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WERA Round 8: BeaveRun Recap (The Heinz Sauce)
Heading to BeaveRun, the weather forecast for the weekend was perfect. Given how I've always liked the track, it was looking to be a good weekend. My dad and I set off Thursday after work and cruised down with almost zero traffic, arriving to the track later that night, dropping off the trailer and heading to the hotel.
Not needing a lot of practice, we slept in (till 7:00am), had breakfast and arrived to the track later than we typically would. We setup shop, did a few things to the bike and went out in the last couple sessions of the day. Per Garry's recommendation, an adjustment we had made to the clutch had been noticeable and in the end, an improvement over what we had. Overall, the bike didn't feel noticeably good or bad – the track itself just felt bumpy. Times were promising though as I dipped into the 58's before the day was done. My personal best time up until this point was a 58.1. The coveted "57" had only been done on a 600 by one person – Robert Jensen.
Eric (Johnston) arrived earlier in the afternoon which was a welcome addition. I've assumed he hasn't gotten tired of us yet, as it's great to have his company and help in the pits throughout the weekend. Doug and Marion arrived later that evening and met us at the hotel. Even with it being later in the season, there was still a good turnout of riders, as it was a three-region event with Kawasaki and Yamaha contingency money available. When there's money available, people always show up.
Saturday morning started off decent. We were into the 58's early on, but not at the pace I would have liked. I was struggling to do the times I had done last time here. We were still on used tires from Grattan, which didn't help. During lunch, we mounted up some new rubber and would sort things out in the race. Green front and blue rear would be the combination we'd go with.
The race started with Sammy (Gaige) getting the holeshot and I following him into T1. Jensen, Jeff (Wrobel) and some others weren't in this race, so the two of us worked out a gap early on. I chased Sam and in the process, dipped down to a 58.1 early on. He knew I was there and slowed the pace down 5-6 laps in, where I passed and led for a bit. We went back and forth several times which was good fun. With a few laps left, Sam had the lead and caught some lappers at a good spot and eeked out a bit of a gap. I didn't get by them quite as well and ended up taking the checkered flag in 2nd. We were both pushing pretty good – doing low 58's which was probably the fastest Solo time around BeaveRun at around 18 minutes, 40 seconds. Third place finished about 17 seconds behind us.
The good news was that we set the fastest lap of the race. The bad news was that it was early on and I dropped off after that. My arms and hands were worn out afterwards and I didn't feel like I was smooth out there. After some discussions, we had some ideas on what to try the following morning to make the bike better and headed out to get some good Italian cuisine. Oh, almost forgot. My dad and I both ran in the mini race, which was a hoot. You can see the pictures here: 1 2 3 4 5 6.
Sunday morning began and we tried several suspension changes, along with also trying different gearing. All the practice sessions were in the 58's, so we were immediately up to race pace. I was pushing hard in each session and cranking out as many laps as I could. I felt good in some spots, and not as good in others. We stuck with the changes that worked and noted the ones that didn't. New tires and we were ready for the races.
First race was 600 Superstock. I had a decent launch and was third into T1 – behind Jensen and Sam. However trouble struck as we headed on the back straight for the first time. Just as I was tipping into the fast right kink, the bike shut down. I started braking and back shifting, but there was nothing there. At first I thought I accidentally hit the kill switch and looked down and tried restarting it as I was rolling through T10. No dice. The bike was dead. I coasted off into the grass with my hand up. "No, not now. Come on. Now is really not a good time. Definitely not now …" were the words coming out of my mouth – trying to coax the bike into starting. As bikes were passing by and with the class championship on the line, there couldn't have been a worse time for a mechanical issue. I watched from the grass as the race carried on without me. I tried several times to start the bike, hoping for a miracle, but nothing.
