Race 2 at PPIR. FIRST EVER PODIUM FINISH!

So here's my slightly overdue write up for race 2 at Pikes Peak International Raceway on May 22 and 23. First of all PPIR is awesome in that if you sign up early enough you can rent a garage which is the best way to pit ever! We all made it down to practice on Friday and things went pretty well, Swift crashed early but not bad and didn't even miss a session. I steadily made progress all day thanks to a 45 minute lesson on how to ride a racebike from Shane Turpin where he gave me the most valuable advice that I've ever received and it changed the way I ride entirely. SLOW DOWN! He told us to slow down all the movements on the bike. Everything from changing body positioning to rolling on the throttle to grabbing the brakes. Just slow it all down to keep the bike settled and damn if it didn't work. The bike got way easier to ride since I'm not fighting an unsettled bike and lap times came down.
Saturday came and I continued to work on all the things that Shane told us and ended up taking another 4th place finish in the Heavyweight Endurance race. But the most surprising thing is that at the end of the race I wasn't completely exhausted and wrecked. Slowing things down and not fighting the bike made the whole race use way less effort.
Sunday rolled around and things were feeling pretty good in practice, new rubber went on for the Middleweight Superbike race and my start sucked and I ended up in 13th. The dudes in that class are fast! Then Amateur GTU. I got a really good start from the second row that put me in 3rd into turn 1. After a little battling Eric Cromer and ended up in the front and stretched out a good sized lead. I made one pass but it put me too deep on the brakes and I ran wide and Eric came right back around. So I lead the race for about 25 feet! By the end of the race I could stay right with him, but couldn't get around and finished a very close second. My first ever top 3 finish! Pretty stoked, it was a good weekend. Hopefully I can carry my momentum and confidence to HPR for round 3 on June 12 and 13. Thanks again to everyone who helped out, friends, family, sponsors and especially ST! Here's a few more pics...
carl




Margaret Oliver took the on track shots, and Lacy took the garage shots.

My wife the fucking comedian...

TeenWolfBrigade...

Th'ink Tank Wolf Brigade pic

bad ass fucking wolf and a couple of dicks with cool bikes...

Race 1 HPR May 1+2

Ok, sorry for the lack of pictures, it's my fault for forgetting the camera on Friday and Saturday. Lacy did take a few shots on Sunday and this is what I got...
The weekend went really well considering the weather forecast that they were predicting all week. Friday practice was a little cool. I only ran the afternoon session because the morning temps were just too damn low, like below freezing low, so f that. Practice went ok on the shagged tires I brought with me wanting to save new rubber riding for the races. The lap times weren't really there on Friday, but I wanted to just dust the cob webs off and remember where I was going. The bike felt pretty good even thought the tires were moving all over the place.
Saturday morning came and went, I didn't even practice with the morning low being like 28 degrees. Instead I spent the morning making sure Chris, Swift and Fish were set up for they're novice races (which they fucking CRUSHED in). I put on new rubber and break pads after my endurance practice and got ready for the race (and god damn I was nervous, this is the the race that a year earlier ruined half my season [cough, RayRay, cough... just kidding]). But in the end the race went really well. I picked up 4th place and ran a new low lap time for me, 1.56.2 stoked. The tire lasted and worked good, but did start to tear just a bit near the end of the 30 min race.
Now it's Sunday morning and I really amped for the sprint races. I skipped the first practice because of the cold again, but did go out and run the second one, and slid all over the place on the cold track. After talking with Rob and the Lithium Motorsports guys, I decided to buy another rear tire in a softer compound for the sprint races. Wise choice. First up was middlewieght superbike. I got a really crappy start, but found my rhythm after about 2 laps. Had a good battle with Wyeth and eventually stretched out a bit of a lead. Then on the last lap right before the final chicane I made a huge mistake on the brakes that put me in the dirt and allowed Wyeth and 3 more bikes past. I ended up in 18th. A little frustrating, but still a fun race all in all. Amateur GTU was next, the class I want to chase points in. I got a good start from the 4th row and ended up going into turn 1 in 6th place. I made a few passes and got passed only by 1 other bike, unfortunately I couldn't reel in the lead that the 3 at the front had stretched out and ended up finishing in 5th.
All in all it was a good weekend. It felt great to be back on the bike after the long winter. I need to thank a few people...
The wolf brigade- Fish, Swift, and Chris! The Lithium Motorsports guys- Rob, Brian, and Jason. My sponsors- Th'ink Tank Tattoo, Illegal Pete's, The Walnut Room, Pirelli, Puma, Speedmetal, Foothills Triumph, EBC Brakes, and Woodcraft. Lacy for the pit help. And all my friends out at the races, fuck there's alot of you, to many to name!
See you all at round 2 at PPIR on the 22nd and 23rd May!!