Well, another race season has come and gone and I've been remiss in not sharing my results. I'll try and keep it reasonably short... For the impatient, here's the condensed results: (finish/# of competitors) AHRMA Mid Ohio- BOT F1 7/10 and 6/10, BOT F2 9/22 and 8/23, and SOT 8/16 AMA Sports Amatuer Nationals Mid Ohio- HWTSS 4/8, LWTSB 3/10, Form. LW 5/11 AHRMA Barber- BOT F1 5/11 and 2/4, BOT F2 3/23 and 2/11, SOT 6/15 Prior to the late July Mid Ohio race my only on-track excursions in 2006 were track days (both at MidO). I was thrilled with the track's decision to (finally) repave and remove the concrete patches and was hoping for some good results there. I felt good at both track days and quickly got close to my best lap times from the previous seasons there, and was confident that times would drop dramatically during the race weekend with the new pavement once some rubber was laid down. I invested in a new shock this season and expected instant speed from that also. The AHRMA weekend was fun, but results were disappointing- it took all weekend just to match my 2005 lap times. In the meantime, everyone else got faster and as a result I went home with no trophies for the first time at that track. On a positive note, I got lots of great advice on suspension tuning (much of it from Bruce Blake of Michigan Engineering- thanks Bruce!) and at least had a plan of attack for the next outing. The main problem was that my springs were too stiff on both ends and I ended up futily chasing suspension setup all weekend. The right springs were ordered shorty after in preperation for... The AMA Sports weekend at MidOH- always a great event...designed to pit racers from all the different club series against each other individually, and in the "Team Challenge" format, which I was lucky enough to represent Team AHRMA in this year. It was great to see my WERA friends there along with a lot of the AHRMA modern bike racers and lots of new faces from all over the world (some FAST kids from Ireland!). Team AHRMA was quite handicapped from the start, as the rules favored the riders in the more "premier" classes (4 cylinders) and all three of us rode in twins classes, with Rob also campaigning an old GSXR in the 600 and 750 classes. We all came away with nice big trophies, and AHRMA ended up an impressive "not last". I managed to chop off 3 seconds a lap from my previous best and beat some racers I could never get close to before. And despite challenging wet/damp conditions I managed to stay upright, with my only injuries occuring in a near-faceplant while getting on the podium! Several energy drinks+adrenaline+a few post race beers got me a booboo on my fingertip! At least it was Sunday, and not the bigger saturday crowd... Stay with me here- it's almost over... The AHRMA Barber weekend in October is always a great way to wrap up the season. Everyone loves the place and that results in nice fat grids and even quite a few spectators lining the manicured hills. Before MidOH I had never even gotten close enough to *see* Doug Scheer on his superbike SV, this time I was able to catch him and hold him off for third place on saturday. It hammered down rain saturday night, and a lot of people packed up and went home, but I still had fun in the mostly dry Sunday races. Got a 2nd in F1 behind Hatten's 749R and ahead of an RC51 and a bigger Ducati, and another 2nd behind freak-of-nature Rob McClendon (the guy brought a FLEET of bikes and had THREE back to back races Sunday!). Big thanks to my sponsors Bridgestone and LP USA, and my Crew Chief Beth W. and Tire Guy (and sometimes mechanic) Mike S. Thanks also to J.D. Hord of Hordpower.com for getting the SV running great on my minimal budget. Looking forward to next season!!!
