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WERA Round 5 – Grattan Raceway Recap

This was our first time going to the track with a non-running bike. The previous weekend at Nelson Ledges, the bike wouldn't run past 12k on the tach. We tried a number of things that didn't work, and the troubleshooting proceeded into the following week. Upon some recommendations, I ordered a new fuel pump on Saturday from the track to have, just in case. With an important Grattan round coming up, I didn't want to take any chances.

The following Tuesday we didn't have any luck (or the fuel pump yet) and took the bike to James. By that point, the bike didn't run at all. James wanted to check the motor mechanically to make sure there were no problems stemming there, and all checks came back good. He found two spark plugs to be bad that we hadn't gotten to; however replacing the entire set didn't cure the problem. By Thursday evening (at midnight), James and I stood at Rec Leisure, out of time. My dad and I would have to take the bike to Grattan with us and figure out the problem there.

Once at the track Friday morning, we checked a few other electrical and fuel related things, but ultimately swapping fuel tanks solved the problem (thanks to Michelle and Doug Shelfoon for letting us borrow Doug's R6 as a parts bike). We had decided to put Doug's gas tank on our bike and try it. Upon connecting everything, the bike fired right up. Problem solved. It didn't ultimately make sense that the pump was the problem, as it would build pressure when flipping the ignition switch and then stop, signaling what we thought to be adequate pressure being built up. In any event, the different tank and pump combination fixed the problem; good enough for us. We put the new fuel pump in our tank, mounted the tank up and were good to go.

We hadn't missed out on much. The track had been pretty green from rain on Thursday and after getting in one afternoon practice session with the bike screaming like normal again; it started to downpour, essentially closing down the track for the remainder of the day. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out under our canopy with Gina, my dad, Bob, Nik, Eric, Shelley, Jonas, Wes, Jan, Andy, Steve and a number of others who were jumping from EZ-Up to EZ-Up.

Saturday morning, it was still wet. Doug and Marion had arrived and Doug was ready to go. He and my dad make a great team and it's been extremely beneficial to have them both at the track. The three of us all get along, work well together and troubleshoot problems in a logical and systematic manner. Everyone brings something a little different to the table without stepping on each other's toes – and it's a natural progression of tackling problems and going faster as the weekend progresses. This weekend would be no exception.

Virtually no one went out in the morning practice sessions, as the forecast was calling for clearer skies in the afternoon. Naturally we didn't need to practice in the wet, if we would be racing in the dry. The problem with that though, was come race time – not everyone was up to speed, comfortable and ready to race.

Our main race was the Middleweight Solo 20. After a bad start into T1, I moved into 5th place behind Brent (Bennett), Jonas (McCluskey), Jeff (Agnes) and Jeff (Kovack). Jonas highsided right away coming out of the bowl, as he probably hit a patch of sealer/concrete that was still damp. He slid out of the way, unharmed as we raced on. I passed Kov And then Agnes, moving up into 2nd place. As the laps continued, I felt awful on the bike. I was stiff on the bars, stiff on the bike, missing apexes – it was pathetic. I was getting the signal that Kov was right on me, and just past the halfway mark, he passed me going into T1. I really didn't mind it, as I was hoping I'd then relax a little bit, knowing someone wasn't right on my tail. It didn't seem to matter too much though; I was still riding poorly. I could tell Kov was making similar mistakes. He'd blow an apex, run wide, and then I'd do the same. It was almost comical how bad this was – yet we were still running in the top 3. Brent was on cruise control. I could see him not far ahead – I think with a drink in his hand; I couldn't tell for sure.

Kov stayed in front of me for the next 4-5 laps. I finally told myself to just get back to the basics. I mean, seriously. Looking ahead through the turn, not being so tight on the bars – basic stuff. I set my fastest time of the race during that stretch, and was able to get back by Kov with a couple laps to go to finish in 2nd place. 2nd has been my best finish up to date, but given how bad the race felt – I didn't take it for much. I actually had gone faster at a track day. Certainly running in a race should have brought about faster lap times.

I ran the last half of the Heavyweight Solo after my dad and Doug tracked down an ignition switch connection that had come loose right before the start of the race. We had made a suspension change between races, so while I wasn't competing on the same lap once we got out on the track, I was able to tell that the change wasn't better and we reverted back to our original setup to start out for Sunday.

Sunday morning practice went well. We were firing on all cylinders; both literally and figuratively, and were 3rd fastest in three of the four practice sessions (and 4th in the other; where we had tried a change that ended up not working), behind Brent and Jonas. I tagged onto the back of Jonas in the last practice and stuck with him the whole session, which was a first. He helped drag me into the 1:22 range with a 1:22.719; my fastest lap around Grattan to date. The bike felt really solid and we were ready to go for the races.

