2007-31-04 - WMRRA Round 1
Race 1: Lightweight Superbike
Well round 1 of WMRRA’s 2007 race sure ran up on me fast. Before I knew it I was sitting on the Lightweight Superbike starting line for my first race on the SV650. Since I registered first (sometimes it pays to be the registrar’s Husband) I had pole. Great I could go nowhere but backwards. The first thing I notice was that the starting light was way over there and I had to turn my head basically completely to the right to see it. Even then it was difficult to see the light. Ah damn the boards up already. Crap the light went out. Apparently everyone else was like “Huh?” because I had enough time to think, “Why isn’t everyone going?” before we took off.
So I tried my best for a good start and it really didn’t work out. I just didn’t get hard enough on the gas soon enough. Oh well time to settle in and start running the race. During that race I had nobody in front of me which was in any sort of range to catch. But every once in awhile I could hear someone behind me but not all the time. Um…so I continued to push on.
Around 2/3rd’s of the way through the race my left ankle (it’s a left turning track mostly) started to get sore and stiff so I started to miss downshifts here and there. Eventually I missed the wrong one on the last lap and lost my place in turn 9. Damn! I did my best to get through the bus stop cleanly to try to pull him down the front straight to the line but he was just on the gas much earlier than I in the bus stop. Oh well…one race for the weekend down, 3 to go.
Finished: 8th of 12
Fastest Time: 1:45.601
Race 2: Middleweight GP Twins
Since I had a race not only an hour ago I was ready to go. Again pole position due to my registration time, but this time I was ready for the quick start. I got a better start this time. Well somehow I dropped another 1.3 seconds off my lap time. Which is good as my tires went off around lap 6 in the race. Funny thing, if you look at my lap times I started to get faster after my tires started to cause my bike to slide around.
Finished: 10th of 17
Fastest Time: 1:44.296
Race 3: Formula Thunder
Well this race happened on Sunday so it was the first one for the day. My super sported SV650 is out gunned in this class against Ducati 748 and 749 Superbikes. So I do this class mostly for track time and with another one or two SV’s out there maybe there can be a race out of it. The most notable part of this race is gridding up next to Darren Murrey of DMD Racing. He has run several AMA rounds and is one fast racer. When the light went out I felt great that I was side by side him until sometime until I was in 2nd gear. This is about the time the Ducati power takes over.
Finished: 9th of 11
Fastest Time: 1:44.742
Race 4: 650 SS Twins
Well this race is what my bike is setup for. Too bad it started to hail right before our race. Luckly I had my rain tires on. But I hadn’t had any time with them on my SV and I totally forgot to change my suspension settings to cope. I could never get comfortable on the bike so I slowed down and decided to get some points.
Finished: 6th of 8
Fastest Time: 2:00.442
Overall Impressions
Overall I am pleased with my performance over the weekend being the first time out on the SV650 in a race with a completely different set of people to race against. It looks like those classes are going to be great to participate in and much better than the I-4 600cc classes I would have been in if I continued to run my CBR600F4i. At the same time I’m learning more about corner speed which is my major goal to running the SV650.
The only blemish to the weekend is my performance I the 650 SS Twins wet race. I really wish I could have at least challenged someone but sometimes finishing and getting points is more important than crashing out.
I am looking forward to the next round which is again at Pacific Raceways.
WMRRA Round 1 Report – 3/31-4/1
Race 1: Lightweight Superbike
Well round 1 of WMRRA’s 2007 race sure ran up on me fast. Before I knew it I was sitting on the Lightweight Superbike starting line for my first race on the SV650. Since I registered first (sometimes it pays to be the registrar’s Husband) I had pole. Great I could go nowhere but backwards. The first thing I notice was that the starting light was way over there and I had to turn my head basically completely to the right to see it. Even then it was difficult to see the light. Ah damn the boards up already. Crap the light went out. Apparently everyone else was like “Huh?” because I had enough time to think, “Why isn’t everyone going?” before we took off.
So I tried my best for a good start and it really didn’t work out. I just didn’t get hard enough on the gas soon enough. Oh well time to settle in and start running the race. During that race I had nobody in front of me which was in any sort of range to catch. But every once in awhile I could hear someone behind me but not all the time. Um…so I continued to push on.
Around 2/3rd’s of the way through the race my left ankle (it’s a left turning track mostly) started to get sore and stiff so I started to miss downshifts here and there. Eventually I missed the wrong one on the last lap and lost my place in turn 9. Damn! I did my best to get through the bus stop cleanly to try to pull him down the front straight to the line but he was just on the gas much earlier than I in the bus stop. Oh well…one race for the weekend down, 3 to go.
Finished: 8th of 12
Fastest Time: 1:45.601
Race 2: Middleweight GP Twins
Since I had a race not only an hour ago I was ready to go. Again pole position due to my registration time, but this time I was ready for the quick start. I got a better start this time. Well somehow I dropped another 1.3 seconds off my lap time. Which is good as my tires went off around lap 6 in the race. Funny thing, if you look at my lap times I started to get faster after my tires started to cause my bike to slide around.
Finished: 10th of 17
Fastest Time: 1:44.296
Race 3: Formula Thunder
Well this race happened on Sunday so it was the first one for the day. My super sported SV650 is out gunned in this class against Ducati 748 and 749 Superbikes. So I do this class mostly for track time and with another one or two SV’s out there maybe there can be a race out of it. The most notable part of this race is gridding up next to Darren Murrey of DMD Racing. He has run several AMA rounds and is one fast racer. When the light went out I felt great that I was side by side him until sometime until I was in 2nd gear. This is about the time the Ducati power takes over.
Finished: 9th of 11
Fastest Time: 1:44.742
Race 4: 650 SS Twins
Well this race is what my bike is setup for. Too bad it started to hail right before our race. Luckly I had my rain tires on. But I hadn’t had any time with them on my SV and I totally forgot to change my suspension settings to cope. I could never get comfortable on the bike so I slowed down and decided to get some points.
Finished: 6th of 8
Fastest Time: 2:00.442
Overall Impressions
Overall I am pleased with my performance over the weekend being the first time out on the SV650 in a race with a completely different set of people to race against. It looks like those classes are going to be great to participate in and much better than the I-4 600cc classes I would have been in if I continued to run my CBR600F4i. At the same time I’m learning more about corner speed which is my major goal to running the SV650.
The only blemish to the weekend is my performance I the 650 SS Twins wet race. I really wish I could have at least challenged someone but sometimes finishing and getting points is more important than crashing out.
I am looking forward to the next round which is again at Pacific Raceways.