First WERA event a success! VIR 3/19-3/21

First off, I wanted to say congrats to a fellow NESBA guy (CR) John Kremenik for his stellar performances on the track this weekend. I was just coincidentally pitted across from him and he is just a stand-UP guy. Good meeting you John!

So I had never run VIR North, but I've been doing trackdays with NESBA for a few years now. Finally in 2009, I got bumped to NESBA advanced and decided to give this racing thing a shot.

Being the conservative 28 year old that I am, I decided that even though I had a race bred r6 that had won a few expert races in 2009, that I was going to spend my first weekend on my new SV650. After practicing on Friday and of course the Riders School/Mock Race on the SV on Saturday, John K. talked me into riding the R6 instead. All I really needed was a little encouragement! :-D

So I wheeled the R6 out of the back of the hauler, and got it ready for Sunday morning practice. After trying to play catchup on practice time, I ran off the outside of turn one after taking it a little too hot. Rather than hit the tire barrier, I decided to lay it down gently in the grass. Luckily there was no damage whatsoever so I re-teched and got out for 3 more laps.

C Superbike Novice - 11th - 1:41.546 fast lap

Come race-time and a slightly higher heartbeat, I was ready to start dead last in the C Superbike race. I was on the outside of Row 14. I got a fair start, but not a great start, and maybe passed 1 or 2 guys going into turn one. I slowly picked off a few more riders on the first lap and then spent the next two laps getting up through 11th place. Once I got to 11th, I saw clear track ahead of me. I decided at that point I was going to finish with a comfortable pace, rather than try to put in a few barn burner laps to gain sight of the next racer. It turned out to feel pretty damn good to place 11th, and I had gotten the first race safely under my belt!

C SuperStock Novice - 10th - 1:41.175 fast lap

After the long wait between the C Superbike race and the C Superstock race, I was ready to go. I had a slightly better starting position with a grid position on the 12th row of a total of 13 rows of racers. The start was a little bit better. I was a little more aggressive getting into traffic into turn one. I just had a bit more confidence to make passes. I think I finally broke into 10th place going into the 3rd lap. This time I could see the next rider in my sites, but realized it wasn't going to be easy to catch him. I could see that I was faster than him coming up the front straightaway, but I would lose some time going through the back section. I decided a little too late that I was going to make a push and try to catch him and on the last lap I dropped my lap-time by about 2 seconds a lap. To my amazement, I caught up to him going up the hill on turn 7 on the last lap. I knew at this point that I had one chance to pass him. I gave him a little gap coming down the hill and as I shot down the roller coaster I tried desperately to pickup the throttle a bit more than he was. I was gaining on him so fast, I checked up coming out of the last turn slightly and then I just fell into his draft. I still had the momentum, but at the line I had to attempt an outside pass. Not being confident on making the outside line work at full throttle I slightly checked up and at the line he beat me by a wheel. Ultimately the gap was .032 seconds. What a great learning experience!

In closing, I wanted to say thank you to WERA for putting on an incredible event. I had heard good things about WERA and I have to say that I was deeply impressed. Everything was run so well, and everybody was so nice. I didn't have a single bad impression of WERA the entire weekend. Coming from me, that is awesome!

Also wanted to thank my good friend (and coworker) Mirek Bartik who knew very little about roadracing before coming out, but left with a huge grin and saying "Motorcycle racing is awesome." My Dad, who drove several hours to come out and help with all the pit work. And of course my wife, who's amazing devotion to a passionate husband is truly incredible.

 

:up:good stuff!

 

I spoke to you right after one of the races in post tech. I loved mixing it up with you. You beat me in the SuperStock race and I beat you in the SuperBike race. It was great fun mixing it up with you! I had a blast out there on the track with you and the others. I hope to see you again soon!

I agree, WERA runs a great program.:up: It was my very first race weekend, too. I ran one race on Saturday and 5 races on Sunday. I was beat at the end of the weekend, but wow, was I excited!

 

Yeah dude! It was definitely fun! I can't wait to start a little further forward to try to get a jump on some of the faster guys! Once I got into 11th in the C superbike race, I didn't even ever see you! :-P

What really added to the event was that the action on the track was clean! I was quite impressed at that aspect! At trackdays I think there are many many more "Crimson Adventures." (maybe this event was an anomaly?)

 

Looks like you'll fit in perfectly here Nate. It was great meeting you and the whole family in the fun mover this past weekend. WERA runs a tight ship, this weekend was no exception. Glad you had fun a fun experience barring your T1 lawn mowing excursion. See you at Summit.

 

Congrats man. You were looking good out there Sunday. Tony and I were pitted across from you (my SV and Tony's Gixxer). You had that shit eating grin on all day! Wish I could have come over and introduced myself. I was trying to keep the boy entertained between races. I'm sure we'll see more of you out racing.

 

No reason I shouldn't have come across and said hi. I was overlistening to you talk about the guy that crashed in front of you. You will for sure be seeing more of me... I'm racing until I'm broke or I go broke. lol ;-)

 

Good race, congrats on your first weekend! I think that was me you were trying to catch on the last lap of the C Superstock Nv race. It was really close, that last lap you ran was pretty good.

 

I'll be coming for you next time Rick! :-P