WERA West at AutoClub Speedway (Fontana, CA)
April 2014
A Seat is a seat is a… critical part of being able to RIDE
After a struggle in Las Vegas with sliding all over the place; and struggling to stay on the like; cousin Matt Buanno (as you may recall; he’s my all around crew chief / racer sitter); used his stellar surfboard shaping skills to create a phenomenal seat to keep me on the bike.
After the first ride it was clear I was going to be able to RIDE my new bike like a bat outta hell!
AutoClub Speedway Just Got A LOT Faster
The big Kawasaki proved to be profoundly faster than my R1 when I had the opportunity to open it up on the long NASCAR front straight; and the fairly long back straight.
With the change in ergonomics thanks to the seat; I felt like I had significantly greater control over the bike; and was able to ride it more aggressively than any previous time.
Jeremy Toye and his amazing crew chief/top mechanic Jody were able to help me make a few minor set up changes; most notably, a fork spring change; and by Saturday afternoon I was running lap times near my previous personal best – that occurred during a race!
The Friday track day had a closed off T10/T11 chicane; then on Saturday they opened it up considerably for the Superbike Shootout. As result we were running over some significant bumps. Which caused my first significant tank slapper. A tank slapper so profound; I literally fed it throttle and prayed like hell I was going to make it out of it. I was nearly launched off the bike! Feet almost came off the pegs; bars and chassis shaking so violently it was all I could to hang on.
Thank GOD I knew what I had to do the moment it started to go unstable; or there is no way I would have saved it.
Getting head shake through there; despite the stock steering damper; I thought this particular incident was caused by an error on my part in the way I progressed through the chicane.
The stock steering damper on the 2013 XZ10 is an electronically adjusted damper; but for whatever reason the damper was not plugged into the kit harness; so the damper was not adjustable.
During my first race; Superstock; I had another violent tank slapper. I knew if I didn’t do something about this, I was likely to crash next time. Jeremy let me borrow his Ohlins aftermarket damper; and it made a profound difference!
Open (A) Superstock
With an incredible start, I found myself in third place as we exited the first turn!!! While I was passed by a few other racers as the laps wore on; I was riding strong; smooth and aggressively. The only area I truly struggled was getting on the throttle through the bumpy chicane due to my tank slapper scare the previous day; and the way the bike would get upset each time through it.
As the race wore on; I opted to stop being a big baby and just pin it over the bumps. Sure enough; another wicked tank slapper that took longer to get under control. As I struggled to regain control of the bike I was heading straight for the bridge abutment. I truly thought this was it; that I was going to smash up myself and my new bike.
A fellow racer capitalized on the situation to make a clean pass – although he came to me later and commented that my tank slapper even rattled him!
After getting it back under control, I lit after the racer in front of me; determined not to let him capitalize on my misfortune.
Chasing him down the front straight I found that I had the significantly faster motorcycle! I’m so accustomed to my R1 being grossly underpowered compared to all the other bikes on the grid; this wicked fast machine is quite a treat!
I opted to play it smart and stay on his tail until we run onto the front straight to run for the checkers and make a run on him through the last turn.
It paid off as I set him up for the drive off the last turn and in the time it took me to think I hope I have the drive to get past him before the finish line I was passed him! Good Lord this bike is FAST!
While I crossed the line in 6th place; the final results placed me in 5th of 11 riders!
Matching my personal best lap time of 1:34
Open (A) Superbike
After the ridiculously close call with that tank slapper; a quick swap of the damper; splash of fuel, a snack; and it was back out on the grid for Superbike!
I was feeling optimistic in my ability to perform even better with the bike under better control. Sure enough; on the warm up lap; the steering head stability was profoundly better!!!!
As I charged the first turn aggressively; a racer on an older bike sort of bombed himself into the turn with seemingly no regard. I then watched him nearly highside himself as we exited turn four.
Chasing this guy around, I was furious with myself for not staying in front of him. While he didn’t have a considerable pace; his erratic riding made him difficult to set up a pass. Watching him nearly crash into, and out of, corners made me a bit apprehensive to attempt a corner pass.
