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Crusty Vintage race report from VIR

Discussion in 'Race Reports' started by RZ Racer, Aug 5, 2013.

  1. RZ Racer

    RZ Racer It passed tech LAST time!

    Even though it's the closest track to me (90 mins door to door) and I've had a lot of success there in the past, (I ran every single WERA event there, Endurance and Sportsman for the 1st 6 years it was (re) opened...) VIR has lately been a gaping black hole of doom for me. 2010, I crashed in 1st practice session and earned $35k in orthopedic surgery and some permanent "issues" with my right hand. 2011 and 2012 my finances and WERA's decision to make it "modern only" kept me away.
    This brings us to present times.... I'm fully recovered, finally working at a job that allows me time for racing and enough pay that I actually have my rd running the best it's ever run, so I decide "Why not?" and head up to VIR to see how a 37 year old bike will fare against fzr400's and sv650's. (we all know the answer to this already, but hey, it was also my birthday this weekend, so I wanted to do something for me!) My best time ever @ VIR on an rd was a 1:48.7, so I decided to focus on time as my goal.
    I arrived at the track a smidge late and was finishing up registration as group 2 hit the track. I went to tech and begged for a chance to run in 600 ex practice as I knew that I was going to need all of the practice I could get! Initially, they said no, citing closing speeds etc, but I promised I would ride with 1/2 an eyeball looking over my shoulder and leave room at the apex, so they let me out there. 1st session went fine and I only had 1 or 2 bikes have to follow me for through a corner before blasting by. No one flipped me off, so I don't think I ruined anyone's session.... best time: 2:03. Yikes!! I felt ok, but was definitely feeling fat and out of shape..... I used to laugh when people bitched about how physical VIR was to ride because, back then, I used to race 10-15 weekends every year and never even noticed it. Having raced 8 weekends total in the past 3 years (and also put on 25 lbs...) I was DEFINITELY feeling like VIR was a VERY physical track! 2nd round came up and this time I'm on the track with the proper group. I'm starting to remember the lines and was feeling a lot more relaxed and comfortable. I also notice a hint of breakup at 3/4 throttle, most likely a slightly rich condition, but I wasn't comfortable making a jetting change before the race because I hadn't done a plug chop, so I decided to leave it alone and ride around it. Best time: 1:54.xx. Not awesome, but MUCH better than the 1st session and I was quite confident I could find more time in the race.
    1st race was D-Superbike. I knew I had no chance against the fzr's, rs250's and rvf, but was hopeful that a novice or 2 might come up to play. I got a smoking start and beat everyone off the line, but when I grabbed 2nd gear, Kenny went by. When I grabbed 3rd gear, Scott McKee came by. 1st lap was pretty interesting, with a lot of dicey passes going on all around me, but after a trip down the front straight, everything stretched out and settled down. I kept my head down and kept trying to pick up speed wherever I could. I crossed the line alone, feeling pretty good. I quick look at the results a little later showed that I was 2nd, with a best time of 1:52.6! Apparently, there were 3 dnf's and a DQ.... I'll take it! Checking the grid for clubman, I saw 5 bikes entered, one of witch was Jeff Johnson on his rz, who was turning identical times to me. COOL!! I was excited not just to have a good dice, but a good dice with another 2 stroke!
    Pulling up to the grid, I saw 2 empty spots, with just Jeff, the cb250 and me on it. Jeff and I had very similar launches, but he had a better reaction than I did. I immediately noticed that I had a small advantage in hp, but braking into t1, Jeff went deeper than I did, so I knew this was not going to be easy. 1st lap showed me that he had a couple places he was faster than me and I had a couple that I was faster than him. He killed me exiting Hogpen, but I was able to draft by shortly after the finish line. I broke as late as possible and held the 1st throughout the entire 2nd lap. I was still leading 1/2 way through the 3rd lap when I ran just a little bit wide heading up the hill after the bridge (t7?) and Jeff immediately zipped by. Game on!! I set off in pursuit and made up a lot of ground in the 2 fast Ess turns before the Spine. Again, he had a better drive through Hogpen and this time, I drafted by right before the braking zone but he went right back by on the brakes for the lead. I settled in behind him and was starting to think strategy....could I improve my drive enough through Hogpen to pull off a pass before the stripe, or should I try to get in front before and open a gap???? Jeff had 2 small slides on lap 4 and I almost crashed when I clipped a curb on the inside at full lean, but this time, my drive was much better off Hogpen and I was able to draft by before the stripe. I decided to "screw the chess match" and just put my head down and ride as hard as I could. I put in a VERY clean lap on lap 5 and never saw him and then executed a pretty solid white flag lap and took the win! I looked back after the stripe and he was about 1 bike length behind, so it was definitely close! (I got this whole race on my gopro and will post it soon to youtube....as soon as my 16year old daughter teaches me how!) Best lap: 1:51.2!! Still not a 48, but not far at all off the pace and I'm a lot heavier now, so I was pretty happy.
    Sunday, I was back for more and eager to drop even more time. 1st practice went very smooth, but my transponder was blinking red, so I left it on the charger and didn't get any times. I fixed the jetting issue 2nd session but I noticed I was hearing some "ting, t-ting" noises when I was going through Hogpen. A quick glance at my pipes back in the pits showed that I had been dragging the R side pipes HARD at some point. Because of the rz swingarm on my bike, the pipes could not be mounted as intended because the silencer were hitting the lower shock bolts, so I had mounted them outside the rearset plates to give extra clearance. I had planned to bring the bike to a welder and have the silencers splayed out a few degrees to allow the pipes to tuck in better, but hadn't noticed any clearance issues till now so never bothered. Obviously there was no time to find a welder, so instead, I cranked in more preload on the shocks and told myself to hang off more in the r had turns...especially in Hogpen!
    Attrition yesterday had seriously reduced the grids today, so it was just me Scott McKee and me in D-super. I got another great start, but still couldn't get up into the sv's up front. Scott came by between 2-3 and then I settled in, trying to find speed. Around the 3rd lap of the race, I heard the familiar booming of an sv behind me and figured I had picked up one of the Novices. He showed me a wheel once or twice, but not enough for a pass. On lap 5, he finally got completely beside me, so I backed off and let him have the position. Once he was by, he jetted off and I finished the race all alone. 2nd place (out of 2!) but really, I wasn't pleased with my performance as I got VERY tired and was having a hard time squeezing the front brake hard enough to stop quickly.
    Race 2 was clubman, and I was the only bike gridded. :( WERA decided to add race 9 to race 7 because there were so few entries. I was actually somewhat happy about this because it meant I could get home sooner. What I didn't consider, was that race 7 had sv Superbikes in it. The complete ramifications of this didn't really sink in until lap 5 of the relatively uneventful race against myself when Kradgett came by and LAPPED me! Honestly, I was tired, sore and happy to not have to do another lap, but it was definitely a hit to my ego! (Last time I was lapped was in 1998!)
    Overall, even though I gained the exact same trophies Sunday that I did on Saturday, I was not as pleased with my performance. For starters, I was sore and tired! Racing just Vintage for the past decade had gotten me used to putting in a big effort for one day and then recovering on the couch the next day. Actually having to race 2 consecutive days in a row really kicked my a$$!! Because of this, (and also the lack of actual competition) my times did not improve on Sunday either, (1:52.xx in D Super and 1:53.xx in Clubman) even though I was more comfortable and using more of the track. I AM happy I did race on Sunday though, because I think the "medicine ball" effect will help me when I go back to racing my Saturday only Vintage program.
    Overall, it was a great weekend though!!!! I got to spend my birthday weekend with my new family, at the track, doing what I love best and I even walked away with a handful of 1st and 2nd place plaques! I also had a group of friends ride up on Sunday to check out the scene and they're all pumped to see more races and are planning a road trip to Summit in Sept. You never know, one or more of these guys could end up on the grid someday! The bike is running better than it ever has and handles great. I have 3 weeks to get the cornering clearance issue resolved before my next race and I'm also very motivated to put some miles on my bicycle and lose some weight! I was also great to catch up with some of the people that I don't see so much when I'm just racing on Saturday.

