Well, this year has started out Great! I can't say that I am any faster, but I can say that everyone else slowed down over the Christmas holiday!
It seems that I am at least making some progress on being more consistent. I am running mostly 1:29 to 1:30, which isn't setting the world on fire but at least I am not running two seconds faster or slower for inexplicable reasons any more. I have pretty much solved the stability issues with the bike, and now I just need to remember how to go fast. I put a new motor in it, and that has worked out pretty good, but I have lost braking skills. I am getting out of the gas and on to the brakes way too soon in turns one and three. I also need to pick up the pace through 8-9 and turn 2. Last race was pretty good, I ran mostly 1:29's, and I know I can go faster if I just start breaking later.
In January I also got the 748 back out, and the most amazing thing happened. I actually WON the first race I ran it in. Most of the fast guys were not running in January, but hey, a win is a win. In Feb more people were out, but I still got a third which is great. On the 999 I have gotten 2nd's and 3rds in every race so far, so that is also starting off the season on the right foot. If I can pick up the pace it could be a good year.
Feb was Great! I got 3rd in BOTT MW, but it was a good race for 2,3,4 position. There is a guy with a built 749 that got the drop on is all at the start and I couldn't keep up once he got away. In BOTT HW I got 2nd in a real good race where Eric Nolan and I had a shoulder to shoulder (literally) entrance into turn 8. He was on a 1098 and I stuffed him in 6, but he has more motor so he caught me into 8 and tried to go under me. Luckily he is an excellent rider, we bumped, I didn't let off and he thought he could catch me with horsepower at the line so he backed off a tad, but I was pinned and got about 5 bike lengths on him and he didn't catch me so I got second by a tire. F-Twins I got a third in a race where I was close to Eric but never really caught him. There were two guys behind me that I didn't know about, and the highlight of that race was all of us passing Alex Eisner on a 400cc Bandit racing 500cc Superstock right in the middle of turn nine. Alex later told me he wished he had a camera because it was a perfect Ducati commercial, the four of us head to tail railing through 9. Then in F2 I tried to make more adjustments to the 748 and went backwards, but I still got a 4th and when I get the 748 sorted I will be competitive. So, three trophies, $40 cash and about $225 in tire money. Not a bad weekend.
March was good too, but I made one really big mistake that cost me. In BOTT MW I got a decent start, but Tye on the 749 got out in front again, and Pancho Spain and Chris Speights got out in front of me too. I really have made some progress with the 748 suspension setup, and the bike was working really well. It ran really consistently at 1:30-1:29 every lap, except the last one. I passed Pancho and Chris, and caught Tye on what I thought was the last lap. I tried to pass him on the outside in 9 but he ran really wide and I had to back out so he just beat me to the line. I cruzed in, but only to find that what I thought was the last lap was actually the white flag lap and I had one to go! So, instead of a 2nd, I got 7th! (I was wondering why everybody was strafing me on what I thought was the cooldown lap!) My next race was on the 1098, in what was to be it's first outing. I found a good setting on it, but this month Shawn Higbee was back and so was Rick May on his 1098R. The heavyweight class is getting brutal. Higbee got his usuall amazing start and was gone. Eric and I get our usual decent strarts and it was a drag race into one where he got in front of me. I couldn't hang with Eric this time, he gave up on the Pirelli's and went back to Dunlop's so he is back on his faster pace. I thought I had third, but May was stalking me and finally passed so I thought I ended up in 4th, but Higbee had a DNF so I got Third! The best part was I did a 1:28 every lap of the race, which is actually as good as I ever did on the 999, so the 1098 is off to a really good start. In F-Twins, my last race, it was pretty much the same result. Higbee finished this time so I did get a 4th, but I was closer to Eric and when I checked my times I had three laps at 1:27! I only did that once on the 999, on a perfect day, after a year of struggling, and I never did it again. The 1098 is a much better bike for me.
Sadly, I found out later that Pancho Spain went out in the F50 race (right after the BOTT MW race) on a bigger bike with cold tires and had a fatal crash in turn 8. He was a good competitor, a really good guy, and he will be missed. Rest in peace Pancho, I know you were doing what you loved. There could be no better way to go.