I knew being stuck behind this guy for too long would cause me to fall behind the lead group, and leave me in a bad position to get passed by other riders. Sure enough, another racer got by me and that’s when the aggression kicked in big time. Charging down the back straight, I was contemplating setting up both of these racers for a front straight pass, since I had the power. As we were braking into T12 off the back straight; a novice, in an attempt to pass several of us in the expert class; blew T12; and nearly cleaned us all out in the process. As I apexed T13; I saw this novice coming straight at me. I fed it throttle and hoped like hell that novice wasn’t going to t-bone me… thinking to myself if you hit me I’m going to beat your ass
This novice was so far in front of his class he had no legitimate reason to make risky passes on the class in front of him.
Making a run down the front straight I was finally able to break free of those other two racers and quickly put a gap on them. Taking home a solid 5th place finish and a new personal best lap time of 1:33.3!! Bettered my best by a second!
The damper played a key role in my ability to run stronger. It cleaned up severe head shake in the bumpy chicane as well as several other key areas.
Women’s Superstock
Again, I was the only entry. I debated with myself for quite a bit about whether or not to actually go out on the track because I was exhausted and hurting. I decided to run the race for reasons that were not justifiable to the end result. Lesson learned – listen to your body; listen to your intuition.
Due to delays throughout the day, the officials shortened the race from six laps to four. I was thrilled to hear that while waiting on pre-grid as I was exhausted; and my injuries were hurting.
I was gridded in the number one spot; a couple of rows back were the few riders in the heavyweight twins class that would be sharing the track with me.
As the race went on I tried to focus on hitting my marks, but I was so tired I was struggling to focus. It was a mental battle to try to focus and ride well when you’re all alone. That was one of the points of going out there – to run well all alone.
As I took the white flag, I remember thinking Thank God… Coming down the back straight I was only a few corners from the end and I recall thinking finish strong! I flipped it into the right hand turn 12, and I was momentarily distracted; and I turned in a moment too early for T13; the front wheel hit the curb and down I went.
It was the first time I made a completely bonehead mistake and lost focus. I did not take that race seriously enough; especially that last lap. All I thought about was having the race over and resting.
The hardest part of that lesson wasn’t crashing my new bike – it was breaking my left collarbone again. :-/ Incredibly disappointed in myself… especially after saving it from so many other close calls earlier
Thank YOU
Cousin Matt Buanno, Rachael Maltbie, and Thomas Mahlstedt for their immense support and help over the weekend – everything from changing wheels and tires, to keeping me hydrated.
Especially big thank you to my little brother Jon Kubran for coming out to support me!
I wish to extend a gesture of gratitude to my crew for selflessly picking up the pieces, loading the trailer, and taking amazing care of me after my crash. Especially cousin Matty; who loaded his bike in my trailer so he could drive me home.
Thank you to Jeremy Toye and his crew for helping me get the bike set up; letting me borrow the steering damper; and taking my broken bike back with them for repairs. Thank you Jody for being on the wall and helping me set things up during practice. Having support from such talented, amazing people is already showing in my improvements.
Thank you Dale Keiffer of Racer’s Edge/CT Racing – Pirelli for being your usual amazing self… and providing the best grip in the paddock!!
Thank you to my friends and family for coming out to support me. One of the greatest moments of the weekend was when two little girls came over to my garage with their dad because they wanted to meet me. They race minis and thought it was so cool that I race a big bike and kicked butt doing it.
The following sponsors are who make this weekend – and all my race weekends – possible…
Graves Motorsports (gravesport.com)
Lee’s Cycle (leescycle.com)
Bike911 (bike911.com)
Pirelli Tires (CT Racing – ctracetires.com)
Cortech (cortechperformance.com)
Impact Safe-T Armor (impactarmor.com)
Scorpion Helmets (scorpionusa.com)
KFG Racing/GP Suspension (kfgracing.com)
JRi Shocks (jrishocks.com)
HELLA HIGH California (hellahighoakland.com)
Moonstone Cellars (moonstonecellars.com)
STAR School (starmotorycle.com)
MC ProDesign (mcprodesign.com)
Chicken Hawk Racing (chickenhawkracing.com)
Vortex Racing (vortexracing.com)
Joe Salas of 4theRiders (4theriders.com)