As the race ended and bikes were coming off the track on the cool down lap, I was already pushing the bike across the track and trying to get into the pits as quickly as possible. Halfway down the pits, my dad came running up and took the bike. Great timing, as the thing is heavy pushing uphill from T10 into the pits. I pushed from the tail section and we got the bike under the canopy, on the stands and started tearing it apart. Race three had just ended and our next race was seven. With my dad, Doug, Eric and I taking everything apart, we got under the tank where I saw the fuel pump connector had gotten disconnected. We borrowed a battery from Jake (Teutsch) as I had drained out the existing one, swapped it, connected the fuel pump, reset the ECU, tried the start button and the bike fired up. This was our first mechanical DNF of the season. Too bad it couldn't have happened on Saturday or even in morning practice. My dad put a zip-tie around the connector to ensure it stayed together and without much time to spare, we put the tank and bodywork back together, 750 Superstock was up next and we'd be ready just in time.
Jeff and I started on the front row of the 750 Superstock race. Jensen wasn't in this one. Jeff got the holeshot, but I was alongside him on the outside heading into T1, and was able to out brake him into the corner, taking the lead. From there, I just pushed and by the second lap, my dad was showing that I had a good lead. By the time the checkered flew, we would win by nearly ten seconds. Times were in the mid 58's and we had now officially won the WERA 750 Superstock Championship with our finish. Upon getting back into the pits, everyone was happy – more so for bouncing back from our first race challenges than anything else. The championship was an added bonus.
600 Superbike was next. Jensen, Sam and I were on the front row – left to right. I had a great launch, my best of the day and led into T1. I was expecting Jensen to come by within the first couple turns, but it wasn't until we came out of T7 and setup for the left-kink where he came alongside and took the line and lead through the back straight. I chased after him and to my surprise, kept him in sight for the next lap. Never having been able to keep him in sight for this long, this was all the more incentive to not let him get away. We ran around for the next couple laps and to my surprise, I was actually able to draft and pass him on the front straight. Surely something had to be wrong. I passed him into T1, and he immediately showed me a wheel in T2. I held my line and the lead until the T3-T4 area, where he came alongside and retook the lead. I tucked in behind him and again gave chase. We were both spinning up the tire in several places. I could see the black marks coming off his rear tire – once almost tossing him off the bike as we went through the left-handed T6.
There were spots he was better in, but there were also a couple spots I was able to close on him in. On the white flag, I was able to close on him into T1 and was almost able to get underneath him. I wasn't close enough to fully commit though and had to get on the brakes to avoid running into him as he initiated the turn. With the rear end in the air, I slowed down just enough, as he crossed over my front tire – I couldn't help but fixate on it to confirm that we didn't actually make contact – it was close. That killed my drive out of T1 and with it, the race. I finished in 2nd, with a best lap time of a 57.9 – the fastest lap of the race. Justin (Holderman) finished 3rd and Sam finished 4th after running off-track during the race.
Last race of the day was 750 Superbike. I had a bad launch and was 5th into T1. Jensen was already up into the lead and well ahead by the time I was into 2nd place. I cruised around and took the checkered, locking in our third championship of the season. Times in the race were in the 58's.
Overall the weekend went great. Minus the DNF, we went faster, won a race and were able to get into the elusive 57's, which was a goal of mine after getting so close last time. We wrapped up three class championships and raced with someone we'd never been able to race with before. A sincere thank you to my dad, Doug, Eric and Marion for all their help throughout the weekend. We were hoping to skip the last round of the season, but will now be heading to Nelson Ledges to try and wrap up the final class we're chasing.
Thanks for reading.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Kovack – viphotography.ca
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About This Entry
- You're currently reading "WERA Round 8: BeaveRun Recap (The Heinz Sauce)," an entry on Witchkraft Racing.
- Published: 09.9.09 / 5am
- Category: Race Reports
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it keeps getting better. nice work.
Thanks Niko.
Very nice! You had a great weekend keep going forward!
I’m still buzzed from your race with Rob. Can I call him Rob? (we havn’t been formally introduced) I’ve got one word for you heading into next season…well two words…no, three words – Holderman, Wrobel, Gaige. Plus all the other stars out there.
Your enthusiam always puts a smile on my face Doug. We’ve made great progress this year and it makes looking forward to next year all the more exciting.
I told Marion that you did a buck fifty down the front straight…the look on her face was price less…then she said that is pretty fast on your fiddy! I said, yup.
Subtrack 95mph and there’s the speed of the fiddy. I’m still impressed at that figure though. Greg Winslow had the radar gun on the bike.