Pressure is a funny thing. It brings out the best of the brave, and it causes the weak to cower. But from where does pressure stem? Is it something which others put upon us? Is it something which is derived simply from the behaviour and performance of others? Is it something which we create in our own minds, based solely on the perception of a given situation rather than the reality before us?
Or is it just the amount of force acting upon a given unit area?
Going into this race weekend I was under pressure from school. I strive to maintain straight A's at San Jose State and between the large work load I had in the last couple weeks, plus my compulsive nature to getting 100% on everything, I was carrying the pressure of an army on my shoulders. The black rings under my eyes and my physical weakness displayed this.
After a long late night drive to Thunderhill raceway, I awoke to a chilly Saturday morning with a large, pure red ball of fire cresting the hills in the east. It was a strange feeling, not cold but not warm. The air pressure felt like a warm summer morning, but the crispness reminded me that it was the first day of October.
Despite my mind being stuck on my school work, and my body telling me through every creak and groan to go to bed, my practice times were not that bad. Usually practice is REALLY slow for me, but I was quickly up to speed despite my totally worn out tires. During the second lap of the third practice session however, my tires were so far gone it might as well been raining. I pulled off early to get my front and rear tire changed. I did my best to make it out by the forth practice, but it wasn't happening, the timing gods weren't on my side on this day.
Before I know it, I am heading out for the warm-up lap of the first race, trying to scrub in and heat up new tires.
Clubman Middleweight
Getting onto the grid in 4th position on the outside of the front row, I recite my goals to myself, "Good start, hold position in 2 and 3, get up to speed right away, no lolly-gagging, 1:57's, 3rd place"
The starter's board goes sideways, my legs shake in anticipation .... GREEN FLAG!! GO!GO!GO!
I get a great start, arguably my best ever. I nearly have the holeshot but then my weaker engine comes into play and others begin to surround me. I turn into turn 1 and one rider tries to make a move between my left side and another rider far to the left. We all begin to lean in and he has to sit it up and run across traffic, I back off and come underneath him on the inside. I fell back a couple positions, but still a good start considering what normally happens. Giving a quick look back over my right shoulder I see what appears to be #982. "I really need to learn to start faster then him", I think to myself. I turn the throttle and make the run on the outside of turn 2 working my way up the pack in front.
The typical guys end up in front of me by the end of the first lap and I am in 5th. In lap 3 #975 Mike Carr and #933 Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea power by me, relegating me to 7th place. On the fifth lap I work my way pass the two R6 machines piloted by the Sergios, #771 and #933. I then begin to try and hunt down the R6 in front of me of Mike Carr, but we are keeping a pretty even distance from each other and I have to settle for 5th. Not bad considering just how fast this group has become. Despite running my fastest ever lap on this underpowered machine at 1:57.403, it just wasn't even to be on the podium. I ended up finishing the 2011 Championship in 5th out of 51 contenders.
Clubman Heavyweight
After coming in from the Middleweight race, I can see that my tire wear looks great and we picked the right tire pressure and suspension set up for the overcast conditions.
But about 10-15 minutes before the start of the Heavyweight race the cloud cover subsides and the sun begins to shine. There is still more very dark clouds coming in and we bank on the fact that they will give the same cover we saw in the Middleweight race. Heading out to the race though, things are not looking in our favor. I run the warm-up lap and everything feels good. I know I can run 1:57s in traffic and know I have another second or two in bag.
I line up in fifth place, the inside of the second row. Looking for the same start as in the last race, I run through my head, "Hold the inside, keep on the throttle, keep the drive from 1 to 2". 2 board - visor down, click into first gear. 1 board, lean over the front, find clutch point, raise engine speed. Sideways- prepare for war. GREEN FLAG! I let out the clutch and my front end goes pointing to the sky. I try to bring down the wheelie while keeping an even balance and keep a forward drive. I tap the rear brake, the front end comes down and begins to oscillate in protest. Side to side my bars flail treating me like a high speed rag doll. I am able to wrestle the machine into my control just before turn 1 where I turn in and find myself FAR back form the 5th position I started. I click the wrist and get on the move.
