MRA Rd 7, Pueblo Colorado
Headed out of town early getting an early start to the weekend, things went well Friday after working with Mark Schellinger the prior weekend in a one on one session. Working with Mark had given me the extra confidence in corners I was having troubles in really maximizing the “fast corners and making them fast.” With the couple of hours of practice I felt great for the start of the weekend.
Day 1
Morning practice went great, taking it easy working on my race lines and entrance speed before putting my fresh new Michelins on!! Starting Novice GTU 3rd overall on the front row, I had an average launch as usual going into turn 1 in second position. With Rocky Mountain Kawasaki teammate Gerry directly in front of me running unbelievably fast I had to run my own race. Sometime in the past I would push it too early and make a mental mistake; I feel like I have improved my riding skills to recognize that and was content with a second place finish. Starting the second race Novice GTO 4th overall on the second row, I knew I had my work cut out for me. Going into turn 1 in 4th and not getting into 2nd till the end of the 1st lap, Rocky Mountain Kawasaki teammate Gerry had already had a full front strait lead on me and was slowly becoming smaller and smaller in my sights. Knowing that I can catch him, I put my head down for the next 5 laps and broke a lap record for this class and a personal best time running a134.4 and giving me the opportunity to pass Gerry on the 2nd to last turn before the checkered flag. Unfortunately I was not able to hold my line and settling for another 2nd place, but highly encouraged with the result and consistent lap times. After a long day of riding and feeling a little tight from the day; I headed down to Xbam Bree and she once again worked her magic on me in only 20 minutes stopping my headache instantly.
Day 2
After a great day of riding on Saturday ready to capitalize on my consistency for Sunday I ran into a huge problem; unfortunately sometime in this sport things don’t go the way they should, I’ve become quite accustom to this. Blowing my motor on the second lap in practice I was a little irate to say the least. Fellow racer Dale Eaton knew I was in the hunt for a podium finish at the end of the year and offered me his 07 Yamaha R6. Realizing I was already out of top 5 contentions in Amateur GTU I took full advantage of the 1st race of the day as a fast practice session. Starting the race 7th over all in the 3rd row, I bogged the start with everyone flying by me going into turn 1 in 15th position. Just trying to get use to the handling and power of the R6, I slowly started to drop my lap times and pick a couple guys off, by the end of the race I ended in 9th. Not nearly as bad as I had expected for only a 7 lap race and only dropping 2 spots on a bike I’ve never ridden; knowing that Dale has been working with Dave at Single Track Mind I knew this was a huge reason for this. Ready for the next race Amateur GTO starting 3rd overall in the front row, I knew I had to get the launch down. After talking with Dale and understanding the clutch a little better I ended up having a good launch and going into turn 1 in 4th position. Making a small mental mistake on the 3rd lap allowing 6 riders to get by I had to fight hard to pull back and end the race in 6th position, fortunately holding my 3rd overall position in this class.
Overall a difficult weekend of racing, trying not to focus on my bike that had a motor issue while trying to learn a new bike in 14laps. First off I have to Thank Dale Eaton for keeping me in the hunt with only 2 races left in the season, Dave with Single Tack Mind for the great work his done on Dale’s motorcycles making me feel confident on the machines to be within a half a second of my own lap time, Mark Schellinger with Vanmar Racing and Michelin tires who is a huge part of my racing career; the knowledge I learned from him this past week is invaluable and obviously shows in braking a class record by over a full second, Bree with Xbam being trackside with her ability to heal me within no time Thanks Bree!!, Brothers BBQ and www.UrWeekendToy.com the constant season support helped out every race weekend is extremely valuable, Rocky Mountain Kawasaki and Faster Motorsports for all the season support, Ricky with 187 Hand for all the constant attention to our motorcycles and helping with any problem trackside allowing me to focus on the task at hand racing. Motorex Oil, Power Stands Racing, Vortex Racing, Motonation (Sidi Boots), Regina, Fuel clothing, Hot Bodies Racing, VP Fuel, and 12 VOLT Tavern – thank you for all the racing sponsorship and support through out the year.
Next round September 20th
