TigerBike Race report (AFM #944) - AFM Round 2

Hey folks.

Just coming off the heels of a great weekend for TigerBike Racing at Sears Point.

For those in the know, Round 1 in March was a rough weekend for me. Coming into the weekend, I had had a number of parts failures that had limited my practice time during the pre-season. I started off that race weekend with a crash, and did not get comfortable during the weekend. Riding Friday and Saturday in practice, I could only come within 1 second of my best times from 2008. When the conditions took a turn for the worse on Sunday, I could not feel comfortable pushing. A trio of bad race starts, combined with a tight track, made it difficult to work my way up to the race finishes I felt I was capable of.

This race weekend was followed a couple weeks later with a discovery that my engine case had developed a crack and was weeping oil, I was feeling pretty frustrated. Enter Desmoto Sport. They really came through for me, replacing my cases on short notice on a weekend. Taking my bike back up to the track, along with some motivational words from Scott, I got back out the next day and turned in a few laps at Thunderhill in the 1:56s, within a few tenths of my best race lap there from 2008 (1:56.1). That was exactly the boost I needed.

Flash forward a week. Back at the track working on setup and trying to get comfortable with some of the changes I’d made in the offseason. In two trackdays at Sears Point, I was able to lap within a few tenths of my best times from Sears (1:45.2 from the 2008 AMA weekend). The bike was feeling comfortable, I felt like I had things dialed in, now I was just hoping for good weather and some good race starts.

As of Monday and Tuesday on race week, the weather forecast was calling for rain on Saturday and Sunday. Damn! Well, as has happened time and again, the weather forecast was dead-wrong. Saturday and Sunday were sunny, clear, and very little wind.

Friday
The trackday with PTT was basically an AFM practice. Many of the big guns were out there in the A group, and I was on my game. By the end of the day, I was able to work my way down to a 1:44.0. That was over a full second faster than my best race time from 2008. That was at a trackday, no less! Confidence was soaring.

Saturday
I was in the fastest practice group and putting in consistently fast times in the 44’s. By the last practice session, I whittled my times down to a 1:43.9. That sent a message to the other folks in my races that I had my stuff together this time.

Sunday practice
I was demoted back to the 2nd fastest practice group, despite consistently being one of the fastest riders in the fastest group on Saturday). I was a little irritated by this, but I didn’t put any fast times in on Sunday morning practice anyway, so it was okay. I just wanted to make sure my new clutch pack was feeling good and make sure my brake pads were bedded in. I had little interest in using up my tires or tossing the bike away on a cold track.

750 Superbike – Race 2
I was in the second race of the day, 750 Superbike. The first race was delayed over an hour due to a bad injury at the start of the race. Eventually, 750 Superbike rolled around. I was starting in the middle of the 3rd row in 12th position, and I got an “okay” start. I roughly held my starting position, but then had to get to work in the first few turns to start trying to make up spots. I was making a move to come past Nick Hayman in Turn 5 of the first lap, when I saw his rear tire start to slide. He kept it together, but I gave up the opportunity to make up a few positions as I held off. I made a couple good moves over the next few laps, and eventually worked my way up into the top 10. As I was eyeing up one of the other Keigwins instructors, Jesse Carter, another instructor put a move on me in turn 7. Carey Shaughnessy came flying past me on the brakes into T7. He overcooked the turn a little bit, so I was able to dive *right* back underneath him and block him at the second apex / the exit to T7. I went off chasing down Jesse Carter. Within a lap, I was closing on Jesse and was able to line him up for a pass going into T11. Unfortunately, by the time I had gotten my run on him and was passing him on the brakes, I saw a waving yellow at the entrance to T11. I hadn’t seen a standing yellow in the turn before, and I was committed to the pass, so I nipped him entering T11, just before the flag. I ran the next lap and started reeling Billy Scott in. By the end of the following lap, the race had been black flagged and stopped. I ended up with 8th position. I should probably not have taken 8th, given the questionable pass on Jesse. However, he owed me one from a similar incident last year, so he let it slide. My times were not spectacular, but enough to get the job done.

Started: 12th position, middle position of the 3rd row
Finish: 8th of 43 starters
Best race lap: 1:45.322

Open Twins – Race 4
I knew my success would depend on getting a good start. At the previous round, I had been stuck behind one of the slower riders in the class and I was determined to not let that happen to me again.

When the flag dropped, I got an okay start. I was in 9th position going through T1, but managed to make a couple moves going up the hill and into T2, moving up to 7th. Coming through the Carousel (T6) and heading up the drag strip, I was able to drive with Sherwick Min and get pass him on the brakes going into 7. However, he had the inside line, and I had to cede the position. I got behind him and made another run at him, this time driving past him on the outside heading down the hill from T8a to T9. Going into T9, I passed him on the outside on the brakes and then set after Nick Hayman.

Now I was in 6th position. I was able to close up on Nick quickly, and heading through T2, nearly ran into Nick as he checked up. Scott Schwanbeck had some sort of mechanical problem and had to pull to the outside, but was still in the racing line. I was unable to take advantage right there, but instead lined up Nick coming out of the Carousel and passed him going into T7. I put my head down and started to gap him. Now I was in 4th position.

A couple turns later in T9, I saw that Eric Gulbransen had crashed out. That put me in 3rd position by the end of lap 2. By this point, I was coming up on backmarkers from the other wave. I knew I would need to negotiate quickly through these racers, or risk getting passed back if I got held up. In fact, I saw myself close up on Craig Smith, who was in 2nd position in Open Twins, as he got held up with some backmarkers. However, by the time he got through, it was my turn to get held up, and I could never quite close back up on him.

I did my best over the next few laps to keep focus, and not make any big mistakes. I was able to seal up 3rd place when on the start of my 7th lap, I was able to pass one rider going into turn 1 and another going up the hill into turn 2. One more lap without any major mistakes and I was able to bring the bike home for my first podium finish – third place! I kept a level head going through backmarkers, and passed my first lapped traffic ever

Riding the cool-down lap, I was overcome with joy, knowing what I had just accomplished.

Started: 7th position, middle position of the 2nd row
Finish: 3rd of 26 starters
Best race lap: 1:44.871

Formula 1 – Race 10

I concluded my race weekend with F1. The race had been shortened to 7 laps, which was sad for me. More on this later. This time, I got a good start, and was able to take off with the lead pack. I was off the back a bit. I worked my way through a couple riders on the first couple laps, but found myself dicing for 7th place by the middle of the race. I came up on Matt Eccleston on ~lap 4, around turn 6. I made a move coming out of 6, trying to pass him going into 7, but he outbraked me. I sat back for another lap, and made another run on him coming out of T6. He’s on a 600, so when I was able to open the throttle before him on this next lap, I knew I had him.

I put my head down for a couple laps, and then saw that I was closing in on Berto Wooldridge and Gabe Santa Coloma. The two of them were going back and forth and holding each other up. I took over a second and a half out of them on lap 7, but wasn’t close enough to make a move on either before the end of the shortened race. With one more lap, it’s possible I could have joined in the fun with them.

Started: 12th position, middle position of the 3rd row
Finish: 7th of 40 starters
Best race lap: 1:43.784

Closing thoughts
I’d like to extend a big thanks to everyone who has supported me these past two seasons -- especially the folks who were up at the track shouting their heads off for me! I’m really excited my some good results, and the bounce-back from the results of the

A couple fellow Keigwins instructors had big crashes (Eric and Carey), and one of the other 750 racers (Mike) also had a major crash. My best wishes go out to the riders and their families during their recoveries.

Steve / Tigre
AFM #944