[Reckless929]

What a crash fest today at Infineon! There were bikes laying all over around the track before lunchtime. Many crashes took place and it seemed there must be something in the air because a lot of riders were riding very wild criss crossing lines, running off the corners, etc. There were several ambulance pickups and one bad crash that required and airlift out!
Say a prayer for our fallen brother, he really needs it. Apparently he hit the concrete wall at turn 10 after punching through the hay bales. I don't know any details but I was told by a following rider that he froze up going into 10 and rode stright into the wall.

Today was the second and third race's I have ever competed in.

Race #1. Open Production, Formula 40, Super Dinosaur

I switched from Open production to Formula old Farts because I added the Ohlins Road & Track forks and the Brembo radial calipers.
My practice times on Saturday were pretty consistant 1:51's so I felt I may have a chance to at least not finish dead last.
My grid position was on the 12th row back #54 box on the outside.
On the start I got a good launch and rode out wide into the fast left hander turn 1. I was able to pass quite a few bikes by staying out late up the hill into turn 2. I must have past several bikes on the start. It felt so good to get a good start that I got all stoked up thinking I may be able to run with a faster pack and it worked!
I finished in 12th position in Formula 40 out of 26 in my class with a best lap of 1:45.204

Race #4 Open Superbike, 750 Production
I rode Open Superbike for my second race of the day, I started on Row 11 Box #50 outside again! My start was just ok passed a couple of bike going through turn 1 outside again. This time my job was more difficult than my prior race. I was more evenly matched with the riders around me and getting past those in front was not going to be an easy task but never the less I was commited to making a hard charging effort to get a decent finish anyway. I was trying very hard to make passes under heavy braking coming in to turn 7 ( a double apex 180 deg. turn) These new Brembo radial calipers were fantastic and were allowing me to run deep in every time and succesfully passed several other riders. I had just got a good drive coming out the carousal (turn 6) and passed a rider as I was approaching turn 7 .... and then .... I realized I was carrying way too much speed to negotiate the upcoming double apex turn 7. I was wildly braking when the rear of the bike lifted about a foot in the air and after about a twenty foot stoppie (without stopping!) I continued past the paint stripes and off into the run off area heading down toward the drain grating. I slowed the bike enough to steer back on course but ended up giving back the passed rider his position and got passed by two more lucky souls who reaped the benefits of my radical braking mistake. Yes! at this point I have to admit I had become one of those wild riders on track that I described in my opening lines!
Well, after getting back on the race line I had to try and catch back up so I dug down deep and called in that hard riding spirit within and pushed hard to catch back up. I did catch back up but could not get past anyone from there so I resolved myself to just finish and get the checkered.
All said and done I finished a respectable (for an old fat guy) 27th from 33 in my class and finished 32nd overall from the 50th start position.
My best lap for this race was on the last lap as I was trying hard to recover my lost position, it was my fastest lap ever .... 1:44.069

It was a good day for me!

[Bacchus]

Good write-up! I enjoyed that, vicariously. Glad you're unscathed, be careful out there!

[Cowboy]

You must have left early because there were two Med Flights yesterday, the second of which involved my friend. Damn I hope he's ok, they had to revive him on the chopper and as of about 6:00 last night he was still unconsious (sp).

Race 4 ended on lap 3 for me. The chain broke while braking hard and down shifting into turn 7. Luckily I was able to round up a new chain and some used sprockets to make the next race (#10). Race 10 was a lot of fun for me, lap times weren't as good as I'd like to have seen but I attribute that to finally finding someone running about the same lap times as me and dicing it up w/ them plus being in the second wave behind 650 twins presented traffic that started on the second lap. Finished 12th.

Reckless, if you're going to T-Hill next month (or ZoomZoom on the 10th) we should hook up as we're running close to the same lap times, 1:43.0 at Sears and 2:00 at T-Hill. Let me know. BTW, good job in superbike, that's a tough class.

[Reckless929]

Originally Posted by Cowboy

You must have left early because there were two Med Flights yesterday, the second of which involved my friend. Damn I hope he's ok, they had to revive him on the chopper and as of about 6:00 last night he was still unconsious (sp).

Race 4 ended on lap 3 for me. The chain broke while braking hard and down shifting into turn 7. Luckily I was able to round up a new chain and some used sprockets to make the next race (#10). Race 10 was a lot of fun for me, lap times weren't as good as I'd like to have seen but I attribute that to finally finding someone running about the same lap times as me and dicing it up w/ them plus being in the second wave behind 650 twins presented traffic that started on the second lap. Finished 12th.

Reckless, if you're going to T-Hill next month (or ZoomZoom on the 10th) we should hook up as we're running close to the same lap times, 1:43.0 at Sears and 2:00 at T-Hill. Let me know. BTW, good job in superbike, that's a tough class.