Coming down the front straight for the first time I find myself in 7th place, having worked my way pass the field and right in behind the R1 of #952 Peter Fry. I know Peter's bike has power and I will have to pass him in turn 1 or 2 or be swallowed up in the back fast section. He is a little too far ahead of me in turn one to make a safe move so I tail in behind and to the outside of him. I run up on the curbing exiting turn 1, mere inches from disaster in the dirt. He takes the single apex line in turn two and I pounce on the opportunity to swing around him on the outside in the long sweeper. I set up in the dirty area of the track, hoping Peter doesn't run wide because it would be disaster for the both of us. I crank over the bike hard and rub my elbow on the ground as I go around Peter in the middle of the turn. I keep the throttle open as long as possible to hold him off in turn three, knowing that if he doesn't show up on my right side in turn 4, I am going to be a disappearing act through 4-5-6.
I spend the next couple laps catching Kyle Schirrmacher #780, and every time I pass the start/finish line I see Georgia signalling me that someone is on my ass. I figure Peter has found some speed this weekend, but wasn't too worried. What I was worried about is the fact that my rear tire had begun to behave rather odd. I was losing traction in critical areas, but was able to keep somewhat of a drive together.
Suddenly, in the forth lap toward the end of the straightaway, I see an unfamiliar rider come by me on the gas. I tail him for the next lap looking where he is weak and I can go by. Then, in turn two I see the leaned over rear number plate, #979. "Oh, its Micah!". Micah Larson has been absent this season since his round 1 wreck, and his new leathers fooled me. Knowing he is typically a little faster than me, I planned for a last lap maneuver. So on the final lap, I poked my tire in everywhere I could, and ultimately tried to make a move in the 14-15 complex to get a run on the inside, but he proved a hair too fast for me. I finished 7th only four tenths of a second behind Micah. I was hoping for a top 5 in heavyweight but was happy that I was able to reproduce my 1:57s in traffic, proving to myself it was not a fluke. I finished off the year 6th out 36 for the heavyweight championship - not too bad for an old 600cc bike in a sea of new 1000cc power monsters.
After the race I came into the pits to see my rear tire shredded during the race. Turns out the guess I had of the clouds coming in and blocking the sun was wrong, and I ending up tearing my tires because of the wrong pressure in the rear for the conditions.
Sunday
The goal Sunday morning was simple, find the right pressure and work on hitting my track points. Practice felt good and the tire began to clean up well. We ended up running the pressure in the tires 1.5 psi higher based on what the weather looked to be for the day.
750 Superbike
You have heard it before, I hate having the first race of the day. I knew the track was cold and everyone would be slow. I just wanted to run well, and keep my tires as fresh as possible; I still have 3 races and the solo endurance race.
I get a great start and head into turn one right behind AMA racer #18 Kelly Barnett, not too bad. The remainder of the race seemed very familiar for a 750 race at thill this year. #144 Aleksander Anatiychuk goes by me on the outside of turn three and right off the bat I know I am going to tail him to turn 14 and stay inside taking away his line (we do this to each other often in this turn). But to my benefit he runs a little wide entering 14 allowing me to go inside and get in behind #934 Genki Hagata. Tucked in going down the front straight I see the expected signal form Georgia saying someone is right on me. I figured it was Aleksander, but rather #971 Tom Wilbert comes charging by me. I know this is a problem at t-hill because I am quicker in turns than he, but his power makes it very difficult to pass and usually results in slower times for me (remember I said familiar race?). I decide to retaliate right away and jump on the inside of turn 2 late on the brakes, passing Tom back. The next few laps I hold him off, until lap 5 when he goes by in the back straight on the gas. Toward the end of the race my rear begins to fade again and feeling the pressure from Aleksander, I decide to concede to Tom but hold up Aleksander.
I finish in 19th out of 29 overall, 3rd for the novices. In the 750 Superbike championship for the year I finished 23rd out of 75 overall and 3rd for the novices; not bad for a beat up 600cc bike.
