dub's AFM round 3 Race Report - Now With Video!

[dub]

To sum it up: I went my fastest. I started poorly.

The week before round 3, I had received some professional one on one coaching at a Ken Hill Coaching Day sponsored by Rickdiculous Racing (read all about it here). I wasn't running a lap timer during the coaching day, or my next trackday, so I was excited to see how much, if any, my lap times would improve at the following AFM weekend.

The first two rounds of the season my race starts were going pretty well. I ended up with a couple holeshots each round. This time out my starts were abysmal. Watching the videos, I think I'm am letting the revs drop too much off the line; I'll need to work on that for next round. This time out, I would be a victim to my own poor starts all weekend long.

Saturday Race 1, Clubman Middleweight

I got my least bad start of the weekend this race. I started in position 3 and came out of turn 1 in position 4 behind Joe Brown (822) to Stephen Anatiychuk (380) to Tom Kuchno (898). The program in Clubman Mid so far this season has been the same every race; Stephen and Tom fight it out up front and next fastest group of novices battle it out behind them.
My first thought of this race was I need to get by Joe and keep him behind me for the last podium spot. The first time around course Joe and I stayed right on the heels of Stephen and Tom. Surely they would start to pull away as the race went on. I felt I was riding faster than Joe this race, but not by much. If I had the pace to keep Stephen and Tom in sight, I wasn't going to let Joe hold me up. I needed to find my pass, asap. Lap 2. I followed Joe through the first third of the track, waiting. Then down the hill through turn 5a I was right on his wheel and made the decision. As soon as I could see through the corner I stood the bike up, twisted the throttle to the stop and made a beeline to the entry of 6 on a tight line beating him into the corner on the inside.
Now I'm in third place and Stephen and Tom aren't that far ahead. In lap 3 we start to run into the heavyweight traffic from the wave ahead of us. It slows the two out front enough for me to catch back up. Two of them and three us makes a pack of five all tangled up. Tom makes it through. Stephen and I are still caught up over The Cyclone. There is a brief moment of pandemonium coming back down the hill and somehow I make it by Stephen into 6. The big bikes pack too much punch for me to get by through 7 and 8, but I get them both at the same time on the brakes into 9. Tom has already built a little gap for himself. At this point I'm thinking I'm going faster than I ever have before. Maybe Stephen gets caught up just long enough in the traffic to let me hang on to second in this race. Er, not quite. Five turns later he comes back past me on the brakes into 14. Stephen would eventually catch back up to, and pass, Tom, with me hanging on closer than I have all season. I finished in 3rd just 2 seconds behind Tom and beat my Thunderhill career best lap time by 2.6 seconds with a 1:57.031.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt67ai4z5qc

Sunday Race 2, Novice 750 Production

After 2 rounds I'm the championship leader in this class. I was gridded on Pole. The green flag waves and everyone and their mother is passing me. I'm through turn 1 in 5th. It's Joe, Ilya Roytman (333), Alex Wallace (613), and Max Sawicky (842) at the front. My only thought as lap 1 slips away: "Well, I've got some work to do, let's get to it."
Then I start passing people.
Lap 2: Max into turn 3.
Lap 3: Alex around the outside of turn 2.
Lap 4: Ilya into turn 6.
Lap 5: Joe down the back straight and into turn 14.
And that was that. Four clean passes in four laps and I never looked back. First place finish with a best lap of 1:57.282.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmKdZ4c0aN8

Sunday Race 5, Novice 600 Production

I'm gridded in P3 and get, you guessed it, a terrible start. I'm in 6th coming out of turn 1 and I want to make up as many places as possible as quick as possible before the leaders get away. Coming around turn 3 I get on the gas too hard and too early in my haste, and front tire starts sliding out from underneath me. Luckily my knee was already on the ground and I use it to keep the bike from falling over until the tire regains traction. Now I'm way outside off the line in the dirty part of the track, I decide it's too late to save the corner and off into the dirt I go. I ride through the grass, cutting off turn 4 as the entire field rides by. I re-enter the course coming up the hill into turn 5 in last place. All I can do now is try to make up as many places as possible and take as many points as I can get. I'm passing people left and right, into, through, and out of corners. Then, in turn 11, a black flag comes out. The race is being stopped. I have no idea what place I'm in or what lap we're on. Oh well. I head back to my pit, put the tire warmers on and drink some water. A few minutes later, the announcement comes over the PA: first call for a full re-start of race 5. Yes! This race will be wiped from history and I get a second chance.

Sunday Race 5, Novice 600 Production re-start

My poor start this time relegated me all the way to 7th coming out of turn 1. I get Max Sawicky (842) back into turn 2 for 6th and I'm focused on getting by Eric Milina (339). While I'm looking for a way around Eric I blow turn 6 and Max comes back by me. Shoot, I'm going backwards. Eventually I would find my way past Max again and past Eric. Then I bridge the gap up to the next group, where Alex and Josh Bicknell (987) are going at it. I get by Josh and have my sights set on Alex as we go under the cross flags. I'm hoping I can get by Alex and still have enough time to make up to Ilya in 2nd behind Joe. It turns out that's not how this race would go. I had been towing Max along with me up to Josh and Alex. We would all end up in a really fun 4-way scrap for 3rd place in the second half of the race. We traded positions back and forth and I managed to lead the group across the line for the last time, picking up a podium finish.







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTQFKzg00tg

Sunday Race 7, Novice Formula 1

I start from P3 with Stephen and Tom to my left. This class has pretty much been a repeat of Clubman Mid, with Tom and Stephen out front and the rest of us looking for the 3rd place scraps. I'm hoping for a repeat performance of Clubman, where I can get in front of Ilya and Joe and stay with Stephen and Tom. I came through turn 1 in 6th, but quickly got by Josh into 5th. And then...I just didn't have anything left. I wasn't riding as well as I had in the morning races. I'm not sure why; maybe I was a little fatigued from the hurried pace of the morning with the re-start and the heat of the day, but I couldn't close the gap ahead of me. I did 6 laps by myself in 5th place, just watching Joe and Ilya ahead of me, the best lap I could manage was 1:58.069. I was glad to cross the line for the final time of the weekend.





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Images by OXYmoron Photography.

[RichVee4]

Just stumbled on these threads of your track races.  Really enjoyed watching the race videos.  Well done!

[GreenMachine]

Great write-up Dub!  What are you bragging about?  1:57  Pfff.  That's not that much faster than, well, it's only like 20 something seconds a lap faster than my fastest, but still.

That white bike was giving you a lot of grief.  You were definitely faster in the corners than he was, but he had the poop out and down the straights.  When he cut turn 7, I was hoping you were going to make you move.  Nice work!