The action this past weekend kicked off on Friday the 26th, as opposed to Saturday, as the schedule was expanded to accommodate the annual 4 hour endurance race. Friday was day long practice to get up to speed and get grooved in with some new parts and extra horsepower. Prior to this weekend the bike spent a good amount of time being worked on by Derek Capito of motolab in Redwood City, CA. Derek found a bunch of extra horsepower in the bike at multiple throttle positions and helped smooth out the power band tremendously. This would help me get off the corners a little quicker and give me a much better chance of hanging with the guys running up front, although I'm still about 10 hp down at 114hp compared to 122-125hp. Also, I once again updated the forks with stiffer springs and a minor change to the damping characteristics to help stability on the brakes. Friday practice went smoothly, I was able to work through some issues and find a good set-up with the new forks. The extra horsepower was helping me get off the corners much faster, and caught me off guard in the first session of the day. I wasn't quite ready for all that power with a cold track, cold tires, and a cold brain! Best time of Friday practice was a 1:45.9 about 1 second off of my best race time with old tires, and old brake pads.
Saturday was devoted solely to the 4 hour endurance race, which I would be racing in with a couple of other racers I know from the track. Saturday morning we practiced together, finding a good set-up on the bike and giving everyone a chance to ride the bike and get comfortable with the controls. We would be riding a 2004 Suzuki GSX-R 750 on Bridgestone tires, which is much different from my 2007 Kawasaki 600 on Pirelli tires. I adapted to the bike with few issues, the main problem being the ergonomics, the bike had a much different seating position than my bike and caused my lower back and hips to cramp up. But, assuming that the position was comfortable for the other riders I figured I'd just tough it out.
4 Hour Endurance Race
We were gridded 13th and got off to a good start, running around 10th place for the first hour. Our 1st rider Harley Barnes came in early, not trusting the fuel light, at the 50 minute mark. So, our second rider Eric Arnold would have to do a 1 hour and 10 minute stint to get us back on time with our pit stops. At the 2 hour mark Eric came in with the fuel light blinking, and after a quick stop for fuel our 3rd rider Gabe Santa Coloma jumped on and took off. Gabe was maintaining an excellent pace and gaining some valuable time for us during his stint. As his stint was coming close to the 3 hour mark, I suited up and waited for him to come in. Suddenly, Gabe was in the pits, with no warning. Gabe had a minor crash in turn 11, the last corner, and when he picked the bike up he rode straight into the pits. Everyone frantically went through the re-fueling procedures while I threw on my helmet and gloves and jumped on the bike. I would have to do a 1 hour and 10 minute stint to bring the bike to the checkered flag. With about 20 minutes to go in the race the fuel light came on and I knew I would not be able to finish the race without a splash-and-go. So, with about 10 minutes to go I came in, got a splash of gas and took off again. We finished the race with an outstanding 3rd in class with 127 laps in 4 hours. All things considered, with a crash, running on one set of tires for the whole race, and having an extra pit stop we did very well.
At this point, I was extremely cramped and hurting. I couldn't even bend down to take my own boots off! I would need some good rest to get ready for Sunday.
Sunday morning I arrived feeling much better, a little sore but ready for action. I put in some better brake pads for the morning warm-up and went out. I was feeling very crisp in the warm up and ready to race. Due to a transponder issue I didn't get any times from the warm-up. After the warm up I put on some fresh tires and tire warmers and was ready to race!
Race #5 - 600 Superbike
I was gridded 9th for this race. Not bad considering that I missed the previous AFM round at Thunderhill due to scheduling conflicts. I got off to an okay start, not gaining any positions, but not losing any. I came out of T2 in about 9th place. I was feeling very good and wasn't letting anyone hold me up. I began passing other riders immediately, sometimes two at a time, and hunting anyone in front of me. By lap three I was up to 3rd place. At one point, I passed the rider in 2nd place for one corner before he made the pass back. I settled in at an excellent pace and ran 3rd place all the way to the white flag, signaling the last lap. Upon getting the flag I was wondering how far 4th place was behind me, not knowing how hard to push.
The rider in 2nd place was about two seconds off of 1st, and I was about two seconds from the rider in 2nd, so I wasn't going to catch up. I just needed to bring it home. Unfortunately I made a mistake in T4, and came out in 4th gear instead of 3rd, bogging and losing time. Not knowing that 4th place was over four seconds behind me, I tried to make up for the mistake in the next corner, T5. This proved to be a race ending mistake, as I lost the rear end and low-sided while traveling about 110 mph. My best lap of the race was a 1:43.06, almost two seconds faster than I had ever gone before, and only about 0.5 seconds off of the race winners lap times.Fortunately, I was unhurt and the bike is fixable, so I'll be ready and hungrier than ever at the last race weekend of the season at Buttonwillow raceway in 3 weeks time.
In conclusion, many things were learned this past weekend. With a properly tuned bike, with good suspension and decent power, I CAN run the pace required to put the bike on the podium, and have the potential to win. Secondly, I must not try to make up for mistakes, for the biggest mistake is trying to make up for lost time. Lastly, I need a pit board to tell me how far I am from other riders, so I don't push hard when its unnecessary.
I want to give a huge THANKS to Derek Capito of motolab for putting in countless hours on the dyno and giving me the power needed to run up front. Also, thanks to Dave Moss and Jim Williams of Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning, without these guys none of this would be possible.
Feel free to forward this report to anyone for any reason, any exposure is always appreciated and I am always looking for support for my racing efforts. The 2009 season is just around the corner, and plans are being made now, so please let the word out!
Thanks for your time and interest!
-Michael Pesicka
AFM# 417
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