2006 Spring Kick-off... |
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| By: | Tom Marx |
| Date: | 4/1/2006 thru 4/2/2006 |
| A long, wet winter finally gives way to spring. Time to head out to the track, and break in the newbies... | |
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| This winter was long. Flush with the success of last year's Endurance championship, everyone has been eager to get going. The SV motor went to AMI Racing Engines for a new crank. Darren gave us his 750, which also went to AMI for a fresh top end. Purchases were spread across the winter to get track bits and pieces for the 750, including fresh brake lines and brakes, race bodywork and a new laptimer. The intention for this bike was for practice and track days. Absolute performance isn't really necessary. |
| The SV repairs were pricey, we almost went ahead and got a new bike instead of doing the repairs. But the reasoning was we could get the motor finished with more power, instead of living with a stocker. It was finished in January, giving us plenty of time for prep. We got the bike together and over for a dyno break-in in March - it was ready to rock. The big project for the SV was to try to restore the bodywork, and get it painted. It took several weeks of prep, fiberglass repair and sanding to get it close - probably should've just replaced it, but... Finally, two full weekends were invested to get real paint guns and John graciously shot both sets of bodywork. Since we were learning, we used a lacquer and clearcoat on the SV, and urethane on the 750. The 750 pieces turned out really well, the black giving a pretty deep gloss. The SV came out okay, but the base repairs in the bodywork prevented a better job. |
| The final ingrediant this spring is the mentoring of Scott through his novice class at WMRRA. Tasting the track last year, he pulled the trigger to invest in the time to take the NRC, and compete in the requisite novice heats in order to get his expert license. Hopefully, his well-used F2 has enough laps in it to get him through the spring. All the prep by everyone on the team, and we're ready to head out to the track... |
| The weather report isn't looking good, for a dry track that is. Trying Bridgestones this year, I let them know that we'll need some rains... Getting to the track bright and early, it's a steady rain. We teched the SV with last year's Portland slicks, and then Justin went to work to get the wheels off for some fresh rubber. In the mean time I took the 750 over for its virgin tech. The 750 would hit the track today only if dry, since we're using some 209s from last year. No problems, I went back to see how everyone else is doing. |
| About this time, Scott is getting ready to take his F2 to get teched. I walked over to see how things are going. Tech was having a discsussion about the capacity of his belly pan - I was curious if I'd get to see the first capacity test since the belly pan rule was created! But after some major consulting, they decided it would hold the requisite 4 quarts, and a sticker was issued. It was funny watching Scott sweat it though - as this was his first time through tech, and his goal was zero issues for the weekend. |
| The SV was going to get some laps in this weekend. Raber, Graham and I would be putting practice laps for three sessions each. Then I would be putting in another three sessions as a mentor for the NRC. If the track dries out, we would be able to get the 750 out and do some one on one within the team. But in the end on Saturday, that wasn't going to happen... So the SV has fresh Bridgestone rains mounted up, and the day gets underway. |
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The early stages of prep for the Gixxer. We pretty much worked through the whole bike to make a safe track weapon, if only for pratices and track days. |
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Prior to painting, we fit the new bodywork to the Gixxer... |
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John gets on his paint face prior to working on the Gixxer and SV bodwork... |
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John puts the first coat of red on the SV bodywork... |
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The Gixxer bodywork painted, we hang it for drying... |
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The completed Gixxer - waiting for its Pacific Raceway debut. Too much wetness postpones this for another day. |
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Tom watches as Raber gets ready to head out for the first practice. He gets to break in the fresh rain tires! |
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Raber feels right at home in the wet - here he's coming off practice and having fun in large puddle next to our pit. |
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Tom lines up with his two novices for the first session. Scott on the right, and Greg on the left. |
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In the first session, Tom leads Scott through a very soggy bus stop... |
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Real troopers that they are, Justin and Alan watch as the novices show their true colors... |
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Out in practice, Graham braves the elements on the SV during some very wet practice time. The Bridgestone full rains worked well going the various rivers and lakes that is Pacific Raceway in the wet. |
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The weather turned very dark at times. Here Graham proves his metal by braving the elements... |
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On the back side of the course, Tom leads Scott and Greg through turn six... |
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Just as things would start to dry out, this is what the weather brought... |
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Late in the day, Tom let's Scott go and watches as they head through turn three... |
