My first race of the season went well!  I had only been running in the low 1:4x range in the track day leading up to the race weekend but I thought that was acceptable considering I hadn't been on my bike for over 8 months(!)  I came in on Saturday and got my times down to about where I was at the end of last season (1:40) and felt good about making up a little time in the race.  I missed the race on Saturday since I was still putting on my rains and it seemed like they started the race a few minutes early.  As I understand it now, I probably still could've made it but would have had to start from pit lane.  With the way I start, that probably wouldn't have made any difference ;)



I was gridded in the absolute last grid position for Sunday's race since my participation was a last-minute decision.  Regardless, I was still lacking some confidence and this put me in a position where I needed to perform t not embarass myself too badly.  I got my usual crappy start and was able to pick off a few guys before the finish.  I felt like I had a little bit in reserve through the middle of the race but wasn't able to make a key pass early on that would've let me test that theory.  In the end it didn't matter too much as I put down my best times ever by a good margin!  I broke into the mid 1:37's and 1:38's and was able to run that pace consistently.  This was a huge bonus and more than I had expected.  I DID get lapped but only halfway through the last lap so I'm hoping that if I can drop a couple of more seconds from my laptimes in the next few races that I don't have to be lapped for many more races.



Thanks again to all of my sponsors and friends for their support.  Thanks to T too :)  She makes this all possible.



Until the next race, keep the rubber side down!

There was an endurance race on Saturday (those crazy bastards) so the entire race weekend was compressed into one day on Sunday.  I was feeling very good and in the first race, on the 2nd lap, I managed to set my fastest lap ever in a race!  I felt like I was on my way to even faster laps since I usually don't hit my stride until lap 4 or 5 (being fast early was also an improvement for me in this race).  On the 2nd lap I'm coming down the back straight when the sky opens up and it starts pouring.  We were all on DOTs and my immediate thought was "This is going to get real ugly, real fast".  Sure enough, 2 turns later I come upon 4 of the guys in the lead group all lowsided off of turn 8.  Luckily we had all slowed the pace in those 2 turns and nobody else got collected in that corner.  The red flag came out and that was the end of it after an unofficial 3 laps.  The good news is that nobody was seriously injured and, for the most part, the bikes weren't that bad.  The bad news is that the second race got a TON of rain right before and I didn't feel it was worth rushing to put on the rain tires just to chew them up as the track dried.  So... I watched.  Kinda sucked but better to bring it back in one piece than risk going out there on DOTs.



The next race is back in Spokavegas so I'll be looking to vastly improve on my times from the last trip.  I really enjoyed that track and am looking forward to tearing it up in July.  Until then, check back for more pics and updated stories.



/Brian

I'm a little behind schedule with updating my results but here is a quick recap of Spokane's race weekend.  We spent Friday learning the track at Sullivan's track day, which was a huge help.   I don't know how people show up and race without ever putting in laps on a track.  What a fun course this is!  It has an enormously long front straight that turns into a really fun back section with some small elevation changes and slow, technical turns. 

Unfortunately, it took me quite a while to hit my groove and I didn't really start "feeling" the track until Sunday, which was way too late.  My result in Saturday's race was about where I thought I'd be based on my lack of confidence on the track.  On Sunday, I woke up feeling like I needed to be going much faster so I went out and knocked another 7 seconds off of my slow lap times from before.  I was really focused and felt like I could knock some more off come race time.  I had a pretty decent start and was in about 7th, which was about where my spot on the grid was.  Coming into T1, I saw out of the corner of my eye, someone went off track and crashed pretty hard.  It turned out to be someone I had just recently met who is a super cool guy.  They immediately red-flagged the race and brought us back for a re-start.  I blew the second start as I hit neutral shifting my way up the front straight and it felt like 30 bikes went flying by me.  At that point I passed a couple of people and then just settled in, knowing that it wasn't worth pushing it after having just seen such a nasty wreck and that we're not racing for points in Novice.  Had this been an expert class race, I would have kept my head down but we're not racing for anything but knowledge at this point.



I hope all of the guys who crashed heal up soon.  Danny Lippis went down and re-injured his wrist so his weekend was over pretty early.  He was like 6 seconds ahead of the rest of the field by lap 2 but I guess when you're going that fast, bad things like a false neutral can make things happen pretty quickly.  I'm off to the races again this coming weekend and if we can get a dry track I feel like I'm mentally ready to start pushing for the front of the pack.  Wish me luck!

Finally the first race weekend has come and gone!  Race 1 on Saturday was a blast but had some funny moments as well.  We're lined up, sitting on the starting grid, the lights go out..... and all of the newbies are still sitting there looking around at each other (including the guy directly in front of me).  Meanwhile, all of the returning novice racers took off.  I was somewhere in the middle, passing a few guys on the start and getting passed by a few going into T1.  After settling into my groove and getting some confidence in the cold tires I made a few passes and had a little back and forth with a guy on a Ducati Supersport.  I was definitely faster than him but he had way more horsepower than me so he would catch me on the straight.  On the last lap I was able to get a killer drive out of the bus stop, set him up perfectly and passed him right before the checkered flag.  That put me into 8th place, which I figure was pretty good for my first race. 



Race 2 on Sunday was nuts.  It started hailing during the race prior so we made the mad dash to put on some rain tires.  Luckily we did because the rain never really let up and the track was greasy. I got a way better start this time and quickly settled into a very slow and tentative groove.  Luckily, so did everyone else so I was in the lead pack for most of the first half of the race.  Eventually they pulled away from me and I was tangling with a Gixxer for 5th, made the pass, and slipped by his buddy on the front straight for 4th place.  I have never ridden on rain tires before and am amazed at the grip these things provide.  Having said that, I was a little chicken and feel pretty bad because about half of the field was still on DOTs, which must've been pretty damn scary.  Nonetheless, I was rolling in 4th place and could still see the guy in 3rd on his Duc until I came into T3 a little hot, had to do some heavy braking, and Wham!... ate it.  Oh well, I guess that's racing.  I'm a little disappointed cuz I just needed to hold on for a few more corners but it only takes one mistake for something to happen and that's what happened here.



I have to miss the next race so I already have my sights set on Spokane for the end of May.  I've never been there before so it should be an incredible experience going from nothing to racing over the course of a couple of days.  Check back for more results then.



/Brian

Here is a link to the WMRRA results:

http://www.wmrra.com/results/2007/2007-04-01_Race-Results.html

A.K.A. 932... that's my number!  The classroom session for novice is next weekend so the season is just around the corner.  I'm getting the plastics painted and will post some new pics as soon as everything's done.  I can't wait!!!

I was finally able to spend some time working on the bike this weekend after a crazy year so far.  It feels good to have taken most of it apart and find that it still works after putting it back together with all of the race bits on it.  Hearing the r6 start up after it sitting idle for so long makes me even more excited to get some effin' sunshine around here.  I'm heading out to Belfair to ride in the woods this weekend after the snow's finally melted.  I was out there earlier this year and I can't believe how hard it is to ride a dirtbike on ice!  I gotta hook up some of those studded tires (or maybe just move to california)

I have decided to join the Eastside Motosports team for the 2007 roadracing season.  I can't wait to start running with the team, which holds the #1 and #4 plate holders.  This should add a huge boost to my learning curve this year by hanging with the pros.  I'll be adding some pix once I get the bike finished and all painted up but now I know what the paint will look like :)  More to come soon!

/Brian

I'm really excited to be starting my roadracing career this year!  I'm actively working to get my bike ready for competition so I don't have much time this week to start blogging but there will be more to come soon.

/Brian