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Aaron’s Analysis – AMA RRGC’s at Mid-Ohio

By Aaron Bagwell:

With a little encouragement and a lot of luck I was ready to take on Mid-Ohio during the AMA Sports Road Race Grand Championships. I was excited and anxious to make this trip …

To understand lets back-up to the first week of September. I had put the SV up for sale after Grattan and was able to sell it fairly quick. Amazingly, Jonas McCluskey happened to be looking for a home for his 2007 Elm Plating R6 which I had a long history with. I have been helping Jonas with his program for several years at the AMA and WERA races. The bike was well built and well maintained and begging for me to keep it in the family. This was my chance to get on a 600 and test the waters.

Back to my excitement .. a chance to ride a well sorted R6 at an AMA track against the fastest club racers in the country. Why not? Everything was on schedule until Wednesday when Eddie called and had made the decision to miss the event and concentrate on winning his WERA NC championship at Nelson in a couple of weeks. Eddie has previously held an AMA license and although he was allowed to race his finishes would be removed from the final results. The risk reward was too high with this scenario and although disappointed I agree with his decision. I would be the sole Witchkraftracing representative.

The challenge was now looking astronomical. I would be getting on an R6 at a track I had only been on once before. Not to mention up to this point I had not been on anything faster than my 2001 SV. The R6 has a distinct HP advantage and makes that power in a totally different way. All of this while trying to keep up with the best Club racers in the country. At this point I was wondering what I was thinking?

I made some last minute changes to my plans and contacted Jeff Wrobel and Rob Hancock. Jeff and Rob are WERA NC regulars that are pretty good on 600’s and they had planned on being at the track themselves. This would at least give me a chance to pit with some pretty well respected riders that I could bounce some ideas off of.

I arrived early Friday morning and dropped the bike off and waited for Jeff and Rob. They were staying at friends locally after riding / instructing at the track Thursday night. We got the pits set-up and the bikes on warmers and waited for the first practice session. I actually liked the RRGC format with Friday practice sessions, Saturday qualifying and Sunday races. The entire format reminded me more of the AMA Pro Racing format. My research from earlier in the week allowed me to set some goals for the weekend. I was hoping to get into the 1:37’s.

My first practice Friday morning was quite an eye opening experience…I am sure that I had perma-grin when I came in. The bike was incredibly strong and faster than I ever imagined. I felt like I was flying yet was being passed by everyone. My best in that session would be a 1:48. A far cry from where I wanted to be. In my previous trip to this track in 2003 I was running 1:43’s on an SV. Not to be discouraged I tried to remain patient and build on my corner speed and maintenance throttle to try and improve. By the end of the day after four sessions I was able to run a 1:42.7. Not where I had hoped to be but…patience would be the key for the weekend.

Another nice opportunity the AMA gave us was a chance to practice a few starts. The start procedure for this week would be using a light system similar to the AMA pro classes, something many of us had never experienced. In my case it was even more beneficial in that I had never launched a 600. They gave us two opportunities and although my reactions were not lightening fast I did feel comfortable slipping the clutch and keeping the bike settled.

Saturday morning would come early and I looked forward to getting back on the track. I had mounted up a new set of tires for practice and had a set of soft compound Dunlops for qualifying. Mornings at Mid-O are tough the track is real abrasive and prone to tearing up tires especially in the morning before there is heat in the track. This morning would be no different. My pace was not great but it was only a second off my best to this point. I was getting more and more used to keeping the R6 motor in a higher RPM range through the corners and catching my back shifts early so that the slipper clutch would keep the bike settled, small things that you learn along the way. The tires that I ran for Saturday morning practice were Dunlop 211 N-tecs. A little different from the GPA I was on Friday and would be racing on the rest of the weekend. This only caused me concern entering the “Keyhole” turn where I started to experience some front chatter. I talked to Dunlop and they felt it was being caused by the stiffer carcass of that tire and that it would go away when I switched back to the GPA. The last session brought more improvement and I was now into the 1:41’s.

Qualifying was next, 16 minute sessions. My first chance would be MWSS a deep field of well sorted machines and aggressive riders. The only thing that I was unsure of in this qualifying process was the fact that the Expert and Novices would be out together. This proved to be difficult for me in that I rolled out in a group of Novices that were a little off my pace. That being said there were some really “fast” Novices out this weekend too. I tried to pull into “Hot” pit to get away from that group and managed to come out behind another Novice bike that was incredibly fast but just not quite as good through the corners. It took me a couple of laps to get by him. I finally cleared him by running around the outside of him through the “Keyhole”, a very exciting place to pass. Once clear I was able to drop the proverbial “hammer” and get down into the low 1:40’s. Felt great but still off the pace and last on the Expert grid.

I had one more chance to build on my continuing momentum and comfort on the bike with the Formula 40 qualifying. I knew this would be my opportunity because this class is for riders 40 and over and the field would probably not be as deep. This turned out to be the case. I was able to find a grove and get out early to chase the faster Expert riders and they pulled me right into the 1:38’s, a second and a half faster than I had been all weekend. At the end of the day I stopped to think about the opportunity I had been given and re-evaluate my goals for the weekend and where I was at. After a few texts back and forth with Jonas and Eddie I still felt that the 1:37’s were in my reach. Bring on Sunday, race day.

