Race Weekend #4 - Sprint Races

If the 4 hr Team Endurance race on Saturday was the highlight of my weekend, my solo/sprint effort was definitely the low point.

Work has kept me so busy this summer that instead of spending the Fridays before the races out on the track practicing, I have been spending them working on the Ninja.  This time around I resolved myself to that position earlier than the previous races, and in so doing my acceptance led to somewhat of a  'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' day, and I was at peace with it.  Perhaps a little too peaceful, because it also led to me getting out to the track a little late on Saturday, missing all but the last practice session, which is also a qualifying session for the 500 Production Cup class.  The bike was feeling good - stable yet maneuverable, which reminded me that this was my first outing at High Plains Raceway with my upgraded suspension.  The Ohlins cartridge fork and rear shock that I got from Spears Racing, and had installed by Rocky Mountain Kawasaki - two of my sponsors - have made enormous improvements in my comfort and precision on the track.  My only regret is running the stock suspension for as long as I did.  (While it is completely adequate for street use, it is underwhelming on the track.)

There were few enough bikes out on the track that I didn't have anyone in sight for the entire session - good if you are already in the zone, but I had been hoping for someone to help me gauge my pace relative to.  I kept encountering the eternal 'I could have taken that corner faster' thought, and determined to try and hold more speed through the corners. (For the little bikes, the truism that 'corner exit speed is the most relevant factor for top speed on the following straight' is magnified by their relative lack of acceleration.)

I was therefore leaned waaay over in turn one, at the end of the second longest straight, when the front tire lost grip. (The 'nice' thing about such a low-side crash, is that you are already so close to the ground that there really isn't much 'falling' involved, just a transition to sliding.)  Sliding across the track on my back, my mantra was 'KeepYourHeadUpKeepYourHeadUp!', which worked until i got into the dirt, caught a heel and rolled, striking my helmet on the ground and turning it into a $400 used-up bit. Grrr.

Saturday's Production Cup race is the second race of the morning, and there was enough damage to the bike that I would not be able to make it to the grid.  The only positive, (and I am digging for it here), was that the amount of time spent in 'woe is me, why am I wasting my time and money' mode, before getting into 'how are we going to fix this' mode, was much shorter than after previous crashes.  Improvement! It turned out that the bike was damaged enough, and with preparations for the 4 Hour Endurance race at the end of the day, I missed all three of my sprint races for Saturday.   Furthermore, once I did get down to working on it, I came to the realization that I was going to have to head home to my workshop in order to accomplish sufficient repairs.  Once again this led me to getting back to the track late Sunday morning, this time missing all of my practices.  Production Cup was in the afternoon, and I had an opportunity to start one of my morning races to shake down my repairs.  This was a good thing, because while entering turn eight near the end of the race, I found that I had no shifter!  While fixing bent and broken bits I had neglected to check how securely other bits were still attached, and had lost a critical component due to a loose bolt.  Double Grrr, and my second ride of shame on the crash cart for the weekend. 

This time it was a scramble in the pits, (even having the lunch break at hand), canvassing my neighbors for anything that could be used to substitute for the critical bushing that had been lost.  A slow panic crept in, with a couple of almost give up moments, but with Rod Mattison's ample spares kit we got it sussed out and back together in time to roll out to last place on the grid in Production Cup, the first race after lunch. I got a reasonable start, but had the entire field ahead of me.  I methodically picked off the slower riders, and by the halfway mark had only two people in front of me.  Cameron Lee, riding a Yamaha R3, was completely out of sight, but also out of contention because he is in fact in a smaller displacement class (!!).  Jason Madsen, the 500 Production Cup points leader, (on another Kawasaki 400 Ninja) was in sight and I was reeling him in.  He must have felt it too, because he was turning around on the back straight to keep an eye on me.  Good - let me rent some room in your brain: a-hahahahaha!  Hitting the back straight with only a couple of laps to go, right after his rear view check, and just as I was feeling confident that I would be able to challenge him for the win, my engine shut off.  Completely.  Hand up, I pulled over to the inside of the track and coasted to a stop, frustration seething out of every pore.  Running through my bike repairs and preparation, it didn't make sense.  I had gas, and everything that I needed was still connected to the bike.  Once in neutral I hit the starter and it fired right up!  Jason was long gone by this point, but I determined to salvage as many points as I could.  The track was clear behind me so I re-entered, put my head down, and whacked the throttle wide open.  The little bikes don't attain enough speed on the back straight to require a lot of braking for turn four, but there is a short downhill two turns later that does, entering a very slow, very challenging decreasing radius turn at the bottom of the hill.  I had been experiencing some slight chatter in the front wheel since returning from Saturday's crash, and this time it was so severe that it felt like the front wheel was coming off of the bike.  Discretion being the better part of valor and all of that, I put my hand up again, pulled off, parked the bike and called it a day, watching the rest of the race from my new vantage point while I waited for my third ('Yeah, I know where you are pitted') and final ride of shame for the weekend on the crash cart.  Triple Grrr!!!