    Huge thanks to: Moto Carrera, Vintage Specialties, THR, Continental Tires, Traxxion Dynamics, WERA and the Cornerworkers.



    Till next time....


    Mark
     
  2. tittys04

    tittys04 Well-Known Member

    Good stuff :up:
     
  3. Metalhead

    Metalhead Dong pilot

    Good stuff RZ!:up:

    (although my eyes are bleeding. lol):D
     
  4. Venom51

    Venom51 John Deere Equipment Expert - Not really

    Mark that was damn manly launch in D-Super.
     
  5. kanatuna

    kanatuna You can't polish a turd..

    Good write up. I love reading about others racing exploits!
     
  6. RZ Racer

    RZ Racer It passed tech LAST time!

    Thanks Kenny. If drag racing weren't so boring, I'd be doing it instead of roadracing because I'm really good at it! I was dismayed when you came by 5 secs after the launch, but I knew I had brought a plastic knife to a gunfight..... it just hurt to see how bad it was!
    Sorry to see your bike in Hogpen sun am. Glad no one got hurt!
     
  7. Venom51

    Venom51 John Deere Equipment Expert - Not really

    Shit happens...it's just an excuse to build it better for version 4.
     
  8. cajun636

    cajun636 Honda Junkie.

    Great write up Mark. I love reading how people's weekends went with the ups and downs.

    But for the love of all things holy. Paragraphs!!!! :D
     
  9. RZ Racer

    RZ Racer It passed tech LAST time!

  10. JLUnlimited

    JLUnlimited Future hopeful For MotoAmerica

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