Willow Springs, Ca
09/19/97 - 09/21/97

Event Baseline Tech Info

Event Action Plan / Goals:

Sunday 09/21/97 Race Times / Results:

Friday 09/19/97 (Fastrack Practice) - Notes:

Steve had to get his corner working duties out of the way so we made the trek up to Willow on Friday at 3:00am (BLEH!) While he sat up in T6 and T4 for the day, I put in four sessions and changed out the tires.

The front Dunlop 204 was pretty worn out, but I thought I could get a few sessions on it - nope! It became tough to steer about halfway through my first session, so I pulled in and put on a new 207. What a difference! The handling went back to what I was used to and the grip was excellent.

Now that I could get back up to speed, I started having the front end wiggles that plagued me last year. As I pulled out of the corners on the gas, the front end got light and shimmied from side to side. I pulled in and checked out the steering damper. It had started leaking and wasn't providing much damping. I cranked it up to the second firmest setting to compensate for the loss of damping and the problem went away. California Sportbike Racing had a rebuild kit for the damper, which I'll install before next month's event.

I finally got T6 nailed down today. Like I tried last month, I enter the turn from the far left side of the track, pointing to the far right as I crest the hill. I back off the throttle just a bit to keep the front end down over the crest and nail it down the backside, shifting into 4th gear as the track falls away. Now I need to build some more speed through T5 and carry that speed down the back straight.

I broke the rear end loose coming around the T4 later in the day and almost highsided myself off the track. I backed off the throttle just a bit and recovered fine, then pitted for a new 207 rear. The current tire had lasted two weekends at Willow and had worn the profile flat on the right side.

Saturday 09/20/97 (WSMC Practice) - Notes:

Steve turned his Novice license in for a Probational Expert today. He'll start his first Expert race in the Pepsi 600 Modified Production race on Sunday.

We only ran three or four practice sessions each on Saturday. We wanted to save the tires for the races on Sunday and just take it easy. I continued pushing the brake / throttle points for T1 & T3, and the drive over T6. Steve worked on a few ideas he picked up from his corner working on Friday and put in his best time to date of 1.33.57.

Sunday 09/21/97 (WSMC Race Day) - Notes:

True to form, I had a lousy start in my first race and came in dead last in the Viewpoint Photography / Honda Challenge 600 Super Stock race. I ran .32 to .34 times, but the rest of the pack was quicker.

The Graves Motor Sports 650 Superbike race was much better. I pulled a decent start and managed a 12th-place finish, running .31 to .33 times.

I was really looking forward to the Coors Light / Tom Sera Racing Formula Two GP after finishing in the top ten last month. Although I posted my best time to date (1.31.25), I only managed a 19th place finish.

Steve did very well for his first Expert race, the Pepsi 600 Modified Production. The start was a real eye-opener for him. He was in the third row from the back and experienced the wild traffic jam into T1. He passed a couple of riders and provided some excitement when he found one of the bad lines coming out of T2. He hit a patch of bumps and crossed it up, scaring off the guy chasing him. He recovered just fine and might have managed a better finish, but the race was called two laps early because of a smoking bike out on T2.

All-in-all, it was a mediocre showing this weekend. I pulled off another top-15 finish, but also my first last place in a long time. Reviewing my track sessions, I've identified a few areas that conventional riding styles will help me shave a couple more seconds:

1. Keeping the gas on longer entering T1 / braking later and harder
2. Getting a better drive out of T2 for the straight heading into T3
3. Keeping the gas on longer entering T3 / braking later and harder
4. Driving harder down T5 and hard braking into the turn
5. And as usual, keep the throttle open longer heading into T9 before downshifting into 4th gear.

Curt Jordan is going to take another whack at the motor this winter. He feels confident that he can wring another 4 - 5hp out of the motor without breaking any Super Stock rules. We'll also look at reducing friction, wind drag and doing what we can to lighten the bike.

Gaining more than a few seconds will probably require some forays into sliding the bike around the corners. I'm not too thrilled at learning that trick at 150mph around T9, so Steve and I are looking for a couple of old 200cc Honda XL/XR bikes to start playing in the dirt.

Bob.

Copyright 1996 - 2003, Aramel Racing, All Rights Reserved