summit point (sorry took so long)
This interesting weekend started by me, mom, and dad riding up with Daniele "Duzzi" Lenarduzzi because Hillis couldnt ride with him. Hillis is he mechanic and had a last minute emergency so we decided to go with him to save on gas and keep Duzzi company. The ride to the track was almost as adventourous as the actual racing part. We had two blowouts on the trailer, one forcing us to drive around Morristown for two hours looking for the place with the trailer tires and then looking for the interstate. The other leaving us using the real wore out spare to drive us the rest of the way in. So lets get to the fun parts now.
The next day was just a practice day. When we first got there and got through sign up, me, dad and Duzzi walked the track for a first time analysis and even ended up helping put out some air fence. That stuff is so heavy, it took all three of us plus someone else, just to pick up 30 foot folded up.
After we helped them and finished our walk, we went to get the bike ready for the first practice session. The first few session went well, just learning the track and (for the first time) trying to set up my suspension for the roughest track that I have ever been on. I love the bumps though from my motocross background. We finally got everything in range of being good, and I set a laptime about a half second off of PJ's. The next day was qualifying. I did ok but still struggled to qualify 5th in the 125 and 7th in the 250.
Sunday was the race. In the 125 race, I got a good start and even got beside PJ in the first turn (depsite his horsepower advantage over me) but ran wide giving him the position back. I never really let him and Nobi g0 until Scott Smallwood passed me entering turn one, that same lap a big crash happened in the last turn and caused a red flag.
On the restart, I started first row instead of second row (due to position when the redflag came out). Another good start put me inside of PJ again and this time making the pass stick! That is until he motored me through turn two. A few laps later, Scott passed me again entering turn one. I passed him back through the middle of turn three. The next lap, I tried entering turn one a little deeper. Scott still passed me, so I made the same move on him in turn three. This went on a few laps, every lap me going deeper on the brakes and he just kept passing me. That was until I went deep enough that when he did pass me, I let off the brakes just enough to edge my back tire right by his front tire, I was so scared that I was going to take him out when I made this pass. He squared up the inside of me, and motored out of the turn, forcing me to follow through the real open, blind sweeping turn two, only to make the pass through three again. Yet this time, he realized what I was going to do and waited a little bit to turn in, making my "all-b*lls" outside entering, inside exiting pass almost impossible (the track kinks to the opposite direction after the quick lay it in lefty). I squared him up and put it on the inside entering with much greater speed, I could feel the bike wanting to give up on me as I sat the bike up to go over the next downhill. The track kinks to the left just a little bit as it crest the hill but has an almost wide-open right hander at the bottom, so you can usaully come out of turn three on the outside bumpers as the track kinks right, and hold the line straight over the hill crest to keep the bike settled down and turning in a little later at the bottom of the hill. So anyways, as I crest the hill with Scott only leaving me inches of track, I felt the need to let turn the bike to the left a little bit and let it follow the trackto get enough room to pass him on the brakes aftr the right hander at the bottom of the hill for the next real tight left hander. When I did this, the front end lifted a few inches off the ground, turning the bars to the bar stops and scaring the bi-ejibbers out of me. I hung off the inside (right) of the bike and took my right foot off the peg trying to turn the bike away from the grass. When the front end rejoined the ground, the bike fell into the turn at the bottom of the hill and I never missed a beat (to scared too!!). I braked late and felt the back end bounce off the ground inside of Scott. When I got in the middle of the real slow, tight and slick left turn I thought, "Man, he has to be thinking 'This kid is crazy'". I thought that myabe he would leave me alone for a while and I could get back in grove to run away from him. Man was I wrong, just a few turns later (come out of the decresing radius left, over a very small mound type hill, drops into the tight yet short and quick left hander and transitions to a right almost the same up the hill to the last turn.) When I flipped from left to right on the transition, I was in front of him through the left and he just appeared right in front of me through the right. I had no idea he was going to pass, nor how he did, he had the slower line through a wide open turn and he somehow made it worked. I though all this while seeing sparks fly off his footpeg going up the hill. Entering the last turn, a drop off a little hill (and I mean a drop off too, the bike literally falls out from under you and once you catch it your on flat ground again), while clicking high gear for about a hundred feet, just before tapping the brakes to grab three downshifts, and opneing it wideopen only to almost run off the track while clicking fourth and entering the front straight away, but save yourself by using the outside bumpers as a berm. Any ways, while dropping off the hill, I saw that Scott got cought behind a few lappers, I fell down the hill and threw the bike inside as hard as I could, just hoping that the tires ould stick, I realized that he was probably either going to follow me through the turn inside of the lappers, only to attempt to draft past me or was going to run on the outside hugging the outside bumper berm to try to use momentum to drive by my. He ended up trying the first one, but it was to late. He got cought off gaurd when the lapper squeezed in bhind me not knowing that he was there, almost running off the track, he didnt give up. He held it open but never got close enough. I didnt realize it until I came out of the last turn that it was the last lap. I began to do these little back-and-fowards motion across the track to keep him from passing me, not knowing that he had fell back in the last turn to much to pass me. It was the gruliest, most hard worked for, brutale and painful (armpump) yet funnest races that I have ever raced. Atleast in a while.
