Infineon- AFM Round 3 Race Report

This season has been getting better and better. When I left Round 2 I was excited. I had finally figured out how to ride the R6 comfortably. I could feel what it was doing and I was able to put down some decent lap times on it. I also had an understanding of what I needed to work on to get faster. The bike was riding well, I was riding well, and most importantly I could see what areas needed improvement. I was finally able to go to a race weekend and worry about going faster instead of just concentrating on not crashing.

Friday:
I was signed up for the Keigwins trackday before the race weekend. I was the only one of the group I pit with that was going to be there so I was going solo for the day. When I first started doing trackdays on a regular basis I didn’t really know anyone and usually pit by myself. I did this until I started dating Lisa. Having done this for a while and being a Zoom Zoom instructor trackdays were a far more social event for her. She knew everyone and someone was always hanging out. I didn’t realize how different my trackday experience had become until this event. I know a lot of people at the track but pitting by yourself makes the day a quieter and slower experience. My time between sessions usually seems short and filled with lots of discussion with everyone around me. On Friday the time between sessions seemed to take forever and I spent a lot of time with nothing to really do. I found myself actually missing the chaos that surrounds my normal day. I was also surprised by the turn out. The pre-AFM event with Keigwins last year sold out way in advance and was by far the fastest trackday I have ever been to. All the top AFM guys showed up along with a couple of fast AMA racers. John Hopkins was there also. One year later and not only was the day not sold out, but I wasn’t the slow one in A group. There were very few people passing me like I was standing still and there seemed to be lots of empty track. I did manage to put the empty track to good use and spent the day working on getting the rear tire to quit chattering under hard braking. Mike Canfield gave me some advice and did a spring change in my rear shock that seemed to help out a lot. I could only get a relative feel for things because for some reason I can’t seem to practice anywhere near my race pace. I ended the day feeling confident about the upcoming weekend.

Saturday:

Clubman Middleweight:
I was gridded in the front row in position 2. I knew before the start of the race that everyone on the front row had been running decent times in practice and that I was going to have a tough race. I always feel nervous during the warm up lap and for some reason today was worse than usual. I pulled into my position and tried to clear my head. 1 board, sideways, green flag, GO! As soon as I saw the green flag fly I slipped the clutch and managed to get the best start of my life. I knew going into turn 1 that I was in the lead and that I should be able to get through turn 2 without anyone trying to come inside of me. I put my head down and tried to push as hard as I could. I knew that Giya Myshlyayev was going to be all over me and I wanted to try and keep him behind me for as long as I could. Going into turn 7 on the third lap I heard a bike try and come around the outside of me. I figured that it was Giya and he was going to try and pass me on the brakes into 9. Instead he tried for the pass into the esses. I was so surprised that I jumped a little. I knew if I could beat him into the esses it would kill his drive and he would be stuck behind me until turn 9 or later. Just before we get to the entrance I realize that he has a wheel in front of me and has the line and I had to back off to keep from hitting him. He managed to get in front of me and I tried to latch on to him. After two more laps I realized that he was running a solid second a lap faster than me and the I wasn’t going to be able to catch him. I didn’t want to push myself too far and make a mistake so I concentrated on running a smooth fast pace and stay in second. The rest of the race I was alone and watch Giya pull away a little bit every lap. I finished in second place and managed to put up some points for the championship. After the race I found out that I had set a new personal best which made me extremely happy. For the first time I managed to go faster on the Yamaha than I was ever able to on my Honda.

Clubman Heavyweight:
Neither Blaine Bessler or Ian Oss were at this round so I was gridded in first place. I knew that if I rode as well as the previous race I might have a shot at winning my first race. The green flag dropped and I managed to get another great start. I was the first person going into turn 1 but I was passed by Gabriel Limon going into turn 2. I latched on to him and decided I wanted to try and get ahead of him as soon as possible. He was riding a 1000 and kept slowing way down in the corners and use the power of his bike coming out. I kept having to check up mid corner to keep from hitting him and then watch him pull away from me coming out of the corners. When we came around for the second lap I planned to set up and out drive him between turns 2 and 3 and pass him into 3. I tried to gauge the distance so I wouldn’t have to slow down in mid corner and went into 2. Coming out of 2 I got on the gas a little too hard and spun up the rear tire. He managed to out drive me and I decided that I should follow him and try to find a better opportunity to pass him. That opportunity came sooner than I expected. When we went into three he slowed way down again but because I had spun up in turn 2 he had enough of a gap on me that I was able to carry my full pace through 3 and into 3a. As we crested the hill I knew I was going faster than him and already on the gas harder than him. I managed to pass him under braking into turn 4. After that I put my head down and tried to stay ahead of him. I managed to put in a considerable gap and had an uneventful rest of the race. I came across the line and took my first win.

Sunday:

I went into Sunday practice with the idea that I had to try and get myself up to speed quickly. I had two early races and I needed to be ready for them. I have never been good with mornings and have always had a difficult time with both practice in the morning and early races. I can’t seem to wake myself up. I managed to get myself up to a reasonable pace in practice but was still way slower than my race times the night before.

