up the pace and get down to at least my old lap times.

When the green flag waved, I got a fairly good start, making some passes in the process. The only fellow back-row starter to get by me was #54 Robin Geenen. He muscled by me on the outside about half-way to turn one, blinding me with his bright neon orange bike. I knew I had to get my as many people as possible in the beginning and get in their way if I had any chance of holding them back on this fast and high-horsepower track.

I got on the brakes a little bit later and a little bit softer than those around me and was able to get by Robin, #696 Peter Kemling, and #116 Keith Stie putting me in 7th place. I tucked in behind my old friend, #131 Bruce 'slippy' Bleeker exiting turn one and planned on letting him pull me through turn 2. But Bruce went into turn much slower than I had expected and I had to sit up a touch and move outside to avoid hitting his rear tire at the apex. This opened up the door for Peter Kemling to squeeze in underneath me with #175 Neil Atterbury in tow.

I found myself in  9th place going into the power section of the track. This is where #172 David Glenn and #54 Robin Geenen flew by me. #111 Oscar Fernandez passed me on the outside during the hairpin (which isn't that surprising considering I suffered with that turn all weekend). As we head down the long front straight, I watch the power of the other bikes walk away from me. In one lap I went from a good start, to being relegated to 12th position.

The field quickly thinned out and I began focused on myself. I really needed to work on my markers and timing. At this point, I just wanted to improve, stay upright,  and let attrition take care of the final placement of riders. Every time I came by another crashed bike, I reminded myself "he got no points, you need points".

Lap after lap, I received signals from my girlfriend at the pit-wall that someone was on my ass. I was battling #50 Tom Wilbert each lap, surprised he hadn't yet powered by me in the numerous open sections. Then on the forth lap, I come out of the final turn, throttle down the straight, click up once and look over at the wall. My girlfriend, Georgia, is viciously signalling that Tom is right with me. I go to upshift again only to miss the lever and have to re-reach with my foot. This error was small, but the fraction of a second gave Wilbert just enough of a difference in our drives to get by me on the inside just before turn 1.

I begin to chase down Wilbert, evaluating where I can get by. I am quicker mid-corner and on the brakes, I just have to get by and stay in his way. Then it happens. My arm begins to cramp up and I have no real feel from my brake lever or throttle. I am controlling the bike like a light switch at this point, all on or all off. I then think to myself, "It's only the 5th lap of the first race; arm pump already?"

When it was all said and done, I was able to work down to my old time from a few years ago, 2:01.1, and finish in 11th place. Not great, but not too bad for this bump-laden track.




600 Superbike

By the time the 600 race came around, the sky has darkened and there was an occasional raindrop here and there. The wind kicked in and was throwing people around on the track. Many people had been crashing as a result, including many red flags. Before heading out to the race, Georgia reminded me to focus on finishing and getting points; don't push it and crash out.

I started in 24th place (dead last) for the 600 race and was again able to make quite a few moves when the green flag dropped. I passed some people on the gas and a few more on the brakes. Going into turn 2, I was again greeted by the front wheel on Peter Kemling's Kawasaki on my inside at the apex. I pulled in behind him and tried to keep pace, but he was simply quicker than I.

As we came out of the high-speed banking of Riverside, I see a huge plume of dust coming over the track. Two riders had come together in a violent collision, scattering debris all over the track. I pulled in behind the group ahead and for the remainder of the race ran pace with a small cluster of racers. I worked my way down to a 2:00 before yet again having arm pump problems. On the last lap, I was far enough ahead of the rider behind me, that I backed off the pack ahead and simply maintained my position. I had no reason to try and make a pass on the pack in front of me when I could barely squeeze the brake lever any longer; it would be irresponsible to try and make a pass like that. I stayed upright and went home in 16th position.





750 Superbike

I was praying for rain at this point in the day. My arm hurt really bad, the wind was blowing over canopies in the paddock, and I just wanted to go home. I raced simply to get points.

I again was starting in last place for this race and again found myself behind Mr. Kemling exiting turn 2. Except this time he was decisively ahead of me. This race was fairly boring; I ran my slowest race laps of the weekend overall and my slowest best time of the three races. My off-season training was garbage this year, and it showed.

I finished in 11th place with a best of 2:01.9.





Next, we go to Sonoma; a track where I love to race. I have two months to get my act together and I am already training.

Until then...


I give my thanks:

I didn't think I would be able to race this year. Between money needed for schooling, time needed for studies, planning time and money needed for the upcoming wedding, and one hundred other things, I thought there was no way I could race this year. I was very fortunate this year to have a few people step up and help me out, these people are the ones who made this happen this year.

Xs Jet and Ed Guimaraes came aboard as the title sponsor this year and really made this season possible as a whole. Expect to see and hear a lot from this company in the coming months. Hopefully we can get Ed and his team to stop by and hang out in the pits one day to get a feel for what racing is truly all about. Thanks again.

All the micro-sponsors who helped get me a canopy this year after the frame on my last one snapped in two. Your donations went along way, thank you.

Viets performance and Bridgestone tires have worked with me to get me out on the track with great tires that not only last, but give superior traction along with great feel and feedback.

Dave Moss Tuning has been the genius behind getting black-magic art of suspension dialed on my bike. This weekend showed Dave's amazing ability. Even though I was running 10 seconds slower than normal in practice, he was able to get the bike perfectly set up for race pace - my tires still have another weekend in them.

Catalyst Reaction saved me this year. In my off-season slovenly behavior, I failed to do any servicing to my forks or shock. Catalyst Reaction stepped up, revalved and serviced my suspension components in time for me to be able to make this race. The turn around time is amazing.

The End...

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln



Last weekend was filled with 'ends' for all of us. Some of which we are aware before it occurs; with these we can choose to embrace or deny, but we know they are coming. Some 'ends' we are not aware until the moment they occur. But, it is usually the 'ends' which we have no idea occurred which seem to affect us the most.

I knew going into this weekend that my 2012 season would be ending. I knew it would be the last time this year I would be facing off with my foes in the four championships in which I participate. This would be the last time I had to hold off my foes from knocking me out of the top three spots in each of the aforementioned championships. I knew these 'ends' were coming, but i couldn't decide if I was happy to embrace or settling to deny their reality.

