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Hypnotiq Racing Race Reports
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Archive - 2007 Race Reports
2007 WMRRA Round 6 Race Report - August 11th/12th
Hey everyone! Time for Round 6 of the 2007 WMRRA season. It's with bittersweet emotions that this will be my last race report for the 2007 race season. With my upcoming wedding and trip to Europe, I'll miss the final two WMRRA rounds. As always, my race reports are not short and since this one will have the season wrap up, it won't get any shorter! :)
Saturday morning could have started off a bit better. I had done the track day on Friday with Adrenaline Freaks and apparently when I loaded the bike back into the trailer, my dumbass forgot to turn the key off. New rule, key goes in tool box to force me to remember to turn off bike. I scramble around to find a trickle charger and Brad Gua bails me out, as he has a couple. Thanks Brad! I get the bike hooked up to the charger and go and get my registration paperwork/tech my gear. My air pressure gauge was acting screwy so I stopped by the Tigershark tent and had Josh double check my pressures. He looked at my tires and asked how many laps I had on them. “2 races and 2 full track days, so about 170.” He shook his head. I told him I was practicing for e-racing next year by seeing how long I could ride tires. He laughed. The plan was to head out in the 1st practice on these tires and then switch to new rubber for the final practice and the main events.
First practice goes pretty well for the most part. Group 4 is moving slower than usual and I was getting a little frustrated. I finally got some clear track to work with and was able to set a nice pace. Checkered came out and I ended the practice feeling pretty good. I talked to Greg Bouwens and he was feeling pretty good and he asked if I would have something for him today and I said “maybe”. I switch over to a new set of the SC's and head out in practice number 2. This practice was quite a bit more frustrating and I couldn't get clear track anywhere. Either I was getting faster or group 4 had a bunch of turtles into it. Practice ended and I wasn't in a particularly good mood since I couldn't get a good rhythm. Greg asks how it went and I shared my frustrating.
Onto the first race, 750SS. I had talked to Briggs before the race and he gave me a tip on getting better starts. He told me all the things to do and the one thing not to do. So we head out on the warm up lap and head out to grid position. I was in the 2nd wave, row 7. This should be fun. I get the start and the front starts to come up, I do what Briggs told me not to do and chop it and then realize it and get right back on the throttle. By this time, the entire 2nd wave has passed me except for Allister who killed his bike on the start. GREAT! At this point I'm cussing and screaming in my helmet for the better part of two laps. I'm making my way through the slower riders, best I can. Some of those guys have some crazy lines which makes it hard to pass at times. Allister got by me while I was trying to set one of the guys up and so I get impatient. Coming down the hill into T3, I try to take the 3 slower bikes on the outside. Well, I was carrying way too much speed down the hill and I couldn't get the bike slowed down enough to turn it in so I end up taking the access road. At this point, I hit the roof. More cursing and screaming in my helmet. I had to let the entire group go by, plus the guys I had passed the 1st two laps since there was no gap. I put my head down and go back to my screaming in the helmet. I'm charging hard through each lap, getting 1-3 bikes a lap. I'm closing in on the bike that I was originally going to take on the outside of T3 (#697) on the final lap. I come into the bus stop in a full stoppie trying to close the distance. I thought while I had the rear in the air, I might as well shift to 1st. I tuck in behind him and draft him to just before the chute where I come out from the bubble to get him at the line (ha ha Rick. :P). Needless to say, I was none too happy with the result. Between the start and running off in T3, it sucked. Finished 24th, with a best of :33 flat. The only thing to note here is that a 33 flat, was 3.4 seconds then my previous best in a race. I headed back into the pits and chatted with Greg and Briggs and shared what happened. Briggs and Greg said they wouldn't let me come off the track after OpenSS unless I turned a 32.5.
Second race for Saturday (and last), is OpenSS. I decide to go back to my way of starting, which yielded me a pretty good start in Spokane. I'm in the 4th row for this race. The flag drops and boom, I get a much better start. Greg still gets by me but was much better than 750SS. I keep Greg in sight and begin to work my way through the slower bikes. I got in a pretty good rhythm and was keeping Greg about the same gap from me which made me feel good. I was coming down the hill into T3 when I saw Antone and my buddy Josh. I was going to try and get Josh there but Antone slowed up more than I expected so I ended up shoving it in front of both of them and skating through 3 ahead. I started to go after Greg but I just didn't seem to close the gap. I cruised to the finish line without much incident after that. I checked my timer and 32.6 was in the books! I went and talked to Greg and he said he'd let that count as close enough. I ended up finishing in 11th place in OpenSS and all but two bikes in front of me were liter bikes, so that felt pretty good. :) I packed up the trailer and headed home to get some rest for Sunday. On the way home I called to tell Briggs my good news and ended up stopping by the Joker to have a couple beers with him and Scott to celebrate my accomplishment.
Sunday rolls around and I'm feeling pretty good. After how I ended Saturday, I felt like I could click off some 31's, maybe even 30's. I decided that I was moving well enough to go back out and race Formula Ultra again and have people to race with. My buddy Dave Robbins signed up as well so we hoped we'd get to battle. I headed out in Group 4 practice again (forgot to go and find tech to change me to group 5 practice). I started out in front this time to avoid the cluster that happened last time. I was able to get into a pretty good rhythm. I came in after practice and Greg asked how it went and I told him 31's were definitely in the cards today.
