Track Day report

From Saturday, Aug 14 at Spokane Raceway

Small group this time, only about 25 of us had the whole track to ourselves.
Riding went from 9-3, no sessions, just a wide-open day. I did about 200
miles. Seems like a short day, and it felt short until about 1pm when it go
too damn hot to ride longer than 15 or 20 minutes. By 3pm I was done. Temp
registered about 105, on the asphault I'm sure it was hotter. I felt like
the tires were fine though. Extreme heat actually gets rid of the jaggies
in your tire, instead you get a smooth even wear. Not sure if that's a good
thing or not.

I improved a lot this year. A lot of guys I was slower than in April I'm
faster than now. It's fun to have the litrebikes blow by you in the
straights, then see how far you can catch up through the turns. It really
makes you think about riding and employ some strategy. The way I see it,
the 600 supersport race leaders at WMRRA are about 5 secs/lap faster than
our group's fastest racer, on his souped-up RC51. So the bike ain't the
limiting factor, except on the straights. In fact I should be able to
corner better. I can't yet exactly so I have a lot of room to grow.

My improvement came in a couple of corners. I get a massive drive out of
turn 2, which is where I'm able to get a lot of catch-up. A lot of guys
said I was unpassable out of 2, until I get to 6 where I ride like a granny.
It's a hairpin that I just don't get yet. Then on turn 4, the best
right-hander (of only 2 total), my braking improved a lot. Otherwise I need
improvment in every corner.

I am done with street tires on the track. This was my 3rd track day on this
set, I'm getting slicks next. I just don't have the confidence in these
tires to go balls-out. I have a new set of Dunlop 208 ZR's (180/55 ZR17,
120/60 ZR17) for sale at $200 for the pair, email me if you want em.
They're unused, unmounted, virginal and brand spanking new.

http://jeffr.vircom.net/cbsbc/81404/srpaugust.html

Some pictures from the day. Oddly there are none of me, but oh well. The
dude on the 1100 Boxer had a blast. I'm glad he was there, he's the only
guy I could pass on the straights. The 920 bike is Cary Guasta's 954rr,
he's one of our best riders, holding about 5th in GP open class in his first
year. They made him skip novice. Only one injury, that on a pocketbike.
Three brand-new R1's on the day, man they're pretty.


--
Greg Sumner
Seattle WA
'03 CBR 600RR

"Inlaw Biker" <gmonsquared RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:o7-dnegzKfHayr_cRVn-gA@comcast.com...
 > From Saturday, Aug 14 at Spokane Raceway
 >
 > Small group this time, only about 25 of us had the whole track to
ourselves.
 > Riding went from 9-3, no sessions, just a wide-open day. I did about 200
 > miles. Seems like a short day, and it felt short until about 1pm when it
go
 > too damn hot to ride longer than 15 or 20 minutes. By 3pm I was done.
Temp
 > registered about 105, on the asphault I'm sure it was hotter. I felt like
 > the tires were fine though. Extreme heat actually gets rid of the jaggies
 > in your tire, instead you get a smooth even wear. Not sure if that's a
good
 > thing or not.
 >
 > I improved a lot this year. A lot of guys I was slower than in April I'm
 > faster than now. It's fun to have the litrebikes blow by you in the
 > straights, then see how far you can catch up through the turns. It really
 > makes you think about riding and employ some strategy. The way I see it,
 > the 600 supersport race leaders at WMRRA are about 5 secs/lap faster than
 > our group's fastest racer, on his souped-up RC51. So the bike ain't the
 > limiting factor, except on the straights. In fact I should be able to
 > corner better. I can't yet exactly so I have a lot of room to grow.
 >
 > My improvement came in a couple of corners. I get a massive drive out of
 > turn 2, which is where I'm able to get a lot of catch-up. A lot of guys
 > said I was unpassable out of 2, until I get to 6 where I ride like a
granny.
 > It's a hairpin that I just don't get yet. Then on turn 4, the best
 > right-hander (of only 2 total), my braking improved a lot. Otherwise I
need
 > improvment in every corner.
 >
 > I am done with street tires on the track. This was my 3rd track day on
this
 > set, I'm getting slicks next. I just don't have the confidence in these
 > tires to go balls-out. I have a new set of Dunlop 208 ZR's (180/55 ZR17,
 > 120/60 ZR17) for sale at $200 for the pair, email me if you want em.
 > They're unused, unmounted, virginal and brand spanking new.
 >
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://jeffr.vircom.net/cbsbc/81404/srpaugust.html</font" target="_blank">http://jeffr.vircom.net/cbsbc/81404/srpaugust.html</font</a>>
 >
 > Some pictures from the day. Oddly there are none of me, but oh well. The
 > dude on the 1100 Boxer had a blast. I'm glad he was there, he's the only
 > guy I could pass on the straights. The 920 bike is Cary Guasta's 954rr,
 > he's one of our best riders, holding about 5th in GP open class in his
first
 > year. They made him skip novice. Only one injury, that on a pocketbike.
 > Three brand-new R1's on the day, man they're pretty.
 >
 >

You gonna be at SIR tomorrow?
Bannon and I are going. If you aren't you should head down and keep us
company!


--
Andrew
00 Speed Triple
00 Daytona<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->