STTars round 1 – Buttonwillow race report!
Hey guys,
After a week-long of uncertainty in the weather forecast, Sunday came along with party-cloudy but dry weather. The track however was cold, wet, and very slippery! It was nearly impossible to brake hard and lean low on those track conditions, but throughout the day I was able to get more comfortable pushing the limits of traction in order to get moving around the course as efficiently as possible…
The ambulance guy was late, so our practice sessions got delayed for about an hour. This turned out to be good for me, since I only made it to the track about 20 minutes before the first scheduled practice… My friend and track-side tech Blas came along with me and helped me out on some last minute prep. We were able to strip some more parts out of my bike, like the speedometer and some other crap in the front end… Unfortunately one thing we did not remove was the lean-angle sensor (I will get to why this sucks shortly)…
After two quick 5-minute practice sessions we were all ready for the heat race, only one before the main. Due to poor weather, the Novice class only had 6 participants, three 450’s one 2-stroke cr250, and one crf250. My bike (wr250x) was by far the most underpowered, but on such slippery conditions I thought I would be able to use this to my advantage. The green flag went up and I got a terrific start jumping in to 2nd place by the 3rd corner. The dirt section came up, and with the adrenaline of the moment, I grabbed the front brake a little too hard and went straight to the ground. Luckily, my Go-Pro was rear-facing, and so I was able to get some good footage of the pile up behind me! So here’s a disadvantage to a street motorcycle, when you drop it, the lean angle sensor activates and prevents the bike from starting until the key is reset. By the time I was able to get the bike started I was a lap down with no hopes to fight for grid position. So I used the remaining time to practice and learn the limits of the track a little better.
The main race was much better, but the lack of power really came as a disadvantage on the wet track. I had an ok start and only gained one position. I gained another position in the dirt section, and by the end of the main straight the three 450’s were gone. I remained in 4th for the duration of the 8 laps, with the crf250 hot on my tail for every lap. We crossed the finish line with our front tires less than a foot apart. Luckily, my buddy Blas was able to snap a perfect photo-finish picture, so there was no argument on who crossed the line first! 4th place gets me 8 points in the championship. The points from 1st to 6th goes as follows: 13/11/10/8/7/6 pts. In this series the point-scoring system is based on how many total entries in the class, so this point scale only relates to a race with 6 entries.
Post race analysis: I came to some conclusions to why the 450s were able to get such advantage in this track. With the slippery conditions it was extremely hard to get on the throttle mid corner. We had to stabilize the motorcycle before trying to put the power to the ground. My motorcycle requires a riding style that maintains momentum. Once I lose speed, it is a slow process to gain it back. The bigger bikes however can just power through these situations and still get major speed at the end of the straights.
Overall, I was happy with the results. I gave it my best, but was just not able to keep up with the bigger bikes. I had a great time, and a great chase with the 5th place rider. Next race is May 1st at a track that I am much more experienced on, and I’m looking forward to gaining some more points and racing with more people!
I am uploading the videos from the Heat and Main races and I will post the links soon, along with some pictures!
Thanks for reading everybody! And thanks to Cycle Sector and SoCal Supermoto for all the support!
Luiz – 47
Buttonwillow-AFM Round 1 Race Report
This weekend started with me having to get out of Reno early on Friday. I woke up to a text from a friend saying that Donner pass was supposed to get 5 to 9 inches of snow on Friday so I left at 8:00 am. I managed to beat the storm and arrived at Buttonwillow without any issues and got set up for the weekend.
I woke up Saturday morning to heavy overcast. The weather called for rain all weekend and seeing how the AFM doesn’t race in the rain it looked like there would be little or no racing for us. Since it hadn’t started raining yet I went through the normal routine of registering, taking the bike to tech, putting my belly pan back on, putting on my tire warmers and checking my tire pressures, etc. After the riders meeting I got suited up for practice group 3.
My first practice session was cold and almost no one was on track. I’m pretty sure I only saw one other person the entire session. With the cold track and being on a new bike I was taking it pretty easy and my laptimes definitely showed. I decided that I needed to work on getting more comfortable on the Yamaha and make sure that everything was working right rather than go out and try and get myself to race pace. The second session I went out I saw a couple of people but the track still seemed empty. I managed to bring my lap times down considerably from the first session but they were nowhere near what I was doing two weeks ago or even what I was doing last year.
After my second session came lunch. I used that time to mount a fresh set of Pirellis on my bike and start mentally preparing for the upcoming races. My friend Sam came by at this time and asked why I was in practice group 3 and he mentioned that it might be better for me to try and switch to practice group 4. He said I might be able to get myself back up to speed riding with people that were running my race pace. After a quick trip to registration I had a group 4 sticker. Then right before lunch ended all the riders were called to a special riders meeting. The board had decided that since it was supposed to rain on Sunday that we would run 7 of the Sunday races after the next practice session and if the weather held out on Sunday try and finish the rest of the races then. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to race in the clubman races that afternoon but I am impressed with the decision that the board made. They made it so that almost everyone who showed up on Saturday would be able to race. It was a pretty cool decision.
