So how'd it go? How'd the weather turn out? The races at Summit were WET. Thunderstorms all friggn day Saturday. I had every intention of racing in the wet, but then I came to my senses Saturday morning when I woke up and saw the rivers running through the paddock (and saw the price of rain race tires, yikes!). I did well enough on Sunday considering it was damp still for the first race. Rather dissapointed in my performance though. Never did find my groove (could have been the 11am beers on Saturday durring the rain). Everyone was about 4 seconds off their normal paces, but even allowing for that I was still in a funk. But my family go to see me race, I didn't crash and I had fun hanging out with friends. So it was still a good weekend. Time to shake it off and kick ass next weekend at the Beaverun races. Hope you all were able to get in some fun at Pocono. I was thinking about you folks!
They're much less expensive than crash repairs and they allow you to ride fast enough to actually enjoy your on track time.
Ahhh but NOT racing in the rain is even cheaper! :wink: And yes, I know I was the one encouraging folks to go ride Pocono in the rain. LOL. Ride in the rain - yes. Race in the rain - whole different story! (Okay okay I wussed out!!)
When I was a piss-poor college student my only means of transportation was my trusty 1979 Yamaha SR 500 (kick start!). OK, so it was Southern California, but still... riding in the rain SUCKS - I swore I'ld never do it again if I didn't have to. Track days - quality over quantity.... I took around the STT guys for a sighting lap in my van early Saturday morning - there were huge puddles on the turns entering and exiting the back straight & the bus stop, also in several other key spots... I don't need the hassle of being soaked and dealing with the BS associated with it....So I lose some $$$, no big deal in the grand scheme of things... Two weeks ago I didn't ride because of the ice & snow at PIR... there are still plenty of track days left this year...
Yep yep! Some body told me that WERA didn't do refunds, which is true, but he neglected to tell me that they do give credit, so I never took my name off the list for the Solo races on Sunday. I lost some money there. But I ain't upset. I got that money's worth of entertainment just hanging out at the track. 8) So where's all the reports? I know more of you had to have gone than just this. ... At least I HOPE.
It's funny, I was helping my friend Nate Kern at Road America this weekend. I think we got the same weather you had, cold & rainy. the whole time he kept saying "I hope it rains- I love racing in the rain!" sure enough, he won the Expert Lightweight SuperSport, Saturday afternoon, on a partially wet track. truth be told rain was pretty much the only chance he had for a win at RA, due to the long straights and hills and his BMW's inability to change gearing... still, 1 win, two 2nd's and a 4th place in the ASRA Thunderbike national ain't bad for a 500-pound sport-tourer! Cheers, Lance
I've never ridden in the rain on the track, but I did a ton of it on the street. It's not pushing it like racing or anything, but I actually kind of liked it. Then again, I guess I'm weird. I'll ride on a track in the rain if it does. I'd rather do it a few times in the dry first though, and rain tires would be nice is such a time came. I'm sure that street tires aren't top notch cornering in the rain.Just my imput that's all.
Good for Nate! We saw him at the bike show back in Jan (Feb?) and he has such a great attitude about riding for BMW...I think he's just having a lot of fun with the bike doing what he can to make it better. Glad he got a good result, rain or not! As for the rest of us at Pocono this weekend...yeah, it was pretty miserable on Saturday...and we did get a slow start, but we were on the track by 10:30 or so with no end in sight to the rain or cold. I believe there were brief periods of sleet as well. Either that or the wind was blowing the rain that hard. Much better. The outside temp was 37 degrees by our thermometer and the wind was only interrupted by some nice gusts which did interesting things to the bikes going through the left hand double apex, into the hairpin, and turn 1...think "Long Way Around" meets "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" It _was_ tough to stick it out the full 20 minutes until the checkered flag and a few times I just had to pit a lap or two early. Maybe four. Once your fingers really started to get cold you wouldn't even have one lap until they were leather popsicles...only to feel like they were leather popsicles on fire as soon as you hopped into your warm van to thaw out (you know, the one that was already filled with the 4 of your other friends who were smart enough NOT to go out?:roll: :twisted: hey, uh, guys, is there a seat in here for me?) Thinking about it now we were pretty much insane, but every time I saw Monte buzz out in that red aerostich of his, I kept hoping he'd spring a leak already :roll: , then wrestle on my yellow vest and try to find a willing victim to lead around in Intermediate. Damned if the bike was going to get trashed with Pocono mud for no reason! Eventually it turned into a kind of strange masochistic exercise...standing and riding around in such crappy weather on purpose in an unspoken "eh, f **(vulcan) off!" to mother nature (or rather, her evil sister Pocono) Anyway, big props to all the other members who went out as well... everyone who did learned a little more "smooth" for sure. I think we also learned some new things about "cold". :shock: Anyway, the wet was soon drowned and forgotten in a nice Bloody Mary served down the road at Murphy's that evening, along with a table full of pints, steaks, and anything else that didn't involve the words "wet" or "water". Sunday started off with a heavy mist and a wet track, but save a rogue lunchtime shower that doused the track again just as we achieved a dry line (yes, we gave it the collective finger), the skies slowly lifted, cleared, and we had a dry track by 1:30pm for the rest of the day...hell the sun even came out later in the afternoon! It went from 39 deg. to 58 in the course of 6 hours...Finally, Global Warming to the rescue! So Sunday ended on a great note, with everyone probably enjoying personal lap bests as a result of having to be so damn smooth for the first two thirds of the weekend. I think there was only one get-off the entire 2 days (aptly enough during one of the first truly dry track sessions - easy, boys, it's only April!), and plenty of clear track to enjoy thanks to all those who decided to couch-potato it for the Valencia race and imagine that they just might be able to hang with Bayliss for maybe a turn or two on a good day (um, no, you wouldn't. and you're still a chickensh*t for not showing up.) That about sums it up...can't wait to get back in May for some warmer days...now just beaming about the fact that as (ahem) Ducati is leading both MotoGP and WSBK at the moment, we get to see the next one live! See you all next month! Later, Kath