TheDraik77 2014 race season

DO IT!

 

Here's a video I put together of the ESS race at Barber. Check it out and see how much fun the ESS class can be!

Barber ESS June '14

 

The Draik 77
Roebling Road Raceway
7-20-14

This was the 3rd and final time to go to RRR for the WERA 2014 season. I started off the racing day with some sketchy skies. I had a dry first practice, during the first practice I was getting my lines down and had to adjust the suspension for the big bumps. By the time I had the bike back up on the stands, it started to rain. I went out for my second session and by that time, there was a dry-line, the sun was shining, a nice gentle breeze, and the temperature was around 75°f.

The first race was my ESS race that was combined with D-Superbike and Lightweight Superstock (mainly SV 650s), I had a great start but I was drafted and I was at the back of the pack for turn one. For most of the race I was battling with the slower SVs, I was drafting them for as long as I could down the front stretch. I had them in the turns, by the last few laps I had made up a lot of time and I was passing second place. Then in the next few turns I was right with first place but could not pass him by the finish, he beat me by 65 thousandths of a second. With every lap of that race I got faster and actually had the fastest ESS time of the weekend and my new personal best time of 1:26.413.

Then in my DSS race, I started behind the faster bikes. Into turn number one I was at the back of the pack, but once again, I was using my drafting the faster bikes tactic and had myself back behind second place. I was behind him for the front straight and then I passed him in turn one on the outside. When I was passing him, I went over a big dip in the track, this caused me to drag my foot peg and I was tucking the front, I pushed hard with my knee and I kept the bike and momentum up and still completed the pass. He passed me back in the short straight before the last turn and pulled on me down the front stretch where he beat me by only 3/10ths of a second.

I ended up with a 3rd and a 2nd, I also got my newest sponsor “Amish Racing” with John Cook! This is by far the best race weekend I have had so far. I’m really looking forward to going to the next round at VIR in a couple weeks. It will mark the first time I’ve been there since 2011 and I loved the track back then. I’m also hoping to find a little more power before then too. I’m taking my bike back to Ralph at Somethin’ Extra Cycles to get the valves checked and dyno’d to find that last <1sec in the straightaways I need for a win.

For Broome:
2nd in ESS (beat by 0.065sec)
3rd in DSS (missed 2nd by 0.3sec)

 

That's some close racing. Good stuff.

 

VIR
8/2-3/14
TheDraik77
On Friday, it was raining, I love racing in the rain but I was really wanting to really to push my bike after it had been dyno’d. I had started my Saturday races off in wet conditions, by the second practice it was drying up and I could really feel the extra power in my bike.

By my ESS race, the track was dried up but still overcast, I had a bad start, I had not fully engage the bike in gear and slipped into neutral and was always a turn behind, I tried my hardest to make up time but couldn’t make up the time. I finished in third in that race.

Then came the DSS race, I had a great start and was right behind the other 250. I was excited that I could finally battle with a 250. I was studying him for a pass for a lap and a half by staying on his tail. Then he crashed when he ran off in the grass at the top of the roller coaster. I ran the rest of the race pushing harder and learning the track. I set my best lap time of the day in this race and was the fastest single lap time of all the 250’s. I finished in 2nd position.

On Sunday, I had good dry practices and was only a second off my fastest race lap time from Saturday. I was really looking forward to the afternoon’s races with awesome weather and a brand new rear Pirelli tire from Podium Motorsports.

Once again was my ESS race was first, I had a great start and was right behind the leader, I was studying him the whole time but could never make a pass stick despite trying my hardest. We battled the entire 6 laps and I ran two seconds faster than I had run the day before. He only beat me by 0.075 of a second.
My final race was DSS, I got off to a great start and was ahead of the other 250 and two SV 650s, I put my head down and was pushing hard to get even farther ahead. The other 250 was not behind me as he had a mechanical problem. I improved my time yet again by 3 tenths of a second and brought home my fourth podium for the weekend with another 2nd place.

My next race weekend will be at one of my favorite tracks, Road Atlanta. I had a couple really good battles there early this year so I am really looking forward to getting back there and be on the top step of the podium! But before then, I really lucky to get to do a trackday at Putnam Park with Sportbike Track Time. This will be a very special trackday for me since it is very close to my home town and I will be able to have friends and family get to come see me ride. I will also get to meet the guys of Racer Café that have been great sponsors to me over the last couple years. See you at the track!

For Broome:
Saturday
ESS 3rd
DSS 2nd

Sunday
ESS 2nd
DSS 3rd

 

Congratulations on the podiums drake! Nice results! Was nice meeting you and your dad and finally putting a face to your names. Good luck next round!

 

:up:

See you at roadtlanta

 

Awesome job guys!

 

:up::up::up::up::up::up::up::up::up::up:

 

Carolina Motorsports Park

9/6&7

TheDraik77

I first want to apologize for my delay in getting my race report out. Two weeks before the race weekend, I got bit by a Brown Recluse spider and it had me sick for about a week and a half leading up to the races. Then, the morning after I got back from the track, my step mom took me back to Indiana to see my Nana who is not doing very well, health-wise. I visited up there for a few days, by the time I got back home, I had quite a bit of schoolwork to get caught up on and prepare for the race weekend coming up at Road Atlanta. So with all of that aside, let me tell you about my most successful race weekend to date.

This was my first trip to CMP and I had done my homework. My friend Kendrick Kirk talked me through some track maps and we watched some videos a couple weeks before the race weekend. I kept studying them all the way leading up to the weekend. Dad and I arrived at the track Friday afternoon. I was ready to get unloaded and settled into our open air garage we had rented for the weekend. Once we had done that, my friend “MetalHead” took me on a track walk to get a real idea of what I’d be riding on the next day.

