Willow Springs, Ca
05/16/97 - 05/18/97

Event Baseline Tech Info

Event Action Plan / Goals:

Saturday 05/17/97 (WSMC Practice) - Lap Times:

Sunday 05/18/97 (WSMC Race Day) - Lap Times:

Friday 05/16/97 (Fastrack Riders Practice) - Notes:

We skipped Friday practise for the second month in a row - though not by choice this time! Steve & I slept thru our alarms & didn't get going until about 8:00am. We brought both the race F2 and my street F2 this month, as we had signed up for Keith Code's California Superbike School on Monday following the races. Since I couldn't fit both the bikes and all the gear in the Chevy, I rented a 5x8 enclosed U-Haul. Great Idea! No more schlepping the gear back and forth to the motel! The plan was to load the gear into the trailer, lock it and the bikes up each night. It also served to reserve our pit spot for the entire weekend.

As we were loading the race bike on Thursday, my buddy Bruce noticed a split in the rear Dunlop, running from about one inch into the tread thru to the sidewall -- helluva excuse for some new 207's! After we organized the pit Friday afternoon, we swapped out the tires. We spent the rest of the day cruising the pits and taking it easy.

Saturday 05/17/97 (WSMC Practice) - Notes:

It was already pretty warm when we got to the track the next morning at about 7:00am. I was pretty stiff & sloppy for the first couple of sessions. The day kept getting hotter and the humidity was murder.

I decided to conserve my energies for the rest of the day and worked on some new lines in T1 and T3, continued to push the speed up thru T8, and deepened my entrance into T9. I was shooting for lines that straightened out T1 & T3, allowing me to carry more speed thru the turns & on the exit. These are the type of lines to use when there's no-one close behind you and you're trying to catch the pack in front. Working these lines proved fruitful for the races on Sunday, as I caught and passed quite a few riders and never was passed (being lapped by Troy Maturo in the Formula Two race doesn't count!).

T8 became much more comfortable at speed. I finally felt confident enough to run all the way through the turn WFO in sixth gear, rolling off just before down-shifting for the entrance to T9. I think the Dunlop 207's helped out here too - I didn't feel the front end push that I usually do going thru T9. The lack of wear and the traction were excellent!

The only thing still holding me back thru T8 is when the wind kicks up. I get was feels like an up / down and side-to-side oscillation in the front end. I asked Morris from Computrack about this again and he still doesn't think its a suspension problem. He might be right - there are guys coming around me in T8 with the wind blowing like hell. Morris said it's decision time - hold back or push thru it and see what happens.

Sunday 05/18/97 (WSMC Race Day) - Notes:

Oh man ...... time to play with the Big Boys (and Girls)!

I was gridded 29th for the first race of the day - the Viewpoint Photography / Honda Challenge 600 Super Stock. I have absolutely no idea how to work my way thru the grid from that far back, so I just aimed for the outside of the track and tried not to run into anyone. The packs were sorted out by the entrance of T2 and I started pouring on the gas - I was in 26th place or so.

There were two guys about six bike lengths ahead of me and I started to reel them in. I passed one on the ouside of T2 and the other on the inside of T3 by the third lap and set my sights on the pack ahead. I pulled up to about two bike lengths on the pack, but the race was over by then. It was a good run and I maintained my 1.33's from last month.

Race #2, the Pepsi 600 Modified Production, was about the same. I started on the grid at #29, but had a better run off the line. The second time around T9, Danna Mashadian (#697) hit a false neutral, then it caught as she entered the turn, sending her into a lowside spin off the track. It was the first time I'd followed a crashing bike and the only thing that ran through my head was Danny Farnsworth's (#4) advice from new rider's school: 'Don't look at the bike - aim for where it went down and you'll miss it'. I did and got through fine. (Danna had a helluva a headache after the race, but she was OK).

Like the race before, I passed one guy on the outside of T2, then another on the inside of T3. As I rounded T4, I saw Michael Martinez (#999) pull off the track with one hand in the air. I looked around for a red flag, didn't see any, and headed down towards T5. I later learned that Michael's bike overheated and his catch bottle exploded, throwing boiling water all over his leg. Ouch!

The fourth lap saw another rider go off in some oil on T2, bringing out the red flag and ending the race. As we were pulling into the pits, a fellow rider tapped my shoulder and pointed to my muffler. The bracket had cracked off just below where it bolts to the sub-frame and it was swinging in the breeze. It was problably a vibration-enduced failure, but in hindsight, the bracket wasn't really designed for racing -- it sure looked nice, but wasn't thick enough in the important areas.

Everyone always gives me a hard time because I haul so much stuff to the track. Most of the time it just sits in boxes or I loan it out as spares to other F2 riders. I was damn glad, though, that I had it today! I snipped out a piece of aluminum sheet to hold the bracket together, shaping it like the bracket so it didn't look too shoddy. Function before form is important, but ugly is still ugly. Four holes drilled, some aircraft hardware and viola - it held for the rest of the day!

The Coors Light / Tom Sera Racing Formula Two GP race started at 1:30pm. It was hot and muggy by then. There were only 13 riders in the race, but they were the fastest 600 riders with the WSMC. My goal was to maintain my pace, finish all the laps, and hope to finish out of last place. I was one to two seconds off my pace, finished all the laps, but in last place. It was still a good race.

I chased Robert Cole around and around the track, but didn't seem to gain any ground on him and I was getting really tired. Robert started slowing down on lap seven and I saw my chance to catch him. My plan was to pull up as close as possible and push for a big drive out of T9 on the last lap, taking him on the front straight. He didn't know that I was back there and I knew from timing him in the Solo GTU race Saturday night that we was faster than me.

I didn't count on him looking behind, which he did on the back straight, and he picked up his pace. I think he was waiting to be lapped by the race leaders and was surprised to find me back there! I picked up the pace as well and got to within about four bike lengths on lap nine when we were both lapped by Troy Maturo and that was that! At least I didn't get lapped by Chuck Graves (#34), who came in second!

I had doubled up my exercise routines the the month before the races, knowing that I'd need the strength and endurance to make it thru these three races. It sure helped, but it wasn't enough. The heat and humidity didn't help either. My regimen consists of 20 minutes on the rowing machine every other day (in front of the TV watching SpeedVision, of course), and free weights for upper body and leg exercises on the other days. I guess I'll have to crank it up another notch (and quit smoking!) to reach the next level of performance. Bleh!

I'm also going to take a serious look at my diet. With my work schedule, I'm lucky to get a couple of hours each evening to work out & pop a Stouffers in the microwave. A nuked dinner isn't too bad, but maybe there's a way to strike a balance between eating better and not taking all night to make dinner. We'll see ........

All-in-all, it was a good start to my second year with the WSMC. I was comfortable on the track, finished OK, and had a blast!

Bob.

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