Back to work after the short drive home from Gingerman Raceway about an hour away. The weekend went smoother than last weekend (no crashes) but that doesn't mean I didnt have to turn some wrenches along the way.
I got to the track Thursday night to set up base camp and get ready for the weekend. I was in high spirits for the weekend despite clutch issues and a crash at RA the weekend prior. With camp set, I connected with a few friends, new and old, then off to bed, albeit too late for me, around midnight.
Pure Honda sex, three ways:
Friday came early as they often do when you wake up with the sunshine at around 7am. Im up, the bike looks good, I grab my tech form and 10 minutes later Im back in the pits, ready to make it a great day. Im still running my RA gearing (17/46) which is what I ran at Gingerman last year so I use that as my starting point. It was hot all weekend, in the low 80's but with brutal humidity and relentless sunshine to keep the fresh tarmac in the pits nice and hot.
I got into the 1:54's last year during the races, and I was thrilled to find that the first practice out I was pulling down the same lap times. Its funny, I felt like I was just out there getting the feel for the track back, and I best my lap times from last year. Things are looking up. The second practice came, and delivered even better results, 1:52.6 this time. I came back from practice and checked tires, then noticed that my cam chain tensioner was a little weepy without. I wiped it up and snugged the screws. After lunch I was back at it, as I wanted to get all 4 sessions in for the day. Session 3 felt a bit slower and it showed in lap times, with a best of 1:55. The last session got me back into the mid 1:53's. With practice over for the day I noticed more weeping oil from the tensioner. I decided to pull it and put some Hondabond on the gasket for a nice seal. As I pulled the tensioner our, I noticed a shredded rubber nub where the steel foot should have been. NOT GOOD. I knew I had a few spares back at home which was under an hour away. Ashley and I loaded up, left our son Jackson with his aunt and uncle, and set off for home. I grabbed a spare tensioner from a stock motor, a spare oil filter, oil and a few other items and was back on the road headed toward the track. I got in around 9pm on Friday night and got to work. I was planning on pulling the exhaust, belly pan and oil pan to extract the metal foot on the end of the tensioner, but decided to stick my finger in the tensioner tunnel first to have a look around. Well the foot was just sitting there, resting against the back of the chain follower. Quick work with a magnet had that extracted and I was ready for the spare part. Dab of Hondabond and it was applied, then adjusted per the manual. Off to bed, but not before some beers, delicious food and camaraderie with fellow racers.
Saturday, race day, up at 7am to the sound of bikes and generators, and smell of race gas. I plan to hit both practices in the morning just to stay sharp for the race. I decided to do a swap from a 46 rear sprocket to the 48 to get a little more grunt out of the corners. I finished in time to get both practices on the new gearing. I ran 1:54 in the first session, and grabbed a 1:51.9 on the second session. Im running personal bests in practice and still feel like I have more to give. Things are looking good for the race. I was race 13, so the very end of the day. It was hot, and we had been waiting all afternoon to get to it. I have enough points to line up on the front row, right next to the current and past champions of the class.
I make my way around the track for a warm up lap and line up on the grid. We are in the second way so we watch as the first wave takes the green, then its our turn. I get a pretty solid launch and fall into 3rd, tight behind the two fastest guys in the class. My goal is to keep them close as long as I can, though both guys had been running stronger times than my best but I knew I would have some more during the race. My uncle (past champ) was running second behind my cousin (current #1 plate) and he botched a downshift into turn 3 on the first lap. I was there to take advantage and cut under him as he ran wide through the turn. I led him through the rest of the lap and as I climb the hill out of T10, I get into tuck. Just as I crest the hill, wide open, I see the whole field in front of my slowed on the track, red flag out at T11 and everyone funneling back to the pits. Apparently there was two incidents behind us, both involving guys from our class getting wrapped up in guys from other classes. One resulted in a quick, but uneventful off track excursion for a fellow racer, but he was able to keep it upright and blend back onto the track. The second guy from our class took a really hard fall, tearing his bike up and suffering injuries severe enough to get an ambulance ride to the trauma center. I hear he is OK, albeit sore and pretty busted up.
