My race weekend started out fairly slow. We had a nice 4 hour trip over thursday night, arrived at the Econo Lodge around 8 pm. Grabbed a bite to eat & hit the sack. Friday morning we arrived at the track for Bargy's practice with overcast skys & cool temps. Forecast was for some rain so I was hurrying around itching to get on the track. Got on the track & soon discovered I sucked, could not get out of the 1:08's. I am on a 600 so that ain't gonna cut it in that class. Last time over I was in the consitant 1:05's on a trackday. Well I mounted up new Michelin front & rear tires at lunch went back out & managed to get into the 1:06's. I just did not feel right on friday, maybe it was the pit in crash that happened earlier in the morning. Bikes & bodies everywhere! it looked nasty. We arrived at the track 7 am sharp Saturday. I was pre-registered so that was a breeze. I flew through tech & waited my call. I went out & was instantly in the 1:06's. I felt okay but still knew I could/have went faster. MW Solo 20 came around & here I was on the front row inside. My 1st front row start & I was not about to blow this! Flag dropped & I dragged raced to T1 and found my self in 2nd place but the cold Michelins drifted me wide just enough for 6~7 guys to slip by me. I did not panic instead I paced myself & waited 1 more lap & then I charged. I lost another position or two in the mean time but held my position until the end. I ended up with 11th. My lap times dropped into the 1:04's & were getting better as the race went on so I was happy. Sunday same routine except I go out for the 1st practice & quickly realize I need a new rear tire. I have one mounted up & in the 2nd practice I'm feeling very good & so is the bike. Superbike "C" race I'm on the front row of the 2nd wave, not bad. I get my usual good start & pace myself till my tires are good & hot. I catch up with the tail of the 1st wave quickly. I had some good battles with a few guys & we had some very clean racing to the end. I ended up 11th again. Looked like 11's were my number this weekend. Again my lap times looked good low 1:04's. Superstock "C" race I was 3rd row 2nd wave row 16. Not that bad, again good start but I had to weave up through the front 3 rows of 2nd wave pretty aggressively at the start. I was in a good groove in this race but was showing signs of being tired mentally. I made a few mistakes, one was trying to go the outside into the sweeper & realizing the guy next to me was not backing out of it. Check up time for me, that was not where I wanted to crash at over a 100mph. I did eventually get around him later. I had another very clean run with about the same group of guys that I diced with in the Superbike "C" race earlier. Hats off to those guys we all gave each other plenty of space & NO one forced a stupid move. I did get one more position right at the line & ended up 12th. So for the next round I will have tire warmers & I hope to better my positon into the top 10 at least. 1 second at a time is my goal now. My bike still has the stock suspension so I know that with improvement there I can surely make my rides a whole lot better. I have only raced 5 times with only 2 races before this weekend. The 600 class is a tough mother but I knew that going in. I have learned alot in 5 races & I know there will be more to learn in the next races. Conclusion, Me & my wife had a fantastic weekend & to all the guys I raced with it was fun! Roy #826 Novice
Hey Tailender, just wanted to say thanks for all the help over the weekend. I think we are looking at making Road Atlanta if you are interested. What's the next race you have in mind?
Same back at ya! yep Rd. Atlanta will be our next race. We will also be there spectating at the Kahuna plus riding the mountains up near TWO later in the week. Come up & join us!
hey man whats up, this is kent (the guy on the gsxr750 red black ans silver in case you don't remember) #862 from ga. glad to hear you are running so fast, i am also getting some new suspension soon, since i have learnes that my shock is bent out back, lol. i will be at road atlanta for the big kahuna. also i may be on the street that week as well and i live very near both road atlanta (15min) and TWO (25min) so we should see if i can get up there with you guys. talk later , kent.
Hey Kent I thought this might be you. Yea definetly look us up. We will be staying up a TWO during the Kahuna. I have a maroon SV650S & my wife rides red '00 SV650 naked bike. See ya
Hey Roy, this is Eric Reed. I was on a old silver Zx6. I think that you managed to squeek by me in the last turn of the last lap in the C SB race. I was trailing my friend (#419) for most of the race till the last few laps when he and the pack he was with started to gap me. So I just chilled out for a while. Coming out of the nineties on the last lap I took a peek over my shoulder and didn't see anyone, so I was just cruising into the the last turn. Before I know it, I see someone shoot up the inside of me. I was saying to myself "where in the hell did this guy come from!". I guess that I should have looked over my other shoulder!!!! Anyways, I just thought that it was pretty funny. I would have to agree with you though about the guys that we were running with were pretty smooth. I battled with a guy (#514 Honda, Gregg I believe) for the majority of the solo 20. That was a blast. We must have passed each other 5 or 6 times. I was finally able to get around him for the finish though. I managed a 7th in the solo starting from the 5th row. This was my first weekend of racing without the orange shirt, so I was really happy to finally get some good grid positions! Pre-entry is a life saver. Anyways, I just thought that I would introduce myself. Maybe I will see you at the track sometime so that I can put a face with the bike! See Ya, Eric Reed #323
Yea Eric I do remember the carousel move in C Superbike. you would have definetly beat me to the line if you had not drifted wide going into the carousel. I had been behind you guys for some time but everytime I would get close traffic would slow me up. The last lap I had a clear run & was running you guys down. I tried my best not to push you any wider in that last turn. I ran it in tighter than I have ever been in that corner. If you had not ran wide I would have had nothing for you, you were running strong! Man all you guys blew by me in the Solo 20 I was 2nd going into T1 & the tires just would not stick, next thing I know 1/2 the field passes me before the sweeper. I will have tire warmers for the next race for sure. Yep pre-registration was great I was on the front row in the 20. It was fun racing with you & I look forward to meeting you in person. I was looking at the results the other day & noticed you had some very good finishs, good job.
