 Chasing your tail
We headed out to Mid-Ohio for the AMA Grand Championships feeling pretty prepared. I was riding well and the bike was working well with no complaints. Mike Simms came to be my crew and help with pit signals and the work in the paddock.
The plan was to race all the Twins based races and see if we could snatch a #1 plate in the process. It was a bit weird with the races being held during the week and the grids were light, but the front row guys were fast and laps times were faster than in years past. Maybe only mostly serious riders made the effort to be there; so even with only 2 or 3 rows of racers in each class the races were still going to be challenging.
We started out by checking the new pavement, which had sealer not in skinny lines but spread out by a broom through several turns. The classic morning fog and lack of grip was surely going to be more extreme in these areas. Our practice times in the morning were between 5-7 seconds slower than the afternoon race pace which is huge; normal might be 2 seconds.
We’ve all seen athletes choke under pressure - a batter in the World Series or a tennis player in a big tournament. We’ve probably all choked ourselves, where mentally we get wrapped up in some over-thinking or there is a chink in our armor of
confidence.
Motorcycle racing is a sport where confidence is king. If you are feeling that you’ve got your competition covered and believe in your machine you are off to a good start. Conversely if you’re thinking that your competitor is faster than you and feel you can’t beat him, it is pretty unlikely that when you see him getting away you chomp down on the bit and find
that little extra to run him down and make the pass.
I’ve done these Winner Take All races before and in seeking some extra edge or advantage only made myself dizzy or went backwards; the AMA Grand Championship was no different. I am a total dope. Like some over anxious date who knows he is over-doing it and just can’t stop himself I do the same thing.
The bike was bottoming the forks under the hard braking on the back straight where my Ducati 1198 must hit about 170 mph. This braking zone is probably the most common passing zone and I was getting passed there, unable to get on the binders late.
Luckily Kent of GMD Computrak Atlanta was there and I went to him to lower the fork fluid level. While there we did some measuring and decided to make some geometry changes since the bike had tons of trail and not enough swing-arm angle.
Once that was done the Duc turned in faster and was more nimble so we began the process of prepping the bike for racing. Then it began. Without giving you the blow by blow swirl of confusion let say I found really bad chatter problems due to a variety of factors:
- Changing to Dunlop N Tech tires (last minute
“why not try them”)
- Finding a bent front brake rotor
- Finding a bent wheel (so much for using my rain
wheels)
- Having a rear tire spin 120 degrees on the rim
and get totally out of balance
- Had an oil pressure switch go bad and leak,
getting me black flagged out of the lead of a race
Holy crap, my efforts were on everything other than riding the bike and my concentration was shot thinking about so many things. Thank goodness I didn’t take my homebuilt single as a second bike to ride and was only focused on the Ducati!
I still m anaged to get some decent lap times in and did well in the qualifying starting from the Pole Position in one race and from 2nd in the other. The race I really came to win was Heavyweight Twins Superbike. I’ve come in 3rd, 2nd and crashed out of the lead in the past, so I was itching to win this class.
To warm up for the feature race I also entered STARS (SuperTwins Amateur Racing Series) and it had most of the same riders that would be in the Superbike race. The race was not so exciting, but went well. I got off the line in 2nd and took over the lead as we drove out of the key hole onto the back straight, my Ducati 1198 stretching its legs.
I won the race without being headed and since it was a 2 day format did the same the next day. It was almost a repeat performance. A couple of riders that were at the top of the practice time sheets didn’t race it. Both Brian Healea on a KTM RC8R and David Johansen on the ex-Chaz Davies KWS Aprilia RSV-1000R didn’t enter the class.
The next day I was conservative in the damp morning warm up, but felt good. By the time the Heavyweight Twins Superbike race came things had warmed up and all looked good. I got a decent, although conservative, start not wanting to chance a jump-start or have a big wheelie. Into turn one in 3rd place I quickly passed a Buell mounted rider as we entered the chicane (motorcycles use the chicane before the Key Hole on the map). A good drive out of the key-hole and I took first as we headed into the heavy-braking zone.
I took a bit of a defensive line since I knew I was a weak there rolling off a bit early and no one got past. I came past start finish and Mike was there with my pit board showing +1. I just kept pushing and ignoring the front end chatter as best I could. I knew Johansen was back there on that fast Aprilia and had to keep pushing.
I focused on getting good drives out of the corners and being a bit safer on corner entry due to the chatter. Next time by was +2; excellent. More of the same and now Mike had the +3 board about, I was getting a gap.
 Three seconds is a lot of space on a race track and I was looking good to win the race I’d been chasing for the past few seasons. Another +3 and the half way flags were shown as I past Start/Finish. Then it happened. I was sort of thinking the race was already over….did my mind lose concentration?
Exiting the Turn 9 going into Thunder Valley the track drops away and a few times I had wheelied off the corner since I was trying to drive so hard off it. Once or twice I knew it and the other times I didn’t realize the wheel was air borne until it came down. Well, this time I figured it out when the wheel came down and wasn’t straight. The bike bucked me up out of the seat and with a Wah, Whap flicked me off the side and the bike crashed on the track.
I was shocked and couldn’t absorb it. It was as if someone gave me a valuable and fragile treasure and told me to carry it carefully and half way home I simply dropped it watching it shatter at my feet. The bike was still running and I ran onto the track to hit the kill switch. I almost thought to re-enter the race and go again to get points or something I was so stunned I couldn’t think. The damn race was red flagged since my bike was on the track and with only 3 laps to go it was called complete. I rode it back to the pits.
Mike took the bike and began to assess the damage; we had another race in about 2 hours. I held my face in my hands and just wanted to disappear and go home. Everyone came by and asked what happened and said how good I looked and that I had it in the bag ….blah, blah phooey.
I was so pissed with the chatter not being gone, I put the Michelin Power Ones back on and Mike did a great job and getting all back together.
 In this race Brian Healea on his KTM RC8R lined up along side of me. The funny thing about racing against him is that I am the Sportbike Track Time Director for the East and he is the Director for the Mid West. He was fast on his GSXR1000 in earlier races and works for the Mid Ohio School so he has a gazillion laps at the place.
I can barely remember the race honestly. I wound up in 2nd and he was in the lead. I reeled him in mid-race as we
began to encounter lapped traffic and thought I could make a run on him but in the end I was about 2 seconds back. I
just couldn’t match his pace. I’m not sure it would have made a difference but the stupid chatter was exactly the same even with the Michelins mounted.
It was really anti-climatic. What a set of blue balls. I should have been happy. We entered six races and took 2 wins, 2 seconds and 2 DNFs (one crash and one mechanical). I didn’t realize it at the time but the STARS Heavyweight class also had a National Championship attached to it.
 Having won it on both days I did actually get a #1 plate! It felt more like a consolation prize than a victory since it was not the class I came to win and have been pining for.
Well a National Championship is still something to be proud of even if it wasn’t the class I wanted.
Many thanks to Mike Simms, Kent & Mike Smith of GMD Computrak and all my sponsors.
As the Mets fans say “wait till next year!”
Team Sponsors: Chicken Hawk Racing, Pirelli, Ducati USA, Catalyst Composites, MarkBilt, Heroic, Sportbike Track Time, Ferodo, Sidi, Seacoast, Ohlins, Speedy Moto
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