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April 11 & 12 Test & Tune

Updated 4/14/05

By Dennys Passeto

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We headed down to VIR for two days of testing and practice time. We were there for two days - Monday and Tuesday. Monday started off well. I had some issues with the Ducati early on(What's new). I had some gearbox problems. I would come into T1 hard on the brakes bang down 4 gears and I'd still be in fifth with no engine braking carrying too much speed. Once managing not to crash, I had to find 2nd gear and take off. I would encounter the same problem at T7 which is the only other place where I would downshift from 5th to 3rd gear. Frustrated as hell, I decided to park the duc and ride the old reliable GSXR. Even with the gearbox issues, I still managed to squeeze off steady 1:39's.

I called Donnie Unger that night and he told me what the problem was and how to fix it. It was a little intensive to do all of it at the track but before I could think twice about it, Mike Fleet already had the bolts out of the case cover. The rain was kind of a blessing for me because it gave us time to fix the gearbox. I don't think I could've or would've attempted it with Mike's help and Donnie's guidance. Thanks guys!

I guess the rain scared everyone away by 11:00am Tuesday so there was only a handful of us left. I really wanted to test out the 998 since I have to race it this weekend. The track was drying up and there was no more rain. I finally got out there and started pushing it hard. The gearbox was working great and so were the new rotors that I put on the bike that morning. I could finally get some braking power and feel(my old ones were causing the pads to rub constantly). The track was a bit slippery even though you couldn't see any water on the track. The temperature had dropped into the 40's so that had something to do with it as well. After one or two sessions it got good again. I was confident and I was putting in some of the fastest laps I have ever put in at VIR. I was trailing more brake than I ever have which allowed me to get even more corner speed and I was also trying to give a nice squirt of throttle between every flip flop. There weren't any beacons set up since everyone had go home so I don't want to speculate on the kind of lap times I was running. Usually when you feel fast you're going slow. Anyhow, to all those that left, you missed out. I probably got 60 laps in that afternoon. I had to borrow gas from Bill since I had done more laps than I expected to all day. Now to Summit Point for a track day on Friday and racing Saturday and Sunday.