We had another great day testing at Thunderhill Raceway; this time with all three riders.
I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and help, especially Kc Brg from BRG Racing for taking the time to help me at the track and give me a ride. Also I’d like to give a huge thanks to Freddy from BRG Racing / Motorcycle for making the trip up to help with all of the pit stuff, lap time recording and all the little things that really make a huge difference. Having you guys with me at the track the last two days of testing made me feel like a factory rider.
Also I’m really glad that my team mates, Sergio and Digby, finally came out of hibernation with their bikes rebuilt from last Octobers get offs and got a chance to shake things down and work on getting things right.
Thanks you Rita for helping with water and getting the rear stand when I came in. I’ve done a lot of track days by myself and having someone to just get the rear stand and pull off warmers is great. I’ll never take anyone who does this for granted, and neither should anyone else.
Can’t wait to get back out at Thunder Hill next Monday with Pacific Track Time

AFM Round 7 Report

AFM round 7 at Thunder Hill Raceway l wasn’t looking too good for me in the week prior. I got sick the Sunday before and wasn’t getting better. Since this round was a makeup round from round 4 being cancelled due to rain, it was scheduled very close to round 6 (two weeks after) and my wallet hadn’t had time to recover properly.

As much as I really should have skipped this round due to my finances and my health, Laura encouraged me to go and at least race in Clubman Middleweight to keep my points in the championship. My parents also wanted to go watch me race, so they helped out and encouraged me to race.

By Friday, I still felt awful on the drive up and had little motivation. We got to the track at around 11pm and set up camp. Even though I got a decent amount of sleep Friday night, Saturday morning I wasn’t feeling any better. The hardest part of the morning was walking the bike to tech inspection and back. The walk felt like a hike up Mt. Everest; when I got back I was exhausted with no energy left to ride.

Somehow I managed to make the practice sessions, but now my other problem was surfacing again. My Dunlop’s were taking some bad wear and shredding faster than cheese on at Taco Bell. Both tires were sliding and even with all the help from Dave, Jeff, and Nikki at Catalyst Reaction, the tire wasn’t going to get any better. The GP-A’s just aren’t meant for Thunder Hill. I wasn’t alone; Digby was also having a nightmare of a time with a shredding Dunlop.

I had been considering a tire brand change since the beginning of the season, but now it was time to make a decision. I talked to a lot of people about both the Pirelli’s and the Bridgestone’s. Both tires got great reviews, but ultimately I talked to Jeff at Viets Performance who was extremely helpful in getting me, and the rest of the team set up on Bridgestone’s. If you haven’t read it already, Dave Moss from Catalyst Reaction has a great in depth review on the new Bridgestone R10’s which helped in making the decision to go with Bridgestone.

After we made the switch to Bridgestone, there wasn’t much practice time left. I had one practice session to get my tires scrubbed in, and suspension dialed in. With no suspension change, the bike didn’t want to hold a line or turn in. After that session Jeff at CRST made a quick adjustment to the preload and it was an all or nothing adjustment with no more practice, but just the clubman race ahead.

On the warm-up lap of my first race, I tried to get a feel for how the bike was handling and it seemed to ride better, but the warm up isn’t a good indicator for how the bike will handle at race pace. I gridded up 7^th (since Sergio had to miss this round) and waited for the green flag! I got a great launch, but as always I let my politeness take over when we got to turn one and let a few gents by. I was now in 5^th. By the second lap the leading three riders were gone and no longer in sight, but 4^th place still was.

I worked as hard as I could and by the 3^rd lap, I was starting to adapt to the suspension settings and the new tires and slowly started putting in faster laps. With a few peeks from riders behind me on trying to take my 5^th position, I put my stuffy head down and tried to concentrate. By the time the white flag came out, 4^th place was within my grasps! I had planned in my head to catch him on the exit of 6, but surprisingly I was on his rear tire by turn 3 and decided to go for a tight inside pass in turn 5.