First up, Formula Ultra. Since I only raced this class once this year, and it was the big crash I had in the rain when I threw away 4th place, I was gridded in the last row with Dave Robbins. Oh well, at least things would be even. We headed out on the warm up lap and I was coming down the hill into T3 when I saw Pete Bertram lose the front end. We headed back around to grid and gridded up for the start. The light went out and I put my head down. I get a great start and get past a few bikes going into T2. I keep on the gas and just keep pushing. I was struggling in T9 with my rear tire. It just kept spinning up on me and wanting to pitch me. Half way flag comes out and I decide to take a peek behind me coming out of T4 to see where Dave is. He's coming into T4 as I'm leaving. Not quite the breathing room I was wanting. I'm trying to push through T9 but that rear just won't stay down. It's pissing me off since I only 20 laps on the tire before the race. Around lap 7, I start having problems with the rear in T2. I look back again and I have a little breathing room on Dave but not much. I can't push the bike any harder without fear of tossing me off of it. White flag comes out and I stay on it. Coming out of T4 this time, I see that I have enough of a gap to secure the position. I let up a little through T9 since I was having problems with the rear. I take the checkered flag in front of Dave! I was pumped would be an understatement. Dave congratulated me on the way down the hill and I came into the pits. I looked down at my lap timer and I had done it. 31.5 with a race average of 32.2. A new personal best!!! I've cut almost an entire 5 seconds since the last Pacific round!!!! Finished 14th behind a bunch of liter bikes and a couple 750 superbikes, so I felt pretty good about that. :) I went by Josh's trailer to see what the hell was going on with my tire. He took the hot temp and I was at 34psi. #@!~%! Way too hot. We dropped it down to where it should be for hot so that I was setup for 750SB.
750SB is the last race of the day. I'm already pretty pooped since I pulled the pin in that Formula Ultra race and pushed pretty hard. I'm in the 4th row for this race. I don't get a great start but it was alright. The bikes in front of me were moving slower though coming into T3 and I shoved my bike under Troy Cook in T4 (I knew he'd come give me shit about that later. heh). I have Colin Rimes, Mike Tobin, and Corson Piper all right in front of me. I try pushing to get to those guys but I just don't have the energy to hold onto my bike. I'm pushing but I can't seem to close the distance. I wanted nothing more than to beat Corson on the final race but in the end, I didn't have anything left. Troy ended up getting me back on lap 8 and I just didn't have it. I ended up crossing the finish line in 20th place out or 35 bikes and a best of 31.9.
That was it. I finished the 2007 race season with my bike and myself in one piece. The weekend was full of surprises and definitely allowed me to end my season a BIG positive note. I was pretty frustrated with how I had felt like I was against a wall with my times and wasn't improving like I wanted to. I had done one off fast times but never ran fast times consistently, within tenths of a second. Guys that used to be 5-10 positions ahead of me, I'm now racing with. I'm sad that this is the end of the season for me but it leaves me with nothing but positive feelings for the 2008 race season.
-2007 Season Accomplishments-
I have big plans for the 2008 season and will post up about them as details become available.
I'd like to take a moment to thank all of my sponsors for 2007.
That's it everyone. 2007 race season is over. I hope to see all you guys during the offseason and can't wait till we start things up again next year. I hope to have everyone's support again in 2008!
Thanks,
Nico
2007 WMRRA Round 5 Race Report - July 7th/8th
Man, it feels like forever since I wrote one of these. Hmmm, maybe it's because it's been a while. *g* You should all know the routine by now, so grab your lunch before reading this. :)
Small little blurb catching up on what has happened the last couple of months. The May round @ Pacific, I ended up having a mechanical with my clutch cable which I thought I was going to be able to make work through the weekend, I was wrong. I ended up pulling out midway through Form Ultra. I missed the Spokane races over Memorial Day weekend due to the fact that I had an internal electrical fire in my car the week prior and was still dealing with fallout with that. Just when I thought all the bad luck was done, for the June races @ Pacific, I had left my trailer keys in the center console of the truck. Jen didn't have her cell phone with her and was on her way to the Doggy 5k. She was due back at lunch, so I figured I'd just skip practice (rain anyways) and unload at lunch. When she showed up, no keys were to be found. After finally cutting the locks off, I would have only been able to make 1 race, so I said screw it. I wasn't in the mind frame to race.
So, now onto Round 5 @ Spokane. :) I decided to skip the usual track day on the Friday before the race weekend. I was out @ Spokane the previous weekend to control ride for NESBA. That was my first time on that track since one of my first track days, 2 years ago (sans blowing my engine on the 2nd corner of the out lap last year). With things as busy as they've been at work, I really needed to be @ work on Friday. Jen and I pulled into SRP just after 7 on Friday night. We dropped the trailer off at the track and said hi to gang of campers partying. We headed off to Prospectors to grab some dinner and then went to the hotel to get a good night's rest before the hot Saturday forecast.
