| A pretty decent day at the track! The goal was to just enter practice so we could get some track time in to stay sharp. I talked Raber into practicing - it would be his first time on the track this year. Graham was waffling on whether or not to come out and play. Then Scott says he wants to come out with his recently acquired F2 track toy, and do Taste Of Racing to see how well it works. Then the wheels start turning for Graham - what if Scott let's us use the F2 during practice, then he and Raber can rotate through a shift with me, and maybe I could point out a line or two... Scott said sure, why not. So the F2 ended up going out for 4 sessions! In addition to practice, I was going to help out with the New Racer Clinic. |
| Raber was first up on the SV. He headed out for an uneventful session to clear his head. He felt the bike was working fine - but felt he was slow - which was okay since the goal was to reacquaint him with the track. |
| Next up was Graham and I (he on the F2, me on the SV). I let him go out for a couple laps and follow to get a sense of where his lines were. Then I shot ahead to show him some alternatives. We put in a couple laps and I show 1:45 on the MyChron. Coming out of turn 2, I look back and I don't see him, so I decide to put in a couple hot laps to see how I do. My first shows a 1:43, then I click off a 1:40.5 - 39s would be pretty easy today, but I decide the bike (and I) are running pretty well, so I backed off. I slow way down on the back straight to wait for him to catch. We hook up again, but it turns out to be the end of practice, so in we go. |
| I asked him how he liked the F2 - he said he was having issues with it wanting to go wide on the fast left hand exits. Not sure, I theorized that maybe there was an alignment issue - but would hold up judgement until I took it out. It turns out the reason he fell behind while we were out was a missed shift, and then way out of the power band, it took a bit to get his head of steam up. While following it, I didn't notice any blue smoke, so at least the motor looked like it was holding up well. This was his first time out on an inline four - having put 2 plus years in on the SV - the power delivery was an eye opener. It was gratifying to be able and whip it up and get the times down with little effort - this time with my body not giving out! As a precaution, I wore a back brace to see if it would prevent the episode experienced in Spokane. I don't know for sure if it helped, but over the course of the day, I went out for 5 shifts, and was able to pushed it all day without problems. Looks like I'll have to include this precaution in my regimen. |
| Next up for me was the first NRC session. My job was to go out and patrol for any students that get detached from their group, and keep them going. After two laps, I find a candidate. Someone (let's call him Jesse - because that's his name) on a ZX-6R (636) was out without a group, so I passed him and gave him the signal to hook up with me. I try to show him some lines, but he's easily lost, so I slowed to get him back. After a couple of laps - I see we are doing 2:25s - really slow. I wave him ahead so I can try to pick up what the issues may be. They turn out to be many - but right away I see that he isn't. Going into the corners from a straight, it looked like he was concentrating on his braking lane, instead of looking through the turn, and therefore was surprised. He also just wasn't comfortable above a buck. After the session, We hooked up in the pits, and we talked. I gave him some things to think about, and let him know there was plenty of time to figure it out. |
| Next out was Graham on the F2. A quick 20 minutes go by, and he brings in the F2 to hand over to me. I'm a bit apprehensive. The last F2 I had on a race track was a bitter-sweet experience. While I became pretty fast on it - it was a trying experience. I try to sweep the past under the rug, and head out with Raber on the SV. The SV's rear is getting pretty toasted, so I advised him to cool it in the fast right-handers, lest he put up with some wild times. I follow him around a couple laps, as I did with Graham. The F2 is actually handling pretty good. Set up for someone about my weight, the rear suspension is actually working better than the SV. The turn 2 bumps are completely absorbed, and there is no sliding. After watching Raber a couple laps, I shoot past to show him some lines. I start to have fun on the F2 - the cammy power delivery raises to good ghosts of the past. While the motor is running well, it is still pretty loose. I start dropping it into first going into the bus stop, and doing power wheelies out. After a time or two, I get the hang of it and carry the front right until the shift to second - the grin inside my hat is ear to ear. Following the session - I talk to Scott about his new-found toy, and thank him for the opportunity to have some fun on it. |
