The Grattan plague has struck again

[RJH_5150]

I don’t know why we always have some sort of bad luck when go there. I started off very excited about the trip because I receive my new suspension parts I have been trying to get for some time now. I was anxious to try the bike out. I have to thank Rubin from 35 Motorsports. He separated a set of fork extender caps for me so I could get them and my new shock spring installed before we left. Traxxion’s machine shop was backed up and they were not making any cap extenders for another 3 weeks.

WERA had practice scheduled for Friday. The first couple of sessions I kept over steering the bike. I was so used to the thing being hard to steer that I kept turning too soon and had to correct before I hit the curb. After lunch I got used to it and started picking up the pace. I was able to run consistently in the 1:24’s which was already a second faster than last years best race time.

Saturday was the endurance race. Between that and the track being wet during morning practice, my bike didn’t move all day. Jeff scored a ride with TVR and Chuck (the owner) let me help them out in the pits. I had a great time changing tires with their quick-change stuff and help keep track of all the riders on the track. They run a heavyweight and middleweight bike. 6 hours went by faster than I thought it would. It got real exciting towards the end when Jeff was catching Arnchu racing. We were almost 2 laps down and they only change their rear tire once. Their front was shot. Jeff was charging hard but ultimately ran out of time and missed out of 1st in class by a half of a lap. Their heavyweight team got 1st in class and 5th overall. It was really exciting being a part of something like that. I am looking forward to VIR. Hopefully Chuck will let me help out again.

Sunday I had a little mishap in practice. My first two went really well. The plan was on the third practice I would run my race fuel and set the Bazzan to learn so I can try the new map out during the 4th practice. That way the bike would be ready to go by the first race. Well, about half way through the session I was coming through the sweeper towards the bus stop and spun up the rear and the bike went sideways. I thought I was going to able to save it and stayed neutral on the throttle. Unfortunately she kept coming around. It felt like the back tire was on ice. The bike ended up low siding (thankfully). It slid off the track and I landed flat on my back right in the middle of the track. I stood up and faced traffic just in enough time to wave my hands so the five bikes coming over the hill would not hit me. I got skinny real fast. Damn that was close. Once I got to my bike I realized that my shortness of breath was because I just got it knock out of me. I am very thankful for the new back protector my wife gave me for Christmas because that would have been ugly with something cheep.

The crash truck drops me off and I take quick peak at the damage. I was still having difficulty breathing at this point and was unsure if I was going to able to race later on. I tried to sit down get my bearings (I hit my head pretty hard to) but I felt I had to keep moving. So I started to work on the bike. I was very surprised to find that it only needed a clip-on and a few zip ties to keep the fairing from flopping around. It did grind about an inch and half off the foot peg but it was still long enough to ride on.



I get the bike re-teched, changed tires, put the warmers on and ran to the riders meeting. I took my warm up lap for the 600 super stock race and everything road perfectly. Although watching Jeff crash in turn 4 wasn’t very pleasing. The whole way around the track I was trying to figure out how in the hell he did that on the warm up lap. Later on I found out that the tire warmer he was using wasn’t working very well. Cold tire over a patch = Crash. They threw the green flag and off we went. It took a couple of laps to get the adrenalin pumping. I had a great race battling with a couple friends and ultimately ended up in 8th. I was actually happy with that be cause the top 3 were national riders (Taylor Knapp, Robert Jenson, Cory West) and they were in a whole different world of speed. I think Taylor broke that track record during that race. In the 750 super stock race I had a crazy 4 way battle and ended up getting short changed at the end. I finished a frustrating 12th place. My third race of the day (600 super bike) was one of the scarier ones. I was sitting on the starting grid and they put the 2-minute board up. When I reached to put my hands on the clip-ons I bumped the kill switch. I freaked out and scrambled to get the bike started. They threw the flag and in the mist of me scrambling to start the bike I forgot to put it in gear. I don’t know how I didn’t get ass packed. I got the bike in gear and took off. I fought my way back up to 9th place. I still can’t believe I did that. I guess when my routine got knock out of whack it caused me to miss a step. The last race was fun. I got a great start and battled with Jeff a little bit. He ultimately pulled on me and we finished 6th and 7th respectively.

I guess ultimately it was a good weekend. Jeff and I could have done without the crashes obviously and the roof vent getting ripped off my trailer from our neighbor’s awning not being tied down. But we picked our selves up (literally) and scored some good points. We also learned a little bit from those national guys. Have to thank Broc from Middletown Cycle for stopping by and helping us out Sunday. He seemed to really enjoy himself watching the craziness that went on Sunday. The next stop is VIR in about 3 weeks for the Cycle Jam. That should be really exciting. Can’t wait!

[RENCRN8]

Damn Rob what a weekend! Sounded a little like my Nelsons round last time; 2 wrecks, run out of gas in the kink, generator dies, etc etc. Glad to hear you guys had fun and finished on some good notes. See ya soon!

[Hyflyer]

Keep the reports coming At least you don't have to worry about putting that 'first scratch' on 'er anymore

[shakenbake]

That kinda stuff happens when you want to try and win races.

Atleast the 1st one is out of the way, the 1st one is the hardest, but after that it just gets easier.........believe me, I know

[mtynan]

Just don't get hurt out there or I'll have to kick yer ass dammit!!

[Kanatuna]

Glad to hear that everything turned out ok. Your not hurt and the bike can be repaired. Good luck next round man.