Saturday

I never felt quite right on Saturday. Mentally, I wasn't sharp - I wasn't distracted, but I wasn't all there. Physically, I was still very sore from last month's crash. My right ankle doesn't work, my back has been having problems, and I screwed up my left foot pretty well. I don't mind pain, pain I can handle. The physical inability to move is another story however. Mechanically, the bike wasn't right. I couldn't get the suspension to be quite right during practice. My normal settings were causing a bad rebound tear in the rear and my front felt disconnected, almost like I had a passenger steering for me. But as I yell out my instructions for the steering I desire, I only receive a front which chatters, clanks, and tucks at or just past the apex.

 

Middleweight

When the middleweight race came around i was running a coupe seconds slower than normal. I wasn't happy with it, but i was ok with it. I was ok with it because I went into this race in maintenance mode. I relinquished second place in the championship to #889 Stephen Rue when I crashed during the race last month and had a 53 point deficit. I knew how fast Stephen is at Thunderhill and knew the only way I would be able to take the position back was with some sort of mathematical anomaly such as Rue crashing out. Behind me in the championship was #861 Ramsey Junaid, trailing by 26 points. Odds are I was not going to beat Ramsey, but I didn't need to beat him. All I had to do was keep within 26 points of him and go home in third place; all I had to do was finish.

The green flag drops and we all go charging towards turn one, only to suddenly be brought o a halt by a red flag being pulled from the race director. I put my hand up and begin slowing down when just then it hits me; I am on the front row and I have about 30 guys behind me all cramming for the same piece of real estate at full throttle, some one is going to ride right up my back side, this is going to end very ugly. Fortunately, every racer keep under control and slowed to and eventual halt. It is the weird moments like that which are the most fearful in racing, not the 100 mph turns leaned over grinding your body on the ground. It is weird moments like that which leave racers paralyzed or killed. It is moments like that which me feel very lucky that everyone responded well and no one was injured



(See the red flag to the left of the picture???)

Restart

After about a 20 minute delay dealing with the injured racers who crashed in the first wave of the race, causing the red flag, we were once again on the grid ready to do battle. The two waves ahead of us take off into the distance, and our engines come alive. Howling over any memory of the incident which occurred only a short time ago. Drowning all fear, doubt, and hesitancy deep into our gut and replaced by adrenaline - the green flag waves and we are racing for the last time as a group in 2012.

I get a good start, but everyone around me gets a better one and I fall to forth place before entering turn one with Ramsey just in front of me on the inside. I duck underneath Ramsey at the apex and get a run on him going into turn two. I feel pretty good about the positioning of #644 Travis Trevethick in third place and run a wide fast line around the 180 degree turn 2. I get by Travis and can almost reach out and touch #780 Kyle Schirrmacher and Stephen Rue right in front of me. I knew Kyle had the championship locked and wasn't going to go 100% in this race. A plan was quickly devised; if I got ahead of Kyle right now, he will likely hold everyone up for long enough where I could pull a gap on the pack and scout Rue for the 600 Superbike race on Sunday (more on that later). I line up to take the tight inside line on turn 3, leaving Kyle to the outside to act as a blockade for anyone who tries to run the wide line to make an entry pass going into turn. But instead, Kyle came down tight and shut the door on me, forcing me to shut the throttle and allow Ramsey to come around the outside of both Kyle and me. I tried poking my nose around Kyle on turns 4, 5, and 5a, but instead found myself lined up in a position to go around the outside of turn 6. I pass Kyle just after the apex and crack open the throttle only to be forced to close it again as Kyle's exit leaves me having to evade my front tire from being clipped. This flung my body in the air and felt like I was about to be thrown completely off the bike.

This was the beginning of an intense race. Positions being swapped at nearly every turn, outside, inside, over the top, it didn't matter. Everyone wanted to win and no one had anything to lose. Before I knew it, I found myself behind #744 Manuel Hernandez in 8th place and losing touch with the front. At this point I just had to get moving and not let anyone else get by. Hernandez proved to be incredibly difficult to pass and we ended up going back and forth quite a few times until we finally came together in turn 6. I'll let the video speak for the race, because there is no way I could write every pass and move made during the race.

In the end, I took 7th place. As soon as I saw Ramsey had won the race, I did some quick math in my head and realized I had just been dropped from third in the championship by 6 points - the difference in points Ramsey received by moving up from 2nd to 1st place in the race. This was one of those moments where I realized my championship goals came to an end not at the end of this race, but rather when I crashed a month earlier. That crash was one of those 'ends' which I didn't know occurred until later.


Sunday

I woke up on Sunday very sore from race the day prior. This only contributed to my fatigue, as I could not sleep well Saturday night. Running on only a couple hours of sleep, I found myself napping every chance I had between races and tasks in the pits. The end of the season went from being something which I denied out of sadness to something I welcomed out of suffering.

750 Superbike

I had enough points in the 750 championship where I could have not started and would have still retained my 3rd place championship standings. I knew I would not be able to beat Travis or Ramsey to move up a position, so I raced in an effort to find some speed and to be on track and score points if Travis or Ramsey happened to receive DNF for some reason (heck, if they took each other out I would become class champ).

Instead I found myself in a battle with #607 Jeff Keohen for 4th place. I did not want to crash in this race and not be able to race in the 600 Superbike race later in the day and I knew chasing Travis, Ramsey, and #743 Jordan Edginton would likely lead to the crash. As a result, I simply fell in behind Keohen until the last lap when I made a move on the brakes going into turn two and ran mid-track lines into turns which I felt Jeff may try to pass. I finished in forth place with a best time of 1:58.8




600 Superbike

You have read a few times so far that I wanted to make sure nothing happened to me before the 600 Superbike race. If you remember from last month's race report I went into the final round of the season 2nd place in the championship, leading Stephen Rue by only 7 points. This made for a very interesting scenario: If Rue won and I took second (unlikely because Kyle is much faster than me at Thunderhill) we would be tied for second in the championship, and I believe Rue's number of wins will give him the championship position. However, if he came in second and I came in third, I would be second in the 2012 championship by a single point. If he beats me by any more than one position, I would be third in the championship.

This knowledge in addition to my third place championship position in formula 1 being locked in mathematically meant that I was going to have to wake up and haul balls in this race. Rue's position was the only thing of importance to me for this race. I instructed my girlfriend to only signal to me Rue's relative position to me and not any other rider. I had to prey for a good start and some lap traffic.

But that plan went out the window after the green flag dropped. By the time we got to turn one, I had fallen to fifth place and was focused solely on Rue's tail section. I was caught behind Jeff Keohen again and could play the waiting game like I did earlier. I wasn't going to get by in the fast sections, I knew that for sure, so i opted to use my braking abilities to ride the outside paint on the entrance to turn ten and work around Keohen. This pulled me back in the hunt of the front three, led by Rue.

