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Inside Line Motorcycle Racing | |
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The Suzuki GS500 I bought from Brian is still running as well as it did (OK, so that doesn't mean all is well, but the brakes don't drag as much as they used to and the lack of power is not new, or due to a mechanical problem, it's as powerful as any stock GS is...), which only required an oil check and air pressure check before the race. The temptation to change the exhaust and the rear (original 9 year old!) shock is running high. But I am resisting so far...
The weather for the weekend was looking very iffy. Saturday ended up being rather nice, and I was hoping for a repeat on Sunday. It didn't look that way on Sunday morning. It had been raining over night, and was drizzling when I left the house. I got to a wet PIR, but at least but the time I got there the rain had stopped. This was a good sign, but my warm-up group was up first, and the track was still wet. This may not seem like a big deal, I have ridden street bikes in much worse conditions, but I had no experience with my Suzuki GS500 or PIR in wet conditions. I had heard that PIR is more slippery than a normal road in the wet, it may also be due to the race tires, but it was going to be a new experience for sure.
9 AM rolled around, warmed up the engine and headed out to my first laps in the wet. Most people in my warm-up group must have decided that caution was the better part of valor, as I was the first an only bike for the first (slow) lap I took. As I completed my tip-toeing around the track a couple of more bikes came on. I started to get a better feel for the traction and decided to pick up the pace. Coming out of T9, the rear slid as soon as I got on the throttle. To put things in perspective, we are talking about a 45HP (on a good day) "race" bike here, so maybe a little more smoothness is required. I made that mental note, but the bike still felt funny in some of the turns, with the front and rear taking turns in reminding me that the traction was greatly reduced this morning. When I came off the track, I noticed that I was very stiff, which is probably partly to blame for the little slides, as I wasn't relaxed enough to allow the bike to do what it needed to do to go around smoothly. Another mental note made.
First of the races was the Lightweight Superbike (kitchen sink) class. There were a lot of people on the grid that had not taken the warm-up, and it showed. I had a pretty good start, the track seemed dryer than earlier, so I took advantage of it for a couple of laps, keeping ahead of bikes that are usually faster than mine. Of course, as soon as we got back to the main straight, most of them went by me, as usual. It seemed like my laps were getting faster during the race, but I have not seen the official times (hi Jeff! ;-) yet.
The second race was the 450 SuperBike heat (4 laps) that determines the grid positions for the main race. I had another good start, again, people who had not been on the track before seemed to be tentative of the braking zone in T1, so I took advantage of this to be on the inside (first time I out brake *anybody* into T1) and take the tighter line. I know the last bike I went by was Rocky's FZR400. As I am ready to complete the turn into T2, I see a bike come flying by me, on the outside, practically on the rumble strips and off to the grass. I recognized it as Cyber's NSR250, which made me lose my concentration for a while. I don't like to see people crash, much less see my friends crash. I was relieved to see him walking around next to the fence on the next lap. My advantage over Rocky lasted that whole lap, he didn't waste any time going by me on the straight in the second lap. Nor did all the others that had been stuck behind me... Apparently the SV650s that start up front were making good time, because I got passed by the leading SV as I was finishing my 3rd lap... Short heat race.
The third race of the morning was the 450 SuperSport heat (4 laps again). I had a good start, and managed to keep ahead of most of the similarly powered bikes that were behind me at the start. I also managed to complete the full 4 laps this time.
After noon races were in the same order as the morning heats, so Lightweight SuperBike was up first. I had a fairly lousy starting position, so I couldn't use the launch to try stay with the faster bikes through the first lap. I ended up right behind Martin (Bandit400) and Joanna (GS500). I didn't have any problems going with them between T1 and T9, but as soon as we got back to the straight they started to pull away. I stayed in their draft, but it didn't seem to be close enough to actually make a pass. This went on for a few laps until I got close enough to Joanna in T9 to get a much better drive out of that turn. We were side by side for a few seconds and then the HP/weight advantage kicked in, and she pulled away... The overall result for this class wasn't that bad, I finished 7th of 9 finishing bikes.
There were several crashes throughout the day, and it caused some delays in the schedule due to the time that was required to cleanup the track.
By the time the 450 SuperBike race came around, it had started to rain again, and the track was getting and staying wet. I started very gingerly, testing the limits of traction (very low...) and basically going at a pace that seemed safe for the conditions. I was following a Bard on his slick shod RZ350. I would close in on the back side (I imagine it was very hairy on those slicks) he would pull away down the straight. As the race went on, the rain stopped, and the track got dryer, we picked up the pace. Obviously, he had a lot more to pick up than I did, because it was getting harder and harder to stay close to him... The important part was to finish the race, so it would count toward my consecutive finishes for the expert license, and I did. I actually finished 5th of 6 starting bikes in this class, but only because Brian Bucknam decided to pull off half way through.
The rain continued on and off, but seemed to stop just as we went out for the 450 SuperSport race. Most people took it easy at the start with hopes for a dryer track towards the end. I had a pretty good start this time, but the first lap was run at a moderate pace. I still managed to stay ahead of Martin and Joanna for the first two laps. On the third lap, toward the end of the straight, Martin came by and Joanna was right behind him, both having used me for drafting. What Martin wasn't counting on was Joanna keeping in his draft and going past him soon after they went past me. I need to take notes here on that drafting move, it was very well done. I tried to stay close behind them to see if I could try drafting them down the straight, but then the SVs showed up and started passing me on the back side of the track. I lost a few seconds there, and ended up being too far to get any draft from them.
Overall, racing in the rain was a good experience. I am not sure it did a lot to improve my dry weather riding, but it sure gave me a chance to see how the GS runs in the wet. Also, the goal was to complete 6 consecutive races needed to graduate from novice to an "expert" license (not that that would make me an expert, but it opens up a few possibilities, so it's good) and I finished 7 races between the last two weekends.
As usual, I'd like to thank Lizbeth, my biggest sponsor, for her support of
my racing hobby.
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