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Well, I guess this article will be a report on the past
two race weekends that were so close together that I didn't
have time to write anything about them.
First was CCS at VIR on 9/22/07. I went to VIR with one
goal in mind...to do a 1:33 around there. I knew I was
capable of it and the guy that I was chasing had been in
the 1:32's before. I did the GTO race on Saturday hoping
to inch my way there by doing a 1:34. It didn't happen. I
decided to mess with my brakes before the race and I screwed
them up. I was also on some pretty old tires so by the time
the brakes came in, the tires really gave me no confidence
to push. I didn't even do a 1:35 in that race. Very
disappointing. That afternoon I threw on some fresh new
tires to start the day on Sunday.
Sunday morning I went out for practice with the bit between
my teeth. I pushed really hard in practice and felt really
good. I ended up doing a 1:34.21 which was the fastest I
had ever gone. This really got me excited about the race
which was only about 1 hour later.
We gridded up for SuperTwins. I was on the 4th row but I
knew what my competition was. Nate Kern and Arnie Hastings.
And they were both on the front row. I needed an awesome
start and I got one. I blasted my way through. I even
passed Arnie going into Turn 1. Nate had gotten a really
good start and he put down 2 flying laps right away. I was
riding so hard to keep him close that I almost crashed 2
or 3 times in the first lap. Once I got settled down, Nate
had half a straight away on me. He couldn't open the gap
and nor could I close it. I knew Arnie was behind me and
sure enough he came by me on lap 4. I stayed on his wheel
the entire time. Even when he put lappers between us, I was
able to close him down. I showed him a wheel a few times but
I couldn't make the pass. I ended up finishing 3rd. When
we came in I saw that I had done a 1:32.98 with several low
1:33's. This was a huge milestone for me. This qualifies
me for an AMA SuperStock race. This has been my long term
goal for a very long time. I couldn't have been more
excited.
The following weekend was the final WERA regional round at
Summit Point. I knew Arnie would be tough to beat. He has
done a high 1:16 there and I knew that I'd have to find some
speed to match that. On Saturday I had a preview of the
competition when I did the Heavyweight Solo. I could tell
right away that I was having problems with rear traction.
I just couldn't get out of the turns like those guys could.
Especially Arnie. I just couldn't get traction. The slides
were very controllable but still frustrating. I struggled
to do a 1:18 flat.
On Sunday I made a daring move. I decided to try the new
tire from Pirelli. The Diablo SuperCorsa. Not only that, I
went one compound softer on each end. Supersoft front and
the supersoft rear. I was very nervous about this because
I had been hearing that the carcass of the new tire was
more rigid and gave less feel. I got a chance to try them
before racing the Superbike race. I did the Heavyweight
Twins SuperStock race but I had no point of referrence as
to how good they really were because I didn't have to push.
I had no competition. I backed the pace way down to save
the tires and the bike.
On to the Superbike Race. I gridded on the front row and
Arnie right behind me. He got a great start and went into
the lead. I was right on his tail. We decided through the
traffic in front of us like it was nothing. He put a few
of them between us but I was able to pass them and catch
him back. I was feeling strong. The tires were allowing
me to get out of the turns much better than I had been able
to the previous day. I couldn't match his horsepower which
was killing me on the straights. He looked back a few times
only to see that I was glued to him. I thought the pressure
might have made him make a mistake but he was solid. We
were flying but I just couldn't get around him. I finished
2nd. When I came off the track, I saw that I had done a
1:17.1 and he had done a 1:17.0. We were close! I won the
championship because I was a few points in front of Arnie
going into the race.
This was a great year. We chose to go after the competition
instead of the wins and championships. This paid dividends
as I improved tremendously. I only beat Arnie a few times
but he was the best thing that happenned to me all season.
He made me have to step up my game. I have a lot of respect
for him. We race well together. I also attribute all my
improvement to riding dirt bikes at least 2 or 3 times per
week and a winter full of indoor motard riding. This
combination helped keep me in great riding shape. I'm
looking forward to riding all winter and seeing how much
more I can improve. I am also dying to get my race bike
for next year which will more than likely be a Ducati 1098
from Battley Cycles. Hopefully the AMA will change their
rules and allow the Ducati 1098 into their SuperStock
Class.
I want to once again thank all the people that made racing
possible for me this year...
BR-111 Exotic Hardwood Flooring, Maximum Hardwood
floors, Sienna Motors, Battley Cycles, Sobre Rodas, Genesis
Accounting, Pirelli,Ducshop Racing, EBC, Achieve Fitness,
Design by Duno, Engead, and Top Stop Auto-body.
check back in a month or two and I'll have some reports
from winter training and riding.
Thanks,
DP