After a little rain delay I ran my last practice session and Sam was right. I rode better and felt more comfortable riding in the faster group. My laptimes were still not what I wanted them to be but I had at least made an improvement. I was ready to race.
600 Superbike:
I was gridded on the fifth row in 17th position for the start of the first race. This put me on the inside where I am not really comfortable. The green flag dropped and I got a poor launch. I lost a few positions right away and then was stuck on the inside going into turn 1. Not wanting to take anyone out or get taken out I tiptoed through turn 1 and lost several more spots. Things started to clear up by turn 3 and I was able to get myself into a groove. I managed to pick up a few spots by the end of the first lap and started working my way up. I wasn’t being very aggressive with my passing and managed to play a game of “catch the rider in front of me and follow them for a lap”. I did this until the final lap when I saw a yellow flag get thrown with the white one. Coming around turn 1 I saw my pitmate Micah Larson laying underneath his bike holding his arm. Seeing the way he was laying there with the turnworker standing over him I knew that the race was going to be red flagged. Sure enough by the time I made it out of turn two I saw a waving black flag. The red flag meant that the final standing of the race would be based on the order everyone crossed the line on lap 5. That left me in 17th place (the same as I started) and the top novice for the race. I had managed to bring my laptimes back down to where they were last year which wasn’t bad considering the cold weather but I was still a little disappointed with how I rode.
750 Superbike:
Once again I was gridded on the fifth row but in 19th position for the start. This left me closer to the outside which I definitely prefer at this track. The green flag dropped and I managed to get a great launch. Starting is by far my weakest point in racing and getting a good start threw me off. I found myself trying to find holes to squeeze through as I passed several people going down the straight. What I didn’t pay attention to was the fact that I had somehow managed to put myself back on the inside of the track going into turn 1 and had to park it to keep myself from taking out myself and several other riders. This caused me to lose about half of the spots I had gained from my great start. Coming out of turn 2 I found myself two bikes back from David Benjamin. I know that David holds a pretty good pace and I decided that if I could get around him I would be running the pace that I wanted. I set my sights on catching and passing him. I managed to pass the two bikes that were between us but had trouble getting around David. He was trying to get around Joy Higa and they were riding so close I couldn’t seem to find a safe enough place to pass. In the meantime several other riders were getting bunched up behind us. In the second lap I was passed by another yellow plater (not sure who it was) but I managed to get him back into turn 1 on lap 2. He tried to pass me back going into cotton corners but I was able to shut the door and keep him behind me. At the end of the lap David made a move and passed Joy going into the last corner and I tried to make a pass on her going into turn 1. I decided at the last moment that I wouldn’t be able to make the pass stick and backed off. I was immediately passed by Brian Zapalski. I caught back up to Brian in Riverside and made a pass on the brakes going into Lost Hills. I took a tight line through there and screwed up my drive coming out. Brian tried to pass me back and we ended up drag racing all the way to the sweeper. We were inches from each other all the way from the exit of Lost Hills through both left hand kinks all the way until I managed to outbrake him going into the sweeper. It was by far the closest racing I’ve ever done. He passed me back at some point and we both managed to get around Joy. By that time David had managed to put in a couple second gap between us and I knew that with Brian and I constantly going back and forth that I wasn’t going to be able to catch him. I then made plans to get past Brian before the end of the race. On the last lap I found an opportunity to pass him going into the sweeper. I managed to get around him and knew that I would have to go into the last corner fast and late on the brakes to keep him from passing me back. As I turned into the last corner I saw Brian out of my peripheral vision and immediately knew three things:
1. He was going to fast to hold a tight line
2. There was no room in between me and the candy striping for him and his bike to fit
3. This wasn’t going to end well
As soon as I saw him I relaxed my body and looked ahead hoping that somehow we wouldn’t come together and I could finish the race. I’m not sure if he tucked the front first or if our tires hit while we were leaned over but I do know that his bike came up under me and away it went. Because he hadn’t turned in as much I was lucky and the bikes went in different angles. My bike went out from under me and I slid harmlessly into the dirt on my back. Brian didn’t do as well. Somewhere in the crash he hit his head and slid on his face. He got up just fine but told me that he thought he had a minor concussion because his friends said he was “looping” a little bit.
My bike ended up being in pretty good shape with only a bent clipon, broken fairing stay, shattered windscreen, and a little bit damage to the bodywork. I was able to talk to Brian later and found out he faired as well as I did. Neither of us were hurt and our bikes were both in pretty decent shape considering we crashed at speed.
The weather didn’t hold out for us on Sunday and all of the races were cancelled. We packed up and took off. Now it’s time to prepare for round 2 at Infineon.
I’d like to thank my sponsor CycleSector, Shift, and CT Racing for helping me to get everything together for this season. I’d also like to thank Lisa Wallace, Josie Gomez, Sam Richards, and Micah Larson for helping me to make this weekend possible.
