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)
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