Saturday would prove to be a very long, hot day. We rolled into the track around 7am and got the pit setup next to Allister. I was helping Allister with the NRC session and mentoring two of my friends, Daryll and Jared. I needed new tires for the races this weekend, so I put some take offs on my backup set of rims to use for morning practice and going out in the NRC session. No sense burning up new tires. I dropped tires off with Chuck and he got the take offs mounted and new ones on my primary set. I didn't feel like swapping rotors (carbon pads), so I had another set that I hadn't used since last year that were blasted, so I mounted those on the set of take offs. Originally the schedule had OpenSS as the last race on Sunday, so I was disappointed I wasn't going to be able to get a jump on the trip home Sunday. Jeff (Race Director) decided to try a suggestion coming from several riders of running SS classes on one day and SB on the other day. Hooray, no longer the last race on Sunday and this is a change I actually was trying for. Anyways, I head out in the first NRC session with Daryll and Jared and as we come up to speed on the front street, I have the worse wobble I've ever felt. #!%%$!%$ warped rotors! :@ Damn it. So I throw my hand up and wave Daryll and Jared on to go follow Allister while I go into the pits and swap everything out. Since I was putting the new rubber on and I needed to put on new pads this weekend too, I just did that at the same time and went and bedded them in.
I headed out in Group 4 pracitce #2 and tested things out. Everything felt good so I went back to the pits to get ready for the 2nd NRC session. I headed out with Daryll and Jared. I gave Daryll a couple of close quarters passes and came under him once to get him used to race situations. Jared was starting to pull away, so I went and chased him down and did the same with him for a couple of laps. They were both doing very well, so I told them they would be out with Allister for the 3rd NRC session since I had to get ready for OpenSS. The temperature was hot. 90+ degrees and I had been out on the track a lot. I went out in Group 4 #3 practice with Allister to get warmed up for the OpenSS race. Allister and I turn some pretty good laps and I feel ready for OpenSS.
OpenSS - I'm gridded up in the 3rd row (still milking the points from my 5th in the first race weekend. lol) I get my patented crappy start and have most of the field go by me coming into T1. This was my first race @ Spokane ever, so I wasn't sure how things shake out in T1/T2. I ended up putting my head down and chase a couple of the bikes that got by me. I had a bike crash in front of me twice in T9. It was hot and I was getting tired. As I came across Start/Finish the white flag was out, at that time Ross was right next to me and I wasn't sure if the white flag was mine or his, so I just kept my head down and kept going. I didn't see the yellow flag or pit board, so I kept racing. Turns out it was a white flag for me/checkered for him and I didn't know it. I was able to hold on for 13th place and turned in a personal best race time (first race, of course it's a personal best. :)) of 1:37:0. I came in from the race and was done. I had been hydrating all week and drinking a ton of water all day. I just think all the exposure to the sun got to me between practice, NRC, and the race. I sat with a cold towel on my head while I caught my breath before 750SS.
750SS - The start of 750SS comes up. I'm gridded back in the 7th row for this race. I get another patently bad start and have a bunch of guys go by. Guys I usually race with (or beat) get by me. I try to reel them in but the fatigue and heat are getting to me. I cut T3 a little close (in the dirt) and run off on the exit of T7. I look behind me and have a pretty good margin from the bike behind me. So I dial it back and decide finishing is most important. I keep my eye out for Eli/Ross to come by. I can see them coming out of T7 so I make way for them to get by me and they take the checkered. Phew, I survived the race. :) Best lap was a 1:38:5, oh well, I was pooped. Finished 20th. I was just happy to finish.
We packed up and went back to the hotel to shower, let Rossi out. Jen, Daryll, Jared, Laura, and myself went and grabbed some dinner and then I went back to the hotel and PASSED out.
Sunday rolls around and since my only race is @ 1155, I decide to get the trailer prepped so that after the race, I can just ride in and then we can get a jump on the drive home. Allister needed to get a few laps in on the big Ape and I only wanted to get a few laps in (conserve energy in the heat) so we headed out in Group 4 practice to shake things out. I headed out and did 4 or 5 laps with Allister and feel like I'm ready for 750SB. We line up for the start and we're off. I'm used to the Spokane start now so I'm going hard into T1 this time and to my surprise, I don't see anyone go by me. Hmm. That's odd. I'm usually the worst starter on the grid. Mitchell comes around me on the exit of T2 and I keep going strong. Someone came by me on my left coming into T3 and ran off the track but kept it up somehow and was still in front of me. I kept pushing and when I was coming into T8, I could still see the lead bike (I was around ~12th place). Holy #!$ I never get a start like this. What the hell had gotten into me. LOL. So I start going to work, one of the guys I usually race with got by me so I was trying to chase him down. I kept checking my rear out of T6 and could see that I was keeping Rick Rinaldo (on his new 600rr) at about the same gap so I was feeling good about that. I fell off pace for a lap and could see that Rick closed the gap considerably. On the 6th lap Rick came by me into T4 and was chattering out wide, I tried to get hard on the gas to get back around him but couldn't stick it. He maintained about the same gap from me until the last lap when I seemed to be closing in on him. He had just passed Josh and I was setting Josh up for T6 so I could go after Rick but Josh tucked the front hard on the brakes in front of me. I had to check up in T6 and by the time I got back on it, Rick had already pulled too much of a gap to do anything in the last 4 corners. Oh well. It was a good race and I had a freaking blast. All but 2 laps were in the 36's with a new personal best race time of 36.1. I ended up finish 18th. It was fun to battle with Rick during that race and hopes he stays slow on that new bike of his so I can keep having fun with him.
Jen and I loaded up everything, grabbed Rossi and headed back to Seattle. It was a long, hot weekend and felt good to be home.
Results Recap -
All in all it was a great weekend. My first time racing @ Spokane. It definitely was fun and I had a blast. I could have done without the extreme fatigue on Saturday but it just reminded me how much I need to work on my endurance over the course of the offseason this year.