Once we got to the front straight, Keohen charged by me with a vengeance. It was obvious he did not want to let me get away from him as I did in the 750 race. As we came out of turn thirteen, I see Kyle pass Rue and move into second place. I knew this would be my best shot to try an get by Rue; he was just passed and has a few racers around him. Situations like this leave riders as victims more than anything else. It looked as though Rue got a bad drive resulting from having to choke up a hair from Kyle's pass, opening the door for Jeff and me to go by him on the brakes into turn fourteen.

At this point I am in good shape, I don't really care about Jeff any longer, I just wanted to create whatever separation i could between Rue and me by getting Jeff between the two of us. I was shaking in my boots going down the front straight, just waiting for the imminent move of Rue going by me on the gas. But I didn't see him. I kept thinking to myself, "Don't crash, don't crash, it's ok if Rue goes back by you, you'll still take the championship".

When we get to turn ten I see the opportunity to put Jeff between Rue and me. We hit lap traffic and I zoomed around the outside of the lapper, moved up on the exiting curbing. Just as the lapper began to tip it in left for turn eleven, he shockingly glanced at me on his right. The shock of me squeezed in next to him made him miss his turn in and caused him to run wide. Fortunately, I was able to get on the brakes, pull underneath him and block Jeff. This gave me the run down the back straight, leaving Jeff in my memories.

I finished in 3rd place with a best time of 1:57.6 and taking 2nd in the championship.




Formula 1

Just like 750 Superbike, I came into the weekend locked into third place in the championship behind Travis and Ramsey. Odds were against me moving up in the standings, so I had a lot of pressure off my shoulders.

I got a terrible start as I dropped the clutch too quickly and got a nice "clunk" from my bike before having to pull the lever back in to save it. Once I got going, I was trying to find my way my Hernandez again. I planned on making a move in turn 10, but Hernandez took care of it for me and ran wide in turn nine, clearing  #914 Ricardo Villegas out of my way too. Form here, all I really did was pace #818 Andy Marinshaw as we made our laps around the track. I was running a hair quicker than he, but we would need a lot of laps to make up the difference he pulled on me in the first couple laps of the race.

For a moment, I was on the verge of just pushing it to my absolute limit, knowing that I have no further races and can't get less than third in the championship. I finished 4th with a best time of 1:58.1 and retained my 3rd place in the championship



2012 Wrap-up

Middleweight: 4th place of 55 racers
600 Superbike: 2nd place of 35 racers
750 Superbike: 3rd place of 24 racers
Formula 1: 3rd place of of 24 racers

In the end, I met my goals laid out before the season. I got my first class win in a hard fought battle at Infineon in Formula 1. I learned a lot in both riding skills and suspension set-up. I found times where I was frustrated with my tight budget, my antiquated machine, and my inability to get any practice time outside of race weekends. The one thing I need to remember is to have fun; I have a tendency to forget that. I also got my first podium this year, and when I did I was ecstatic beyond belief. But only a few months later, I treat third as a complacent disappointment. I need to remember to keep things in perspective.

Unfortunately, this season ends with a few more 'ends'. The most frustrating part of these 'ends' is that I am not even sure of exactly what these 'ends' are, but I know they are coming. I want to come back and race in 2013, but my budget is not allowing that to occur. I will need to gather some good sponsorship money in the off-season just to afford the costs of racing, despite that fact that I am doing it at an impressively cheap budget. Financing is putting a likely (short-term) end to my racing.

I have a milestone coming up in my personal life, another 'end' of sorts, which could leave me here in the bay or living on the east coast. I have the opportunity to finish the next step in my education at some very prestigious schools. While there is nothing I love more with school than racing, the reality of being able to come back to the bay just to race seems slim. It is an 'end' I know is coming, but I currently choose to deny. But, if I am able to make the racing finances work well enough to come back for racing, I guarantee I will.

A quick thanks

Thank you to everyone who supported and sponsored me this year. Jeff with Viets performance helped me with making sure I always had the right rubber at the right time. This was my first year with Bridgestone, and I couldn't be any more impressed with the durability or feedback from the tires. I often found myself changing the tires for no other reason than I felt bad that I had them on for so long.

Thanks to Dave Moss of Feel The Track for always getting my suspension dialed in, even when I have no idea how to describe what is occurring. Dave's suspension set-ups were by far the best thing to help overcome my power deficit.

Thank you to Jim and Nickie Williams of Catalyst Reaction. They were able to take my stock forks and Elka shock and perform mechanical magic which rivaled the most expensive suspension systems one can buy.

I also want to say thank you to Arlen Ness Racing. When I rode like an idiot, The Arlen Ness leathers, boots, and gloves saved my hide. I have walked away from a few big crashes in the same set of gear and have never needed even the slightest repair work. It is as good now as the day I received it, despite sliding on the asphalt at triple-digit speeds. My mom and girlfriend are especially happy with your product.

A huge thank you to my friends and family who supported me. Thank you to my girlfriend, Georgia, for her tireless efforts trackside. Thank you for making the long drives in the middle of the night after a long day at work so I can do school work in the passenger seat. Thank you for the cooking, pit-management, and loving care when I am having a rough time. Thank you to all my friends who stop by my pits and say hi, despite the fact that I am pitted out in the middle of nowhere.

Finally, Thank you to all my friends with whom I battled this year, especially those too fast for me to beat. I hope to race with you next year in the expert class, even if I am still on my rat bike.

   The End....

3 Inches

3 inches...

No, it is not the start of a bad joke involving male genitalia, it is the small piece of real estate which altered my fate for the race weekend at Sonoma and ultimately the 2012 championship.

Going into this weekend I was 2nd in two championships and 3rd in two others, with a close points battle to my nearest nemeses in each class. Sonoma is by far my best opportunity to win races and score points. Being that we only visit Sonoma twice this year, it is critical I maximize points in all races to keep in the points chase. Our last visit to Sonoma resulted in some fun battles and significant points for me, meaning all I had to do was do it all over again.

I spent the week prior to the race analyzing all the mathematical statistics to the possible outcomes based on many variables. However, I failed to calculate for a few factors; personal deviations, other racers being faster than the last visit, and the three inches of space just outside the curbing on the exit of turn four.


Saturday

Saturday practice went well, I was running 1:48s without really trying. I went out to each session working on specific goals and managed to run laps within a second of my best time while just having fun and feeling like I was at a trackday rather than a race weekend. After looking at the times of my opponents on the time sheets, I felt pretty f'in good going into the middleweight race.


