Race Reports

James (576) September Race Report (4 trophies!)

Loudon, NH

September 3, 2007

SATURDAY
Morning Practice:
Good practice, in the 20s and the bike felt really good. It was 8am, so it was just about getting my mind and body awake.

Fast guys practice #9, bad crash into turn 1 ... oil on track caused it. They had med flight come in, which was tough to see, but tried to put it out of my head for the races.

GTO:
Great start, 3rd place (in wave and class) for 3 (or 4) laps ... then red flag. We pit in, and sit on hot pit for a bit while they clean up the fluid. Restart, 3rd (in wave and class again), lap 2 I hit false neutral into turn 1 and have to take nascar .. grr. I have to reenter at the back of the back and put my head down. I end up passing 9 riders before the end of the race and got back my 3rd in class running almost all 19s, and a couple 18s. My highlight was when Greenwood passed me out of turn 10, and I tried to follow him through 11 ... I have never gone so fast through 11, it was scary ... but fun!

Very happy with the consistency



MWSS:
Best first lap of my racing career! 2nd going into turn 1, and held 2nd for 3 laps! It was great! The two guys running 16s finally passed the 1st place guy and myself. I battled for 3rd the rest of the race. I would have had to make a dicey move in order to get by the 3rd place guy, which I did try on last lap into 12a, but couldn't get it done in time. I took the inside line coming out of 12 and got side by side, bumping with him down the front straight to have him finish .01 before me. It was awesome! I finished 4th, which is my best finish in MWSS. I ran a whole ton of 18s and got down to a 17.9 which is now a personal best by a second! 

Best race of my career right here:


I came into this weekend feeling great ... and it materialized today. I'm very excited about tomorrow and hope to continue the trend of 18s and see a couple more 17s, but i'll be happy with consistent 18s.

My brother and his buddy came up today, and my mom surprised me by coming up, so that was awesome! They got to see me run my best races yet (minus blowing turn 1)

SUNDAY
Morning Practice:
8am Practice Ran 20s and a single 19. Got the body, mind and bike going this session. Didn't expect my best laptimes, but was fast in practice for my group (not that it matters).

2nd Practice I couldn't get myself out of the 20s, so last lap I said to myself "come on, you know how to do this", and I was able to get down to a 18. I was happy to be able to see that I could get down there in practice. It wasn't a feeling lap either, I knew what I had to do to hit that time. That feels good.

MWSB:
Been getting good starts all weekend, end up 3rd into 1, Jorge quickly passed me (and everyone else almost) into turn 3. I held 4th until turn 11, when Bloodgood and I went side by side, mer inches seperating us through the corner. He got to 12 first and getting a good drive out. Both Jorge and Bloodgood run 16s, at this point I just can't keep pace. With that interaction in 11, 874 got by me going into turn 1. I followed him for 3 laps trying to figure out where I could get him. I would catch him in 1a and 2, head pull away out of 2, but I'd catch him again in 3 and the back half. This happened for a couple laps, so I decided to set him up through 11 and match his drive down the straight ... we went into 1, I held 1 alittle longer, ripped the throttle and got him on the outside of 1a. Held 5th for the remainder of the race. Race finished on last lap with an expert crash in 12.



HWSS:
This was somewhat of a boring race for me. I went into turn 1 in 5th and stayed there for the whole race. I finished 8 seconds ahead of 6th place and 5 seconds behind 4th place. I would make up ground on the 4th place guy in the corners, but would loose it all on the front straight ...




The was by far the best race weekend for me. I got trophies in all 4 races, and set new personal best, and ran in the 18s. I really had a lot of fun again, which is what it is all about. I know I drive some people in my pit crazy because I am so hard on myself, but I expect a lot from myself, and I am not up there to just ride "ok". So thanks for everyone's support through this year.

18s are work, but they feel comfortable, which is encouraging. I know where I can find more time, so I have key spots to work on.

Thanks to Erin as always for ALL her help! It was great taking her around the Larry Lap on my bike. She loved it! It was her first tour around the track on a bike.

Erin's Parents and sister Haley also came up on Sunday which was great. I think her parents think we are nuts ... which we are, but I think they enjoyed the show.

Missed a lot of the ECK-Racing and DNF crew this weekend, hope to see you all up there for the final round in October. Thanks to Arcy and Dave for coming up to support us on Saturday.