Race Report – WERA National Challenge Round 4: Miller (2 of 2)
WERA National Challenge Round 4
Sunday – Sprints
On Sunday, I awoke pretty relaxed, and surprisingly limber considering what I’d put myself through the previous day. After discovering and sorting out some registration hiccups (I was registered to race in a class with 100hp less than my bike), I spent some time going over the bike and double-checking everything, still a little wary of the lockup that had caused Damon to crash earlier. I ended up actually skipping the first practice session for this, but it didn’t worry me as I figured I’d got enough practice the day before, heh. When the second practice session came around, I went out to warm myself up for the day and stretch out, then I came back in and started mentally prepping myself for my first race of the day: Formula 1, somewhat akin to WMRRA’s Formula Ultra class. I had a while to wait, so during the downtime I helped out the other guys when they needed it, and otherwise kicked my feet up.
For Formula 1 I was gridded directly at the back of the first wave, with only novices behind me. Duane was in the same race as they ran Experts and Novices together, and somewhere back in the second wave I could tell he was drilling into my back with his eyes, dying for a chance to stuff me. For my part, my goal for the race was simply, beat Duane. It wouldn’t be a very fair goal, as I’d have a good 30-second lead on him at the start, but judging by the laptimes and track experience we each had, it was still a needed one. Board’s up, board’s sideways, go!!
I got an alright start and picked off a few people on the straight, then merged into the pack and took a tight line for the first turn, a sweeping left. I kept up and did well through T1, but after T2 and T3, very fast right- and left-handers, the pack began to spread out. I did my best to stick close to the bike just in front of me, using him as both a tow and a teacher. He pulled away from me on the exit of 3 but I reeled him back in on the brakes into 5, a hairpin left. He pulled away again on the exit of 5 and that time I couldn’t make it back up on the brakes, as he had a better line through 6. I made a mental note to try that one on the next lap and concentrated on getting back on him, but by the next turn he’d powered away far enough that I wasn’t close enough to study him anymore. I continued this pattern for the rest of the race, studying the sprint lines of whoever was in front of me and at the same time trying keep up the pace and not become simply a rolling roadblock, until Duane passed me on the brakes in the last section before the straight! This will not fly, I said to myself, and with renewed spirit I chased him as best I could. Unfortunately for me, he had more track time and was better through the corners than I, and the usual Fuzimoto Advantage(R) I enjoy over my competition was null against Duane’s Speeddealer-built GSX-R1000. All I could do in the straights was keep up (which in itself speaks volumes to Fuzzy, considering the base differences between my ’01 750 and his ’05 1000), and he crossed the finish line two laps later just out of reach. Back in the pits, he and I congratulated each other on a great race, and I got plenty of ribbing for letting a Novice (quote quote) beat me in a National. Duane may be many things, but a novice he certainly is not! I ended up taking 15th of 18 experts, with Duane finishing 5th of 10 “Novices”.
My next race was the one I was most excited about – B (750) Superbike. I had no power disadvantage in this race, so I was determined to do as well as I could. I was gridded again right near the back in the second wave, but on the start was a bit more careful with the clutch and made good time getting off the line. By the time I entered T1, I was at the front of the second wave and within sight of the first. I held on pretty well through turns 1 – 4 and even made some passes on the brakes into turn 5, but started to lose ground again in the more technical back stretches of the track. However, I didn’t lose too much and I knew that since this race was only four laps, if I could tooth-and-nail it well enough through the back sections to keep up until the straight, I might be able to do well. I stuck to that plan as best I could, and coming onto the front straight I planted myself firmly in the draft of the bike ahead of me, letting me slingshot past about halfway down. I got the guy ahead of him a few seconds later as we entered the braking zone for T1 and I deliberately pushed myself well past where I’d normally been braking, just like the Adrenaline Freaks motto says.. “Wide open ’til you see God, THEN brake!” I definitely saw something as I tipped in, but I’m still not sure whether it was God or simply my life flashing past. Either way, though, the pass stuck and I made the corner… then quickly romped back on the throttle for turns 2 and 3. I ended up finishing 16th of 24 in that race, far better than I’d either expected or hoped! I also ended up getting my best time of the weekend; 2:06.032 around the Perimeter (World Superbike) course.
Finally, the last race of the day, A (Open) Superbike rolled around. Duane and I were again both in the same heat, and this time I had a score to settle. I was gridded at the back of the Expert wave, and he at the back of the Novices. I nailed the start and flew up into mid-pack down the straight, bombing into T1. On the exit I immediately lost some ground to the bigger bikes, but I didn’t worry about it as I know many of these racers are fast by AMA standards. I instead concentrated on pushing myself to gas earlier, brake later, and turn harder, hoping that if I could ride the snot out of the old machine I was on, I could stem the bleeding and keep up better with the big boys. However, right as we entered Witchcraft, the very fast turn 7 on the Perimeter course, the red flag comes out. Crap! I couldn’t see the crash as I went around back to grid, but it turned out that the rider was OK and the red flag was just due to the bike laying in the race line.
With blood flowing and adrenaline from the previous half lap still pumping, we lined up for grid again. I nailed the start again and drove hard into T1, and caught quite a scare for a moment as I grab the brakes and didn’t slow down. Apparently the endurance the day before wore them down quite a bit! I pulled the lever harder and found the bite I wanted, though at much higher lever pressure than I was used to. Conveniently, that little episode helped me brake later, though! I put my head down and really concentrated on the areas I knew I was weak – T2 and T3, T6 and T7, and the final corners just before the main straight – as in this race I had a disadvantage in both the power and track experience department, and I needed to find a few seconds to keep ahead of Duane. For the first three laps I managed to hold my own, wringing my poor 750′s neck and diving deep into corners to try to keep pace with all the built literbikes around me, but finally on the fourth lap I figure out that I’m not going to catch the guy just ahead. I also knew that Duane was somewhere behind me, probably creeping close up on my rear tire, so on the fourth lap I started running slower but more defensive lines – tighter corner entries, not leaving as much room on the exit, etc, hoping that even if Duane was indeed faster than me, I’d prove too difficult to pass. By the time I entered the last section leading on to the straight, I could practically feel him behind me. I entered hot and late into Clubhouse, a 90-degree left hander, then immediately exited wide and set up tight for Windup, a right-hand loop leading into the final corner of the track, Release. I did the same wide exit from Windup and held a tight line through the sweeping final left turn, then smashed open the throttle and tucked like my life depended on it. Out to the rumble strips, row through the gearbox, pin the limiter and … finish!!!
The gamble worked, and I crossed the finish line just ahead of Duane. He caught up to me on the straight and gave me the thumbs up as we looped around the rest of the track. He ran a hell of a race and made up probably a 30-second time difference to finish just behind me – congrats, man. For my part, I got not-dead-last again, which along with beating Duane, was my goal! Final result was 13th of 15, which on an eight-year-old 750 in a National Challenge Open Superbike race at a track I’ve never seen before, I think is pretty good.
All in all, this was an amazing experience, one that I hope to repeat over and over again in the future. I will definitely be competing in as much of the WERA West and WERA National Challenge series as I can in 2009, and hopefully I’ll get to do an Endurance or two as well. I want to thank my sponsors over and over again, for they make this dream possible for me and I couldn’t do it without every one of ‘em. Adrenaline Freaks Track Days, Studio819 Photography, Highway 66 Motorsports/Bridgestone, MorePower Racing, PowerStands Racing, RaceTech Suspension, new sponsor V-holdR Cameras, Vortex, Motorex, Pipercross Filters, Junior Monkey Design and last but never least PNWRIDERS.COM! They give me their support, so show your appreciation and give them yours!