Middleweight (No on-board video, forgot to turn on camera)

Starting 2nd on the grid, I got an average start off the line. Stephen Rue, #889, got his typical awesome start and passed by me before even getting to the first turn. Going into turn one I saw the front wheel of Ramsey Junaid, #861, poke into the apex at the wall. I didn't want to try and squeeze down on Ramsey, but I certainly didn't want him to make a run up the hill and get in front of me. I made a quick decision to keep the throttle open and take the wide line through the turn.

I carry a lot of speed from this line and try to get beside Rue before getting to turn two so I can have a control position through the turn and being able to carry that inside advantage all the way to turn four, if needed, to secure second place. At the last possible minute I back off and fall in behind Rue, he simply wasn't entering wide enough for me to go safely underneath. I presume he was trying to do the same maneuver to Kyle Schirrmacher, #780, which is why he kept his line tight and deep on the brakes.



Going into the carousel, I see Rue make a move around Kyle and smile a little because of the thought that I can use these two battling to my advantage within the next few laps. I kept swinging at Kyle like Rocky taking on Apollo Creed in the 15th. Moves inside and out, every opportunity ended sharply with me having to close the throttle, making a mistake, or being out ran leaving the turn. The next few laps the three of us are flying around the track at record speed, dragging me into a race where I was running 1:46s and only in third. Kyle got back around Rue and I was now trying to get around someone I hadn't spent a lot of time chasing around Sonoma. Then it happened...

By the sixth lap of running faster than normal times, I was chewing up my rear tire due to my suspension being set for my normal fast times of a second slower. I decided after nearly high-siding twice in the sixth lap to back it down a little and take third place. I was far enough ahead of Rue in the championship points to be able to afford taking third to his second (Rue actually went on to win the race). I was also far enough ahead of forth place so I could back it down for two laps and take a podium finish.

Typically, I wheelie out of the exit of turn three about 30 degrees, but this lap wasn't typical. I was traveling slightly slower through the turns while accepting third place. The slower speed translates to more thrust when opening the throttle coming over the crest exiting turn thee and my bike went up MUCH higher than normal. The extra couple tenths of a second my bike was in the air caused me to miss my turn in point at the speed I desired. Once I got on the brakes I knew I wasn't going to be able to hit my apex and my focus went to simply making the turn using the wide line. I continue to brake very deep into the turn and do everything I can to get the bike turned. I begins to turn and I run all the way out to the exit curbing. Leaned all the way over, nearly parallel to the track direction, I just barely touch the dirt on the outside of the exit curbing about half-way down the exit section - slamming me to the ground, filling my helmet with sand, and ending my race; if I only had another three inches of track.

Because I forgot to turn on my camera, Kyle gave me his rear view footage to post some of the race. I was directly behind him for a fair amount of the race and you can get a new perspective of my races. If you look in the background right before the end of the video, you can see me run off in turn four.
Enjoy:



Sunday

I woke up very sore. Most muscles on my body were stiff and ached; it felt like I played a game of football the day before. But it wasn't the soreness which was the problem. The wreck on Saturday managed to screw up my right knee and ankle so that I couldn't properly walk, let alone move around on the bike. I couldn't press with my right foot because my ankle was essentially locked in place from swelling. After going out for a practice session, I was barely able to get off the bike and racing in an hour was becoming seriously doubted.


750 Superbike

My goals for the 750 race were simple: stay upright and score some points. I was third in the championship and had quite the gap on fourth. I knew my 1:46s from the day before were a fair amount faster than my two main competitors in the class (who also race in the Middleweight class): Travis Trevethick #644 and Ramsey Junaid #861.

Starting third on the grid, the green flag drops and Jeff Keohen #607 makes one of his famous starts from the second row and blew by me before the first turn, not much later I fell victim to Travis getting to turn seven before me. I found myself in fourth trying to hold-off new fast kid, Jordan Edginton #743. But the fight didn't last long as he went by me on the second lap, diving under me at the apex on turn eleven. I watched Travis, Ramsey, Jeff, and Jordan all begin to pull away from me little by little. I couldn't muster the strength to pull my 1:46s from the day before and instead meandered my way around the track at 1:49s and 1:48s. But that didn't stop everyone in front of me from running 47s and 46s.

Not only was I fighting a physical battle with myself but also a mental one; turn four never seemed so difficult and slow until that day. Eventually the torture of the race ended and I took forth place; only because Ramsey's chain broke while he was coming out of the carousel. I kept it up and scored some points, but I learned that the rest of the day would not be easy.


600 Superbike

After throwing away my championship in Middleweight, 600 Superbike was the only other class that I was not 3rd in the championship. Unfortunately, I have to face off with Kyle and Rue again. Knowing that I was riding much slower, I decided my best chance is to try and get ahead early and use as much positioning strategy as possible to stay in the fight.

But reality kicked in as soon as the race began. I was quickly shuffled back and found myself in 5th place behind #914, Ricardo Villegas. I didn't want to sit behind him for long, knowing I must just up towards the front right away, so I tuck to the inside of the exit for turn three and wheelie by Ricardo, stick the landing and wrangle in the bike to make turn four. The next step is finding a way by Digby Norris, #872. I don't find myself battling with Norris, so I had no idea of his tendencies nor where is the safest/smartest place to pass him. I certainly didn't want to try a risky maneuver with my physical state and take out the both of us, so I hung back for a lap. When coming across the start/finish line, I decided the best place to take him would be the entrance to the carousel. I was slightly hesitant because of my crash the day prior, but felt this would be safer than trying a few of the other passing areas, considering our speed differential. When we get to turn six, I go gentle on the front brakes and get to the right side of the track. the bike begins to fight me to turn as we enter the drop, but I was able shut the door and get in Digby's way enough to hold him off on the run to turn seven,

I begin to reel-in Kyle as I watch Rue take off into the sunset. The next four laps I keep a fairly even pace with Kyle as we come through traffic. On the 7th lap, Kyle over shoots the entry to turn seven and I am back in the hunt, right on his tail. It is too bad I wasn't a hair closer, because Kyle's error occurred in the best zone for passing him from an unforced error. I begin looking for areas to get by Kyle and then I see a sign from my girlfriend that someone is on my ass and looking to pass. On the final lap I start seeing the front wheel of Andy Marinshaw #818 poking his nose underneath me in almost every turn.

