WERA West
Las Vegas Motor Speedway April 20/21, 2013
As I hit the road for Las Vegas I was feeling really confident about meeting my goal of breaking the 1:20 lap time barrier. Cracking that barrier is a hugely significant milestone in measuring ones speed and ability. It shows (at Las Vegas anyway) that one can go fast AND ride well; because you need BOTH in order to crack that barrier.
My riding continues to improve, my suspension was getting a slight upgrade, and the weather was going to be fabulous!
Friday Practice – Hosted by Racer’s Edge
Lenny Albin of Superbike Chassis, LLC replaced the spring in my left fork leg so I now have 1.0 spring rates in both fork legs (previously it was a 0.95 rate with a 1.0 in the right leg). I was really excited about this added front end stability, especially for the heavy braking track that is Las Vegas’ Classic Course.
I had only a few sessions to ride on Friday, as I only had funds for a half day of practice. This was also going to by my first race since having surgery to repair my collarbone. With a plate and six screws, and now a significant amount of pain from over doing the workouts prior to this round; the heavy braking was pretty brutal on my left shoulder.
The doc had cleared me to ride and workout after a few weeks, and I rode Willow Springs’ big track Easter weekend with moderate pain. But as I added a bunch of push-ups to my routine my shoulder tissue became so painful it crippled me. It hurt so bad to just jar it, or carry my helmet, or anything… the kind of pain that makes your stomach hurt, and occasionally brings tears to your eyes.
I let a week pass with no work outs at all – it was too painful to even ride my bicycle. I already had an appointment with my doc, so I explained to him what was up… and he explained to me how he had to cut the tissue away from my bone in order to secure the bones together. He also explained that he had to carve out ten years worth of scar tissue, and the bones were a good inch apart! He made me understand how much carving he did around my collarbone; and I helped him understand that I am no elliptical bunny, and have very little self control when I work out. Ha ha ha…
The scar across my shoulder was considerably sore when the suit would rub on it a bit, but once I was out on the track nothing hurt any more.
A productive four sessions on the race track, and I was ready for the first day of the double header… except for the part where I struggled to crack 1:22 during practice… pretty far from it, actually… :-/
Saturday Races (Double Header Weekend)
I must preface these races with a HUGE shout out to my friend Oliver Kho who was a stellar racersitter all weekend. His attention to detail, willingness to learn, easy going personality, and forward thinking absolutely made the weekend a huge success. Thank you Oli!!!!
Being that he is also an engineer was hugely helpful =) And he brought his Great Dane, Cable with us… and Cable is like Duke’s slightly bigger twin, so it was a wonderful substitute for my Duke boy who is still at my parents house.
Saturday morning practice started out a little difficult, but WERA opened up the 600 practice group for us liter racers to practice in since the turnout for the races was so low. Usually the 600s are allowed to practice in our group, but not us in theirs. It was nice to have 4 rounds of practice available instead of just two.
I was struggling just to run 1:22s in practice, and I was feeling a bit frustrated… until Oli convinced me to go out in the last 600 practice group. I was fortunate enough to see Jeremy Toye out there on a 600! Thanks to his reduced power, I was able to get a little closer to him, and follow longer. Thanks to this experience, I was able to see exactly where I was total weaksauce.
Coming out of that practice I knew where I had to charge, and exactly what I had to do. Once the new tires went on, I knew I would be able to push those areas with 100% confidence.
Open (A) Superbike
I had a killer starting position from row 2, got a good start, and hung with the lead pack for the opening lap. But soon they started pulling away and I was left all alone for pretty much the duration of the race. I felt like total weaksauce during that race; just so frustrated, and not riding well as a result of my frustration.
I kept reminding myself to hold my position and not let anyone pass me. Given there were only seven racers in the class, I finished 5th of 7; and I was in pretty quality company up front. However, they were so far up front that I had nothing. :-/
While the two opening laps were weak, the last four laps were solid high 1:20s; within 0.3s of one another with 0.8s spread between all at speed laps (2-6).
Finish: 5th/7
Best Lap: 1:20.6
Tires: Soft front (new) / Soft Rear (new)
Open (A) Superstock
With only one race between Superbike and Superstock Oli and I made a plan to have the second new rear for the weekend mounted and ready to swap wheels between the two races. My norm is now two new rears for a given weekend….
