ECK #187, CCS at NJMP Thunderbolt 5/2/10

[OreoGaborio]

So I did a couple races last Sunday down in New Jersey. Figured I'd post up about em here, too.

Lets get right to it, shall we?

LWSS - 9th outa 13.... Apparently at NJ, 3rd and final call REALLY MEANS 3rd and final call.... and not "3rd call but you still have time to have the Pirelli guys double check your tire pressures since your pressure gauge is off by 6 pounds and shouldn't be trusted".

So yeah... I was a little late to the show & start from hot pit. The guy has to wait until after the Amateur wave goes... so the experts go.... then the amateurs go... then he lets me go. I slip out the clutch a little too quickly & loft the front wheel a bit... I say "feck it" and decide to carry a nice wheelie 1/2 way down hot pit, clicking into 2nd gear as I go I diced my way through most of the amateur field, most likely leaving some of the Amateurs wondering what kinda a-hole would stuff them and take off like that, but I managed to work my way into the Expert field a bit and took a 9th out of 13 entries. My best lap time was about a 1:36 (meh) and was 7th fastest among the experts in that race, so I was relatively happy about how I finished.


LWSB - 4th outta 12.... This time I made it to the grids in plenty of time. I was gridded in the very back due to post-registering on Saturday but I got a good launch and got through half the field by the first turn. Of course, not having any solid markers for T1 I just got in the conga line and settled into 7th place. Early on I made a nice pass going into T5 on a Duc 1000 but the Duc was able to pull back along my right side as we approached the right hand T6. We stayed side-by side to turn-in, but I didn't back down. I waited for him to make his turn-in and as soon as he did I leaned right in on him and stayed on the gas. He backed off, I re-claimed the 6th place spot.

After that I had a good battle for 4th with a Ducati 1000ss and a built SV. They were both able to motor me down the front straight but I would make up the difference in the tight sections and I stayed with them.

Going into turn 6 (a fast right hander) the SV tucked the front and slid off the track, leaving the Duc and I to battle for 4th. A couple of laps later I carried some good speed through turn 4 (another very fast right hander that leads right into T5, a tight 100 degree left). I gave the throttle a healthy squirt as we apexed, pulled along the outside (left) of Duc and got the angle for T5. The back tire danced around a bit as I killed the brakes and grabbed my downshifts but I made the corner, got a good drive out and that's how it stayed.

Best lap time of 1:34.2



The fastest overall LWSB lap time was a 1:32.361. The fastest overall LWSS lap time was a 1:33.858. So with some more practice I might be able to hang with the front runners in LWSS if I decide to head back down there again. We'll see



And here's a video of that LWSB race, provided by the Duc 1000 that I stalked for most of the race. The SV in front of us crashes out at about 6:30 and I make the pass on him around the 7:50 mark.

YouTube- CCS at NJ Thunderbolt May 2,2010,Lightweight Superbike