Kyle, Andy, and I coming railing out of turn seven and see a slew of slower riders just in the distance. Based on our speed differential in relation to these slower riders, I put a plan together to get in the inside of Kyle going into turn eleven. I won't actually pass him, but rather sit in a spot tight on the entry and apex which will force him back because of the fast line being plugged by the slower riders. We line up coming out of ten, I wait until Kyle hits the brakes and I commit to the move. Just as I make the inside move I see a yellow flag out of the corner of my eye. SHIT!!! I just passed under yellow and will be disqualified if I don't let Kyle back by. I realize I just need to take third because the accident in turn one ahead prevents any passing. I run out wide to let Kyle back underneath, the last thing I wanted was having him caught behind traffic and coming across the line after me. Just as Kyle comes back underneath me, Andy comes with him and i cross the line in forth.

Unfortunately for Andy, he did not see the yellow flag in turn eleven and was subsequently disqualified for his pass. It was sad to see because of his great run he made at the end of the race. Andy's DQ placed me in third with a best time of 1:48.6. I am in second place in the 600 championship by only seven points because of Rue's win. This means for the final race of the season if Rue wins and I take second (unlikely because Kyle is much faster than me at Thunderhill) we will be tied for second, and I believe Rue's number of wins will give him the championship position. However, if he comes in second and I come in third, I will be second in the 2012 championship by a point. If he beats me by any more than one position, I will be third in the championship. Very interesting.


Formula 1 ( No video - dead battery after leaving camera running after 600 Superbike )

By the time the third race of the day came around, the swelling in my knee and ankle rendered them fairly useless. The endorphins from the 600 race helped numb the pain, but I still couldn't exert the force needed to run as well as I did the day before. The formula 1 championship had me in third place with only 9 points to Trevethick in second and 12 to Ramsey in first. This Championship had not yet been determined, so if I can get my act together and maximize my last chance to move up the ladder, I could feasibly be first in the championship.

The race starts and I get a great launch, moving around Ramsey and into second place behind Travis. On the second lap Ramsey worked his way around me, relegating me to third place. On the following lap, Andy Marinshaw flew by me like he had something to prove. Apparently he did because he went on to win the race with a dominate performance while running 1:46 lap times.

By this point, all I could do was hang onto the bike and hope something happens in front of me. I was making errors everywhere and praying for the chequered flag. Never before have I wanted a race to be shortened, never before had I hated being in a race. My muscles were screaming, my bones ached, and everything told me to just stop. Even if I pull in and quit this race I will still be third in the championship, forth is not even close. But I couldn't give up, I just couldn't; it isn't in my nature. If the race lasted fifty laps and I was in last place by a mile, I still never would have been able to quit. I finished forth with a 1:48.0 and finally was able to call it a day.


Round 6 Conclusion:

Crashing sucks.

Losing Grip

“Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty.

I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be.”  - George Carlin

Pragmatic. That is how I approach my racing. I keep a realist view in order to keep a grip on the reality of my expectations, on my results, and my racing career. It gives me the ability to use goals as a point for which to aim, without being over-reaching. My pragmatism keeps me from freaking out when my practice times are 6-7 seconds slower than my race times, it reminds me of the reality that my practice times won’t meet my race times – because then, as logic dictates, I am going too slow in the races. It reminds that my tires have a limit of grip and I should ride to the limit or a little below, as opposed to letting passion over-step the limit and crash out. It reminds me to not try and brute the bike around like I would earlier in life during a football game. Being pragmatic allows me to firmly grip onto the big-picture concept of: enjoying what I am doing, doing the best of my abilities, racing my race, and letting the results fall as they may.

This last race weekend, I lost grip.

Saturday

Saturday was strange. I awoke early in the morning in my hotel room, but I wasn’t that tired. I walked out of the hotel room and to the truck without gripping onto a pile of books and my laptop. I had no stress, I had no school, I wasn’t struggling to grasp onto a schedule of how I would fit all I must accomplish outside of racing into my race weekend. This feeling was eerie.

I went out to my first practice and did my usual 3 lap warm-up. I generally have to come in after 3-4 laps because my hands are hurting from gripping the bars and levers. I am sure I am normally clenching my fists as sleep the night prior, having stress dreams and worries of my day to follow. But when I came in on Saturday, I came in out of habit and not out of soreness or the need to relax myself a little further. I felt slow, but I was moving fairly quickly. Normally my opening session I am running laps around 2:06 and fighting to push through a 2:03; but on Saturday, my first flying lap was a 2:03.4 followed by 2:01.1. I didn’t believe it when Georgia told me this in the pits; it felt like a 2:14 at best. My pragmatic voice kicked in and told me to get a grip, this is only practice and it is only a 2:01.

Second practice came and I didn’t feel rushed before heading out. I didn’t have anything to change on the bike nor to fix, this was strange. Normally on my second session, I will stay out the whole time and begin feeling out the bike for any suspension or tire pressure adjustments. But this time I came in after only three laps. It was almost like I didn’t even care about practice, I was just kind of “whatever” about it. I wasn’t upset or happy, I just was. I didn’t even remember opening my throttle to 100% one time; I simply went around checking-in with my apexes, just to pay them a visit and see how they are doing. So you could imagine my shock when Georgia yelled at me, “Good job, 1:58”. I was befuddled. What just happened? Did I really just run a 1:58? Did I really just run only .6 seconds slower than my record time? I checked my timer and confirmed it too be true. I tried to contain my excitement, but my mind started off into dreamland: “If I ran a 1:58 now, what the hell am I going to run in the races? Oh my god, I am going to kill it this weekend. I am going to beat Kyle at Thunderhill, of all places”. After only 6 laps of practice, I had begun to lose grip on keeping calm; I had begun to lose grip on reality.

Middleweight

I always get a little nervous lining up on the grid, as I should. But this time when I came around the last turn on the warm-up lap, I began feeling really nervous – almost sick, like I was going vomit in my helmet. When I got to my grid spot I was shaking like a leaf; I lost grip on my mental state.

The green flag drops and I get a pretty good start. Stephen Rue #889 gets a killer start and leaves everyone in the dust (I think Stephen used to do a little stoplight street racing before he came to the AFM). On my right I have Ramsey Junaid #861 peeking out and on my left Kyle Schirrmacher #780 is beginning to drift over from his position on the pole. He’s still drifting. Still drifting. Clack! Kyle and I have a little love tap which shifts my bike into 3^rd gear prematurely, leaving me chasing Ramsey, Kyle, and Stephen into turn 1 with my RPMs lower than ideal.