On Saturday morning we got up early to get to registration first thing. Dad was helping with WERA tech so this was the first time I would have to get myself ready to get out on track for practice. After getting my bike tech’d, I got it up on stands and the warmers on. As time for practice got closer, I took one last look over the track maps and was ready to rock. After a few laps to get comfortable, I started putting my head down and really getting a feel for the track. It was awesome, I really liked it.

After lunch, I got gridded up for my first race, the E-Superstock race. The grids were unfortunately light this weekend so there was just me and one other racer in our class but we put on a show! In the first lap I got held up behind some other bikes that were racing in another class that had been combined into our race. At one point I was about 4 seconds behind the other ESS Expert. In the next few laps, I really started to get a great feel for the bike at this new track. By the last lap I was challenging for the lead! In the last three or four turns we had just about as many lead changes. As we entered the next to last turn, I started to lose the rear and the other rider took the lead. Then the other rider tucked the front, with me right behind him, in the last turn. I took the checkers first! This was my first time to get a first in the ESS class ever. But it wouldn’t be my last. Luckily the other rider was able to get up, re-tech and finish the race for second.

My next race was the D-Superstock race. It was only about ten minutes between races and the other racer was able to get his bike checked over and gridded up. We had an EPIC race. We battled the entire 6 laps with more lead changes than I could keep track of. I really wish I could communicate how exciting of a race it was! In the end, he edged me out by 0.163 seconds after a long hard race. Congrats to him! But the weekend wasn’t over.

On Sunday, the schedule was to be the same as the Saturday races but something had changed. You see, for quite a bit of time on Saturday evening, I took what I had learned from earlier in the day, watched my videos and got some GREAT advice from Gavin Elstad. He used to race a Ninja 250 and really knows what he is talking about. We sat down at my friend Ron’s trailer and watched my videos on his projector screen, it was really cool to get to do that. Another thing we all noticed was that I needed to change my gearing, so I was sure to do that before going to bed.

Sunday morning rolled around and I felt super confident! Practice times were really close to race times from the day before. I had James at Podium Motorsports, flip my tires. CMP is a very abrasive track and it had chewed the right side up pretty good which had contributed to my slip the day before. During lunch, I ended up getting a new front tire; I had been running the same Pirelli Diablo SuperCorsa since the GNF and it had seen better days. Right after lunch I took my bike out for a quick scrub lap on the new front, WOW, it felt great and I knew I would have something for the races. Boy, did I ever. Like I said before, this was my most successful weekend to date. In my two races, I won by margins of 18 seconds and 22 seconds! Between the gearing, the tire and most of all the studying, things really came together for me.

Now, I’m hoping to keep that momentum going into this weekend’s double header at Road Atlanta. I have really come a long way at Road Atlanta over the last couple seasons. It used to be my least favorite track but now after a lot of hard work and practice it has become one of my favorites. Like Jason and Brian teach at the Jason DiSalvo Speed Academy; you have to take your least favorite turn and make it your favorite, which is what I have done with that entire track! I look forward to being able to write another one of these reports with even better results after this weekend coming up as it is the final round of the WERA Southeast Regional Races… Stay Tuned!

For Broome:
Saturday
ESS 1st
DSS 2nd

Sunday
ESS 1st
DSS 1st

 

Imma spank em on the SV next year!

Congrats on the finishes

 

TheDraik77
Road Atlanta
9/13-14/14

Going into this double header weekend, I was chasing the DSS and ESS championships. For the ESS championship, I would have to win both races and my rival get third. The DSS championship I just basically needed to finish both races and I would lock up the championship. On another note, my grandparents came to see me race from Indiana. This was really special, as it was the first time they had seen me race since 2011.

To start off the weekend I had some great practice even with a worn rear tire. I was a little off my best lap time but kept progressing and was working on my new, faster lines and shift points. By the second practice I was close to my race pace from earlier in the year.

After a long wait, my first race came with a new scrubbed Pirelli on the rear. I was second in the class and was gridded in the middle. I had a good start and battles, I was getting held up by other bigger bikes and was not able to stay with the top two because of it. I finished third in that race

The same thing happened in the DSS race, had some good battles and good times improving my times and dropped down to a 1:56.160 . I finished fourth in that race.

Then on Sunday, I became more aggressive, practice was great and I was headed in the right direction.

The ESS race I ran off in the first lap and made up the time at the top of the hill at turn five and could never get a pass to stick for a while. I ended up on the third step of the podium, just like Saturday, this put me in 2nd place for the ESS Expert Championship.

The DSS race I was pushing hard to finish on the podium. I had a good pace and was able to battle with two other Ninja 250’s in this, our “bump-up” class. I locked it up and won the championship! I set my personal best lap time in the DSS race of 1:55.414 and once again came in 4th place.

The next and last round on my trusty 250 is the GNF, I will be chasing after the National title to put an exclamation mark on this season. Even though I didn’t win as many championships or as many races this year, I have really pushed to a new level of speed and confidence. I want to really thank all of my sponsors for believing in me and supporting me throughout the year. I was still able to get 21 podiums and a new found desire to push even harder!

Very respectfully,
Draik Beauchamp

 

Nice work guys. (<---- insert Kool-aid )

 

Cool stories, thanks for posting them. Great season.

 

It's awesome watching him go faster and faster. Seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders too. :up:

 

Thanks guys. It been great to see him progress on and off the track, for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen on the sv next season.

 

I was fun to race with you this year, looking forward to next year.

 

Draik, great job this season and I look forward to seeing you and your Dad at the GNF!

 

We look forward to seeing you too, Morris.

 

I haven't been able to keep up as much as I'd like to again this time around so it's great to hear he's doing so well. Awesome job Draik, and you too Kurt!