We were in the pits about 10 minutes before we went through calls to the grid again, and made our way onto the track. We now had 6 laps to run the race. Again, I got a good (for me) start, but not as strong this time, and I found myself in traffic with a couple different guys. My uncle and cousin pulled away faster this time, and I settled into 3rd again. After a few laps, I started to feel like I had a stalker, as I could just hear the exhaust note of a vintage twin rumbling behind me. He eventually caught me and made a move to pass me as we approached a slower bike from the first wave. It took me a few turns to get around the slower rider and continue to pursue the new 3rd place ride. Ted was the rider, and has been racing and wrenching longer than I have been alive, and is a hell of a racer without a doubt. He was the guy to beat when my uncle started racing. I worked him over for the rest of the race, trying to show a wheel and get a run. I could reel him in at certain parts of the track, and he would pull me in other places. In the end, it was the hardest I had ever ridden and he beat my by half a second at the line. I crushed my personal best at this track with a 1:49.724. I got into the 1:50's, no easy feat for this class on this track. It was a great battle on a guy just a little better than me and he pulled me faster than I every thought I could go, but I know I can be even faster, smoother and smarter. That all comes with seat time.
The Saturday night awards was lively and fun, and it was great to see the guys get their wood for all that hard riding during the race. I wanted mine, I had to have something for Ted on Sunday. Wood at the home track was the thing I wanted all weekend.
On Sunday, my practice was more leisurely, delivering only 1:57 for lap times, but I wanted to save mine for the race. I noticed the clutch slipping at high RPM's as I climbed the hill from T10 heading to T11, so I decided to let the engine cool and put the shims behind the clutch that I had with Kenny's 4 plate kit to give the springs some extra preload. I got another pretty good launch and fell into 3rd place again, but I knew Ted would be hunting me all race. About half way through he showed a wheel into t3 (I think that's where it was) and he was in front. I spent he next lap watching him ride and seeing his lines. We came upon the same slow rider from the other class that we had on Sunday, but this time Ted was leading. I did the same thing he did to me on Saturday, found an opening and took it, overtaking Ted and the slower rider in the process, putting me back in 3rd, but I knew he would have something for me. I take the white flag in 3rd, feeling the fatigue of waiting all day then racing my heart out in search of Gingerman wood. As I round T10 and climb the hill I switch to 4th gear and let the clutch out, nothing. Clutch in, gear shift up, nothing again. One more time and I find 4th gear just as Ted pulls up next to me, and I click into 5th. He takes T11 to the inside and I try to drive hard from the outside to keep my corner speed up. I pass in front of him and he crosses behind me, now he's on the outside and Im inside drag racing to the finish. From the corner to the checkers is short enough that instead of losing precious time with a quick upshift (especially given what had just happened) I screw it on in 3rd gear and pull more revs than I ever had but he managed to put half a wheel on me right at the line. Ted beat me by 0.026 seconds. 1:49.501 was my best on the day, and my new personal best for the track. I have never ridden harder than I did this weekend, and I think it really helped develop confidence and skill on the track.
Best shot of the whole weekend:
Crew chief, my son Jackson and me:
Start 'em young:
My 50 minute ride home was solo so I had time to reflect on the day, and the weekend. The bike needs a number of tweaks leading into my next round (Little Tally is just over 4 weeks away) but Ill be ready. Im going to give up (at least for now) on the stock clutch and go full bag on the Barnett and see what happens. I found my clutch lever getting loose after both races this weekend, despite not really doing it during practice.
To do:
New clutch
Oil change, with an oil pan drop
Cam chain tensioner leak
Change back to Avon tires to wear them out on the very rough Little Tally race surface
Lose another 10 or so pounds in my quest to be lighter and leaner
A big shout out to Duncan (dunc) and Sean (seanbarney41) for coming out to show support at the races! Duncan showed up to shoot old school film of some great vintage bikes. I cannot wait to see what pictures he took of Saturday's events.
33 days...