| Looking over the SV after Raber's outing on it - the rear is completely shredded. We had planned to get a rear for the track day in Spokane - but not to finish the day here at PR. After talking things over, Scott said I could use the F2 to finish the remaining two NRC sessions - which was way cool. |
| During lunch, Scott got his first chance to finally take his new toy out on the track during the taste of racing. He tucked in right behind the lead rider in order to get ahead of the squid crowd that goes out for this. His tactic worked well for the first lap, but he was soon overtaken by some liter bikes on the front straight, only for them to throw out the anchors going into turn two! The group was only allowed three laps for some reason, and then off he came. Scott was still satisfied with his purchase though. $1100 for a ready to go race bike, complete with usable tires, and a full tank of gas! |
| During lunch, Raber took the shredded SV rear over to the Dunlop truck, and traded it in on a fresh medium slick for the upcoming track day near Labor Day. While there, Graham made good on his July SuperTeams weekend debt by getting me a fresh set of 209s for my R1 - for the same track day. Ummmmmm - 209s. |
| After lunch, it was two more NRC sessions for me to get Jesse up to speed before his mock race. I talked to him before we went out, and let him know what I thought he needed to work on. So we head out... It's the first session after lunch, and one that is usually tough on new racers. After a couple laps, we see a couple guys that have gone down. But Jesse makes it through the session - barely. Late in the session, he comes up on someone a bit slower than him heading into the bus stop, and surprises himself. Reacting with street-craft, he totally locks up thr rear! He rides a thrity foot blackie out, without high-siding, coming almost to a stop! I was totally impressed he didn't pitch it! |
| The last session - a few things start to click, and he finally is getting on better pace. I had asked him to go faster down the straight (he was backing off), and he did. He was now getting about 125 of the available 155 miles per hour out of it - but he was also going faster through turn one - something he needed desperately to start doing. Since Scott hadn't bought a lap-timer for the F2 yet (inside joke), I could only guess that we were running in the 2:05 range - still pretty slow. But he makes it through the session. We talk afterwards - my advice to him is to NOT mix it up during his mock race. He still needs seat time. |
| After the session, Graham and Raber finish packing up the van, and take off - I hang around to see how Jesse does in his practice race. While waiting - I go over to registration to see if I can pick up our trophies from the previous SuperTeams race. I find out, the team captain of the second place team was pissed he lost,and ran off with our trophy! I've seen bush league, but Josh Ellingson, this takes the cake. Anyway, registration was going to try and convince him to give them back - otherwise she would have some new ones pressed. I hear the practice race start, and wander over to watch at the bus stop. They had already gone by, so I ask Jesse's wife how he was doing. She said he was 7th - out of about 20 guys. Hmmm - I mentioned that I had told him that I didn't think he was ready to really mix it up yet. About that time, we hear over the PA that there was a rider down in turn three - yes - it was Jesse. |
| I stayed with his wife until they brought him and his now very dusty ZX-6 back in the crash truck. A little too much front brake into three bought him and easy lowside. There wasn't much damage to the bike, but it still wasn't pretty. I tried to let him know that although he crashed, I would still pass him for the clinic, but he still needed a lot of seat time. I gave him my contact info, and made sure he knew I could help him during the track day at Spokane. We'll see what happens... |
| For the clowns - a great day. Raber and Graham got the cobwebs out, Scott got to try out his new toy, and I had in a lot of laps, although many were slow. Still, I got through the weekend without crashing or throwing out my back - which is a major feat these days! We still have to fix the SV suspension. For me to get around without shredding the rear tire - I need a lighter spring. So that is task number one between now and Spokane! |
|
|
|
Andy Raber rails through turn 3 as Tom watches. Scott lent us his track whore, which was used for a little advanced tutoring... |