I get underneath Ramsey between turns one and two and begin to latch onto Kyle. I determined a week earlier (and protested it to Kyle’s main pit guy, Skyler) that my goals/plan for middleweight was to tag onto Kyle’s tail and hope to keep pace through the race. This would leave me way ahead of the pack and allow me to make some attempts on Kyle during the last lap.

Kyle and I worked our way through traffic of the F50 and Heavyweight race, sometimes for his benefit and sometimes for mine. I kept on Kyle until about halfway through the race when he ran a fast lap while I made a mistake in turn six, leaving Kyle to run away in the fast section. As I saw Kyle catching Stephen, I knew I still had a chance for the second half of the plan: make a move on the last lap.

After working my way up toward the two of them on the last lap, I saw traffic ahead which I would be able to use to get underneath Kyle/Stephen on the brakes. However, coming out of turn five on that lap I began to get a severe crap in my right hip flexor. I couldn’t hold back any longer and while coming out of turn nine on the run down the hill, I stood up and stretched out my hip while at full speed. As I sat back down on the bike I misjudged my braking point and missed the apex of ten. This lead me to run very wide on the exit, close the throttle, and run to the absolute very edge of the rumble strip while sliding my rear tire. I lost grip on the front runners and the chance to make a move. I finished 3^rd with a best time of 1:57.691

 http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-middleweight

Sunday

After getting a third in clubman at Thunderhill (a very hard task for my hamster-powered bike) and running a relaxed 1:58 in practice, I lost grip of my concern for my Sunday races. I thought I had it in the bag. Kyle and Stephen are only in my 600 Superbike race and my main two competitors in the 750 Superbike and Formula 1 championships, Travis Trevethick #644 and Ramsey Junaid #861, were running 1:59s. I had it in the bag.

Then I made what may have been my biggest mistake all weekend. I watched the 750 production race from the pit wall. I saw Ramsey not only running with Kyle, but beating him. I checked timing and saw they were running 1:55s! What!!?! Where the hell did they find 2 seconds? Now I was worried; how would I run 1:55? I began to lose grip on my nerves.

750 Superbike

I got a good start and fell into turn one in forth position behind #607, Jeff Keohen. I knew I couldn't let Ramsey and Travis get away in the front; if I had any chance to run 1:55 I knew I would need to be pulled along. I got around Jeff on the entry to turn nine and began to pursue. At this point, I would need to catch-up before they took off and try to simply get in their way.

After only a couple laps, I began to get severe arm pump in my right arm. I decided to back off the attempt on Travis and Ramsey. I got a signal from the wall that Jeff has fallen off the pace and I had room to simply take third. Then a short time later an unfamiliar bike came by me on the run up the hill to turn 9. Young gun #743, Jordan Edginton, managed to get by me on his 750 and we began to battle, so much for my 'go-easy' plan. I actually ran quicker laps than Jordan, but I simply could not get by him. Between my arm feeling like hell and the strong drives Jordan got out of the turns, I had to relinquish my grip on the 3^rd place trophy for 750 Superbike. I finished 4^th with a best of 1:57.8 and an arm that felt like it experienced 40 years of arthritis in a 8 minute period. Travis now joined the rest and also ran 1:55s.

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-750-superbike

600 Superbike

The 600 Superbike race started out just like the Middleweight race. Stephen Rue was in first, Kyle was in second, and I was tagging onto Kyle’s tail. As the race went on, I lost touch with those two as we went through traffic. Unfortunately I caught behind traffic from turns 6-10 and newcomer, Manuel Hernandez #744, took advantage and wedged his way into 3rd on the inside of the turn 10 entry. He and I battled back and forth for the remainder of the race.

The pain in my arm began to really affect my riding and I was sliding my front and rear tires in areas unusual for me. The high speed of turn seven slides was by far the most “puckering” turn of them all. Leaned over at full tilt, throttle wide open, and a tire which insists on going faster than the actual rate of travel; I had now lost grip with my tires. Rest assured, this was all caused from my own doing, the bike and tires were operating great, my right arm had become a remote-operated extension of a lifeless aperture causing havoc with my riding.

I tried my darndest on the last lap to make a run on Manuel; but just like with Jordan in the 750 race, I came across the finish line in forth – only a blink of an eye off the podium.

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-600-superbike

Formula 1

With Formula 1 came the final loss of grip, I could no longer even hold onto the bars; my arms had completely failed me. I ran in second place for the first half of the race behind Ramsey, until Travis came flying by me in the front straight into turn one. I kept on his tail for as long as I could. After seeing the thumbs up from my girlfriend signaling on the pit wall, I decided it was better for me to fall back and take my points for the championship rather than crashing out. At this point I couldn’t hold the bars at all, I couldn't open the throttle to 100%, and I couldn’t feel the front end of the bike. I had completely lost grip at this point. I finished the race in third with a best time of 1:58.0.

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-formula-1

After the Flag

I came home disappointed with my times and my finishes. I decided to run an analysis of my finishing positions and lap times since I started racing. I saw constant progression and soon realized that I had lost grip on the scope of the situation. Yes, everyone else got faster, but so did I over time. Two 4th place and two 3rd place finishes is pretty good for me at Thunderhill with my rat bike. If I wasn’t so concerned with everyone else’s times, I may have run just as fast as they did and my arm may not have been strained. I lost grip on perspective and as such I lost grip on my bars. Relax, run your race, and let the results come.

When Opportunity Meets Determination

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

Charles R. Swindoll

Concern grew greater as the race weekend grew nearer. I hadn't been to Sears Point in a year and on that weekend I wrecked on my second lap of the first race, ending my weekend. In the year since I have barley ridden at all and have made changes to suspension settings, tires, and gearing. I was essentially going into this weekend with no prior data, I had to rely on calculations I was making in my head about the changes and how they would affect my riding. My "perfect shift points" will move, my drive will change, the battle to keep my front end down coming out of 3 has just become more difficult.

But Sears Point is known as a rider's track, where results are given for control and not raw horsepower. Although having extra power helps, it doesn't help nearly as much as any other track. Even the pros in the AMA acknowledge its difficulty in its raw nature. It is a track which is developed by the natural undulating hillsides of Napa valley, not from a desk and computer screen. Sears Point has attitude, anger, and acrimony and will take a rider down for the slightest form of disrespect shown through arrogant riding. My plan this weekend was to think my way through the track, leverage my strong areas, and try to maintain position during the open sections through smart vehicle placement.

