2006 RoadRace Season Opener at Portland International Raceway
My first week back on a bike in 8 months has met with mixed results.
I started the week with a track day to reacquaint myself with the bike, the track and the suspension changes made to improve handling.
I felt like a fish out of water for the first session and began to question what I was doing out in the fast group. I'm sure many others were questioning me as well.
Soon, I started to find my rhythm and began to hit my marks again. I don't have a lap timer, so I don't know what my riding level was, nor do I want to.
Friday found me negotiating with a different tire vendor with the expectation that I'd win contingency in my class.
So Friday ended with fresh oil, filter, and new Michelin Tires.
Saturday morning practice went well. I signed up for medium practice and continued to hit my marks from the beginning of the week.
My practice times weren't impressive at all, however my confidence in the tire choice, once they warmed up, was improving.
After 2 sessions, I took the bike to the GP to have a feel. After removing a click of rebound, and double checking with the Michie vendor I was out for some more laps.
The tear line that was beginning to appear was gone. Replaced with a smooth scrubbing pattern characteristic of good throttle control and suspension setup appeared.
I returned to the pits to find my lap times had started to drop as I continued to regain confidence, however I was still braking early and using a very comfortable corner entry speed.
Sunday, I arrived mentally ready and completed all the pre-race prep-work early. I was so far ahead of schedule I had forgotten to re-establish my pre-race routine and forgot to watch the clock so as to plug in my tire warmers in enough time to get some heat built up before the sighting lap for my first qualifier.
Senior bikes, (5 years and older) start at the back of their respective 600 grids and start on the same wave.
In theory the bikes are technologically disadvantaged compared to the new bikes, so they race in their own class even though they start at the same time as the new bikes.
This makes keeping track of your class competitors difficult and its possible to get separated from them in traffic.
The starting location does offer opportunity to get good competition level passing done. I use lap times and passing opportunities to gauge my progress.
I had set my sights pretty high based on progress I made last year. This first day was a disappointment in that I didn't reach those goals, but I did manage to knock off 8 months of rust from my riding and improve throughout the weekend. I'll have a new clutch thanks to my sponsor Columbia River Moto-Sports and some more seat time with my sponsor Cascade Track time. A fresh set of Michelins thanks to Rick at SB Motor Sports will complete the bike for a new weekend of competition with Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing at our home track Portland International Raceway right here in Portland, OR.
Results:
600SS/600SS Senior Qualifier:
With the sighting lap and first lap on cold tires I got a good start and drilled my way into the middle of a 48 bike grid from the 2nd to last row.
When I tipped in and felt the bike squirm on top of cold tires, I held my line and only a tiny bit of throttle and allowed what felt like the whole pack to pass.
I continued through the infield carefully and tried my luck feeling a slip in the first turn after the back straight. After another run down the 160mph front straight, I tried a hotter turn in and found the familiar grip I needed at the start. Race on! I started rolling through the turns harder and picking targets to pass. By the end of the 4 laps I had picked up 2 positions and was surprised to find I wasn't the last person around the first lap.
Result: 4th place 600SS Senior
600SB/600SB Senior Qualifier:
This time I paid attention to time and had plenty of heat in the tires. I did some heavy braking on the sighting lap to further ensure the tires were ready.
My start wasn't as good, but I motored into the fray and held my ground going into Turn 1.
I pushed my comfort level a bit trying to overcome some of the ghosts I had encountered at the corners I had crashed in.
It was enough to gain 5 positions in 4 laps, so I was happy with progress, though I was still 3 seconds per lap from last year.
Result: 4th place 600SB Senior
600SS/600SS Senior Main:
My start was a little better and I gained enough confidence to make a mid turn mid pack pass on the inside of the exit of the first turn. This put me in the position to make another pass exiting turn 2 during the drag race to my least favorite turn. I won the race to the inside line and forced myself to keep pace so as not to give up my position on the brakes. It worked. I found my confidence in my tires and self to improve my corner speed into the only real left hander at the track. I continued to charge the entire race and picked up 7 positions in the 10 lap main, however I dropped 2 positions in my class for a 6th place finish.
I noticed that I need to step up my physical training to maintain pace the entire race.
I started to drop off my pace after the 8th lap, but found the energy to charge when I saw the white flag.
Result: 6th place 600SS Senior
600SS/600SB Senior Main:
My start wasn't great. I noticed that my clutch was getting bad and needed to keep feeding it cable to get the same feel on the lever, and had relied on getting my foot up, head down and motoring into the pack from the back of the grid where the Senior Class starts. I made a mental note to replace the disks prior to next month's race.
This time I could sense that most of the back of the pack was all around me. I got stuck inside and watched many bikes go through a hole on the outside. I felt my rear give a little at full lean, so I decided to ride a smart race and finish. I managed to get 3 passes in, but lost sight of my competitors. My finish was an unimpressive 5th place in Senior.
