Willow Springs, Ca
08/15/97 - 08/17/97

Event Baseline Tech Info

Event Action Plan / Goals:

Sunday 08/17/97 Race Times / Results:

Saturday 08/16/97 (WSMC Practice) - Notes:

We skipped practice on Friday to get in a sponsor / publicity photo shoot with Viewpoint Photography.

The theme of Saturday practice was running easy laps, concentrating on those areas that we felt would net faster times. I worked primarily on a new, tighter line around T4 (dragging my knee all the way around, yahoo), pushing deeper into the entrance for T9, and faster transitions when entering the braking turns (1, 3, and 5). Steve worked on getting the gearing and brake markers down pat, and pulling wheelies up T4 and off T6 (didn't make him any faster, but sure looked cool :>).

The tighter line around T4 did nothing for my speed through the Omega, but it pushed me out wide on the exit to set up for a great drive down to T5. I dropped almost a second on T4 to T6! Maintaining a smooth arc through T4 was a lot easier on my arms since I didn't have to crank it over hard at the top of the turn.

As I started moving my line further out for the entrance of T9 I found a nasty set of bumps just left of the middle of the track. Not fun! The pavement smoothed out as I moved my line closer to the outside edge of the track. I know I can run through that section faster since I didn't really pick up any speed going with the wider line. The trick will be finding out how much faster I can push it before the tires start sliding - guess that's what separates the men from the boys.

To push myself into making faster transitions, I moved my braking markers deeper into T1 and T3. The EBC HH pads were well up to the task of scrubbing off speed in a shorter distance. Since I had less time after braking to make the turn, it was either set up quicker or crash. It was a little hairy at first, but I managed to stay on two wheels.

One thing I have to watch is sitting up as I brake into T3 when there's a strong wind at my back. The wind was blowing about 15mph towards the end of the day. I went out for the next session, popped up coming into T3 and it felt like the brakes had gone away. There wasn't a helluva lot of track left so I squeezed the brakes a little harder and the front end got all kinds of squirrelly. I thought the time had come to take some desert soil samples, but as the edge of the track approached I let off the brakes, cranked the bike over and gave it some gas. Oh yea - lot's of fun! Good thing the old man was shooting pics out on T6!

The front Dunlop 207 was toast by about 3:00. Steve was running in the 501 - 650 practice and I was in the Formula I/II sessions, so we put 90 laps that day plus about 70 laps from last month on that set of tires. The rear was in great shape, but the front had to go. Sport Tire Services was short shipped their allotment of 207s and had already none for sale at Willow. Terry suggested either a slick or a 204 SportMax II. I didn't like the idea of mixing a slick and a DOT, so we went with the 204. Terry warned me to expect about 70% of the wear and 80% of the grip of a 207. I must not be pushing the tires hard enough because the 204 worked just fine for all the races on Sunday - it was almost bald, but it never gave a hint of going away.

Sunday 08/17/97 (WSMC Race Day) - Notes:

I got my typical first-race-of-the-day-crap start for the Graves Motor Sports 650 Superbike race - being gridded last in the field didn't help much either! I managed to improve my position by only three spots by the time the checkers flew. I was pushing pretty hard for that first race - too hard as I later discovered. The bike felt real stiff and handled like a sled. I mentioned this to Steve after the race, worried that the 204 was the cause, which would screw up the rest of the races.Steve suggested that I was running stiff and not letting the bike do its thing. He was right - I relaxed on the bike for the next race and the it handled just fine.

I pulled off the line for the Viewpoint Photography / Honda Challenge 600 Super Stock race and found a pocket in the middle of pack heading for T1. I moved in, then to the outside. There were way too many riders on the inside as we came around T1 so I stayed put. BIG MISTAKE - I ran all the way up to T2 hard on the gas but there was no way to make the turn without cutting all the way across the track on the entrance. I jammed on the brakes and watched about eight bikes go by. Guess I won't try that line anymore! By the time I recovered, most of the field had taken off. I managed to work my way around a couple of riders before the last lap.

The last race of the day, the Coors Light / Tom Sera Racing Formula Two GP, was a totally different story. I got a decent start and found myself in a great duel with two 250 GP bikes by T3. One guy, a Yamaha with Team Oliver on the back, showed me a wheel on the outside coming into T3. No way dude - I've been practicing that move - and he backed off as I held my line and late-braked it into the turn. The other guy, a red and white Honda, tried slipping by on the inside of T9. I kept the gas on and cranked it through the turn scraping knee, toe, peg, and fairing parts. We kept this up for every lap of the race and it was fantastic! No scares, no stupid ego-fed moves, just great racing. One would try to slip around me as we exited T4, and as I motored away down to T5 the other would try to take me on the other side. What a blast! The best run came in lap three as the Honda and I exited T9 side-by-side, put our heads down and ran for T1.

While the three of us diced for position, other riders were self-destructing all over the place. One highsided in T1, another lowsided in T2 and a third slid off coming out of T5. What I didn't know was that all of the track's crash trucks and the ambulances were now tied up taking care of the carnage (no serious injuries). The race director decided to end the race on the fifth of ten laps. Instead of the usual red flag, though, they pulled the checkers out early. Imagine my surprise as the Yamaha finally slipped by on the inside of T3 on that last lap, I decided to hang loose until T9, and the three of us see the checkers flying as we exited onto the front straight. On the gas, heads down, butts up, drafting to beat each other to the line. The Yamaha beat me by half a wheel and I beat the Honda by about the same margin.

Man, what a race! Thumbs up and high fives all the way around the cool-off lap. The icing on the cake was my first top-ten expert finish. Oh baby, that was fun! And I knocked another second off my fastest time! Did I mention how much fun it was?

Steve did his best Chuck Graves imitation by running away from the field for his 650 Novice race later that afternoon. He had pulled a three second lead by the end of the first lap, which stretched to ten seconds by the end of the race. True to form, he even lapped a rider coming down into T5 on the last lap and caught the attention of the race announcer. "Coming over the Monroe Ridge is our race leader, #504, Steve Laszko from Fallbrook, on an Aramel Racing Honda. Steve won this race last month and it looks like we're in for a repeat performance ...........".

Steve knew that this would be his last Novice race (to the relief of all the other Novices) so he put his head down at the start and ran a perfect race. Put another trophy on the mantle! Steve will be corner-working on Friday in September and will compete in his first expert-class race, the Pepsi 600 Modified Production. Hoo Hoo!

Although the temps were up there a bit and the wind kicked up as the day progressed, this race weekend was about the best we've ever had. It was great seeing Mr. Missing-In-Action Rob Berlind (#514) again, just back from (watching) the German GP. Danna Mashadian has secured a sponsored 125cc ride with Dragonfire Racing. And crazy-fast-man Tony Silvera (#97) had recovered enough from last month's break dance on T2 to run in a couple of races.

Did I mention how much fun it was?

Bob.

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