Again, my politeness and inexperience took over as I made the pass but decided that he might not have seen me and I got on the breaks hard. So hard the rear wheel lifted off the ground and I no longer could make the turn. My only option was to ride into the dirt. If only I could have kept the bike up in the dirt, I may have been able to salvage a top 10 finish, but down I went into dirt and it was a DNF for me. I had done exactly what Sergio did to me in the last race, but wasn’t able to make it back on the track like he did.

I’m sure you could imagine my disappointment. The whole reason I showed up sick was to keep points in the clubman series, and there I went getting absolutely none! And to top it off, when I rode the bike in on the cool down lap, I saw George, the race leader, down in turn 11. That meant that had I made that pass stick, I would have earned my first podium. But wait, there’s more! My exhausted mind forgot to safety wire the brake caliper bolts when I switch my tires; of course you know this means, $25 fine when I pulled in off the track.

The bike and I were uninjured and all I needed to do was make the dreaded walk back down to tech on Sunday morning to get my bike re-inspected. With all the bad news going on with myself, Digby pulled his first top 10, with a 7^th place finish! The good news was starting to roll in. I put the clubman race behind me and focused on having a good time hanging out at the track and getting ready for the 750 superbike race the next day.

Sunday morning, I’m still only at 70% health, but I’m determined to finish the 750 superbike race and redeem myself for Saturdays mess. Sunday morning practice was a blur, I put down some decent times and the tires were still feeling good. I checked the grids and I was positioned 15^th, my highest in the 750 SB class. I tried to focus only on finishing my race and not worrying about positions.

As the green flag flew out, I did too. I got a great launch off the line and was heading to have a great drive into turn 1 when the guy in front of me had a couple wheelie moments causing me to actually use the brakes. I got around Mr. Wheelie and just focused on getting through turn 1 without letting anyone else get passed me.

I had fun the first half of the race, I had no clue what position I was in, but I knew I was putting down some decent lap times since no one behind me was pressuring me. I was keeping up with my friend Alex who I was used to following around the track at track days. We were in a group of 4 riders and we both got through them and started to take off. At this point my adrenaline was pumping and my legs started to get shaky.

After this point it was just me chasing Alex, I knew he was faster than me, but I just told myself to follow him like we were at a trackday. My mind was now clear and my legs stopped shaking. After about a lap, I realized I was close enough to try to go for a pass. As we came out of turn 8, I had the drive and made a move on the brakes in turn 9. I felt as though I closed the door on him a little, and my drive out was bad, but I kept pushing forward knowing he would probably try to make a move.

As I came down the front straight, I’m not sure who it was, but I got the signal that I had plenty of space before the guy behind me. I was confused, since I didn’t know I would be getting pit signals and I thought Alex would be right on my tail. I decided to keep pushing forward just to make sure, when I came around of the last lap, I got the same signal. I looked behind me, and sure enough, there was no one in sight. GREAT! All I had to do was make a smooth lap to finish the race and I would accomplish my goal. I had one rider in front of me, and decided I was way too far back to catch them, but I decided to try anyways. I put down my fastest lap on the last lap and crossed the line in 13^th.

What a better way to show support and thanks to my friends at Racer13 than to make my best finish in the expert class at 13^th.

Because I was sick, that was my only race for Sunday and I started to pack things up. Digby still had a couple races left, and I stayed to watch Formula 1. We’ll have to try and get a video up, but Digby once again had a great battle the entire race with his number 1 rival, number 935 Keith Stie. Every lap they would come around wheel to wheel, at the end of the race, Digby made the pass and held the lead over Keith until the end. Congrats!

I’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to Laura for getting me to the races this time, my parents for their support and coming out to watch, my team for helping me out and making the weekend fun, all my sponsors who helped make this weekend count, my friends for your help and support, and especially Jeff at Viets Performance for getting me on some tires that work! I can’t forget to thank everyone who reads this lengthy report, thank you for your time