After the podium time, weigh-ins and my dad fixing my broke pipe. I went out for the 250 race. This race was not near as exciting, I sat back and watched the race finishing 11th. A good weekend.
The next day was just a practice day. When we first got there and got through sign up, me, dad and Duzzi walked the track for a first time analysis and even ended up helping put out some air fence. That stuff is so heavy, it took all three of us plus someone else, just to pick up 30 foot folded up.
After we helped them and finished our walk, we went to get the bike ready for the first practice session. The first few session went well, just learning the track and (for the first time) trying to set up my suspension for the roughest track that I have ever been on. I love the bumps though from my motocross background. We finally got everything in range of being good, and I set a laptime about a half second off of PJ's. The next day was qualifying. I did ok but still struggled to qualify 5th in the 125 and 7th in the 250.
Sunday was the race. In the 125 race, I got a good start and even got beside PJ in the first turn (depsite his horsepower advantage over me) but ran wide giving him the position back. I never really let him and Nobi g0 until Scott Smallwood passed me entering turn one, that same lap a big crash happened in the last turn and caused a red flag.
On the restart, I started first row instead of second row (due to position when the redflag came out). Another good start put me inside of PJ again and this time making the pass stick! That is until he motored me through turn two. A few laps later, Scott passed me again entering turn one. I passed him back through the middle of turn three. The next lap, I tried entering turn one a little deeper. Scott still passed me, so I made the same move on him in turn three. This went on a few laps, every lap me going deeper on the brakes and he just kept passing me. That was until I went deep enough that when he did pass me, I let off the brakes just enough to edge my back tire right by his front tire, I was so scared that I was going to take him out when I made this pass. He squared up the inside of me, and motored out of the turn, forcing me to follow through the real open, blind sweeping turn two, only to make the pass through three again. Yet this time, he realized what I was going to do and waited a little bit to turn in, making my "all-b*lls" outside entering, inside exiting pass almost impossible (the track kinks to the opposite direction after the quick lay it in lefty). I squared him up and put it on the inside entering with much greater speed, I could feel the bike wanting to give up on me as I sat the bike up to go over the next downhill. The track kinks to the left just a little bit as it crest the hill but has an almost wide-open right hander at the bottom, so you can usaully come out of turn three on the outside bumpers as the track kinks right, and hold the line straight over the hill crest to keep the bike settled down and turning in a little later at the bottom of the hill. So anyways, as I crest the hill with Scott only leaving me inches of track, I felt the need to let turn the bike to the left a little bit and let it follow the trackto get enough room to pass him on the brakes aftr the right hander at the bottom of the hill for the next real tight left hander. When I did this, the front end lifted a few inches off the ground, turning the bars to the bar stops and scaring the bi-ejibbers out of me. I hung off the inside (right) of the bike and took my right foot off the peg trying to turn the bike away from the grass. When the front end rejoined the ground, the bike fell into the turn at the bottom of the hill and I never missed a beat (to scared too!!). I braked late and felt the back end bounce off the ground inside of Scott. When I got in the middle of the real slow, tight and slick left turn I thought, "Man, he has to be thinking 'This kid is crazy'". I thought that myabe he would leave me alone for a while and I could get back in grove to run away from him. Man was I wrong, just a few turns later (come out of the decresing radius left, over a very small mound type hill, drops into the tight yet short and quick left hander and transitions to a right almost the same up the hill to the last turn.) When I flipped from left to right on the transition, I was in front of him through the left and he just appeared right in front of me through the right. I had no idea he was going to pass, nor how he did, he had the slower line through a wide open turn and he somehow made it worked. I though all this while seeing sparks fly off his footpeg going up the hill. Entering the last turn, a drop off a little hill (and I mean a drop off too, the bike literally falls out from under you and once you catch it your on flat ground again), while clicking high gear for about a hundred feet, just before tapping the brakes to grab three downshifts, and opneing it wideopen only to almost run off the track while clicking fourth and entering the front straight away, but save yourself by using the outside bumpers as a berm. Any ways, while dropping off the hill, I saw that Scott got cought behind a few lappers, I fell down the hill and threw the bike inside as hard as I could, just hoping that the tires ould stick, I realized that he was probably either going to follow me through the turn inside of the lappers, only to attempt to draft past me or was going to run on the outside hugging the outside bumper berm to try to use momentum to drive by my. He ended up trying the first one, but it was to late. He got cought off gaurd when the lapper squeezed in bhind me not knowing that he was there, almost running off the track, he didnt give up. He held it open but never got close enough. I didnt realize it until I came out of the last turn that it was the last lap. I began to do these little back-and-fowards motion across the track to keep him from passing me, not knowing that he had fell back in the last turn to much to pass me. It was the gruliest, most hard worked for, brutale and painful (armpump) yet funnest races that I have ever raced. Atleast in a while.
After the podium time, weigh-ins and my dad fixing my broke pipe. I went out for the 250 race. This race was not near as exciting, I sat back and watched the race finishing 11th. A good weekend.
posted by Kris Turner @ 9:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home