Going to Okinawa Japan
So, I got orders to Okinawa Japan for 3 years. We leave in July. I suppose all things happen for a reason. I believe this move will help me focus on facets of my racing that I have been lacking such as confidence and the ability to adapt to new tracks. There are no tracks close by except for one 800 meter kart track that they allow mini’s to race on. I am already looking into buying myself a mini NSR-250 4 stroke once I get out there. I have made a few connections with some of the locals in mainland Japan, and although their not in the best of shape now, I suspect they will be up and running by the time I get there. They have already offered to get me to Motegi and Suzuka as soon as I get there! What an experience! For some reason, everyone I talk to says the locals over there are generally faster than Americans. First order of business is to find out what they know and do it! I am super excited and I am hoping that this 3 year tour will help me meet more people, and learn new tricks! I will make sure I post tons of pictures and videos after I get over there!
Comin back in STRONG !
This season has just been off to a craptacualar start for me ….stuff getting stolen, rebuilding finances worin my way back up , loss off bike , blah blah blaAH ! Time to get my game face on and and get ready again !
Recently i had some good fortune …THATS RIGHT ! With as new machine that is smooth as butter and handles unlike anbything I’ve ridden and it doesnt hurt that Lee’s Cycle did the engine …….Im rocking Diego’s previous race bike ! R6 🙂 I brought her into the garage thursday and took her out to Big Willow with Motoyard on friday ….as much as i truly wanted to race wsmc this week end …Im not ready….well my bank account isnt since there is a new bike in the garage lol. But its okay …Im attacking the next one .
Diego I think your a great dude but NO you cant ride it ….I love it too much ! this bike is a blast and one hell of a rocket ! LOVE IT!!!
Streets of Willow-Round 2 WSMC
Hello to all!
What an amazing weekend it turned out to be! I swear, the weather reports were so negative and I was hoping that big guns up stairs loved racers! I signed up for the Motoyard.com track day because the Friday prior to race weekend and I thought I would be able to use the extra practice. All of the weather reports called for snow, rain and low 20 degree temps all weekend. This isn’t what I had in mind, especially after working double time to get my motorcycle ready from my crash in November at Big Willow. Finally after sorting through a ton of issues with that i.e, paint, clip on issues etc. I finally got it all together. She ran like I champ. As most people know, tires are the #1 expense for most racers. At my level, I can use the same tires for a few months. I was on a set of Dunlop 209 GPA’s and I really liked the feel of the tire. I have tried many other tires, and well I just felt more confident on these than any other ones. I loaded the bike up and made my way up early Friday morning. Took me about 2.5 hours and finally I felt like I was home. Unloaded and suited up for the track day. Friday turned out to be a gorgeous day. It didn’t rain, no snow and just a little over cast. It was a little chilly but it wasn’t something that was going to keep me out off the track. Streets of Willow backwards was a very fun track. I had a great time learning the track and felt like each lap I was making huge jumps in lap times each session. One thing I learned at an early stage in track riding, take the track a section or a turn at a time. Do not go out there and try to learn the whole track in one session, that’s just asking for disaster. I dissected the track a few turns at a time, and by the time I was finished I had cut almost 20 seconds off my lap times. It was time mostly to just focus on how to make up a few seconds here and there. After a half day of riding I was starting to feel like I couldn’t make up any more big laps so I decided to use the rest of the day to be practice consistancy through the track. I tried a few different lines through the bowl (turn 8) and again through the infield area. When I checked my times towards the end of the day, I realized I lost another 2 seconds just from practicing how to be smooth and consistent through out the entire track. This gave me soooo much confidence for the rest of the weekend. We called it quits a little early for the day only because we felt a small drizzle on the track. I felt that I did the best I was going to do for the day and there wasn’t any reason for me to continue.
Waking up on Saturday morning was probably the most miserable thing for the whole weekend. Although we knew it would clear up and warm up a little through out the rest of the day, it was super cold. Race bikes aren’t allowed to have anti-freeze because of the danger of crashing. It’s very slick and so most race org’s ban it. I am running straight distilled water and well straight water and 27 degree over night temps made me a tad nervous. Luckily we found someone who was willing to help us out and let us store our motorcycles in an undisclosed place over night…Thanks Megan! Carrying over from Friday, I practiced, practiced, practiced, practiced consistency over and over again. I tried to make up little bits and pieces of time here and there. Finally, had Luke Huff and Steve Franz follow me around and really helped me out. They both brought something new to the table and it really helped me look at trying different lines and it really showed in my times.
Sunday came way too quick. I was still on the Dunlop 209 GPA tires that I had on since October. I started to feel my confidence on the bike slip away as the bike started to slide around a little on me. I thought it was time to change tires. Now, before I get into anymore of this–I gotta say how expensive tires really are. If you want to run the best stuff, you’re definitely going to pay for it. In any case, I got myself a set of the Dunlop 211 U.S. version tires. Switched them out and went back out. I love those tires. Great feedback under hard braking, and an immense amount of grip at max lean. Great, Great tires overall. I had 2 races to compete in- Novice 750 Superbike and of course still had to complete my new racer race for WSMC. Placed 1st in my 750 Superbike and 4th in the NRR. I think an amazing weekend overall!!
Diego Romo
golson911
Cycle Sector's Blog 