2008 Archive- Buttonwillow Raceway 10/18-19

AFM Round 8: Buttonwillow Raceway- October 18-19, 2008

I arrived at the track Friday morning at about 3:30am after working relentlessly all day Thursday to get the bike prepared to race. I got a tiny bit of shut eye, then back to work at about 7am Friday morning. I had to replace the fork seal on my right fork leg, put on practice tires, and then get through tech. Friday practice went smoothly without incident. I hadn't been to the track since March, so needed a little bit of time to get acclimated to my bike (which was heavily modified since my last outing at Buttonwillow). I practiced all day and was feeling pretty good by the end of the day. I was on take-off tires for the whole day, and still practicing faster than my fastest race time from March. Best time was an unofficial 1:54.xx

Originally I wasn't planning on practicing on Saturday, but because I still had some tire left on my practice tires and wanted to ride some more I decided to do a half day. So, after lunch I registered and got through tech. I rode the last two sessions on Saturday, and was going slightly faster than I had been Friday. In the last session on Saturday I was having some issues in a very fast section of the track, the shock was bottoming out while on the gas over some rough pavement. This was causing the front end to become unstable and induce headshake. But, because the day was over suspension changes would have to wait until Sunday morning.

Sunday morning I arrived at the track and put on my race tires. These were the race tires that I crashed on at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) three weeks earlier, so they only had 8 laps on them. I got the tire warmers on and the bike prepped for morning practice. I went out for practice just to scrub in the tires and try out the suspension changes made to prevent the instability I was experiencing the day before. I only completed three laps, but this was plenty to know that the bike and the tires were ready for Race 1: 600 Production.

Race #1 - 600 Production

I was gridded 7th for this race, the inside of row two. I was feeling very calm and ready to race. When the green flag dropped I got a great jump off the line, passed some riders around the outside of T1, and came out of turn 1 in 1st place. On the entrance of T3 I was passed for the lead. For the next 3 laps I hunted the rider in the lead, I was much faster then him in the tighter sections of the track, but because of the track layout, it is very difficult to pass in these sections. After learning where I was stronger, I passed him on the brakes into the last corner. My drive out of the last corner suffered just enough for him to repass me on the front straight. Then, at some point on lap 4 I was passed by the rider in 3rd. I was faster than this rider in the same sections as the rider in the lead, and I struggled to regain 2nd position. At this point in the race I began to have cramping in my right hand, due to the brake lever being adjusted too far out. This hurt my ability to brake aggressively and my control of the throttle. On lap 5 I was passed by Bryce Prince, a Red Bull Rookies Cup rider who had started from the back of the grid. When he came by I knew he had the pace to make it through the two riders in front of me. I planned on tucking in behind him and passing the other riders when he opened up the path. However, with the cramping in my hand this proved impossible. I settled for 4th in what was a very exciting race. This was a personal best finish to date, best race time is unknown due to a transponder issue.

After Race #1 I put on fresh slicks that I would use for 600 Superbike and Formula Pacific. The slicks were AMA test tires left over from 2007, and I had never tested them personally. However, because the tires are identical in construction and size, and I only needed them for 14 laps, I decided to run them.

Race #2 - 600 Superbike

I was gridded 11th for this race, the inside of row 3. I needed to get a good start if I wanted to run up front. On the warm up lap I was sliding around on the slicks I had mounted. I knew I would have to take it easy on the first few laps before pushing hard. Anxious to get off the line similar to race #1, I botched the start and got pinched on the inside of T1. From the 1st lap my drives out of the corners were suffering, the rear tire seemingly had very little grip. I struggled to find the pace to pass the riders in front of me, watching the leaders go away quickly into the distance. As the race progressed, grip only got worse and worse. I began losing positions to the riders behind me, just hoping to bring the bike home in one piece. I finished the race in 14th place, managing a best lap of 1:52.240.

In my second race the rear tire had disintegrated to the point that it impossible to ride at pace. Pirelli had given me the wrong compound tire and it didn't come anywhere near lasting the whole race. Ultimately this was entirely my mistake, as I hadn't personally tested these tires and they were unproven.

With only a few minutes until the Formula Pacific race, and a shredded tire, I pulled out of the race and did not compete.

All things considered this was an excellent weekend. I had a spectacular 600 Production race in which I was able to battle for the lead. I learned some things, both good and bad, that will help develop my skills in making the right decisions in the future.

I want to give a HUGE thanks to Dave Moss of Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning, for without his help this weekend would have never been possible. Also, a big thanks to Derek Capito of motolab for giving me the power to run up front.

So now, on to 2009. I will be working rigorously to prepare a new 2009 Kawasaki 600 to be competitive for the first round of the year in March.

Thanks for your time and interest!

-Michael Pesicka
AFM #417