600 Superstock was our first race. I had a terrible start and wasn't far from last going into T1. I worked up into 5th place behind Agnes and it took me a few laps to get around him. He's a demon on the brakes and nearly impossible to get by when it comes to braking. Even if he runs the turn wide, he still generally is able to maintain his position. Once past him, Kov was up ahead, and while I was able to narrow the gap with each passing lap, I ran out of time and had to settle for 4th place. Brent and Jonas had great starts and checked out, finishing 1/2 respectively.

750 Superstock was our next race. Agnes jumped out of the gate into the lead on his 750, while Jonas, Kov, Scotty (Van Hawk) and I gave chase. Jonas got around Agnes, then Scotty did the same, but crashed in the bowl soon thereafter. Kov and I were then trying to make our way around Agnes. With a couple laps to go, Kov tried to pass him into the hairpin. The pass didn't work and Kov ran wide coming out, hurting his drive up the hill to T10A. I was able to run up the inside of him and take over 4th place.    I continued to chase Agnes, trying to pass him several times, unsuccessfully. He's flat out strong on the brakes. On seeing the white flag, I knew something had to happen. I tried getting him into T2 and T3, but it didn't work. Once over the jump and through the esses, Agnes and I both came screaming out of the bowl, heading through the sweeper. Agnes ran it in hot and a touch wide, and I dove inside of him, as we drag-raced to the hairpin. I had the better drive and the line, so I was able to get ahead of him into the hairpin. Up the hill and onto the straight, I kept my head down and my arms and legs tucked in, and took the checkered flag in 3rd place. It was a good race with both Jeff's, and the first time I've been able to beat Agnes on his 750. The family and friends we had at the track had been watching from the bowl, so it was great that they were able to see some last-lap action first hand.

600 Superbike was next. I was again 5th going into T1 with a less than stellar launch. I was behind the familiar bikes of Brent, Jonas, Scotty and Kovack. Scotty had a great start, but was holding both Kov and I up. Brent and Jonas got into the low 1:21 range, so they were distancing themselves from the three of us. Kov was still trying to get by Scotty, but to no avail. On the 4th lap, I forced myself get a better drive than both of them through 10B and onto the straight. I knew I had to latch on for a chance to draft by one of them and get them on the brakes into T1. Kov had the same idea, as once we hit the braking zone; he was past Scotty and into 3rd place. Fortunately I was outside both of them and was able to brake later, sailing by both of them into T1. I put my knee down at the curbing, picked up the throttle and was off. I then cranked out my fastest laps of the weekend, with a 1:22.330 being the fastest lap of the bunch. Scotty crashed out again in giving chase, and Kov finished 3rd. This was a great race, primarily by being patient and able to make up for my lackluster start off the line.   I was frustrated though that I hadn't gotten a better start so I could have tried to run with Brent and Jonas. Once back into the pits, my dad, Doug and everyone else were stoked at the double-pass into T1. I kinda was too.

750 Superbike was our last race and one marred with a questionable plan by myself. I started the race 4th, behind Agnes, Jonas and Scotty. Jonas pushed to the lead. Scotty was trying to do the same, and threw a pass on Agnes that stood him up in the esses. It stood him up long enough where I was able to get through as well. I was sitting in 3rd behind Scotty. Since Scotty had crashed twice earlier in the day and looked to be pushing the bike around a little unpredictably, I decided to sit back and wait to pass him on the last lap. I looked behind me a couple times and didn't see Kov, or anybody else.   I looked down at my lap timer and I was a good 1-1.5 seconds off my pace and was comfortable just sitting on Scotty's rear wheel. I found three places where I knew I could pass him. I even figured I could draft and pass him on the straight as a last resort if I had to. I was literally rolling out of the throttle on the straight each lap so he wouldn't see me, as I could have drafted right by. The plan sounded great at the time, except that it took too long to happen. As we took the white flag, Allan Pett came buzzing by both of us on his 750 machine. Dammit. Stupid plan. I immediately tried to make up for it, but it had already backfired. Scotty got caught up trying to chase Allan once he was by and I couldn't get around Scotty. I finished 4th. Quite a disappointment for what should have been a 2nd place finish. So lesson learned: when you have the chance to pass somebody (more than once), take it.

Overall though, the weekend went extremely well. We dropped over two seconds from where we were last year at Grattan. We finished in the top 4 in all our races, while also grabbing the 600 Superstock points lead in the process. We had a great turnout of family and friends who came out to watch, and I'd like to thank all of them for coming out. I'd also like to thank James for his dedication last week in helping us figure out why the bike wasn't running. He went above and beyond what he needed to do to ensure there wasn't something serious wrong with the bike, and I genuinely appreciate it. You can check out his website at http://www.totalracingsolutions.com/.

I would have liked some better starts so I could have ran with Jonas and Brent. I'm pretty sure they would have helped drag me into the 21's without too much of a problem. To be up front dicing with them is something I'm definitely looking forward to. Just need to work on those starts ..

Cheers,

- eddie

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 | POSTED AT: 3:04 PM
FILED UNDER: Race Reports