Cascade Tracktime Report – March 21 @ PIR
No timer today, and no video either, so I don’t know what kinda times I was running today. I don’t think I’ve even got any pictures – you’ll have to do with your imagination!
The weather today couldn’t make up its mind – wet and overcast, wet and clear, dry and overcast, clear and raining (), overcast and raining – choosing tires was difficult, to say the least. I missed the first three sessions due to poor tire choice, the first two to running DOTs in the wet (letting me nearly highside on track entrance), and the third to having rains on just when the track dried up. Throughout the day there were various spotty, ten-minute showers during both groups, but luckily the track usually dried again before half an hour passed.
My Bridgestone BT-002R’s performed superbly, despite being a year old and having at least three previous trackdays and a race weekend on them. Looking at how much tread is left on the tire, I don’t think I’ll have to change them tomorrow, either. Some of that is due to the spectacular new pavement at PIR, though: We’re used to the rough, chunky pavement of Pacific tearing, chunking and otherwise destroying our tire life, but Portland simply polishes the tire smooth. I actually began to wonder if I was doing something wrong, simply because it looked like it didn’t have any wear on it I’m very much looking forward to getting more familiar with the Bridgestones and their capabilities over the course of the season.
So, with the rain and my tire choice difficulties, the first session I made it out to was actually at 12:35. Cascade runs a special licensed-racer-only session during lunch, and it was a great opportunity for me to get on the track while it was mostly-empty, and scout out the dry and wet lines before getting some hot laps in. And then, did I ever get some hot laps in.
Like I said earlier, I don’t have timing information or video so I can’t claim any concrete numbers, but based on braking and shift points, I was definitely faster today than I was on Wednesday. I worked hard on nailing down the various lines through the soon-to-be-infamous T4, and while I certainly don’t have them perfected yet (can I ever say I’ve got the lines perfected?), I’m a lot more comfortable with it and hope to get even more so tomorrow. The difference between the fastest line and the most protected line is very big in this corner, so it should be pretty interesting come April 12 to see the various lines taken during the races.
I also worked hard on getting more comfortable braking less/later and coming into T1 and T7 hotter, which still definitely causes me to pucker up. But, by working on it in small steps – pass the wall, wait two heartbeats… pass the wall, wait three heartbeats – it’s falling into place.
The last thing I was really concentrating on was the back straight: I can now keep it completely pinned on my 600, up to halfway through sixth gear, before I brake. It’s a pretty neat sensation, hanging off the bike while staying tucked for aerodynamics and feeling it lift and squirm as you row through the gearbox at WOT. Whether or not I’ll be able to do this on the 750 remains to be seen, though – I have a feeling I’ll have to grow some cojones mas grandes, if you catch my drift.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the progress I made today and I definitely plan on continuing it tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be 60F and clear all day as well, so that should help a lot. I’d like to throw out a huge thanks to Monta (anyexcuse2ride here on PNWR) for offering his couch and his family to me for a couple days – without them I’d be much less comfortable and much more lonely down here, as my usual (and AWESOME!) pit crew Katie couldn’t make it down this week.
Sorry again for no pictures but hold your breath for video tomorrow I’m gonna be so worn out by the end of this… but it’s oh so worth it
