Race Report AHRMA Willow Springs

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http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/kknbud2/corsa%202010/?start=all

Well, since i went down to Willow Springs a couple weekends ago and brought home a couple trophies, I should post up some pics of the event, eh?

See the link above for photos. All kinds of cool/weird bikes were there. And the people to match!

I rode an SRX600 (#419,  air-cooled thumper, 63 hp) , provided by my friend Ken Canaga of Left Coast Racing in Camarillo.  Same bike i've raced off & on for oh,  18 years or so!
It's still in great shape, now it's fitted with an e-start engine. Nice! No more rollers...

Ken also brought out a TZ250-chassis, Yam 660 mega-thumper, but that one developed a death-rattle, so we decided to park it instead of letting it grenade on the track.
Maybe i'll get to ride that one at Miller in september.

The SRX is eligible for both SOS 1 & 2 classes, so that's what we used.  The TZ-framed bike would normally be used in the SOS1, it's the 'unlimited' singles class.
I was entered in the two Sound Of Singles classes each day, which ran back-to-back on the schedule, the last two races of the day.
Practice day on friday went well, I got down to some reasonable laptimes fairly quickly, (1:38-39's) then stabilized as I worked on my reference points around the track.
I hadn't raced at Willow since '07, and the curbing around the track seemed new to me, so I was pretty cautious about getting close-it didn't look bike-friendly, at all.
I had some good dices during practice, riding close, passing & getting passed, using alternate lines, etc. Great fun!
Saturday morning (raceday, ahrma runs 2 racedays each weekend) 1st practice was uneventful, so I rode a friend's bike (a TZ-framed 660) during the 2nd practice, just for fun & to give him some feedback on how it worked.  I want one of those!

Waited all day for our races to come up, had a nice nap while listening to all the vintage bikes go round & round.  By late afternoon, it was nice and warm, and also a bit, uh, WINDY! Welcome to Willow!  Nothing like a good gusty side wind entering Turn 8 to get your attention...

First race was the SOS1 class, against a couple of the TZ-framed megathumpers and a smattering of supermoto bikes.  A good variety, but I knew the competition would be one young guy (Sean Ianson) on a TZ-framed bike.  I'd diced w/him during practice when he was riding his SV650, and he was certainly riding well.  He wouldn't be any slower on his thumper, I knew he was still young & fearless.

Like other race clubs, ahrma puts a few different classes on each grid, to fill up the field & reduces the number of races each day. They have tons of different classes, but most classes get a small entry. We were gridded up with some of the bigger bikes in front of us, I was on row 9 for the single-wave start.
The flag dropped, and Sean on his TZ660 got a great launch. It was all I could do to follow him for the first lap or so, as he plowed through traffic.  We went back & forth for a few laps, splitting bigger bikes between us as we moved forward through the field.  He definitely had the faster bike, passing me up the front straight a couple times.
I think he was riding faster than expected, he was bumping into his rev-limiter a few times per lap, causing his bike to hesitate, and allowing me to catch up and pass a few times.  I wanted him to know I was there!

Around we went, hounding each other, til the last lap. He was leading when we got to turn 3, where we came up on a lapper. We both checked up a bit, I wound up going around the outside, Sean held the inside line around turn 4.  Wouldn't you know, he hit the limiter & hesitated, which let me get up the inside going into turn 5.
That's the turn that leads out onto the back straight.  Well, since I had the inside and he had the faster bike, I drifted a little wide (almost to the edge of the track), and slowed down a bit more than usual, which left Sean nothing to do but back off & delay his drive.  So I took off & got the best drive I could, and gapped him just enough that he couldn't re-pass before the finish line.  Victory for the treacherous old guy!  Woohoo!

I'll bet he changes his gearing before the next race, eh?

The next race wasn't nearly as dramatic, I think only a couple others were entered in the SOS2 class.
I was gridded on row 5 this time, behind the formula vintage class (open-open, anything goes).

Lo & behold, I got the rare-for-me  killer start & was in 2nd place going into turn 1!  Following a Rob North BSA triple, I managed my best laps of the weekend, and got into the 1:36's.  The BSA slowly pulled away, and about halfway through the race I was passed by a KZ1000 going up the front straight.  Just for fun, I passed him back through turn 1.  That pissed him off, so he blew by me on the way to turn 2 & was gone. He caught & passed the BSA shortly after that, and was set for the win.
With a few laps to go, BSA-guy pulled off the track w/a mechanical problem, leaving me in 2nd overall. Wow!

And then w just 2 laps to go, the screaming KZ pulled off, also w/a mechanical.  I could win the overall?  Sure didn't expect that!
So I put my head back down & tried my best.  Coming into turn 3 w/a lap & a half remaining, the engine died...SHIT!
Luckily, it re-fired, but now it was popping, farting, back-firing, etc.  The tach was dying everytime it would act up, so I knew it was an electrical issue.  I slowed way down, and took the white flag for the last lap.  Would the bike keep running? I didn't know, but I was going to find out!  I stayed out of the throttle, and just cruised around the last lap.  Pulled off the racing line, put my leg out, etc.  And nobody came by!  Won the class, and the overall!  Crossed the finish line, killed the engine, and coasted to a stop inside turn one.  Coasted back to the pit & parked the bike, while laughing my head off.

Ken didn't have a spare ignition box with him, so I pulled out of sunday's races & got a carry-over for Miller in september.  AHRMA races there the weekend after the BUB speed trials at Bonneville. 
Sunday we just hung out & chatted w/old friends, took pictures, and drove home.
A great weekend!