While Superstock is my primary focus – it is my best shot a podium; I had limited choices in what to do with rear tires for the weekend. So the plan was run the two rears on Saturday, then flip them after the races, and re-run them on Sunday. With the races only being 6 laps, they should hold up well. This time around, running a soft front was a new experience. I had never run a soft front before.
During our wheel swap, I was nursing my shoulder, catching my breath, and swigging some electrolyte infused water. My lack of fitness in the last 2 months was seriously telling on me.
Oli had the rear on the warmer for a good two hours before this race; and my bike was hot, the front was back on the warmer, and Oli was busting his butt to swap the rear wheels. Thankfully the race between was a lightweight twins race, so their lap times gave us a few minutes longer than if it had been, say a 600 race or some other faster bike. The given time frame was only 10-15 minutes until I was back up.
We had an issue during the wheel swap that caused me to miss the warm up lap, but I was perfectly happy with that. I rolled out on the grid, and was like “well, here we go…”
I got a killer start and only one racer got in front of me into turn one. Tucker Lancaster, a leggy 600 racer kid who’s kicking butt and taking names everywhere he goes.
As we flew into turn three, I still hadn’t been passed, and just tried to hang onto Tucker, and another fast guy, Derek Keyes, who was holding down second place.
I just charged harder and harder into every corner; asking the front end for a lot of support. Those new springs were phenomenal. I kept feeding it throttle until I felt the rear dance underneath me – which was a lot of throttle!
As we charged through the decreasing radius left hander in the back section of the track, I smiled and giggled… ”wow… I must be going really fast! I’m still here chasing Tucker!!!” Ha ha ha
As I charged turn one on lap three, I didn’t get the leverage on the shifter as I went for my two downshifts. It got stuck between gears, made a big racket in the gear box, and I had no choice but to go back to fourth gear as I went into turn one. It killed my drive between one and two; because when I should have been accelerating I was grabbing one downshift, which then resulted in a weak drive exiting turn two. The exit of turn two is profoundly more important than between one and two. Turn two opens to a good drive into turn three… a good several hundred yards.
Thankfully I didn’t really lose them too much, but my pal Rick Johns was able to power passed me on the high speed back section. He has a high horsepower BMW, and I was stoked to have held him off that long!
As he went inside of me into the high speed kink, I noticed he slowed a bit – he told me later a gust of wind blew him.
So I charged hard exiting the kink, and tried to out brake him, and go underneath him, into the double apex right hander… it was an incredibly close one. I nearly cleaned us both out. I made the decision it wasn’t going to work a moment before the point of no return. It was so close I couldn’t see if he was going to hit me or not as he tipped in. I was sitting in his blind spot, and he was about to chop off my front tire if I didn’t do something.
Crash averted, but I charged after him. I tried to hang on but I just didn’t have it in me to get him or the other two in front of me. I just continued to charge hard because I knew there were two friends of mine likely tail grabbing my butt, and I was going to make damn sure no one else got by me.
Although I was feeling exhausted and a little bit defeated in the final two laps, I shockingly ran my fastest laps of the race in those two!!!
I celebrated the entire cool down lap… I was so happy!!!! While I didn’t win the race; I won my race. I just knew I went fast. Keeping a 2-3 bike length gap on Derek and Tucker the majority of the race, I just knew I had cracked that 1:20 barrier!!! I also beat my two friends whom I knew were going to be hot on my tail! My friend Steve Weir has come back from a long break to race his new BMW, and the man can friggin ride a motorcycle. Steve and I had some good battles the last two rounds. We’ve gone back and forth on who beats who. We really push each other to new personal bests. The best thing about that is he used to coach me when I was a brand new rider!!!! He is so proud of me… and I love that about him. We push each other, and even when I beat him, he is still so proud of me.
My other friend, Aaron Ascher, has won a few WERA Expert liter class championships, and is an all around fast dude. He even got his AMA Superbike license this year! I’ve been trying to beat him for years!!! This was the first time, and hopefully not the last! Rick is my next carrot. I’m slowly gaining on him.