600 Superbike
Before the 600 race began, I sat in the hot pit area chit-chatting with two of my friends who are quicker than me, #911 Greg Olson and #755 Ryder Morrison. When they let us out on track I let Ryder head out in front of me and was going to tail him around for the lap in order to get my mind up to speed. But during the warm-up lap he took a bail right in front of me, spooking another rider (Digby Norris I believe) and causing him to also crash. This reminded just how cold some of the sections of track could be. Yes, it is in the video below
I got another good start to this race and found myself all through lap one right behind AMA rider Jose Flores #28. I was real happy with my improvement in getting up to speed in the first lap rather than waiting a lap or two. At the end of the second lap, on the entry to turn 14 #144 Aleksander Anatiychuk came on the inside late on the brakes, blocking me out and moving in front of me (I told you we do that to each other often). I was able to square up the turn and get a great drive on him. I drafted him down the straight and passed him on the outside going into turn one. The remainder of the race I spent my time battling with Aleksander again, eventually taking him by just four tenths of a second. It was nice to see a thumbs up from him on the cool down lap, considering he was the class champion last year in middleweight, 2nd in heavyweight, and 3rd in lightweight. Beating someone you strive to keep up with the year prior is nice, but the pressure I put on myself quickly dismissed it for the fact that I still wasn't number one.
I finished 18th out of 35 overall, and 3rd for the novices with a best of 1:58.04. I finished the season 23rd in a class of 84 riders overall and 2nd of the novices. My tires looked much better this time, smooth and clean. The weather finally started to work with us.
Formula 1
Formula 1 was almost a mirror image of the 750 race. I found myself being passed in the fast sections by Wilburt and running slower as I try to find my way pass. But, in this race toward the end I found myself racing with the three guys I seemed to be magnetized to in this class at this track; Wilbert, Bregar, and Limon. The clouds had come in just before this race began and unfortunately I had set the tire pressure for sun and warmth. It worked out well for 750 and 600, but after a few laps in F1 I found my tires to be fading fast. We battled to the end, and on the last lap, Limon tried to make a move on the inside of Bregar in turn 11. But Limon couldn't make it and had to sit up, running off the track. I hoped to make the best of this distraction and get by Wilbert, but he was too strong for me in that section. I ended up once again finishing behind Wilbert, this time by only 0.6 seconds at the line.
I finished 17th of 31 overall, and 3rd for the novices with a best of 1:59.4. I finished the Formula 1 championship for the season 19th of 63 overall and 2nd for the novice racers. Looking at my tires after the race, I once again found the tires to be damaged - what a rough weekend on the tires.
Solo Middleweight Endurance
I wanted to run in the heavyweight class for this race, but the AFM would not let me bump up a class. I debated going into this race at all because of the tires' wear. I felt pressure from my competitive side though and decided to go for the podium.
I got a great start and was running well, keeping pace with the front three for quite some time. But a few laps in and I started sliding my rear in nearly every turn. A short time later I found myself catching front end slides in nearly every entry and apex. Sliding the rear when getting on the gas is one thing, catching the front slide with your knee propping up your bike and body at triple digit speeds is another. Let me illustrate (click the pics for animation):
When my rear slides, I lose some speed, but I feel like this:
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| Click picture to see rear slide |
But when my front slides, I feel like this:
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| Click picture to see front slide |
Finally, I slid both tires exiting 13 into the back straight, followed by a front end tank slap all the way down the back straight until turn 14 while at full speed. I decided to call it a day and pulled in, sure enough my tires were trashed. I hated quitting the race, but it was the right thing to do.
Year-end Summary
Overall, it wasn't a bad year. But one mistake/crash at Infineon ended up costing me quite a few positions in the final standings. I progressed in nearly every race, and learned a lot. Next year looks kind of bleak at this point. The down side of going faster, is that the tire budget becomes more expensive. I am going to work in the off season in trying to find some sponsorship money to help offset the expense. A little here and a little there may make me be able to race. There is a lot of changes possibly coming as well, we will have to see what happens.
I want to thank my competitors for the challenge. I get to do something unlike anything else on this planet. Thank you to my friends and family for supporting me, helping me fix the bike, and helping me get out on track. But most of all, thanks to my girlfriend, Georgia, without whom I would not be able to do any of this.
Subscribe to this blog for some off-season updates! Hope to see you all next year!
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