Cowboy
I did leave early after the race 5 incident, two races were enough for me.
Sorry to hear about your friend as well! Damn it was a rough day on the riders yesterday, what the heck was going on? Too nice of weather and spring sunsine must have made everyone anxious to rip up the track.
I guess That was you out there off of turn seven eh? Tuff break! Not a good feeling trying to stop without any engine back pressure and seeing those cement barriers on the outside of seven.

I am planning on racing Thunderhill and would enjoy hooking up, I don't know what kind of lap times to expect at T-hill on a race weekend? I usually run 2:06 - 2:08's on a track day but that all changes very rapidly on a race weekend. If what I have experienced holds true I would expect to drop around 5 seconds off of my prior best at T-hill on race weekend. I know the track very well but really never pushed my limits like I do on a race weekend.

Aaron Smith #911

[WetShrub]

Originally Posted by Cowboy

You must have left early because there were two Med Flights yesterday, the second of which involved my friend. Damn I hope he's ok, they had to revive him on the chopper and as of about 6:00 last night he was still unconsious (sp).

Race 4 ended on lap 3 for me. The chain broke while braking hard and down shifting into turn 7. Luckily I was able to round up a new chain and some used sprockets to make the next race (#10). Race 10 was a lot of fun for me, lap times weren't as good as I'd like to have seen but I attribute that to finally finding someone running about the same lap times as me and dicing it up w/ them plus being in the second wave behind 650 twins presented traffic that started on the second lap. Finished 12th.

Reckless, if you're going to T-Hill next month (or ZoomZoom on the 10th) we should hook up as we're running close to the same lap times, 1:43.0 at Sears and 2:00 at T-Hill. Let me know. BTW, good job in superbike, that's a tough class.

Cowboy, Saw you pass me in turn 5 of the second or third lap of race 10....hehehe. You were flying!

I had an okay day aside from the cancelation of race 13 (formula IV). That was a bummer but I guess if it was because some guys were getting the medical attention that they desperately needed then I have nothing to complain about. In the 650 twins race I equaled my best lap time (1:54) of the whole weekend for 4 laps straight and still got passed by more people than I could count! I guess I'm just not that fast at Infineon. eeeeek! got by me and a bunch of other people in turn 1! My biggest problem was that I was SO tired by like 5 laps into it. No other track does this for me. I could barely brake and shift cleanly after that. On the seventh lap I looked around to see if anyone was near me and no one was so I just let up and cruised over the line. I didn't pass one person the entire race!

It also could have had to do with how I was gridded. I was in the 3rd row but I don't think I deserved to be there. I think that because I went to the first race weekend and not a lot of other people did I was positioned ahead of a lot of faster riders. They easily overtook me early on. Oh well, for my second race I still had a lot of fun. No grandiose expectations here.

I hope your friend is okay Cowboy. I saw that there were 2 929's involved in that double air lift incident.

-Shrub

[eeeeek]

I had my share of problems, too. On lap 4, my shifter rod came loose and I was stuck in forth gear for the rest of the race. Thankfully, the SV makes enough torque to pull through the slower corners; but, turn 11 was like throwing out a boat anchor. I managed a 1:49 before loosing the shifter and then ran consistent 1:52's in 4th gear. I could smell my clutch and the poor rev limmited really got a workout.

[SLODUCK]

Reckless,

Congratulations! First of all, I pray for all those riders that went down, I wish them all well and back on the saddle. Glad to hear that everythings work out for you on the race day. I guess you got those front wheel spacers workout. Also glad to hear about brakes. When I installed those brakes, people telling me I wouldn't be able to tell the difference because I am no Valentino Rossi. But after a couple of hard ride, I told those people that it made a whole alot of difference for me like day and night and of course they did not believe me. Anyways, good luck on your next race and if people ask where you got those brakes, you know where to send, right?

[Reckless929]

Originally Posted by SLODUCK

Reckless,

Congratulations! First of all, I pray for all those riders that went down, I wish them all well and back on the saddle. Glad to hear that everythings work out for you on the race day. I guess you got those front wheel spacers workout. Also glad to hear about brakes. When I installed those brakes, people telling me I wouldn't be able to tell the difference because I am no Valentino Rossi. But after a couple of hard ride, I told those people that it made a whole alot of difference for me like day and night and of course they did not believe me. Anyways, good luck on your next race and if people ask where you got those brakes, you know where to send, right?

SloDuck

I should have you listed as a sponser after all all the improvements made to my were bike were a result of your selling me your awesome 929!
If no one believes you on how well the Brembo Radial calipers work send them to me, "I WILL MAKE THEM BELIEVE" Chopping 6 seconds from my Round 2 AFM weekend's best lap time for me was definately proof! 1:50.459 down to 1:44 flat all done on Ohlins and Brembos ... well , I will accept a little credit