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October
15-17 WSMC The October round at WSIR included the Toyota 200 and the 250/50 on Sunday, so practice for the sprints was on Friday and Saturday the races were held. The first glimmer of good news was that Dave from GP Suspension had brought heavier rear springs for me to try per my request. I put on one with a spring rate 50 pounds heavier, with the intention if trying it and another 100 pounds heavier. I hoped to be able to get the bike finally dialled in the handling department, and with the cooler weather, was pretty confident that I should be able to finally get that monkey off my back. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to the track early, and with the Toyota 200 practice, half day practice consisted of two sessions. Of those, I was only able to get one in. That's right sportsfans, one lousy practice. In it, I could tell that the heavier rear spring seemed to help, but didn't make a big difference in the bikes ability to hold a line. Without another session to try the even heavier spring and then dial in the damping, I chose to run the spring on the bike. |
) Badger tries to escape from me and my femmy wine glass |
| Saturday
morning, the extra racers running the 200 threw another wrench in the
spokes when the Pirelli crew realized that Italy hadn't sent them
enough of the 65 series rear tires I'm so fond of. I chose a 60
instead, so that there would be enough for the 200 racers. As my shock
length is already maxed out, I gave up around 2.5 MM of ride height.
Hey, once again, should have ordered my stuff before hand. Because it took a while to figure out exactly which tire I was going to use, I missed the two morning warmups. Formula Twins was first up and lo and behold, both Claudio and Kenny weren't there. I thought that this would mean I could run away, only having to stay ahead of Richie Headley. Unfortunately, my setup just wasn't there. I got a decent start and lead the first two laps or so, but was having a terrible time running through 1, 2 and 8. Of course, this kinda shot my confidence, and I started sucking in 4 and 5, where Richie was able to pass me at will, and I'd pass him in 7 or 8. By lap six, he had a half a second gap and we finished like that. Darn, but good race Richie. Bott Heavy allowed me to run alone at the front, as Michael decided not to buy new tires and couldn't push as hard as he normally does. The bike still was handling like a warm steaming cow pie, and I'm glad no one offered to buy it after the race, as I would have been easy prey. Before next race day I'll be doing a track day with the heavier spring, working on the damping settings, and maybe having the shock looked at. Hopefully I'll get the thing where I want it. Until then, color me ultra frustrated in San Diego. Thanks, to Jim and Monique, Rich, Ca Race Services, and always Peanut. |
) Yes, that is an electrical wire sitting in a puddle in the background. |