600 Production:
600 Production was race 2. It was the class I had the most points in and the one that I wanted to do best. Being race 2 did not help. I was gridded on fourth row in 15th. I got an ok start and but was pinched off going into turn 2. I managed to get several of the spots back by the end of the first lap. Going into the second lap I was chasing Kenyon Kluge and Adam Lavigna. I managed to make a close pass on Kenyon going into turn three. As I crested the hill in turn 3a I saw a bike on the ground in 4. My first thought when I saw the bike on the ground was “did I just pass under a yellow flag?”. I made that mistake on my very first race weekend and was disqualified because of it. I spent the next couple corners trying to remember if I saw a flag. I knew that there should have been one but didn’t remember seeing one. I was concentrating so hard on getting past Kenyon that I may have missed it. Going through turn 6 I decided that it would be better to let Kenyon back by in case I did pass under a yellow. I’d rather have a finish and get points than risk a DQ for an extra position or two. Coming out of turn 6 I waved Kenyon back by but Cameron Hart came by with him. I managed to get Kenyon back in the next lap and concentrated on catching back up to Cameron and Adam. On lap 5 I made a pass and ended up behind Oscar Fernandez. I chased him for a lap looking for a place to get around him and went for a pass into turn 9. I got on the brakes later than him and went for the inside line. Going into the corner I realized that we were heading into the corner at the same time. We were right next to each other and I wasn’t comfortable with the timing. The only problem I had was that I was as hard on the brakes as I could and I was committed to the corner. All I could do is hope that Oscar would check up so that we wouldn’t come together. I looked ahead and concentrated on getting through turn 9 and went through without any issues. I didn’t see it but somewhere going into the corner he must have decided to give me some room. I looked back coming out of turn 9 and saw that he hadn’t run off track and was behind me. I gave a sigh of relief that it was clean and concentrated on chasing down Adam and Cameron. I wasn’t able to catch either of them by the end of the race and finished in 14th.

750 Superbike:
I was gridded on the fifth row in 19th. The green flag dropped and I got another great start. Going into turn 2 I realized that I was running somewhere around 10th (turned out to be 11th). I tried to latch on to the guy in front of me but also mentally prepared for the group of bikes that usually pass me after I get a great start. The strange thing was that by the end of lap 1 I had only been passed by one rider. On the second lap I was passed by two more but no one else. I saw Andy Carman in the distance and worked on catching him. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful with me chasing Andy. I managed to catch up to him but couldn’t quite close the last little gap and make the pass. My rear tire was starting to have traction issues and I kept spinning up coming out of right hand corners. Somewhere around lap 5 I saw Lenny Hale on the side of the track and then on the last lap I saw both Greg McChullough and Berto Wooldridge’s bikes laying down in turn 9. Due to Lenny’s mechanical and Greg and Berto’s crash I ended up finishing in 11th place.

600 Superbike:
Before the race I decided that it would be a good idea to flip my rear tire. The right side was spinning up but the left side looked like it had plenty of tread. I thought about putting a new rear on but decided against it because this was supposed to be the last time I’d be on this size tire. Pirelli has the new 180/60 out and I had planned to switch after this round. I didn’t want to run a new tire for just one race.

Coming around turn 3a on the warm up lap I saw a bike in the dirt. The rider was facing the wall and I immediately recognized it as Justin Mastalka. As I went past him all I could think was “that sucks, I’ve been there”. Turns out his front just decided to let go going into the corner. I’ve had that happen before too.

I was gridded on the fourth row in 15th place. The green flag came out and I got a poor start. I spent the first couple laps trying to get past everyone I let by me on the start. I managed to make several good passes and then came up on Gavin Owens in the third lap. I tried to pass him on the brakes into 7 but as soon as he saw my wheel he let off the brakes, cut to the inside, then parked it. I had to check up mid corner to keep from hitting him. For the next two laps he rode the most defensive lines I’ve ever seen. Every turn he’d head for the inside line at the last second, park it, then shoot for the outside. I was getting extremely frustrated with trying to get around him. I was also having a problem with my tire. Turns out flipping it made it so that I was not only spinning up coming out of right hand corners, I was doing it in left hand corners also. After two laps of chasing Gavin I thought about just finishing behind him and not risking crashing on the worn out tire. On lap 6 I managed to get a good drive coming out of the corner without spinning up. I had a better drive than Gavin and was lined up for the inside of turn 7. I decided if I could get ahead of him while under power and before braking then I would be ok. I didn’t want to have to check up again to keep from hitting him mid corner. It turned out that my drive was good enough that I was completely past him before I got on the brakes. I kept the inside line to discourage him from passing me back. After that there was no one in sight so I concentrated on not losing any positions. Going into turn 8 on the last lap the flagger pulled out a black flag. I knew the race had ended and that the final position would be based off the last finished lap. I came back into the pits and found out that I placed 9th. My first top ten of the year in an expert class and my first top ten with a full starting grid.

The weekend couldn’t have gone any better. I rode well, placed well, didn’t crash and had a lot of fun. I’m extremely excited for round 4 at Thunderhill and now have to figure out a way to keep up with both Giya and Blaine.

I’d like to thank Lisa Wallace, Josie Gomez, Sam Richards and Mike Canfield for all of their help this weekend. I’d also like to thank my sponsors: Cycle Sector, Shift, and CT Racing. Without their help racing wouldn’t be half as enjoyable as it is.