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June 3-5 WERA National, Willow Springs

The June 5^th WERA Nationals were quite a bit more enjoyable than the last Las Vegas round. Compared to the frustrating, heat-stroke inducing races at Vegas, the Willow Springs round was an annoying limbo—the souls of my feet kinda toasty, and the Promised Land somewhere up ahead.

Setup changes from the last round were a new 600 lb rear spring and more ride height in the rear. It was obvious from the moment I hit the track in practice that the thing would finally hold a line and turn. This was progress of the highest order, addressing the most consistently deleterious aspect of the bike’s handling issues. In high wind, on shagged tires and in a very crowded practice session, I was able to turn mid 26’s. I didn’t push that hard to get those times, and felt like under race conditions, surrounded by fast guys and riding on fresh Bridgestone’s, I’d be able to run two seconds faster, which was my goal for the weekend. I left feeling pretty good.

Race day dawned windy. That’s never a good sign at WSIR, as it invariably gets more windy and gusty as the day progresses. Practice went great, although the tires I put on looked surprisingly worn after only four race pace laps (For those of you in the back row, this is known as foreshadowing).

I lined up on the starting grid for A Superstock feeling groovy; having run fast, practiced recently, bettered my setup and improved my start technique. The green flag dropped and I got another ridiculously bad start. I wheelied, clutched and wheelied and shifted and wheelied again. There were 24 fast National, regional and WSMC guys in the field, easily the most competitive grid I’ve ever raced, and even though I was 7^th on the grid to start, I went into turn one almost dead last. I started passing people on the outside of T2, the outside of T5, the outside of T8, T9, any straight—well, you get the idea. By lap three I was around 11^th place and I got to a group of guys running the same pace. It was fun, passing and being passed, and it went that way for about three more laps, until some dude passed me outside T2 when I had to check up due to some guy right in front of me. He pulled into the racing line too close and clipped my front tire. This straightened me right up and I shot off the exit of T2, unable to get around the corner on the asphalt and went dirt biking at over 100 mph. Now while this is exhilarating, it isn’t conducive to finishing well. I dropped a few places, and got back on the track and threw my dirty tires into T3, hoping they would stick. Luckily, they did, and I shot up the hill to T4, where in my zest to catch up again, I jammed my knee into the edge of the asphalt and promptly ripped my knee puck right off its base. With my leathers dragging on the track in each right hander, I cooled it a touch and passed maybe one more guy, after which the rear tire really started to go off. Up until this point, the tire was moving around more than I’d like, but was manageable. Then, the thing just started to go sideways everywhere, so I sat up and circulated around where I was and finished in 15^th. If second place is like kissing your sister, then I don’t even want to know what 15^th is like…

Formula 1 found me on the grid with a new rear tire, a new pair of underware, a ton of anxiety concerning the clutch and a hard charging attitude. I got another crappy start, better only in that I managed to only wheelie once, although I was still almost last into T1. Helped by the fact that the same 24 riders had entered the F1 race but, due to attrition only 18 could make the start, I did a better job getting through slower riders. I was running 11^th again in lap two when two riders crashed just ahead of me causing a red flag. Thinking that with a better start, I could make top six, I lined up for the full 8 lap restart. I got ANOTHER crappy start—a smaller wheelie because I short-shifted into second, but way less drive. The wind was really whipping by this time, the leaders all running way off their regular pace, and I worked my way up to tenth by around lap four. I then had to bridge the gap to ninth place, and finally made a pass for ninth place on the outside of turn 8 on the last lap. The rear tire had once again gotten smoking hot and wasn’t very happy, and as I started to drive through T9 it stepped waaaay out. I didn’t get much of a drive as a result, and Premek got me at the line for 9^th place, sigh.

After analyzing the times and tire wear and going over everything, I’m ok with how the weekend went. I have a new strategy for a few of the corners that will shorten my lap times. I have a new set up strategy that won’t put as much heat in the rear tire but should still allow me to finish the corner, and I have a few tricks to use with the tire. I’ll be making some tweaks to the clutch and have been assured that this will solve my starting woes (Please keep your fingers crossed on this one). I can run with these guys, and I’ll be proving it soon. Stay tuned.

Special thanks to PB for being my pit crew, Jack and David for storing the bike and letting me hang out under their canopy, and Jerry for the awesome Bridgestone DOT tires.

Drknow was in good company all weekend.

How many helmets do you see? Yes, the racing was that close all weekend.

Pic your caption: A. The only carnage of the weekend for Team LBR, or 2. J-M has hobbit hands.

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