A huge thanks to my teammate Allister for doing what he usually does. Congrats to my newly crowned Novices, Jared and Daryll. Also, thanks to all of my sponsors! Studio819 - Brandon Bones Photography, EDR Performance, I-90 Motorsports, Pirelli/Tigershark Racing, GP Suspension North, Adrenaline Freaks Trackdays, Vortex Racing, Sharkskinz Racing, Lockhart Phillips USA, Sidi, JMI Motoring, and my biggest supporter of all, my fiance Jen! Thanks to all the WMRRA corner workers and race day staff, who make it possible for us to race every weekend!
Next race weekend is August 11/12th @ Pacific Raceways. Hope to see you guys out there as this will be my last race of 2007 before getting married and heading off on my honeymoon in Europe.
-Nico
2007 WMRRA Round 4 Race Report - June 9th/10th
Playing catchup here. Nothing too much to report here.
Sunday morning, Jen dropped me off at the track and then headed off the Furry 5k. Turns out that I left the keys to the trailer in the center console and she didn't have her cell phone with her. She was due back at lunch and it was raining in the morning anyways, I decided to skip practice and just unload at lunch. Jen shows up and keys aren't there. #!$% By the time we cut the locks, there is only one race left and I wasn't in the mindset to race, so I said forget it and went home.
My bad luck string continues
-Nico
2007 WMRRA Round 3 Race Report - May 26th/27th
Playing catchup here. Nothing to really report. Due to my car having an internal electrical fire the week before the races and being busy with the insurance, dealership, etc... I didn't have time to get ready for the race weekend so I had to skip the Spokane round.
Let the luck continue...
-Nico
2007 WMRRA Round 2 Race Report - May 5th/6th
Playing catchup here.
So after the horrendous end to my first race weekend and a very expensive repair bill, my bike was ready for the next round at Pacific. Or so I thought. After going out in the first practice, my clutch cable was giving me fits. It was really heavy. I checked and it had become kinked from the crash in April. I didn't have a spare so I tried to make it work anyways. I fumbled through practices and tried to get everything ready to go for Form Ultra on Saturday.
Form Ultra. Since I was having clutch cable issues and didn't want to get in the way of all the super fast guys that didn't run in the rain the previous race weekend, I chose to start from the back. I got a horrible start (this time I can blame the cable instead of me. lol). I tried to make it work but after 4 laps in race pace, I just couldnt get it to shift right coming into T3. It wouldn't shift more than once. So I pulled off before something bad happened. Rather than waste more money.
Called it a weekend and decided to get things fixed before Spokane. Argh!!!
-Nico
2007 WMRRA Round 1 Race Report - March 31st/April 1st
Alright race fans! It's the first races of the 2007 season and always, my race reports are never short! :)
Arrived at the track Saturday morning and of course I could tell already, it was going to be one of those weekends! I forgot the keys to the trailer on the counter at home. I had to call Jen and ask her to bring down my keys. While I waited for my keys I helped Allister get our pit setup and helped out a new nervous, I mean novice Marcus get setup for the day. He was doing his NRC on Saturday and his Novice race on Sunday. It was raining and since I was already behind getting my bike out of the trailer I elected to skip first Med/Fast practice and make a call at lunch on whether to mount rains or DOT's. That would give me a practice after lunch and then my 1st race of the weekend @ 3:30, 750 Supersport. I talk with Chuck @ Pirelli and we make the call that it looks like its going to dry up so we get the DOT's ready to rock and setup so I can go out on the first practice. I head out for Med/Fast practice to scrub in the tires and after we complete lap #1, as Im coming into the chute the guy in front of me loses control and goes into the wall on the straight away after the chute. I get my hand up quickly and frantically waving because the bike is still running along the wall and can come across the straight at any min. I dont brake until I absolutely have to since its the straight away. Luckily we make it past the straight and the bike never came across. Definately something I could have gone without seeing. Amazingly enough, the guy is OK and no serious injuries. He was back at the track later that day.
So it's time for the first race of the weekend, 750SS. It's dry out and I'm feeling alright. I have exactly one 5 lap practice under my belt heading into the first race of the season. Eek! I'm in row 7. Its supposed to be roughly a 50 bike grid. The light goes out and we start. Everyone diving into T1 jockeying for position. I see a bike come across John Lippis front wheel, taking him out. A couple other bikes run off the track and T1. One of the bikes kicks up a huge dirt cload that hits my helmet and dirts trickles down into my eyes. Great, I can't see anything now. Everybody and there mom passes me as I try and blink out the dirt in my eyes. By the end of lap 2, I was able to see again. Time to start making up ground. I make up a bunch of positions but get stuck behind a set of two bikes that I can't seem to make it around. I'm starting to feel better as the race goes on, getting comfortable being on the track again. However, I was never able to quite get past those two bikes and ended up finishing in a less than stellar position of 27th, and about 3 seconds off my usual pace. Oh well, first race of the season and I have no time on the bike, so I guess I can't be too unhappy. :) This was my only race of the day so I wait for my dad to finish corner working and then we head home for the evening.
Sunday morning arrives and its clear skies. We arrive at the track and its clear everywhere! Hooray! Today is going to be an awesome day, albeit cold. Soon after the riders meeting, the clouds start rolling in. Wonderful!! I went out in Med/Fast practice and it was pretty dry. My practice times were under my fast times from the day before so I'm definately feeling better out on the track. Lunch rolls around and it starts hailing. GREATTTTT! I go over and talk to Chuck @ Pirelli and ask if he has any studded tires. The first race after lunch is 750SB. About 25 mins before lunch is over, the sun breaks through and it looks like it might dry up. I make the bold gamble that the track will dry out so I decide to go with DOT's.
