Sunday: Raceday.
Ok, this was it then. I'll be frank, I was terrified.
The weather was bright and clear, but still unbelievably chilly. We'd get 2 ten minute practice sessions in each class before a riders meeting (where they played the national anthem and gave respect to their troops in Iraq etc. I normally hate that sort of cheese, but it was quite touching) then the racing would get underway. Gulp!
I still had to scrub the tyres in, so I went out carefully and wobbled round, feeling like a 1st day rookie. It wasn't pretty. When I came in, Amy noticed that the tyres were wearing a little strangely, and had lips on the tread edges. I didn't think too much of it and went out for the second session.
Whaddya mean I look scared! Having started to get more confident and faster on the bike, it was now blatantly clear that there was something amiss with the suspension. Whereby before, I could sail relatively smoothly around the turns, It was now like a little jackhammer, pattering from the rear just about everywhere.
I went to see Dave Moss, who came straight over and had a look at the tyres. One glance was all he needed to diagnose too much rebound damping. The cooler temperatures had affected the shock and it wasn't working the same as when it had been alot warmer, so we backed it off a couple of turns and I'd just have to hope that it was ok for the race.
Race number 4, the 600 Superstock came around far too quickly, and before I knew it, I was in the holding area, with my heart attempting to beat it's way out of my chest cavity.
It was a while since I'd been this nervous, and all I could think about was how fast this racetrack was, Kyle's broken collarbone and my total lack of medical cover for the race. This was starting to seem like a really irresponsible thing to be doing.
As soon as I got out on the warm up lap, the bike felt much better and I knew I had my race head on. The temperature was up quite a bit now, and things were much more like Fridays conditions. I lined up on the last row of the grid in 23rd place and waited for the start sequence. A guy raises a board with the number 2 on it, then flips it over to reveal a number 1, then turns it sideways, and after that, he can raise the green flag at any point to start the race.
I got a good start and used my elbows well enough in the first turn to clear a path through a few riders. I passed one around the outside in the 5th gear second turn and set my sights on the pack of 5 or 6 bikes ahead of me. I was riding calmly and seemingly pretty well, catching them and getting rid of them one by one until I came across a guy called Mark Hill....yes, really!...the difference is that this Mark Hill is a black guy. I took him into the steep turn 5, which I was pleased with as it was a tricky pass and set off after a gixxer 600 ahead of me. I caught him and slingshotted out of his slipstream into turn 1, but couldn't make it stick. After that, I couldn't make enough ground on him and crossed the line in 13th place.
The viper stripe roof lid on tour. As I cruised around on the slow down lap, I got an immense sensation of elation. It's an unreal feeling to go and race total strangers in a foreign land 5000 miles away. I felt quite proud, and that in some lame way, I was representing our country. Stupid, I know, but i'm something of a romantic.
These guys race
every month of the year at this track, and so get to become track specialists. I'd reduced my laptime to a 1:33.8, and was informed that it isn't the norm for people to do that on their first time at the track. Apparently, if you can regularly lap under the 1:30 bracket, you qualify for a pro licence. Maybe I'll try to do that next time, although I hear they're reducing it to 1:28...Hmmm!
The second race was quite soon after, being as it was number 7 and it was destined to be a bit of a disappointment as soon as the warm up lap started. However, It was pretty cool when the announcer mentioned me and the fact that I was "all the way from over the pond!"..he he..cool!
The temperatures had dropped again, and the chatter had returned. It wasn't as significant as the morning practice, but was enough to make the bike unpleasant to ride. I didn't get a great start, but managed to elbow my way through again and started to chase down the same guys I'd battled with in the first race. To be honest though, I didn't have enough pace and dropped off the back of them, deciding just to bring it home safely and make sure everything was in one piece for the laguna Seca trackday on the 26th.
They have Chavs in the states too it would seem! As it turned out, there weren't quite as many on the grid for this race, and that, coupled with the fact that a few fell off, meant that I finished in 12th place, but with a laptime of 1:35 as my best.
Amy was racing her CBR 400 and just mised out on her first podium in one race, after a titanic battle with the guys at the front saw her slide in 4th by a wheel length. She made up for it later though as she stormed of into second place and put a gap on 3rd. The race was then red flagged and restarted, so she'd have to work at it again. She got a good start and battled away, eventually taking 2nd and her first trophy.
Woohoo..feels good! It was a popular result and the commentator went bonkers. People were waiting in pitlane to give her a hug as she cam back in. It was a great moment and I was so pleased to have been there to witness her first trophy winning ride.
JC Gibbs, Amy and Ken Kramer. After having a few drinks and chatting with people for a bit, we packed up and headed home. It had been an amazing weekend, and one that I'll never forget.
Something to consider, is that the Friday and Saturday practice, and my 2 races, had cost me the grand total of 150 quid. Couple that with the fact that petrol is 1.25 GBP for 4 litres, and it's a real eye opener.
I'd like to thank all of the people at the circuit that made me feel genuinely welcome and who were so good to me. I'll be back for more!
Most of all though, I want to say thank you to Amy, who has put so much time and effort into this that it makes me feel very humble. Thank you.