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Words by David Podolsky
Pictures by Louie
Escobar
 Heading back to Summit Point, we felt
good about our chances. We had just come off our first win of the season
at Nelson Ledges and taking 3rd in Superbike and 1st
in Superstock helped solidify our position in the points. It is always nice to take a win on a
track that is not one of your “home tracks” since beating the
regulars on their track just helps your confidence.
The suspension changes we made to the
rear shock seemed to be working as the bike didn't want to wheelie so
much when accelerating hard off the corners. Now going back to Summit
Point the change could really be tested on one of our “home tracks”.
Friday was a track day, but it rained
all day and the forecast for the weekend was dry, so we decide not to
risk equipment or burn up our only set of rain tires for nothing.
We took the time to sleep till about 9am and do some work on the
bike. We mounted new air in-take tubes and a new race body from
Catalyst Racing Bodies. It fit great and we had it wrapped with a
Chicken Hawk Racing theme from Print Matters.
Saturday started out damp which made it impossible to run hard laps. The last practice was a bit drier but I was
still not able to push hard enough to really see where we were at
after the rear shock change.
I am a long time Michelin rider
and have had a great relationship with the company. Even so, the local
Pirelli vendor has been pushing me to try a set of their newest Super
Corsa tires so we mounted them for the race while making no suspension
adjustments at all. We decided to run in the
Heavyweight Solo race (even though we aren't chasing that title) as a
pratice so we could do some tire testing with the new Pirellis. I gridded up on the last row behind everyone
else, starting in 18th spot so I wouldn't have to fight for positions on the opening laps as I got comfortable on
the Italian rubber.
As the laps went by I started pushing
more and more and ended up mid-pack finishing in 9th. The grip of
the tires felt really good and there weren't any big handling issues.
Perhaps I had more grip driving out of the corners, but using the throttle the same as
before did not net any lower lap times. The tires did feel a bit
more “squishy” under hard braking and accelerating, probably due
to the much different and softer carcass.
It was good to try the tires, but since
we have a relationship with Michelin and are able to win good contingency money, we mounted our Michelin Power Ones for the Sunday
spring races.
Thank goodness Sunday was dry. We got
ready for our first session and with my helmet on and waiting for the
final call for my group, there was a delay. The ambulance rolled and
stayed out for a while. Bottom line is the track was shut down for
3.5 hours because a rider was killed on track. It was his first race
weekend and he had a single bike incident where over a small rise in
the track he got into a tank slapper and lost control. It's obviously a sad situation and also weighs on your mind as you get
prepared for your own race.
We had one short practice and
running a few dry laps got me over the mental heebie-jeebies and feeling more ready to race.
SUPERSTOCK - The first race was to be
the Superstock race and our class started behind the Middleweight
Superbike class. The idea was to begin each class' race in two waves or two
separate starts with two flags. There were two flags thrown, but they were thrown
so close together that, even though I didn’t get the jump, I got such a good
drive that I was into turn #1 first and right behind the back
markers of the Middleweight Superbike class and needing to
pass…..fast. Exiting onto the straight between turns #2 and #3
I got past two riders but so did my closest two pursuers.
As we approached slow turn #5, I
planned to go around the next 600 back-marker. I'm usually a bit
cautious about passing and me being so polite to the 600 rider let my pursuer on a SV1000
get underneath us both. A quick flip into turn #6 and another guy on
an 848 took advantage of my surprise and squeaked by too. I went from
1st to 3rd in two turns and had two 600s to get
past before I could retaliate.
The next lap I was a bit anxious not
wanting to let these two get away. I got past one 600 rider and told
myself to relax and take my time; I knew I had the speed.
I managed to get by both 600 racers
and in turn #7 the SV mounted guy crashed out of the lead losing the
front end. I powered onto the straight and took the lead with the
1198S motor pulling hard. Stewart had my signals ready and showed
me I had a little gap. I held on to it to get our 2nd win
in the HWT Twins Superstock class. I felt relieved and decided to
change nothing for the next race.
 SUPERBIKE - I have not been able to
beat Tom on his Triumph all season and his fastest lap was about
1.5 seconds better than mine last time at Summit Point. Even though I got the
hole-shot, Tom took only ½ a lap to get by as we entered turn #5
(guess I’m too slow entering there, huh?).
I was right on his tail and re-passed
down the straight, but Tom got back by as we went through turn #2. I decided to stay on him figuring that he would tow me along to a
faster lap time so never let him get more than a second away.
Stewart had my pit signals showing +2
and then +3 all race unti we came into the last couple of laps when the pit
board showed someone was catching me. I looked on the Ultra lap
timer as I went past the Start/Finish and saw 1:19.5 which was not the
18s I had expected to be running while this close to Tom.
On the last lap I was thinking that I didn't need
to be too crazy and make any big mistakes as I could tell the rear tire
was kinda done. My 848 pursuer tried to
pass into turn #10, but I held him off as he pulled up alongside and
held onto 2nd as I crossed the line.
We came away with a 1st and
2nd on the weekend which are our best finishes of the season. I was
happy for that, but disappointed that my best time was only a high 1:18
and the laps were not consistent enough. With the reduced amount of
laps we had this weekend I can understand it, but wasn't thrilled that my 848 competitor smelled “blood” on the last
lap.
Our next race will be at Road Atlanta to get
some set up for the Grand National Finals in October but we will blow
off the Northeast regionals since racing 3 weeks in a row is just too
much.
Keep tuned here for more race reports
as we continue to refine the set-up on our 1198S and hopefully keep getting
faster.
Thanks to our Sponsors: Chicken Hawk
Racing, Ducati NA, Michelin, Seacoast Sport Cycle, MarkBilt, Catalyst
Bodies, Heroic Leathers, Speedy Moto, Ferodo, Shoei, Sidi Boots
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