Saturday

I woke up Saturday to look outside and say, "shit". The sky was caked in dark clouds, the air had a chill, the ground was covered in a light dew; not a good formula for a Sears Point race weekend. Arriving at the track only brought more concern for the weather, as a fine mist/sprinkle began during the early hours of registration and technical inspections. This was not looking good.

I decided I would spend the first session simply waking up my brain and reminding myself of my entry/apex/exit points. Last thing I want to do is me the guy who tosses his bike in the opening practice session. Leaving the hot-pits I ascend up the hill to turn two planning to merge with traffic. As I cross over a very thin painted yellow line separating the hot pit area from the live track, my rear tire losses grip and spin WAY out to the side. I was able to wrangle the bike back in at the cost of tweaking my back a little. This had set the tone for the remainder of my practices.

I ran slowly during my practices and only did a few laps; concentrating on quality laps and mental exercises rather than quantity. I saw a lot of my competition running some fast times during practice, which began to concern me a little. I still wanted to go easy, but needed to figure out what they were doing. I used what little practice time I had left to time myself with traffic so that I can see what people are doing and where, giving me an idea how to plan for the weekends races. This is not nearly as good as running a few laps at full speed while on their rear, but my gut told me that was asking for trouble.

Plus, this strategy saved my already heavily used tires, which I couldn't change because of a VERY tight budget this round (technically shouldn't have been able to make this race weekend)

Middleweight

I'll start by saying this, middleweight was one hell of a fun battle - much more so than any on-board video could ever show.

Just before the middleweight race began, the clouds began to disperse and gave way to sunshine. The wind however, had stayed behind and was blowing hard from the north. As I headed up for the warm-up lap I noted how heavily the flags around the track were waving and began to plan for alterations for this factor. Wind is a real pain because it is inconsistent and can not be seen while racing. There is no way to know if going into a turn if the wind has increased, decreased, or change direction. Because of this, a rider must gave a margin of error in either direction when entering a turn otherwise he may end up braking too early or not making the turn at all. Personally, I'll take the consistency of rain over wind any day.

The green flag waves and I get a good reaction time but dropped the clutch too quickly. I am able to get back on the gas rather well and carry a lot of speed through turn one and up the hill to the ever sketchy turn two. I find myself in third, just to the inside positioning of Stephen Rue #889 and Kyle Schirrmacher #780. I quickly analyze two options: 1) go to the inside and hope everything works out 2) back off the gas and maintain. I decide on the later because I don't want to be a bowling ball and take out the whole field in turn two. Oddly enough, Rue and Kyle both left a window I could have used, oh well.

My strategy is to keep Kyle in sight while I watch Rue for a lap. But when Rue has a little bobble exiting turn six I quickly decide I am going to try and beat him in seven as a result of his loss in drive. Sitting on the inside, I begin to tip in and I see Rue coming in right at me and the apex, forcing me to sit up for just a moment. This moment gives Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea #424 a pass on my outside while Sergio Fernandez #771 takes me on the inside. I get back on the gas hard to get back around Fernandez, only to see him power up beside me going into 9 and taking the inside back.

I am now in fifth and know I have to step on it or they are going to run away from me. I run hard out of nine and ten taking the inside away from Rue in eleven. I spend the next half a lap chipping away at the lead the leaders pulled on me as a result of my turn eleven heroics, out-braking Sanchez-Chopitea in seven and pulling beside Fernandez in the front straight. We are side-by-side playing a game of chicken while racing at full-throttle to turn one with me squeezed between the wall and Sergio's bike. The moment I see his forks compress I get on the brakes and guide the bike through turn one to begin my attack on Kyle's reign in first place.

I try an inside move in turn four and stick the pass, but executed it a moment too soon which allowed Kyle to delay his turn in and give him a counter attack on the inside of the exit. I start poking my nose into weird lines trying to set up drives and pass maneuvers while simultaneously holding back Fernandez. Then it happens...

Fernandez comes in very hot to the inside of turn nine, shooting by me and pushing out Kyle into the dirt. I set up behind Fernandez expecting to run behind him to turn eleven and try a wide pass move. But then suddenly Sergio sits up while exiting turn nine to return the position to Kyle, leaving me to have to sit up and act evasively. I get around the two of them and suddenly I am in the lead.

My strategy has suddenly changed. Normally I have a few moments to reanalyze what is going on and decide on a plan, but my brain kicked in with a simple, "GO!!! FUCKING GO!!!!". I had to get away from them, I had to break them and let their battle keep me at a distance, that lap I ran my fastest lap ever at Sears Point (Plus the fastest lap of anyone in the entire race).

The following lap I saw my girlfriend signaling me from the pit wall that I had pulled a gap on them. My brain kicked in, "ok, you made some space - don't crash. Maintain and see how they react". Being as inexperienced as I am to leading a race, my "maintenance" was a 1.4 second drop in lap time. After leading for three laps, Sergio had caught me on the inside of eleven. We came charging down the straight side-by-side, just as we had before, only this time he was to the outside.

I tried to play chicken with Sergio but with the inside position, I didn't have the safe leverage position I wanted. So I decided to back it off and file in behind, planning to use his timing for a last lap pass in nine or eleven while holding back Kyle. After a couple laps, we see slower traffic in the near distance and I begin to postulate just how I would use the traffic to my advantage.

Sooner than I had wanted, an opportunity presented itself in turn nine and I took the inside on the entry. The slower rider in front of us took a much more square line through the bus stop which forced me to make a last minute adjustment and killed some of my drive out. I get on the gas hard and suddenly feel my fairing slapping on my right foot and knee, I check to my right to see Fernandez leaded on my bike trying his best to stay on track and maintain speed. I give him the benefit of space and don't run him wide, but there was no way I backing off the throttle.

I didn't want the same problem in turn eleven as I just had in nine so I set up wide to try and get a run around these 1000cc bikes. What I failed to calculate was the speed differential that would occur when a pack of us all came almost to a stop in nine and then charged toward eleven, I had been out-run and pushed out from the inside by Kyle and both the Sergios. Crossing the line, the white flag was out, I had eleven turns to get by three people and slower traffic to win this thing - I'll admit I lost hope for the first turn or two after this happened, until I decided to claw back.

Racing down the drag-strip the four of us get by a one-liter bike from the heavyweight class, except he came back under me in the middle of turn seven and then chopping off my nose as I attempt to fly by him in the esses. I charge as hard as I can out toward nine, knowing that if I can get back to the pack by eleven I can still pull a podium at bare minimum.