My favorite part of that race was seeing my fellow competitors – namely Steve and Rick – were so proud of me! Rick said I was incredibly hard to pass. That means a lot coming from a guy who has a good 30 hp on me!
In the end, I smashed my goal!!! Solid 1:19s the entire race!!! I had one 1:20.0 as a result of that shifting issue into turn one. Spread of 0.5s from lap two to lap six. The last three laps had a spread of 0.1s. 1:22.58; 1:19.89; 1:20.09; 1:19.60; 1:19.57; 1:1953
Finish: 4th/11
Best Lap: 1:19.5
Tires: Soft front (one race) / Soft Rear (new)
Sunday Races
I woke up Sunday morning in an extraordinary amount of pain, and while I was optimistic to crack into the 18s, I realistically did not think it was going to happen on Sunday, unfortunately. My body – namely my shoulder – just was so angry. 🙁
I did a few rounds of practice, and while they were good, I just couldn’t find that extra oomph, that razor sharp edge to go that extra little bit.
Open (A) Superbike
I had another decent start, but got mobbed a bit as I backed off too early for turn one. Note to self – don’t let off that throttle until you’re about to hit someone.
It was an exact repeat of Saturday. Although this time I was able to hang on to the lead pack a bit better this time. I ran pretty strong lap times; although towards the end of the race I started getting big slides out of the rear.
Another 0.5s spread for laps two through six. I repeated my previous best lap time of a 1:20.4 from November.
Finish: 5th/7
Best Lap: 1:20.4
Tires: Soft front (two races) / flipped Soft Rear (one race)
Open (A) Superstock
Another quick wheel swap, and it was game back on for Superstock. It tried to put that deflating Superbike race behind me and focus on another strong Superstock run.
My start was killer. I charged turn one with Derek and Chad Lewin in my peripheral vision, just slightly ahead of me. After watching Chad’s starts during the Formula One race I was way stoked to be within a half a bike length given I started on row two.
I stayed on the throttle longer this time, and as I reached the point of no return charging into turn one, apparently everyone else had other ideas because I was completely dog piled into turn one. Oh my God… It was as if they were all so pissed at me for getting away on Saturday… ha ha ha It was quite an eeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkk… moment. All I could do from there was regroup, and hang on.
I was able to get around one rider in the back section, then did the absolute best I could to charge with the lead group; which was the same as Saturday except my two pals I beat were now in front of me. Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!
I was doing my best to run them down but I just didn’t quite have it. As the race wound down, my front and rear really started giving it up. After a massive front end slide in the last corner on the second to last lap I knew it was now time to just hold my position and not fall down.
It definitely showed in my lap times! I went 2 seconds slower on the last lap! That soft front was amazing, while it lasted. But it lasted 4 races!
Unfortunately for my friend Rick, he crashed under the brakes in turn four, allowing me to claim the 6th place position.
I am proud to have run another 1:19.8 in lap two on used tires. The remaining laps were 1:20.1s until the last two laps – a 1:20.6 and a 1:22.1 in survival mode.
While I was deeply disappointed to not have run a 1:18; or even repeat my solid 19s from the day before, I am proud of how I rode on my used tires and wrecked body.
I ran within 0.5s of my best laps from Saturday. And had better results during this race then I did in February!
Finish: 6th/11
Best Lap: 1:19.8
Tires: Soft front (three races) / flipped Soft Rear (one race)
Women’s Superstock
I opted to run the women’s class only on Sunday in order to maintain my points lead in the Championship. Sadly, not many women run in the WERA Women’s class, which is a real bummer. And this weekend was no exception. There were no entries in the Women’s Expert grid on Saturday, and I was the only entry on Sunday. One girl ran in the Novice class both days.
On a side note… this bolstered my bruised ego a bit. In the past, the women’s class was always gridded behind Heavyweight Twins (large bore v-twin bikes) Superbike; and nearly the entire women’s class would pass nearly every racer in the twins class.
WERA, like many other organizations, will often grid multiple classes at the same time when those class grids are really small.
So when I saw the grid for the women’s race; by ego was seriously bolstered =D
I was gridded on row one; position one. A few rows behind me were about 7 or 8 twin racers; then the novice girl for the women’s class.
