Race Report, August 13-14, Infineon

There is talk in motorcycle racing of freshly painted bodywork and new leathers having a natural attraction to the ground. It is best to throw these things on the ground deliberately before use to remove the curse. I had done this procedure with my new leathers at the last event, and as I was loading the freshly painted #859 Heritage Service Centre Suzuki onto my truck Thursday night it fell over in the bed, re-breaking my previous fiberglass patch job. At least that was out of the way. A little duct tape (black of course to match the new paint) and we're good as new and off to the track.

For practice on Friday, I started feeling comfortable on the bike for the first time with all this new gear, and was back at a pretty good pace [for me]. A friend of mine gave me some advice during the lunch break, which I put to good use in the afternoon sessions. Saturday I wasn't scheduled to ride, so other than a little spectating of the endurance race late in the day, I stayed away from the track.

Sunday, I got to the track early and excited to get out there. My good lap times from Friday had qualified me for the next faster practice group. Only 1 practice session in the morning, but I held my own with the faster group and felt really good for the upcoming races.

In my short racing career, I've been really timid at the start and let the pack get away from me early, then spent the rest of the race catching up and picking people off the back [or not]. This last month I spent some time visualizing being more aggressive at the starts and was ready to mix it up.

For the first race (650 Twins and Open GP), I was gridded toward the outside of the last row, which put me in good position for a fast run around people into turn 1. Green flag waved and I really tried to stuff the bike up into the melee. Unfortunately, my technique hasn't advanced as much as my nerve, so I still didn't get a good launch. Oh well. Off we went, last place up into turn 2 again, but in closer touch with the rest of the pack. The 2 guys in front of me did a little bumping together at the entrance to turn 4 so I made up some ground and settled in to start chasing them down. I got around one of them 1 lap later, but by then the others had stretched out the lead so I was on my own again. A crash on lap 5 ended the race early, so I couldn't keep chasing down the next little group. But I did stay in front of the one guy to avoid the last man rolling label. Lap times for the race were OK but not spectacular, I had gone faster last time out.

Between races, we had a nice lunch in the paddock with Rusty's loyal fan club, consisting of Michele and 2 friends who made the journey out (Thanks Nate and Dave!). Michele reminded me that I was dog-slow in one particular spot on the track (right in front of where she was sitting, of course), so I resolved to improve through there.

Next race (Formula 4) and I'm gridded at the back again, but the guy I beat (#758) in 650 Twins is 1 row behind me. Green flag, I bog down again and he comes by like he was shot out of a cannon. I really need to work on my start technique. Off we go again to track him down. This time I stay close, but he's picked up speed since the first race and I can't get by right away. He starts to stretch out a little lead, so I put my head down and go after him. By lap 6 I've closed up and I'm right on his wheel through the Carousel. I get a little better drive at the exit, drag race him to the top of the hill and outbrake him into turn 7. I'm able to hold him off down the back part of the track and past start/finish to start lap 7 (our last if we get lapped), but I roll off the gas a little too much to take turn 1 and he gets back by me on the inside. I'm pretty confident I can get him again in the Carousel so I don't strike back right away, then the leaders start to come by. A yellow flag in an unfortunate spot means we're stuck with the race leader between him and me through the Carousel and up the drag strip, with no passing allowed, so a pretty good gap formed. Down the back side of the track, 2nd place comes by in hot pursuit of our leader, they trade a little paint in the turn 9 chicane, and continue battling it out to the line. I had lost too much ground on #758 and despite my best efforts, I couldn't power past him at the line, and finished DFL by .5 seconds. 758 and I traded thumbs up and a handshake on the cooldown lap and I applauded my cheering section in the turn 9 stands for their inspiration. By far my most fun race, and one I can take some great experience from to work on for next time.

I went hard from the start (1st lap - from a standing start - was faster than 3 of the 5 laps I did in the morning race), set a new personal best time 4 laps in a row, including breaking the magical (for me) 2:00 barrier, with a low of 1:59.6. My spectating gallery said I was visibly faster through my trouble spot, and I held off the leaders for a whole half lap from where I had been caught before. So the last place finish doesn't bother me. As I'm improving, so is the competition, that's racing. I just need to go get 'em next time.

Big thanks this time to:

- My wife Michele, for providing a race-day feast fit for a king (including homemade brownies)
- My mom, who provided the grunt work in prepping the bike for its new paint job.
- Nate and Dave, for showing up and cheering me on despite mounting evidence that I'm terminally slow
- Juan Lindo of Zooni Leathers for making me a fantastic suit
- Dito Milan of Gotbluemilk.com for taking wicked cool professional trackside photos (example attached)
- Tom and Jim and the guys at Heritage Service Centre, for providing dashing paddock wear and being the title sponsor this time out of Rusty Camaro Roadracing

The next AFM round is in September at Buttonwillow, a track I've never been to and probably won't ride, then back at Sears Point October 2nd. See you there!

Cheers...