I see Fernandez run wide on the entry of nine and I take a shallow line to get by him before he's able to recover. I'm set-up behind someone when suddenly Sanchez-Chopitea gets hard on the gas during the exit and looses the rear tire. I now have two people in front of me, Kyle and mystery bike. I had no idea who this bike was but didn't want to take any chances for a missed opportunity. Maybe he got by me in the turn eleven fiasco last lap and I didn't know. Maybe he is a heavyweight, but Kyle may still run wide in eleven and leave the door open. I didn't want to settle for where I was and charged through ten and eleven as hard as I can, taking second place with a best lap time of 1:47.587.

That was a very fun race and was more pleased with the battle itself than the actual results (But I won't turn away a second place)

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-4-sears-point-june-30july-1-middleweight

Sunday

I hate morning races, always have. I could go into a lot of details why, but since you just read that whole long passage for only one race, I'll keep the remainder brief.

750 Superbike

I got a "meh" start and found myself in forth place, caught behind David LaBree #999. I thought I would get by him on the inside of two, and probably could have forced it safely, but instead sat-up as he came across my front and let #644 Travis Trevethick get around my outside. I was feeling very lazy and sloppy; did I mention I am not a morning person?

After seeing Ramsey Junaid #861 and Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea #424 begin to run away I try finding my way past David on his powerful gsx-r 750. I get stuck behind him for a lap and a half until turn seven on the second lap, when I am able to get to the inside of him on the brakes. Just as I begin to give steering input, I see Travis' front wheel on my inside. Knowing there is no way for me to take advantage here, I kept it upright until he turned in so I could jump on his tail. But he never turned in, just went flying by to the run off area. I found out later on that he had a brake failure, could have been a lot worse!
I spent the rest of the time trying to catch Ramsey and Sergio. I had taken off from David and all I had to concentrate on was playing catch-up. But every time I would make progress, I would lose it right back because of a stupid error: overshoot turn one, miss a shift, brake to hard, etc.

The torture of my pitiful riding came to an end a few laps later when the red flag came out as I was entering turn seven. I managed to scam the other riders out of a third place finish. But that is not the best part...

As I was coming to a stop in the run out area of turn seven, Ramsey begins to circle back around at traffic. Not knowing what he was doing or where he was going I begin to the right to avoid a head-on collision. Problem was, I was also braking. Suddenly I found myself a victim of the classic newbie parking lot crash. I picked up my bike and yelled to Ramsey, "I didn't expect you to turn around!"

Did I mention I hate morning races?


http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-4-sears-point-june-30july-1-750-superbike

600 Superbike

It only took a second before I found myself in the same scenario as I did in the middleweight race the day prior; going into turn two behind Kyle and Rue. I gave chase and we managed to catch slower traffic by turn eleven of the first lap. Going into turn six on the second lap I had a white-plate bike come underneath me. I had no idea how he got there, did he get pushed off track earlier in that incident in seven which I saw the riders yelling at each other? Did he have to start from pit row because he missed his call? Either way, I decided to ignore him as he diced through me, Rue, and Kyle and focus on our race.

I came through on Rue on the inside of the exit of turn seven, never to see him again; putting my nose down and trying to hunt down Kyle. As the race goes on, Kyle and I find ourselves dealing with a ton of slower riders. He eventually is able to use these moving pylons to create some separation from me. I see signals from my girlfriend that I am completely clear of any competition behind me, and decide to go conservative and take the second place rather than risking receiving zero points by making crazy moves through traffic and crashing out.

The first results posted showed me in second place but the result page was later pulled down and replaced, moving me down to third. Turns out the mystery white plate rider who passed us on the second lap was an accomplished racer who had been counted as a first place finish in our class. I never would have had a chance since he was running 1:44s.

https://contour.com/stories/afm-round-4-sears-point-june-30-july-1-600-superbike



Formula 1 (no video)

In another episode of "Dan Butler's dumb moves", I left my camera running after the 600 Superbike race and recorded another race in the background and all my lunch hour activities. Just as our race was called, I hear the camera beep that the battery has just died, D'OH!

When the green flag drops on the formula 1 race, I get shuffled back to sixth place by turn 2. I spend the first lap trying to peek in a wheel where I can. Problem is, when the guys in front are sitting three or four wide going into a turn there really isn't a safe place to make a move. Come the beginning of the second lap I do a quick calculation of the differential needed to catch-up to the leaders. I determine I must pass (and stick) at least one rider per lap and go about a second a lap faster than the leaders to have any chance to win.

On the second lap, I get a nice drive out of 8 and get a little crossed up wheelie. After bringing it down I get on the brakes, my non-slipper clutch bike chattering the rear slightly as I step the rear out. I lean in and stick a smooth pass  to the inside of the two riders in front of me and get a great drive on the exit. My focus is like none other now, that pass just awoke the beast. Eyes of fire, belly of hunger, I am on the move.

I continue to move up the ladder one by one. My wrist throbbing with pain from over rotating the throttle. My worn tires gripping well but reminding me of the wear with ever-so controlled slides. As I pull into third place behind Andy Marinshaw #818 my forearm begin to experience arm-pump, lactic acid has crept into my bloodstream and still leaves me sore as I write this.

I get by Andy and stare at Sergio Fernandez in the distance, my laser guidance system locked in on target. I pull up behind Sergio to see if he is doing anything different than earlier, checking where I can get him. I think about the inside of nine but instead decide on the slingshot out of nine and through eleven. I get the drive I am looking for and pull to his left while on the brakes for eleven - does he know I am there? Sergio takes his normal line for eleven and I counter with a slow entry/fast exit move, forcing my way into the lead for turn one for the final lap.

I clinch my teeth to pull from Sergio, knowing I have to put the dagger in the heart with him or he will surely try a move on the brakes in turn seven, nine, or eleven. I find the balance of blocking lines with speed and cut a full second on my best lap of the race thus far with a 1:47.7. I come out of eleven look to my right and see Sergio just entering the turn. I blaze down the straight in full tuck with my left arm curled to my side, my hand gesturing the number one to my girlfriend who is on the pit wall losing her mind. I did it; my first win in a championship race.

2012 Championship Standings thus far:
Middleweight: 4th place, but only one point down from a tie for second place
750 Superbike: 3rd place and on the move upwards
600 Superbike: 2nd place, behind Kyle Schirrmacher
Formula 1: 2nd place, three points behind championship leader Travis Trevethick