Lunch is over, the horn goes off and its time to head to pre grid. It's sprinkling still and I'm the only genius with DOT's on. :) Oh well, I'll just take it easy out there and make the most of it. Right around Lap 4, Eli and Degross make their way around me the first time. Each time around the track though, there seemed to be a new bike down. I had moments all over the track but I was keeping it together. Around Lap 8, Eli and Degross make their way around me a 2nd time. I hold on and take the checkered flag, managing to finish the race on my DOT's and not be the last bike across the finish line. 11th place. Oh well, I survived. That was the important part. Fast lap, 2:05. *LOL*
My next race is an hour later and it doesnt look like it's gonna clear up. Pirelli is out of rain tires and I dont have time to swap tires off of another set of rims. I know my buddy Adam in Novice has the same gixxer, has rains mounted, and is done for the day. So we quickly swap tires/rotors (his werent SS legal or bedded for carbon pads). Barry from GP Suspension North quickly comes over and softens my bike up for the rain. I'm ready to go for OpenSS.
OpenSS gets off to a clean start and Im trying to adjust to being on rain tires. It's been almost a year since I've been on them. I had no idea what place I was going into T2 but lost a couple of positions by the end of the 1st lap. It took about 2-3 laps to get comfortable and then I started to get to work. I started to work my way through the pack, I made up 4 positions with 3 laps to go. Im now behind a guy on a 1000RR and he yards me on the straight and the entrance to T2 but by the time we exit T4 I'm back on his tail. We are side by side into T8 and I realize I can get this guy in the bus stop. We come onto the straight and the white flag is out. I realize I need to make the move on this lap. I make sure I'm hard on his tail coming out of T7. I set myself up for T9 so that I'm on the inside coming out. I get on the throttle and stay on it till I get far enough past him and make it before the bus stop. I get a good drive out of the bus stop and I'm able to hold him off @ the checkered flag! I felt great after this race. I went over to check the results and I had to do a double take. I knew I was moving but didnt realize I had made my way up to 5th place!!! Woohooo! Top 5. I'm on cloud 9!!!!
Next up is the 3rd race of the day. This being only my 2nd expert weekend, I've never had 3 races in one weekend. Racing in the rain is mentally draining but I have enough in me to do the last race for sure. It's still raining so its gonna be another wet race! I got a decent start and was 6th going into T2. I took it easy for the first couple laps as I got used to the rain again. I made it past one bike and was running in 5th and was behind a guy on a 1000RR that kept yarding my ass on the straights. it's the same guy I made a last minute pass in the bus stop in the OpenSS race. I knew where I could get him so I just sat back and waited to make my move. Staying close enough so that I could make it. I made the pass just after the half way mark and tried to see if I could create a gap. I'm now in fourth. I couldn't do it but i was able to keep him from making the position back. On the last lap, I was coming into T5 and I was a little offline and hit the bump in T5. I felt the front compress and I knew I was heading to the pavement. The bike and I started to slide across the gravel. It looked like it was gonna be a nice slide but then the bike caught and the damage begun. I popped up quickly and kicked the gravel. I was pissed. I was in 4th place at this point! 4 more corners and I would have been done.
I make it back to the pits and several other racers had made it by to make sure I was ok and to see the carnage. It was nice to hear from some of the other racers how well I was riding and commenting about the pass I made in the bus stop. I was still mad at myself for crashing. I talked to Dave Robbins for a bit and he tried to make me feel better but I just wasn't in the mood at the time. At first glance, it appears that I have two rims to repair, replace subframe, replace fairing stay, fiberglass work, and check out the forks/frame. I haven't torn down the bike yet, so there may be more. I'll know more tonight.
After having time to sit back and reflect about the weekend, the races, and the crash, Im extremely happy with how my weekend went. I went out in the rain and was turning out some pretty good results. Racing in the rain is not easy and definately takes a lot out of you. I made a small mistake and paid for it but I think the confidence I've gained and the experience really is invaluable. I want to thank all the seasoned veterans that came by my pit and talked to me afterwards to help me realize this. I really do appreciate the advice/encouragement.
So to recap the weekends results:
A huge thanks to my teammates Allister and Mitch for helping out this weekend. Also, thanks to all of my sponsors! Studio819 - Brandon Bones Photography, EDR Performance, I-90 Motorsports, Pirelli/Tigershark Racing, GP Suspension North, Adrenaline Freaks Trackdays, Vortex Racing, Sharkskinz Racing, Lockhart Phillips USA, Sidi, JMI Motoring, and my biggest supporter, my fiance Jen! Big thanks to the corner workers for enduring the hail/rain and picking me up in T5. :)
Thanks to everyone that made it out this weekend to watch and to the support of all the other racers out there who have helped me become a better racer and given me advice.
Next race weekend is May 5th @ Pacific Raceways. See you guys then!
-Nico
Photo courtesy of Studio819 - Brandon Bones Photography!
Archive - 2006 Race Reports
WMRRA Round 8 Race Report - Oct 7th/8th
I guess I should start off by saying that there is no Round 7 report since I elected not to go to Spokane for Labor Day weekend. I would like to add to the news that I was elected to the WMRRA Executive Board as the 2007 WMRRA Supersport Representative. I'm very much looking forward to volunteering some time to a club that has provided me with a tremendous amount of fun and opportunity. I'm honored to represent the riders of WMRRA. I can't wait for 2007!
