The big change for this round was that I switched back to Pirelli tires. I tried for half of the season to get the Continentals to work for me and even after all the suspension tuning, I just couldn't get the confidence I need in the rear tire. I'm definitely not saying they are a bad tire, I just couldn't get them to work for me. I did feel bad switching only because I think the MRA Continental vendor, Mike Applehans is such a good guy and would go out of his way to help anyone. But in the end, I had to go back to the Pirellis where I know the tires and how they act and I can get my confidence on the gas back.
Practice went good on Friday. Cory from Intermountain Racer Supply, the Pirelli vendor, gave me a set of take offs to practice on and set the bike up. It went well, had to make very few small changes and the bike felt great again.
Saturday I raced the Middleweight and Heavyweight Supersport races and faired ok, two 6th place finishes. Saturday had the addition of a one off 4 hour endurance race that the club does once a season. I hadn't planned on running it, but then got asked by a team of pretty heavy hitters to be the 4th guy on the team, so I said yes and signed up. The team consisted of Mike Applehans, Glenn Conser, Rick Gross and I. We made the whole race and did pretty well getting a 4th place finish, which is in the money! I've never won purse money at the end of a race, so it felt pretty good!
Sunday came around and it was hot as hell, as it had been all weekend, and the bike was running a bit hot. I made it through Thunderbike with a second place finish. I tried like hell to catch Pat Lansu in first, but I just didn't have it this weekend. He's a super fast, experienced rider with an ungodly fast bike. It's now my season goal to catch and pass him! I ran the Heavyweight Superbike race, but 3 laps in the bike was running really hot and it had burped water all over my boot, causing me to slip off the peg a few times, so rather than risk falling, or worse, putting water on the track and causing someone else to fall, I pulled in after 3 laps. So I now have a little work to do to get her to run cooler, but I think I have it covered.
Thanks to John Chadwick for the on track pictures, and Lacy for the pit shot.
Want to throw a big thank you to all my sponsors, and Cory and Intermountain Racer Supply for the Pirellis. Couldn't do this without all of your help!
Great write up Carl! Good seeing you back out in front again. I feel the same about Michelins, just can't get any confidence in them, even just on the street (which is where most of my riding happens). See you next round!
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