Jon / AF1 Racing
09-30-2004, 01:30 PM
Round 9 of 10 at Oakhill raceway was a big success for AF1. You guys have already heard about the mini endurance results posted by Micah (not such a big success), so I will not cover that.
Sunday the weather had cleared from the rain the previous day. The track was still wet for practice in the morning, mainly on the patches. For those of you that don't know Oakhill, it is most commonly refered to as a goat trail. There are a ton of patches.
Practice was a little slick, but the track dried quickly from the sun, and by my first race (2nd race of the day) the track was dry. My first race was Formula 2 which includes SV650s and Honda RS250's. I am leading points in this class so I got to start from the pole. I actually prefer to start from the front row outside rather than inside because every class I am in starts behind an expert class grided in front of us. When I am on the outside I can avoid the traffic jam that usually occurs on the inside of turn 1, by just motoring around the outside of everyone.
My start in Formula 2 was acceptable but not the best I can do. I carried the front tire about 6" above the ground thru 1st but aquired a bit of a side to side wobble which made my shift to second more difficult. I was 2nd place going into turn 1 behind the SV650 that is 2nd behind me in the points. I spent about a lap going to school on the SV and got him with a good pass on lap 2. I put my head down and put down some good laps, passing lappers and the experts gridded in front of me without getting held up. By the end of the 8 laps I was able to put about a 1/4 lap lead over 2nd to take the win.
My next race of the day was Lightweight Twins (5th race of the day). In this race I was also gridded on pole, and was able to get the hole shot into turn 1. I quickly checked out on 2nd place and rode a good solid race for the win.
After lunch was my most exciting race of the day, D superstock. I once again was gridded on the pole, this time right behind an expert on a RS250. On the start the RS250 in front of me was in neutral (bad situation). I just started letting the clutch out when I saw that he was not moving, so I had to pull back in the clutch and coast around him. The grid was marked on the extreme left of the track so the only way around him was to the right in traffic. This unfortunate start left me back in around 6th place in class. Turn 1 combines 2 short straights and is the fastest turn on the track. Turn 2 is a heavy braking zone from the fastest part of the track into the slowest turn on the track. I was able to get very late on the brakes up the inside to bump up to 3rd in class. The two riders on SV650s in front of me are very strong riders. I worked and worked for a way around the rider in 2nd who was the same guy 2nd in points. The rider in first place is 3rd in points. The battle raged in this race. I got up side by side with 2nd place multiple times but couldn't make anything stick. We were so close that we rode almost half the track side by side. That rider has become a friend during the season so we had quite a few hand signals and stares will running the track side by side, neither one of us wanting to stuff the other. In the end I passed him on the second to last lap. I was able to pull a nice move up the inside for first place 2 turns before the checker flag, pulling out my 3rd win of the day.
My fourth race of the day was CMRA Middleweight which I am up against riders Bill Erzal and Greg LeClair both of AF1. I had an excellent start and by the 3rd lap I was out in front of the heavyweight class which started in front of us. I ran a good consistent race and won the class and the overall. I was excited because it was my first overall win in a sprint race.
Overall it was a good weekend and I took home 4 of 4 first place finishes. My place in first for the season in all of my classes is almost secured. I just have to finish all of my races at the last race of the season and I will have 4 class championships.
My most exciting part of the race was locking up the front tire going into turn 2 from the straight for a nice long slide that cranked the bars all the way to the lock. I figure I should have crashed there...
My GP star moment was passing a few bikes into turn 2 very late on the brakes, rear wheel off the ground from the point I started braking all the way up to the turn in, around 105mph down to 30 or so. The rear settled just in time for me to flick it in. Definitely couldn't have done it if I tried, and never hit turn 2 as fast or as well as that one time. Definitely amped me up for the rest of the races.
Round 10 of 10 is next weekend at Motorsports Ranch in Cresson Texas. Hopefully it will go just as well.
Jon
Sunday the weather had cleared from the rain the previous day. The track was still wet for practice in the morning, mainly on the patches. For those of you that don't know Oakhill, it is most commonly refered to as a goat trail. There are a ton of patches.
Practice was a little slick, but the track dried quickly from the sun, and by my first race (2nd race of the day) the track was dry. My first race was Formula 2 which includes SV650s and Honda RS250's. I am leading points in this class so I got to start from the pole. I actually prefer to start from the front row outside rather than inside because every class I am in starts behind an expert class grided in front of us. When I am on the outside I can avoid the traffic jam that usually occurs on the inside of turn 1, by just motoring around the outside of everyone.
My start in Formula 2 was acceptable but not the best I can do. I carried the front tire about 6" above the ground thru 1st but aquired a bit of a side to side wobble which made my shift to second more difficult. I was 2nd place going into turn 1 behind the SV650 that is 2nd behind me in the points. I spent about a lap going to school on the SV and got him with a good pass on lap 2. I put my head down and put down some good laps, passing lappers and the experts gridded in front of me without getting held up. By the end of the 8 laps I was able to put about a 1/4 lap lead over 2nd to take the win.
My next race of the day was Lightweight Twins (5th race of the day). In this race I was also gridded on pole, and was able to get the hole shot into turn 1. I quickly checked out on 2nd place and rode a good solid race for the win.
After lunch was my most exciting race of the day, D superstock. I once again was gridded on the pole, this time right behind an expert on a RS250. On the start the RS250 in front of me was in neutral (bad situation). I just started letting the clutch out when I saw that he was not moving, so I had to pull back in the clutch and coast around him. The grid was marked on the extreme left of the track so the only way around him was to the right in traffic. This unfortunate start left me back in around 6th place in class. Turn 1 combines 2 short straights and is the fastest turn on the track. Turn 2 is a heavy braking zone from the fastest part of the track into the slowest turn on the track. I was able to get very late on the brakes up the inside to bump up to 3rd in class. The two riders on SV650s in front of me are very strong riders. I worked and worked for a way around the rider in 2nd who was the same guy 2nd in points. The rider in first place is 3rd in points. The battle raged in this race. I got up side by side with 2nd place multiple times but couldn't make anything stick. We were so close that we rode almost half the track side by side. That rider has become a friend during the season so we had quite a few hand signals and stares will running the track side by side, neither one of us wanting to stuff the other. In the end I passed him on the second to last lap. I was able to pull a nice move up the inside for first place 2 turns before the checker flag, pulling out my 3rd win of the day.
My fourth race of the day was CMRA Middleweight which I am up against riders Bill Erzal and Greg LeClair both of AF1. I had an excellent start and by the 3rd lap I was out in front of the heavyweight class which started in front of us. I ran a good consistent race and won the class and the overall. I was excited because it was my first overall win in a sprint race.
Overall it was a good weekend and I took home 4 of 4 first place finishes. My place in first for the season in all of my classes is almost secured. I just have to finish all of my races at the last race of the season and I will have 4 class championships.
My most exciting part of the race was locking up the front tire going into turn 2 from the straight for a nice long slide that cranked the bars all the way to the lock. I figure I should have crashed there...
My GP star moment was passing a few bikes into turn 2 very late on the brakes, rear wheel off the ground from the point I started braking all the way up to the turn in, around 105mph down to 30 or so. The rear settled just in time for me to flick it in. Definitely couldn't have done it if I tried, and never hit turn 2 as fast or as well as that one time. Definitely amped me up for the rest of the races.
Round 10 of 10 is next weekend at Motorsports Ranch in Cresson Texas. Hopefully it will go just as well.
Jon