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Here it is Race Fans: my 101st Loudon Classic report.
This is always a long week of track action for Kerry and I, and this year was no exception. I signed up for Penguin Racing School Inc. advanced school on Wednesday. That was a busy, but productive day for me. I zeroed in on a few things I need to change to ride at the next level, and I put in a lot of hard laps trying to make them happen. I took Thursday to recover and let that all sink in.
Friday's weather was much better than expected and I had 2 races to try to execute some changes in my riding.
F40MW: I got a good launch, and had the holeshot, but a hard charging Justin Landry zapped me around the outside of 1. I set off to put him behind me, but he was on a mission. A couple of 13s and he was still ahead as we caught the back of the last wave. heavy traffic saw the gap grow and close, but I had no real chance to make a pass. I finished second 0.8 seconds back. Great racing and I felt good about some riding improvements and the lap times. To be honest though, I felt like my bike was down on power and Kris Hopkins said it sounded a bit off song.
MWSS: I was gridded on the front row and got a good launch, but slotted into second behind Ian Beam. Eli Colby charged past into T3. Ian was a little off pace and I was looking for my way forward hoping to latch on to Eli's wheel. I got it done in T3 but as I crested T8 my motor sounded like a diesel truck using a jake brake! I stood it up and braked, then let off the brake as I waffled through the gravel at 80 mph. I bounced back on track 90 degrees to the race line hoping everyone behind had seen me. I got back on the brakes, and finally ran off the outside of 9 and came to a stop. No one hit me! Phew. But now I’m thinking my classic is over.
Back in the garage my team decided we could swap my suspension over to Semir Faz's B bike for qualifying. OK, we gave it a go. As it happened, QP was pushed to Saturday morning so I didn’t have a chance to test the bike until race day.
I went out in QP1 and the bike felt OK, but it backed into the corners really bad. I was unable to use my brake markers and push hard. I tried one more time in QP2 but I couldn't go much faster, but I just made it into qualifying.
We decided to put my clutch in the bike between sessions and throw a Pirelli X on and send it. Both things helped a bit and I dropped a second to a mid 14 which put me 25th on the grid. That's over a second slower than I would have liked, but it's not easy on a stock motor out in that field. I was trying too hard, and I felt like the pace just wasn’t going to come to me.
It was time to race, butthe sky had other plans. The race was delayed for rain, they dried the track with jet blowers and just as they made first call, the rain came again. More delays and showers totaled an hour and a half waiting in pit lane. Then they made third call and we left pit lane with rain falling on our shields. I thought there was no way this was going to happen, but the track remained dry and we lined up for the start.
I was in the worst possible grid spot on the inside of row 4. I got a decent launch, but there was just nowhere to go as the wall of bikes closed in ahead of me. At one point I thought we about stopped in T2, but everyone made it out and the race was on. Making forward progress was tough and I just tried to keep a positive mindset. I made up a few positions, only to lose them as the laps wore on. Finally the leader lapped me. I was expecting a train of like 12 bikes, but it was really just 4 in the lead group. They all passed me easily on the gas. I waited for the rest, expecting to have at least a few hard passes put on me, but pretty much every pass was clean. It was frustrating as hell for me to be so far off my pace, but it was fun to follow the pros for as many corners as possible.
I rode my heart out, but it just wasn’t my day. We will put together a new motor and see if I can put some of what I learned into practice when I have my own bike back underneath me. Congrats to Eli Colby, Teagg Hobbs, Justin Landry, Rick Doucette, and all the Loudon regulars for some great performances.
Make no mistake, it took a massive effort to make all of this happen, and I can’t really thank my teammates enough. We stripped and prepared the R6 essentially 4 times over the weekend. Semir, Frenchie, Charles, Kris, Kerry and probably other people I can’t even remember put their all into it so I could qualify and race. There wasn’t much rest at all. I’m speechless. What can I say? You all are the best!
My sponsors all came through big time as well: Woodcraft Technologies with the zero offset clip-ons (which I loved), DP Brakes with fresh pads, Antham Racing, Superbike Services 44 , Cyclesmith Track Days, MTAG Pirelli, Mike took the best care of me despite being totally swamped with tire swaps, etc. and Chad at Mint-Moto for the absolutely killer helmet.
I’m humbled that so many people would put so much effort in to help me make the show. Thank you all.
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Originally Posted by jimmycapp
