Anyone @ Laguna Seca - AHRMA ?

Wondering if any of our “Elders” are out goofing off...

 

Dave Rutherford there for sure

 

Some skinny dude they call Stick is there.

If you have any boxes that need transporting from Cali to SC, he's your guy!

 

I'm shocked, but pleased to know AHRMA secured a weekend there. The track can only run a very limited number of events.

Their schedule also shows MX races. I wonder where those are being held.

 

I know Bloke and Erv are there… Gary Orr and Stickboy too….

 

Thought you and Mike were going?
I texted with him some today so I guess not?
Gonna try and find a day that's good for you,and red bull you to remove some tires for paint on the r6

 

I'm at Laguna Seca. First time here - it was a bucket list track experience for me. 2,600 miles from Georgia and worth every minute of the 3 day drive.

Great track layout. There is some very challenging stuff here. Wicked fast, blind turns. And, of course, the Corkscrew. For me, Turn 6 is really difficult. Blind uphill approach, drop into T6 which is a banked left hander and then a pretty steep uphill exit. You can, and should, rail thru there, but if you're in the wrong gear or crack back on the throttle, you have no drive up the hill. T1 is flat out and blind - I can't imagine it on a Superbike. It would probably be akin to a launch ramp for an Evel Knievel takeoff. Rainey Curve is also a high pucker factor as it starts out with positive camber, is very fast, and transitions to at least flat, probably a negative camber.

Foggy mornings mean delayed practices, but sunshine and cool winds with 0 humidity make for a great race day.

Of course, I'm slow, but the grin is from ear to ear.

Cheers,

Dave

 

Come on by today before 4 PM if you want… otherwise any night after 530…

 

Haul Ass Dave… I will try to make it next year for sure…

 

Kevin Carpenter of Born Again Fairings is there showing hos paint work and has a few nice slab side gsxr"s with him

 

I thought JBraun was going. Maybe too busy racing to post. Good luck everyone. It's a super fun track.

 

Quick stab of the brake before the bridge, Turn it in at the top of the rise (before you see the apex) and back on the gas before the dip. What a blast!

Have fun!

 

Fixed.

 

Great suggestion. Thank you. It worked well on the SV. On the Tigcraft, I'd upshift out of 5, drive up the hill, backshift at the crest and then drive again out of the corner, and upshift again heading to the Corkscrew. To me, that is perhaps the most challenging part of the track. But then, I was nowhere near Gino's speed and lap times (1:40-ish if I recall correctly). My hat is off to you Gino. 1:40 on a twin around Laguna is carrying the mail. And, I think the Kramers this weekend were doing 1:38's. Way above my pay grade.

Both of my races on Sunday were crash-fests. In Race 6, SOS1 (Tigcraft Supermono), there were 2 red flags and 2 restarts. Troy Siihan on the Kramer was taken out by a Ducati in T5 on Lap 2. Bike laying in the middle of the track. On the restart an electric bike went down at the top of the Corkscrew (a blue shirt - new rider from riders school). Another Kramer went down between T2-3, and there were other various bikes down throughout the race.

In race 13, SOT3 (SV650), bikes were crashing every lap, somewhere. No red flags, but every time around, there was another bike somewhere in the dirt on its side. Carnage. Excellent conditions; folks were just pushing hard. I had a good time running with some folks for somewhere in the middle of the SOT3 pack.

All in all, a very fun weekend and worth the time and expense to make the trip. Laguna is an iconic track and I am fortunate to have been able to experience it. My recommendation to those who have not ridden it is do it! Sooner rather than later.

Cheers,

Dave

 

The corkscrew gets all of the attention, but turn 1 is definitely crazy on a fast bike. Easy track to learn, but tough to be fast there unless you start trusting yourself and the bike.

 

Sadly that seems to be the case at a lot of ahrma races this year, it's great to have big grids but the speed differences and lack of expert/novice races has cut down on clean laps and ability to get the races in.

 

Thanks Dave. But I have to chime in, I did all 1:39's in the race with a few 38's thrown in. After all that work, travel, and expense, those couple seconds are all I have to show for it!

I agree that it's a great track, really one of a kind here in the US (from what I've experienced). It's awesome that AHRMA races there, there's really only a few club races a year there, the rest are sound restricted track days and even those are few and far between.

I get the sinking feeling that the track won't be around forever- with the politics surrounding government owned land, the recent debacle with SCRAMP getting the axe in favor of a politically connected group, and the overall popularity of racetracks these days, it sucks to think Laguna's days may be numbered.

Really glad you had a good time, I enjoyed seeing posts from the AHRMA crowd enjoying the track. Sucks about the crashes, there's definitely a few spots that can sneak up on you as the pace comes up. I was saved a few times by the grippy painted curbs. MotoAmerica only gives us 3 sessions and a race over 2 days. 1 practice, 2 qualifying sessions. I would love to see what I could do there with another night's sleep and a second race. Then again, when I drop that much time in a weekend, I start worrying about pushing my luck and the need to get to work on Monday. It's during the long drive home that I think of all the places I could have gone faster. HA!

Hope to see you around the track soon!

 

Great weekend.

I was only able to manage a 37.1 on the Kramer demo bike with 6K race miles on the clock. Engine/trans were super tired....but what an amazing platform. Last year Garrett Carter and Zach Courts were running 36's, so I was hoping to get there. I also got popped for sound twice on Friday (first time they didn't tell me). Luckily I was able to borrow another Kramer rider's quiet pipe which robs about 3 hp...but at least I could still get some racing in. There were 2 other guys on Kramers who were fast and we got to dice it up all weekend. Troy from Motorcycle.com and Austin who's a Laguna local. They raced hard and clean. I pulled a Marquez on Sunday and jumped the sewer in the corkscrew on the last lap to get by some Panigales from another class. We were all laughing on the cool down lap.

I was invited to race the Mojo Yamaha on Friday morning. What a badass bike and experience. Was popped for sound on that bike on Sunday in the race on lap 4. That was a bummer for sure. The race orgs communication was mixed, as we were told at the riders meeting on Friday that you had to pull in if you got a meatball (sound). Then AFTER my race on the Mojo Yamaha, they announced that you can finish your race if you get the flag! SMH. I didn't want to take any chances and risk getting tossed for the weekend when I still had 2 more races on the Kramer, so I pulled right in.

 

That's moving pretty good, anything under 1:40 is moving pretty good at Laguna on a small bike. My goal is usually to hit the JR Cup pole, which I didn't do last weekend, as the little punks were doing 36's which is a new record.

I figure the HP difference vs the weight of the bikes and riders make a good comparison for me.

My twin is one of the strongest HP wise, 88 HP with a pretty good power curve, and weighs 355 on the MA scales with a gallon or so of fuel remaining. Of course I weigh 200 plus gear so there's that.

What's the weight / HP on that Kramer @KMC ?