I had originally told Oli I wanted to leave the soft front on for the women’s class, and put my worn out medium practice tire on the rear. I was gridded in front, and I wanted to start solid and stay out front!
But coming off that Superstock race, and nearly crashing due to the worn out front, I told Oli we had to swap the fronts!! Thankfully, Mongo, was generous and gave me 3 races between Superstock and the Women’s class. They’re usually back to back!
While my rear had been baking on the warmer for a while we quickly got the front on the warmer, and Oli set about swapping both my wheels.
My body hurt so unbelievably bad. My reduced fitness, coupled with my still healing collarbone was doing me in. I told Oli I was skipping the warm up lap.
I rolled out into my position, and when the green flag went we all launched off the grid. They ran us with one green flag.
A twins racer showed me a wheel as we approached turn two, but I just walked away. I wasn’t worried – and I’m sure he wasn’t either – as the run between two and three was enough to put a gap between us. Then I would not interfere with his race. We were on track together, but we were not competing.
In the first few corners I was semi-regretting skipping the warm up lap as my tires slid here and there. The front was physically hot, and I touched it with my hands before I went out, so I knew it was good enough.
I giggled throughout the race as I slid my way around the track. Especially as the rear danced as I charged the exit of the high speed kink in the back. I rode the tires for what they were – medium compound tires that are not the best for the 90 deg heat and worn out with a good 50+ or more laps on them.
I ran solid 1:22s the entire duration of the race. My start was a bit lackadaisical at an opening lap of 1:26.
My spread 0.5s between lap two and lap six and I crossed the line 6 seconds ahead of the winning heavyweight twins racer – a gentlemen on a Ducati whom I legit raced against in Open Superstock.
Finish: 1st/1
Best Lap: 1:22.2
Tires: Med front (lots of laps) / Med Rear (lots of laps)
In Summary
Over all a very stellar weekend! Smashed my previous personal best by a second! Had 3 top five finishes in 4 races, and ran solid quick lap times.
While my technical riding skills I felt were lacking this weekend, I came away with a new technique to master and specific lessons to take with me when I ride with Jason Pridmore later in May.
I know I can smash that 1:19 barrier. And while we don’t go back until November, I’m optimistic for even more improvement after having the remainder of the season to ride new tracks, and master these new techniques.
I’m looking forward to running with AFM this season as well; chasing the AFemme (their women’s class) Championship. This will bring seat time at Sonoma and Thunderhill. In addition, I’ll be running a select few events at Big Willow with MotoWest GP.
I have some detailed lessons in my notebook from Las Vegas… so until we meet again Vegas…
Very special thanks to Oliver Kho for helping me this weekend, and working so hard…. You are a fantastic racersitter, and your help was invaluable. While there is no replacement for Cousin Matt Buanno (my usual racersitter), Oli was a damn fine substitute. =)
Very special thank you to Lenny Albin for his assistance in suspension, and performing a quick spring swap. My bike is so old, the forks have the spacer between the spring and the fork cap, making it a bit of a pain in the butt to swap springs.
Thank you Dale Kiefer and Chris Maguire of CT Racing Pirelli for the immense support this weekend!!!! Professional level expertise and service! No wonder the winners in nearly every class were on Pirelli tires.
Thank you WERA for putting on a great show, and the memorial laps to fallen racer Kenny Anderson were a beautiful tribute.
Thank you to my friends and family for their support all weekend with notes, calls and messages throughout the weekend.
Very Special Thank You…
Graves Motorsports (gravesport.com)
Lenny Albin (superbikechassis.com)
Pirelli Tires (CT Racing – ctracetires.com)
M Racing (mracingperformance.com)
Scorpion Helmet (scorpionusa.com)
Five & Dime Tattoo (fiveanddimetattoo.com)
Hella High Oakland (hellahighoakland.com)
Moonstone Cellars (moonstonecellars.com)
STAR School (starmotorycle.com)
Five-0 Racing (five-0racing.com)
Aussie Body Fitness (aussiebodyfitness.com)
785Graphics (785graphics.com)
Cortech (cortechperformance.com)
Valley CrossFit (valleycrossfit.com)
Chicken Hawk Racing
Vortex Racing
