raced on it this weekend. it's pretty smooth. your knee pucks will feel like you're dragging leathers. still some bumps, but super grippy. standing water in T3-T4 sections still. the middle has some areas where it's getting scuffed up from cars. specifically like T2 --> T3. i added 2 PSI to the rear tire for the new pavement. do a track walk the night before and you'll see. you'll be doing PB laps with this new pavement.
This is what I've been hearing. Lots of grip, but your rear pressures and setup better be on point else you'll see some rapid wear on the bigger HP bikes.....
Pan American Superbike was there a few weeks ago- lap times were all SECONDS faster. I think I heard 11's on a big bike?
Of course. The track changed so why wouldn't tire pressures and maybe tire compounds change and even suspension settings?
Yeah, gotta have a serious talk with the track about that. FMRRA there, 3 weeks later CCS, the weekend after us. We were the only ones of the 3 there last July...
Well of course it could and should depending on the wear and feel etc. But most riders and racers set their pressure to what they are told and then don't change it unless there is a serious issue. And In This case they started having issues and needed to raise the pressure off the warmers from what I was told
Common sense with race & track day dudes pretty much means that there's a suggested pressure range and you should adjust for it based on hot pressures. But if you don't check the obvious, you're causing your own issues.
The few people I cared to look at whom I know also raced on the old pavement early this year or late last year all went about 1.6-1.7 faster for their PB. They were on little bikes though. On big bikes I don't know anyone that had raced before the repave and also that weekend with FMRRA. I saw Miranda ran a low 12 on a 600. But I know DaSilva had done a high 12 last year on his 600 on the old surface. I think this weekend at the WERA round there will be enough fast guys to get more data on difference in pace for all classes of bikes, but as far as I've seen so far, the new surface is good for about 1.5-2 seconds.
I was there helping out a friend for FMRRA and we had to do a pretty large pressure increase to do as stated and get rid of some wear patterns. There was one or two issues with seams in the new pavement that a couple people were complaining about but overall nothing but Pb's lap times. I met Jason Buckner and his wife during the weekend helping them do a quick tire change, great people said he usually does WERA stuff but just wanted to get a weekend on the new pavement. Good luck everyone
Probably, I haven't been there in years, so I should have kept my mouth shut! I just looked up the times from the Pan American round, Christian Miranda did a 1:12.0 on his 600. I didn't see any super fast guys in the 1000 race (Mesa, Silva, etc.) But some decently fast guys were in the 11's. That was before PBIR closed......
I raced at RRR this weekend as well. My tire guy had me had running a lot higher pressure than normal and I had perfect wear on the R1 and Zx6. The ninja 400 didn't fare so well, but I'm 80% sure it was due to suspension.
37/27 psi off warmer on SC1/Sc0 is what James Bock recommended to me when I was there racing with FMRRA. He also had us "forge" the tire by putting it on a warmer and getting it up to full temp and then quickly cooling it off by splashing water on it before he would mount it on the wheel. Track temps were 150-160 that weekend and it seemed like the heat cycle put on the tire helped it endure the track temps better. I put 12 laps on the rear in the final 2 sprint races of the day and it was still in really great shape. Ended up running it for FP2/Qualifying and then Formula 1 at Barber a couple weekends ago. Stuck like glue.
THIS is exactly why your tire guy is so important. It's not just a place to go get tires...great information can be had by simple discussions.
