AHRMA Grattan results - 6/17-18/06
I traveled up to beautiful Grand Rapids for the AHRMA National event at Grattan. With wins in BOTT F3 there the last two seasons, I was feeling pretty confident that I could win another one. Unfortunately, there were a few really fast guys there and things didn`t go my way.
On Saturday, I scored a 6th place in BOTT F2. This was after a huge wheelie off of the starting grid leaving me in last place going into turn 1. A bit later, I had a nice run in BOTT F3. After a mediocre start, I was mid pack thru the first few laps of the race, not far behind the lead group of 3 riders. I was held up a bit passing a backmarker thru the esses, then I caught up to the lead group again. All 4 of us came up on a slower F1 rider on a beautiful Ducati 749. Unfortunately, the timeing was such that I was the only one who didn`t get by him going into the esses. The top 3 guys got a bit of a gap between us, as I diced back & forth with Mr. Ducati. I would catch him in the esses, lose a bit in the sweeper, then gain a bunch thru 10a & 10b. I would get a much better drive coming out of 10b, pull up besides him, and then he would motor away down the straight. We did this for 4 straight laps, and I ended up in 4th place.
On Sunday, the imminent threat of rain meant that, after a vote of riders, we decided to go right into racing in the morning with no practice. This was good because we got out before the big rain hit, but it was bad because I had a few things I was going to work on in practice. I was also going to change my gearing but I didn`t have time.
BOTT F2 went a bit better for me. I rode hard and finished 5th. I was ready to go for the F3 race, even though it was starting to rain lightly and everyone was spooked about the track surface. I got a good start but I was pushed wide right going into the off camber turn 3 by a rider who decided to pull off there. I rode extremely hard to catch up the the lead group of 5 guys. On lap 4, my bike suddenly sputtered, and was running on only 1 cylinder. I thought I was out of gas at first, then I realized it was probably some tank rust or dirt clogged in the main jet of one carb, so I stayed on the gas, hoping it would clear out. I rode around for 2 1/2 laps like that, falling all the way back to the back of the pack, then it suddenly cleared out. I passed a bunch of guys to climb back to 7th place, where I finished the day.
So, for the weekend...4th place (into the wood), 5th, 6th, and a 7th place. Very average, and not what I would`ve liked, but what can you do (other than your best)? I have high hopes for BeaveRun this weekend.