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Words by David Podolsky
Images by E-Tech Photography
 We rolled in to Nelson Ledges with a
totally new set up on the rear shock on our Ducati 1198S. The
problem we'd been having was that we had too much weight transfer
to the rear when I was hard on the throttle coming off the corners
and the bike wanted to wheelie. Well, sometimes the front would only
get light and do a little nervous dancing around, but it would be enough to keep
me from opening the gas 100% until the bike settled.
I’ve only been Nelson Ledges once
before and think it is a great layout; but the track surface is a mess. We figured that with all the bumps,
seams, patches and a high average speed (we averaged over 100 mph), this would be a great place to
dial the rear suspension in.
The first spring we tried was too long,
and we could not get the 22-32mm of sag we wanted in the rear. With
an over-night shipment from Ohlins and some help in the pits from
fellow racer Matt Lynn and his spring compressor, we got it changed. We were still a bit on the stiff side at just
22mm of sag with me on the bike but we were at least in the ball park.
We needed to be close to optimum to be able to attack the big sweepers in turns 5 and 8. They are so big and wide that it is hard to ride through them at 100%. If you do get it right you run through there between 100-120 mph while the bike soaks-up big bumps. Actually the bumps are bad enough in those corners that you begin to think you are still on the piss-poor road that leads up to the track itself!
I did alright in the Saturday’s HWT
Solo which I use as a warm up race using the Michelin Power One tires
from the weekend before. I was feeling pretty good but still about 4
seconds off the pace of the fastest guys which is a ton.
SUPERBIKE - Sunday morning we
mounted new rubber and I put the bit between my teeth. The first
race was the HWT Superbike race. I had watched the Starter throw the
flag in a race earlier in the day so that I would be able to anticipate his arm movement. The #1 board turned sideways and
as soon as the Starter moved his shoulder I went and got the jump
into turn #1.
Being at his home track, Tom Hughey on his
Triumph flew into the first sweeper with much better entry speed than I did; track familiarity is so very important. I
got on the gas and tried not to let him get away.
Stewart was ready with pit signals and
showed me +0 meaning someone was right on my ass. I kept pushing
and after a few laps Tom, who was squeaking out a bit more each lap, now
had 3-4 seconds on me as I held onto 2nd place. Watching my pit signals showed me that I couldn’t shake the guy
in 3rd place either so I had to race smart as well as aggressive.
With three laps to go, Mike Flis aboard
a Ducati 999R made a move and got past me as we entered Turn 5. I was
fine with following him to see where I might get past taking a lesson on
where I was stronger/weaker compared to someone who knows the track
well. I was stronger into the two scary fast corners, turns 1 &
turn 11 but Mike was stronger into the two sweepers (5 & 8).
I knew if I could get a good drive onto
the back straight I could get by before the fast kink, turn #10. I
set it up by taking a wide approach to turn 9 and screwed the gas on
and was accelerating fast enough to get him by the apex of the kink.
Mike started to drift over before the
kinks apex, not realizing that I was there, so I was getting squeezed out. Since I had put myself into a sticky situation there, I left myself with no choice but to go for it and try to
get by before the apex. I made it to the apex first, but since I was
so tight upon entry I exited wide. I was only half past Mike’s
999R when my rear wheel made contact with his front fairing. I felt a
little wiggle, but I knew that could mean the other guy's front end had
been taken out.
I listened and didn’t hear any bike
following me and I kept wondering…."did I take him out?" Thankfully as I went
past the finish line Stewart was showing me a +0 so I knew Mike was
still on my tail. Now all I had to do was guard the corner entries and shut the door to keep Mike from passing me on that last lap.
As we drove onto the front straight I
accelerated a bit too hard which caused the bike to wheelie and me to short shift into 4th. Mike drove hard on the inside and beat
me to the line by just a few feet.
It was a good race and Mike and I excitedly talked about it afterwards and I apologized for the
pass that caused contact at over 150 mph.
 SUPERSTOCK – With Tom and his
Triumph not eligible for the HWT Twins Superstock race, I figured Mike
and I would be at it again for the lead of this one.
When I saw the lap times from the previous race I figured I
could put down a string of laps faster than Mike and my plan was to
get the hole-shot and try to build a gap. Even though I felt confident
that I could get the jump on the start I was wrong and Mike beat me
off the line and into Turn #1.
I was content to follow and see
where I was stronger so I followed Mike and tried to improve my
speed in the big sweepers. I tried lining Mike up for the entry
into turn #1 since I was faster into there and I didn't want to try the turn #10 move again as that
almost worked out all wrong in the last race. The problem with passing in turn #1 is that it is pretty narrow with only one line and speed is just over 90 mph at the apex.
I tried a few different times to make a pass into
turn one and then again before the kink, but the lines weren't there and I wasn’t going to push the issue. Mike was also not making any mistakes and didn't seem inclined to give me any "gifts".
I decided to try one more time to make a pass into turn one on the last lap but decided to back out as we entered. This was probably a mistake as I had the position and speed, but after hitting the
poor guy in the last race I didn’t want to cause an incident this time around.
This left me with a "now or never" pass attempt that I had to make before the kink. I took a wide approach, got a good drive
and thought I’d lined it up to be on the outside this time.
I knew I was faster and lined up on Mike’s left, so as he rolled off for turn #11 I went past, thankful he left enough room for me to get by.
With only a few turns left, I held Mike off and took our first win of
the season.
Feeling really good about the weekend,
we set our sights for the long drive home and the next round at
Summit Point.
Thanks to our Sponsors: Chicken Hawk
Racing, Ducati NA, Michelin, Seacoast Sport Cycle, MarkBilt, Catalyst
Bodies, Heroic Leathers, Speedy Moto, Ferodo, Shoei, Sidi Boots,
DucShop, Ohlins
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