I had been waiting for this weekend for a while now. I was nervous and excited. Nervous because I didn't want to look like an idiot out in the expert classes but excited because I had made it to this point.
I didn't get any practice in on Friday due to the fact it was raining (god I hate this state sometimes) and I knew we had a dry forecast for the weekend so I opted to remain lazy and bullshit with the HDFFC guys, Brad, and Allister.
Saturday morning came and the practices were delayed due to some pretty intense fog. We were about 45 mins behind so practices were shortened up. I went out in the first session on my DOT's from last race weekend just to get warmed up. I was in Med-Fast practice, Group 4. WOW! I have a whole new appreciation for things after that practice. Holy shit. Nothing bad, just need to get used to what CLOSE is. :) Our next practice wasn't till the session right after lunch so I took my time when I came in and switched over to new tires to scrub in for the last practice session before my races. Practice went well, tires are good to go, let's race.
750SS, my first ever expert race. I was starting to get butterflies and then the 5 min horn sounds. I watch pit gate waiting for the bikes to show up and yank off the tire warmers. We are sitting at pit out and the nervousness just continues to grow. I head out on my warm up lap and work my way to my grid position. Last I heard was this was a 43 bike grid. Eeeek! I suck at starts too, good thing I'm in the second to last row of the grid. :) About the time went out, all the nervousness went away. I remember how to do this, it's called racing. I get my typical shitty start and I'm being helped up pretty well the first few laps by #84. Once I make my way around him, I begin to charge hard. I start working my way through the bikes. I felt good. Then I see the half way marker! WHAT??! This thing is only halfway over?! Who knew 2 laps could feel like so much longer. Oh well. With two laps to go, I see a fellow graduated novice I knew, Adam. My goal: Not finish behind him. As we come across the white flag, I'm closing the gap pretty well. Coming down the hill into T3 I go flying past him on the brakes and duck in under him. I finish around to the line for the checkered flag. I checked the lap times and I was definitely being held up. First 3 laps were :41/:40/:41 and then I drop down to 36/37's. End result: 24th out of 43 bikes (waiting for the official race results to see how many bikes grided). Best time: 1:36:134. A new personal best! Woohooo! That was my only race Saturday, so I head home happy.
Sunday morning rolls around and as I get about a mile from the track, it starts raining!!! WTF?!?! This wasn't in the forecast. Not a happy camper. I sit around and watch the weather. It looks like its starting to dry up but its doing that stupid ?tweener? whether. In between light rain/no rain, not drying the track. I decide I'm not going to do practice and just wait till lunch and make the call for rain tires since I have races at 2 and 2:55. 650SB before lunch runs and it pretty much dries the race line so I decide to stick with DOT's. The tweener whether starts again but it appears that the track is staying dry. As we are getting reading for OpenSS race, a sidecar blows its oil cooler on the start finish line and leaves an oily mess from Start/Finish to Turn 1. Great. An oil spill in T1. Not someplace you want to yard sell your bike. After the 30min cleanup, sidecars run their race and we hear the horn. We are watching pit gate and no bikes are coming. Turns out that a sidecar crashed in the final lap and they had to airlift the rider out.
OpenSS finally grids. I'm in the last row of this grid. I get a better start this time but still get stuck behind a couple of slow guys that I had to work around. After that, I tried to work my way up but there isn't a big field here so I end up riding around by myself for a while. :) I didn't feel like I had run that hard but times showed me in the 36's again so I can live with that. Final result: 14th out of 19 bikes on the grid. Best time: 1:36:784
Next up, 750SB. I only had a small breather (8 lap Novice race) between OpenSS and 750SB. Horn goes off and we head to pre-grid. See Colin Rimes on pre-grid and he told me to kick some ass, as he knew it was my first expert weekend. That was nice of him. I'm in the 6th row out of 8 for grid. I actually get a better launch this time but my buddy James (#67) gets by me from the row behind and so I start to chase him and Colin (#880). Colin makes it by James in Turn 8 but there wasn't enough room for me to make it too so I back off. This then turns into a battle between James and myself. Lap 4, we are coming out of Turn 4 and James looks back to see who is behind me and my # plate is about a foot from where he is looking. He knows I'm there now so he begins to do everything in his power to keep me from getting by. He is slowing me down through 6 so I try to get him on the drive up the hill but don't quite have enough to get him in 8. He brakes early for 9 and I come under him and try and out drive him into the bus stop but I just didn't have the guts to shove it in there. This went on for the rest of the race. I got close on lap 7 of finishing the deal in the bus stop but James got back on the gas and got back by me before we tipped in. I pulled out wide for the checkered to try and beat him to the line but just couldn't quite get there. Great race. Had a lot of fun dicing with James but in the end it showed me how much I need to work on my passing. I had him in a few spots I just needed to actually have the guts to stuff it in there and hold it. It will come with time. I finished 18th out of 24 bikes and my best time was a 1:38:329.
That's it. The end of the 2006 WMRRA race season. It was a great season and I couldn't have asked for anything more. I had 5 goals when I started the season.
Have fun!
Graduate Novice.
Turn a :36 in a race.
Not be the last bike across the line in my first expert race.
Not get lapped by the lap leader in an expert race by the end of my first season.