Sunday morning was another chilly morning which brought with it some dew and moisture so the track would not provide a lot of grip and we would only get one session of practice, for me this is not a big issue in that Sunday morning is not the time to try and find “speed” on this weekend. It was time to warm the body and motorcycle up and get my head around the mental part of racing. The basics like looking through corners, picking out reference point for braking and turn in and audible cues as to RPM’s in certain areas of the track. With all of that being said I was pretty excited to see that I was able to get in the 1:40’s late in the session.

The races arrived quickly and I was ready. The MWSS race would be my first opportunity, what a pace those guys set. I was able to get a clean start off of the last row and move up on some of the guys that were running a second or two faster than me previously. It is always nice to have a competitive group that helps pull you along and drive the competitive juices. I was able to make a few passes up into turn 2 in this race only to lose the spots at the end of the fast back straightaway, Speeds on a 600 are commonly in the 150 mph range here, I have never been that fast in my life. Things happen quickly including my braking. I could not get myself to run the bike in any deeper on the brakes with the set-up I had on the bike and people would get back by me. At the end of this race I had picked up two positions, dropped my best time to 1:38.7 and finished 15th. But…I had finished.

Formula 40 was my next opportunity and best opportunity to get on the podium. Looking at the qualifying times I was fourth fastest and within a second of the 2nd and 3rd place qualifiers. As the lights went out I got a terrible start and bogged the bike down and watched two bikes go by me from the second row. I recovered quickly and concentrated on getting a good drive out of turn one and being aggressive. I was able to get both spots back on the inside of turn two and would be chasing another WERA regular Joe Ball on his Triumph. Joe was good on the back straight and good in the braking zones but I seemed to be able to reel him in on corner entry and get through the center better. I set him up for a pass again exiting turn one down the short shoot into turn two. I felt really comfortable in that area. I was able to get Joe and this had moved me up into 2nd place. I tried to be smooth and keep Joe behind me but made a mistake on lap six in the braking zone at the end of the straight and he capitalized. I tried to get back to him a few times but decided that I was more comfortable keeping the gap to fourth place and finishing the weekend safe and on the podium. That race brought my fastest time of the weekend with a 1:37.9. That was my goal.

The rest of the day was spent helping Jeff and Rob get there bikes ready and watching some great racing from both of them. Jeff had received some gearing help from Eddie on Saturday and had picked his pace up quite a bit, contending for victory in almost every race. Rob had also dropped his times into the 1:34’s by the end of the day. Well done.

The ride home as it often does gave me a lot of time to reflect on things. I had been able to reach my goal and get comfortable on a 600 in short order. I felt like I know several areas where I can find improvement on the times and on the bike at Mid-Ohio. I never really pushed to the point of being uncomfortable this weekend and had operated well within that 90-95% range. I know with time on the bike and experience tuning suspension and geometry I can pick-up a few seconds.

In closing this season I want to thank a few people that have helped and inspired me to get to this point. Thanks to Eddie, Joe and Doug who help me tremendously with bike set-up this year and push me to improve week in and week out. Thanks of course to Jonas McCluskey and Elm Plating Racing for all of the help, support and for giving me the opportunity to get on a very competitive AMA level Yamaha R6. Thanks to Tom Beagle at Honda East Toledo who has helped me out several times this year with parts and encouragement. I enjoy seeing him at the track and hope to continue working with him in the future. Lastly, my family for their support and understanding; Kim, Dylan, Jordan and Aaron, without them I would not make it to the track.

Friday, September 18th, 2009 | POSTED AT: 6:59 AM
FILED UNDER: Race Reports

8 Comments on “Aaron’s Analysis – AMA RRGC’s at Mid-Ohio”

Doug wrote on 18 September, 2009, 10:43 AM
Nicely done Double A-Ron. And on Dunflops too. Pie-rellis don’t chatter by the way. I’m glad you were patient with the R6 and let the track come to you. Nicely done. Wrobel and Hancock are good guys to hang with.
Nik wrote on 20 September, 2009, 9:09 PM
Sweet. You got throught the weekend on the 600, and moving too. Now what? You have to sit and salivate and look at it all winter….
Eddie wrote on 21 September, 2009, 12:34 PM
He’s as giddy as a school boy. And he probably wants The Mexican Champ to come back and go racing as well.
Aaron wrote on 22 September, 2009, 11:02 AM
Thanks guys. It felt good to be on a 600. I have a lot of work to do though. Nik (Mexican Champ) I wish you would make a comeback. I need someone to race with.

Aaron
Nik wrote on 22 September, 2009, 11:13 AM
Si usted puede hablar a Sr. Krafto en cortar el precio de su motocicleta por la mitad, puede ser que pueda efectuar mi reaparición.

El Championato BonMan!
Eddie wrote on 22 September, 2009, 11:56 AM
Donde esta mi gato¿

… only if you list my name as your primary sponsor.
Doug wrote on 22 September, 2009, 1:38 PM
El Championato BonMan – half price race bike indeed. Which half do you not want buy?
Nik wrote on 22 September, 2009, 2:36 PM
Los Estados Unidos. (for the moment, just back from Poland and back again this weekend… ugghhh…)

Deal. In fact, I’ll put whatever you want on it. Your current sponsors. A big picture of you. You name it.