Result: 5th place 600SB Senior
I started the week with a track day to reacquaint myself with the bike, the track and the suspension changes made to improve handling.
I felt like a fish out of water for the first session and began to question what I was doing out in the fast group. I'm sure many others were questioning me as well.
Soon, I started to find my rhythm and began to hit my marks again. I don't have a lap timer, so I don't know what my riding level was, nor do I want to.
Friday found me negotiating with a different tire vendor with the expectation that I'd win contingency in my class.
So Friday ended with fresh oil, filter, and new Michelin Tires.
Saturday morning practice went well. I signed up for medium practice and continued to hit my marks from the beginning of the week.
My practice times weren't impressive at all, however my confidence in the tire choice, once they warmed up, was improving.
After 2 sessions, I took the bike to the GP to have a feel. After removing a click of rebound, and double checking with the Michie vendor I was out for some more laps.
The tear line that was beginning to appear was gone. Replaced with a smooth scrubbing pattern characteristic of good throttle control and suspension setup appeared.
I returned to the pits to find my lap times had started to drop as I continued to regain confidence, however I was still braking early and using a very comfortable corner entry speed.
Sunday, I arrived mentally ready and completed all the pre-race prep-work early. I was so far ahead of schedule I had forgotten to re-establish my pre-race routine and forgot to watch the clock so as to plug in my tire warmers in enough time to get some heat built up before the sighting lap for my first qualifier.
Senior bikes, (5 years and older) start at the back of their respective 600 grids and start on the same wave.
In theory the bikes are technologically disadvantaged compared to the new bikes, so they race in their own class even though they start at the same time as the new bikes.
This makes keeping track of your class competitors difficult and its possible to get separated from them in traffic.
The starting location does offer opportunity to get good competition level passing done. I use lap times and passing opportunities to gauge my progress.
I had set my sights pretty high based on progress I made last year. This first day was a disappointment in that I didn't reach those goals, but I did manage to knock off 8 months of rust from my riding and improve throughout the weekend. I'll have a new clutch thanks to my sponsor Columbia River Moto-Sports and some more seat time with my sponsor Cascade Track time. A fresh set of Michelins thanks to Rick at SB Motor Sports will complete the bike for a new weekend of competition with Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing at our home track Portland International Raceway right here in Portland, OR.
Results:
600SS/600SS Senior Qualifier:
With the sighting lap and first lap on cold tires I got a good start and drilled my way into the middle of a 48 bike grid from the 2nd to last row.
When I tipped in and felt the bike squirm on top of cold tires, I held my line and only a tiny bit of throttle and allowed what felt like the whole pack to pass.
I continued through the infield carefully and tried my luck feeling a slip in the first turn after the back straight. After another run down the 160mph front straight, I tried a hotter turn in and found the familiar grip I needed at the start. Race on! I started rolling through the turns harder and picking targets to pass. By the end of the 4 laps I had picked up 2 positions and was surprised to find I wasn't the last person around the first lap.
Result: 4th place 600SS Senior
600SB/600SB Senior Qualifier:
This time I paid attention to time and had plenty of heat in the tires. I did some heavy braking on the sighting lap to further ensure the tires were ready.
My start wasn't as good, but I motored into the fray and held my ground going into Turn 1.
I pushed my comfort level a bit trying to overcome some of the ghosts I had encountered at the corners I had crashed in.
It was enough to gain 5 positions in 4 laps, so I was happy with progress, though I was still 3 seconds per lap from last year.
Result: 4th place 600SB Senior
600SS/600SS Senior Main:
My start was a little better and I gained enough confidence to make a mid turn mid pack pass on the inside of the exit of the first turn. This put me in the position to make another pass exiting turn 2 during the drag race to my least favorite turn. I won the race to the inside line and forced myself to keep pace so as not to give up my position on the brakes. It worked. I found my confidence in my tires and self to improve my corner speed into the only real left hander at the track. I continued to charge the entire race and picked up 7 positions in the 10 lap main, however I dropped 2 positions in my class for a 6th place finish.
I noticed that I need to step up my physical training to maintain pace the entire race.
I started to drop off my pace after the 8th lap, but found the energy to charge when I saw the white flag.
Result: 6th place 600SS Senior
600SS/600SB Senior Main:
My start wasn't great. I noticed that my clutch was getting bad and needed to keep feeding it cable to get the same feel on the lever, and had relied on getting my foot up, head down and motoring into the pack from the back of the grid where the Senior Class starts. I made a mental note to replace the disks prior to next month's race.
This time I could sense that most of the back of the pack was all around me. I got stuck inside and watched many bikes go through a hole on the outside. I felt my rear give a little at full lean, so I decided to ride a smart race and finish. I managed to get 3 passes in, but lost sight of my competitors. My finish was an unimpressive 5th place in Senior.
Result: 5th place 600SB Senior
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