I'm more than happy to report that I accomplished all 5 of these goals. Though the fifth one may have an asterisk next to it, since it was a shortened race to 8 laps. :)
I'm very much looking forward to next season. Coming back strong and working on the things I need to in order for me to be a faster, better racer.
Thanks to everyone this year for their support. Coming out to the races and watching me race, racers who gave me advice/ribbing/teasing, and my sponsors for helping negate some of the costs! I-90 Motorsports (Zach Gordon), GP Suspension North (Barry Wressel), EDR Performance (Eric Dorn), Tigershark Racing/Pirelli (Josh Bryan), , my loving g/f (Jen) for putting up with my addiction, and the best photographer in motorsports, Brandon Bones (Studio819)!
One round left with OMRRA next weekend. Sprints and endurance races.
Until then...
-Nico
WMRRA Round 6 Race Report - Aug 12th/13th
The beginning of what I hope to be my graduation weekend into Expert class. I need to complete my final two races this weekend and be observed in the final race by race day staff to make sure that I'm moving fast enough to run in expert as well as not doing anything stupid on the track.
Saturday came and it was the start of the typical race day. Scrambling around the pits to make sure I make it through
registration, tech, etc. I have to throw some new tires on before my first practice (I can't wait till I'm no longer a novice and not screwed with first practice of the morning).
Everything is setup and I head out in the first morning practice to get my tires scrubbed in. 3 laps complete and the tires are scrubbed pretty good and I've worked my way past most of the slower riders. Track has started to warm up so I start to dial things up. Each lap I start laying it down a little harder as I'm in a zone. I come in from practice and yell through my helmet. "Game fucking on! I'm in the zone!" I was really pleased with that practice, check out the lap timer and it had a couple of 38s/39s in the final few laps. Perfect.
I head out in the second practice and just turn a few laps to stay loose and on my game. I come back in and throw the tire warmers on and check out my grid position. I'm positioned in spot 2 (1st row, 2nd spot). Finally!! I'm not screwed in the back of the grid. Although my starts are not exactly anything you can write home about. Jen and her mom had stopped by with some lunch for me and to watch the races. I had them go out to T5/6/7 since that is always a good place to watch from.
Time for the race, I wait for the whistle for them to release for the warm-up lap and Allister starts tearing off the tire warmers for me so I can get out there. I proceed around the track and head to my grid position. And the start.well in typical Nico fashion, I get a crappy start. 5 bikes all make their way in front of me. One of the riders, I know I'm quite a bit faster than holds me up till Turn 3. I finally get by him and start to get to the front pack. I don't want to lose site of those guys. They are a little quicker than me so I'm hoping maybe they can tow me around the track a bit. Well I come on the bike in 4th position and he is holding me up in a couple of spots. I can't seem to get past him because he has more drive than me being on a liter bike. The biggest problem was him hitting the brakes in 6 (not dragging, actually braking). I almost ass packed him once but every time I tried to get him on the exit he just had more HP than me. Finally I decide it will have to be on the brakes into T3. I come down the hill and don't even bother looking at the corner. I'm looking at his brake hand, waiting for him to brake. After I see him brake, I wait a half a second and brake hard. He left me about 18in on the inside corner so I took it and chattered in under him. He looked over expecting me to check up but I just rolled on and he stood it up a little. After that, it was on. I took off not even knowing where he was. Just doing my best to make sure he doesn't get it back in front of me. Second to last lap, I'm coming out of T9 and I feel the bike start to go sideways. Great, this isn't going to be good. It feels like its about to start to high side when it straightens out. NEW PROBLEM. I'm carrying way too much speed into the bus stop so I get on the brakes hard. Next thing I know. The bars are smacking side to side and the ass end of my bike is wigglying side to side. All I can think is "Fuck. I'm about to crash and I'm in 4th!". I drop the brakes and hope that I can just shoot off in the dirt. Luckily things settled and I was able to downshift and still make the corner. Never giving up a position. Whew! Now became the lappers game. We had been hitting lappers since lap 3. Now it was starting to get thick. I was ducking and weaving my way through the pack and making sure to setup so that the guy behind me couldn't make the pass too. I see the white flag and finish my hard charge. I look back coming out of T4 and see that I've lost the liter bike from earlier and no one else on my tail. I finish the lap, pumping my fist as I crossed the finish line. 4th place!!
I had a bunch of people stop by and say hi after the race. They thanked me for my show in the bus stop. LOL Troy (Race Director for the weekend) stopped by and said "Dude! Not only did you manage to almost high side twice in the same lap, in T9 and then the bus stop, but you also did it in successive corners. Nice job!" I chuckled.
I go and check the official race times. New fastest race times for Nico. w00t. 3 - 37's, a handful of 38's, and a couple 39's. Best part, not one 40!!! Things are coming together nicely. I'm ecstatic at this point. I pack up and head out as I'm supposed to meet Jen and her mom for dinner.
Sunday. The big day. It's time to graduate. I have Allister sign off on my grad form and take it to Troy. Allister was kind enough to write a note on the bottom of it, to the effect that I'm a tool but I should be graduated anyways. Thanks buddy. :)
I have Barry (GP Suspension North) make some tweaks on my bike as I was having problems with T9 on Saturday and losing traction. I go out in the one and only practice but never really got a clean hard pass due to some cleanup that had to happen in 9 and it forced me to take a highline. Oh well, guess we'll find out in the race. I check grid position, same as the day before. Great, hopefully I can start better.
