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Inside Line Motorcycle Racing | |
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It had been two very busy months since the last race. Julie & I spent almost all of our time trying to get a bunch of home maintenance and improvement projects done. They're still not done! Fortunately, the FZR did not need much attention, and though I had intended to check the head gasket for leaks, I didn't get around to it. That job has definitely moved up in priority! (You'll see why.) The radiator was a little low, so I added some water, otherwise the bike seemed fine.
Saturday was practice in the morning, then vintage racing in the afternoon. I got three practice sessions on a nice fall day -- partly cloudy and a little cool. I was happy to find that I felt pretty comfortable on the bike right away. I spent the time trying a different shift strategy on the back straight of the track and it seemed to work well.
Kevin Taylor dropped by and timed a few of my laps in the last session and I was happy to hear that I was doing pretty consistent 1:20's. My understanding is that a 1:18 is pretty much as fast as it is possible for an FZR 400 to go around Portland Int'l Raceway, and I'm slowly getting closer to that...
Kevin also bought one of our OxLite ramps -- thanks, Kevin!
I checked out some of the non-racing vintage bikes after their parade lap at lunch time. It always amazes me to see the variety of old bikes that are still running and street legal. I didn't watch any vintage races, though. I had Ben at EDR seat the beads on the new tires I have for my street bike, then I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening putting the wheels back on. I wanted to get the street bike off of my front stand just in case it rained on Sunday.
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| Action shot from turn 3 in July | Photo by Phil Tanner |
Sunday was cooler and cloudier than Saturday. Cool weather is good for my bike!
Usually I chase Racer X around and get 2nd place. This time, though, Racer X decided to spend a little time playing "follow the leader" with Rocky Sloan, so he waved a few of us by. Stuart Johnson, a recently graduated novice, was noticeably quicker this weekend. He won the qualifier and while I chased him around.
About a half an hour before the race, it started sprinkling. It wasn't raining hard, and it would have been tough to get the rain tires on in time, so I waited it out. Fortunately, it stopped after about 10 minutes, and the track stayed basically dry.
Jim Kennedy was in my grid position at the start of the race. His bike wasn't running right and he was too agitated to figure out what I was telling him. So Stuart, Jim, & I all started in a little bunch. I didn't get a very good start, so Les Green barely had room to squeeze past from the second row!
I powered back by Les on the straight, and out-braked Rocky Sloan, to follow Stuart and Racer X into the first corner. Jim's bike had, in fact, blown its head gasket (again) on the warm-up lap, so he was just limping around.
I got a better drive out of 4 and passed Stuart on the back straight, but he out-braked me into turn 7 to lead across the line. I got a better drive out of 9 and passed him on the front straight, but he again out-braked me in turn 1. I sensed a pattern developing... Stuart and I passed each other a couple times per lap for three laps, while Racer X maintained the lead. Stuart & I were not far behind him, but we weren't catching up, either. The fourth time into turn 1, we saw a huge cloud of smoke -- someone had crashed and their bike caught fire. Stuart had passed me on the brakes again, but let me back by because he hadn't noticed the waving yellow flag. It didn't really matter, because by the time we got to turn 5, the red flag was out.
We went back to the grid, except for Jim. Jim didn't think he could keep his bike running on the grid, and didn't think it would re-start either, so he headed back to his pits in a grim mood. Fortunately for Jim, the fire and the need for an ambulance caused the race officials to call the race. Stuart had passed me into turn 7 again on the third lap, so he finished 2nd, I finished 3rd.
So, it was an unusual ending to an interesting season of 450 Supersport races. With five 2nd place finishes and one 3rd, I am 2nd place in season points for the class. In the third (and unexpectedly last) lap, I turned a 01:19.892, which makes me very happy! On the other hand, I spent the season trying to catch up to Racer X -- suddenly I have a "Stuart Problem."
Not much to say on this one -- I raced around and qualified 5th, the first FZR. Usually I am the first "non-SV 650" finisher in this race, but a new bike has shown up -- something powered by an XR 650 engine. It must work pretty well, because it even beat one of the SV's.
The 450 Superbike race went as usual. I tried to chase the SV650 superbikes around and didn't see much of anyone else after the 4th lap or so. The race was red flagged in the second lap and re-started. I got a bunch of clear track from laps 5 thru 9 and was enjoying myself.
On the last lap, a couple of the lead Supersport SV's from the wave behind us passed me on the straight. I followed them around turns 1 and 2, then we all caught up with a couple of lapped riders in turn 3. I "guessed right" and went for the outside. I passed all four bikes in turn 3 and was braking for turn 4 when one of the SV's (#611) came past me on the outside of turn 4 and cut straight to the apex, cutting me off pretty severely. It pissed me off, and I talked to the guy after the race. Leave a little room on the inside of the corner if you're passing on the outside!
Not much to say on this one -- I qualified 11th out of 22. This is a class I race to get more track time!
Some of the riders who started behind me complained that my bike leaked water at the start. The bike does get pretty hot while idling on the grid, and the radiator overflow reservoir must have filled up -- when I started it overflowed. The schedule for this race day had me out for 450 SS, back in the pits for one race, out again for 450 SB, in the pits for one race, and then out again for Middleweight. I guess the radiator just can't take it. During lunch I drained most of the overflow reservoir and put a little more water directly into the radiator.
Despite getting a poor start and being down on power compared to all except 3 or 4 of the 21 bikes that started, I passed about 8 people in the first three corners of this race! Wow, that was fun!
A few of the bikes came back by me on the back straight, and a few more on the front straight. There was a little more sorting of positions in the next 3 laps, then I ended up behind Brenda Wertman. Our paces ended up being very similar today, and I had fun following Brenda around. It felt good while I was riding, and it turns out I got six 1:20 laps in a row.
I finished 10th.
I won $30 in the Team Fight Against Tobacco 450 Supersport class sponsorship -- thanks, Dave!
Thanks to all the OMRRA turn workers, registration folks, and other volunteers who make OMRRA race days possible. This has been a great season with well organized races on mostly non-rainy days -- what more can you ask for!
Thanks also to my sponsors Bridgestone Tires and Lockhart-Philips USA.
Many thanks to my wife, Julie!
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