A great day of racing at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. One of the premier tracks of the U.S.A., host to many other races including, NASCAR, AMA, Indy Car Series. It has been almost 2 1/2 years since I raced at Infineon, much less ran on this track. So Friday I opted for a trackday and worked on getting the rust out. That went over very well, although by the end of the day I was sliding out of T2 pretty easily.
So into the pits, and new tires on the bike, and back out to scrub them in for the weekend.
Not much to say, my goal was to complete the races, get my feet wet again, and go as smoothly as possible. smooth = fast.
My race schedule was
Race 2 (650 Twins)
Race 10 (Open Twins)
Race 11 (Formula 4)
I'd be running back to back races. Race 2 went without a hitch, I didn't push it, and just picked the guy in front of me to reel in and try and pass. Successful race, and goals complete.
We had a lot of friends over to the pits this weekend, as the weather is amazing, and we bbq'd some dogs and burgers. With the evening races fast approaching, I readied the bike and went to watch the formula pacific races (premier race of the weekend). Just what I needed to get jazzed up for my races coming up.
Race 10: Open Twins (all motorcycles that are of a Twin cylinder nature. usually large bore ducati's. I run this race to run with fast bikes. Like a carrot dangling and enticing you to go faster and faster. haha great way to speed up.
It would prove a difficult race. After the green flag, I settled in behind a Duc and went at it. On lap 1 I saw a bike laying on the outside of T7 and dude on the inside K-wall. The race continued, but when I came back around there was a bike on the outside of the entrance to T7 and the rider towards the outside. First race stop. So back to the pits. Here we were made to wait for too long, before race control sent everyone back to their pits. Since the downed rider ended up being flown out to the e.r.
On Race start number 1, we all got around to T2, and as I crested on the right hander, I see bikes everywhere, 2 are on the ground sliding left, one has just landed, 3 bikes are riding in the dirt, and I'm weaving left and right, get through, and get back on the throttle hard. Race is on until red flags fly. Well, didn't take long...by T4 black flags were out, and red flag in T7. So there we sat again, then were shuffled into the pre-grid area.
Lets try this again. haha
On the 3rd restart I got the jump on one of the bikes going into T1, and held it for the shortened race of 4 laps. Eventually, the guy would not finish, crashing out instead.
It was a fun race, and I immediately gridded up for my next race, Formula 4. I was tired, it was hot, but hell, it's only 8 laps, and I did the same, went out, reeled them in, picked them off one at at a time, and got my feet wet.
After finishing up, I arrived to my pits to many friends and a cold PBR!!!
after checking my results, it appears that I won a trophy, for Top Novice in Open Twins. :D
A great day with a Sunday trophy!
Top Novice, Open Twins July 10th, 2011. :D
