Fast times? Leaders in expert classes are high 12's/ low 13's. Leaders in novice I think run around the 15 range.
The one thing Indianaroadracer didn't mention was "the fast guys turn 1:12 & 1:13's" I would say the "average" is more around 1:15 to 1:20. The lap record is 1:10 (I believe)
The Track Record at Putnam Park is a 1:11.0 Set by Mark Junge on a Kawasaki ZX9R. As far as fast times go it depends on the time of year. Earlier this spring the fastest guys had trouble getting into the 13's and only Mark got into the high 12's. Last year at the WERA National you had to turn in the high 1:11's just to see the leaders. A good time at Putnam is anything in the 1:14 range expert. this will keep you top ten. Novices need to be in the 1:17 range to be competitive. Only the fastest sandbagger novices get into the 1:15's.
I think the times were slower at the regional race because the lack of practice. At a national there is alot more time to get up to speed. I think the track condition was very good, always plenty of traction there.
You should be talking to tray, he is the track record man. I think that is why wera still has the formula 1 race, so tray can go out and set the track record.
LOL - If he didn't have the F1 race to do it in he'd just do it in B Super or even the Endurance. Personally I love the fact that it's a toss up on any given weekend whether you'll get it, Tray will, or Lee will. Gotta love having that kind of talent in "glorified club racing"
Heelllloooo 2000! So i was at putnam this past wknd. Carr was there cranking out a :10.7 on a Ducati V4, race rubber, and stock suspension. I managed a :15.06 on a '12 GSXR 600 (stock motor, no fuel mgmnt, and a faulty quickshifter). I'm a year shy of 50 so it did feel good to be that close to a :14 . Junge has track record of a high :09 from 2002 on a 2002 GSXR 1000, according to google and RRW....btw, didn't know Scott Harwell was of Arclight Suzuki fame. It seems that lap times haven't really gone down much, if at all, over a 16 yr period. Is that the case with most tracks? With improved bikes, electronics, rubber, pavement, etc....seems that Carr should be able to get a :05 just with the technology and power of the bike itself? Carr had 4 secs on me just in HP and outright speed on the straights and from corner to corner. I may have been comparable mid corner. I'm considering coming out of retirement and going racing next season. I've just been researching lap times now and then, and seeing how/if im still competitive, etc...I have aspirations of being the oldest WERA novice champion.
The last legitimate "race" since WERA stopped racing Putnam was in 2011 when they held the AMA RRGC there. Jake Lewis and Chimichanga were going at it hot and heavy in the 600 race. Had Jake not crashed, those two chasing each other would have probably seen the record matched if not slightly beat. Had WERA or CCS kept Putnam on the schedule, that record would be certainly lower just by the talent that has come through the ranks as of late. That being said I believe 100% that once Matt gets the V4 dialed in at 95 percent, he will break the record. He's worked really hard on himself and on both iterations of the Panigale to make it happen. Personally, I don't believe a 5 is possible on a production bike at Putnam.
I watched the onboard of that lap and almost shit myself. I ran there ears ago in my first season, think we did 1:17s or so. Anyways that video was unreal, he went through the bus stop like it was a sweeper. Mind you he did that with running around some people on corner entry. Unreal
I was so bummed for Jake when he went down. But all kudos to Chimi as he was really impressive to watch.
That was a fun weekend. Definitely a bummer that Jake crashed out. There was a steady stream of trash talking between Jake/T-Dub and Chimi all weekend. All in good fun.
Someone emptied a beer bottle into my fuel drum and I spent most of the day getting that crap out the fuel system. First time anything like that ever happened and I learned to lock all my stuff up when I left.. Really sucked. Great racing for sure and Rest Easy TDUB.