Jen stops by with her mom with my lunch and I send them out to T3 to watch the race. Figure they'll enjoy watching us fly down the hill after I had them watching from T5/6/7 the day before.
We grid up for the start. I get a better start this time but I don't let the clutch all the way out till too late. Damnit, I gave up like 9 bike positions coming into T1. Everyone bunched up so I just backed up and waited for it to get sorted out. I started to pick bikes off, working my way up to 5th. I'm not pushing too hard just making sure I finish the race so I can graduate. I have a couple of friends go by me and I try and make the pass back a couple of times but just wasn't willing to push it that far. There was some definite sketchy stuff out there with some of the novices. Plus all the NRC guys were out there now too. 53 bike grid and I was just trying to make it through the back 47 alive. :) I end up coming across the finish line in 7th. I check race times and most of mine were 38's and 39's. Good deal. I track down Troy to find out about my graduation. Troy had this to say. "Congratulations. You didn't do anything extraordinarily stupid! Good luck in Expert." Wooohoooo! No more novice for me!
I spent the next couple of hours watching a couple of the races, helping Allister out, and taking it easy. Packed up and called it a weekend as it was a success. I've graduated Novice. Time to run with the big boys! :)
Thanks to my sponsors for making life a little easier. I-90 Motorsports (Zach Gordon), GP Suspension North (Barry Wressel), Tigershark Racing/Pirelli (Josh), I-90 Motorsports (Zach), EDR Performance (Eric), my loving g/f (Jen) for putting up with my addiction, and the best photographer in motorsports, Brandon Bones (Studio819)!
Thanks to all the racers for making it a fun weekend as always!
Until next race weekend...
WMRRA Round 5 Race Report - July 8th/9th
Well after the first race weekend of the year at Spokane was cancelled due to us not getting a track use agreement, everyone, including myself was very much looking forward to finally getting to Spokane.
I headed out Thursday evening with Allister and his family. My bike was headed over with the I-90 trailer, so I just needed to hitch a ride out there and I'd be coming back home with Jen.
Friday morning, I had taken my time getting ready to head out for the track day. Brady had come by and finally gotten a fire lit under my ass to head out for a session. I gear up and head out, as I'm coming out of T2, I feel my bike start to bog a bit. I roll off and back on and hear BOOOOOOOOOOM!. Turn around and see smoke pouring out of the bike. Fuck, I just blew my engine. I pull off the race line and coast into pit exit. I start pushing my bike and Mitch was running towards me with a gas can thinking I ran out of gas. "Sorry dude, unless you have an engine with you, it won't help".
We get it back to the pits and up on stands and see the nice viewing window I had put in the front of my engine. Threw the main rod bearing through the front of the engine. Ooops!
A friend of mine showed up after seeing what happened and handed me a beer. Appropriate because my weekend was now over. So much for graduating. :(
I spent Saturday corner working since I was going to be racing and I had to wait for Jen to get into town. I had fun watching some racing from T6 and Allister and Jake crashing into each other on the out lap battling for position! :)
Oh well, this is what racing is I'm told. Time to get a new engine in this bad boy so I can hopefully graduate in August!
Thanks to my sponsors for making life a little easier. I-90 Motorsports (Zach Gordon), GP Suspension North (Barry Wressel), Tigershark Racing/Pirelli (Josh), I-90 Motorsports (Zach), EDR Performance (Eric), my loving g/f (Jen) for putting up with my addiction, and the best photographer in motorsports, Brandon Bones (Studio819)!
Until next race weekend...
OMRRA Round 3 Endurance/Novice Race Report - June 24th/25th
Hey race fans. It's time for another installment off "Can Nico make race reports any longer?"! =-)
It was time for Round 3 in Portland for OMRRA. As many of you know, I skipped Round 2 because of the iffy forecast and I couldn't have any more rain races count towards graduation so it would have been a wasted trip if it rained. Anyways, moving along.
A couple weeks prior to the event, I had been talking to Briggs Willoughby about my WMRRA race and he mentioned that endurance races are great for practicing and I should consider doing one. He mentioned the upcoming Portland race. I jokingly said if he and Brian (Lockhart) came out of retirement, I'd do it. Long story short, we spur of the moment decided we were racing the endurance race and I would be the lucky novice to sacrifice his bike to the endurance gods. Apparently it's the rules that you have to use the Novice bike. =-P
I headed down to Portland Friday evening to drop the trailer and claim some wall space for the endurance race. I finally had the opportunity to met a nice guy I had been talking to on sportbikes.ws about various issues with racing a gsxr. Thanks Eric, it was nice to put a face to a name/conversations. =-)
Saturday morning arrives and Brian and Briggs show up shortly after I started setting up. We get all setup and Briggs starts telling me everything he doesn't like about the bike setup. Clip-ons, shifter position, blah, blah, blah. What a premadonna! (just kidding Briggs). I told him to make whatever changes and I'll adjust. Turns out I loved the new setup. Makes riding the bike much easier. We get setup on two different practices. Fast and Novice. Briggs goes out in Fast practice to get acquainted with the bike. I head out after that. Things are feeling pretty good. I give the bike back over to Brian and let him go get situated. After Brian finishes up, I take the bike out for one last practice. I take off on the outlap and everything is good to go. As I come down the straight away, I decide Im gonna work on braking deeper in T1. I go about a second past my last brake marker and grab the brakes. The brake lever comes in about a half an inch and acts as if I'm applying brakes but its not slowing me down. I know it wasn't brake fade since the lever would have gone to the ba