Unlike June, racing in Phoenix in November is
just about perfect. Some of my family seemed to think so as well. My
Mom, Sister, and Stepmom all decided to take a flight over from
Albuquerque for their
first motorcycle racing experience. Needless to say, the pressure was
on,
and I wanted to put on a good showing for them. The weather remained
perfect
for the weekend even though my racing was not. Changes to the bike were
limited to an oil change and a once over.
I volunteered my sister, Stacey, to come out early to the track and
help me set up. She's a good sport and came along with minimal
complaints. We
got the pit set up with no problems (once I decided on the spot to set
up)
and went out for practice. Practice was uneventful and my times were
down
in the 1:18's. I new I would need to do a lot better than that to be
competitive for the weekend. Jess was supposed to pick up my Mom's at
the hotel on her way down from Prescott but a drunk driver ran a red
light and she T-Boned him and was delayed in getting down to the track.
(She and the other driver were O.K. but her truck was not)
THUNDERBIKE
I got a decent start and fell into 2nd behind Bob for the first turn.
Jack passed me by mid lap and I stayed in third for a couple of laps,
trying
to hang on to Jack. In New Mexico and Vegas, I had put a few seconds
between me and Doc. In between Arroyo and this weekend he found some
extra speed. He was on my tail the whole race and finally got by me on
the straight.
I wasn't able to repass him and I finished the race in 4th, with a fast
lap of 1:16.455.
GT LIGHTS
There were 6 bikes registered for the race, but only 3 gridded for the
race. Wayne, Jack, and Me. Aaron had severely messed up his finger in
an
accident in the Supersport race and he was done for the weekend. I'm
not
sure where the other guys were. As usual, Wayne got the holeshot and I
fell
in behind him for the first couple of laps. He slowly pulled out a gap
on
me. I could feel Jack right behind me the first half of the race. Just
after
the midway point Jack passed me and I used the rest of the race as an
extended
practice session. I was working on braking markers, looking through my
turns,
and being smooth. It seemed to pay off as I ran a 1:15.422 and finished
the
race in 3rd.
SUNDAY
After getting in so many laps in GT Lights I was feeling confident in
the morning. I was feeling even better after lookin at my practice
times and
seeing that I was running consistent 1:15's. I figured if I could run
1:15's
in practice I could find another second during the race.
LIGHTWEIGHT GP
Wayne got the hole shot, but this time I was right on him. I didn't
feel like I was pushing to stay with him, but coming out of Turn 12 I
got on
the gas too hard and the rear end stepped out. I made the rookie
mistake of letting of the gas and the rear hooked back up and spit me
on the ground right in the middle of the track. I got up and just
kneeled right
in front of my bike as the other 10 bikes came accelerating by. I got
up
completely pissed off at myself.
I wasn't the only one down however. I saw Ed's bike one turn back on
its side, but I didn't see Ed. I looked up in the stands and my family
was frantically pointing towards Ed's bike. I started over to the bike
and then saw Ed lying on the ground, not moving. I was at a full sprint
now and as I was running over I saw Ed's bike still running with gas
pouring out the tank. I quickly hit the kill switch and then kneeled
down by Ed. I was yelling his name
but with no response. I could see him breathing so I didn't do anything
else. The first rule of a first responder is to do no harm, and since I
couldn't help him, I just waited until the cornerworkers got there.
The race was red flagged and my bike was now spilling gas on the track.
I went back to my bike and started pushing it back into the pits. I
managed to get it the rest of the way around the track and as soon as I
was off
the track Tim thankfully took over and got it back to the pit. Tim and
Paul
(Ryan's dad), got to work fixing the broken left hand clip on and left
hand
footpeg. By this time my thumb hurt like hell and was twice as big as
it
should have been. I drank some water, took some Ibuprofen and got ready
to race. Tim (dubbed "The Magic Man" by my sister) got the bike back
together
in record time and we actually made the restart of the race.
I was really hesitant the first couple of laps and my thumb really hurt
under braking. About halfway the pain started to subside and I put my
head down. I managed to pass 3 or 4 bikes and was working on catching
Doc. I pulled within a couple of bike lengths, but needed one more lap
to make a pass.
All in all, it felt good to get back out there and put in some good
laps.
I finished 5th with a fast lap of 1:16.346.
LIGHTWEIGHT SUPERBIKE
Ed didn't make it out for the next race, as he was taken to the
hospital for a concussion and possible broken bones. Aaron was also
absent from his accident the day before. It also turns out that Wayne
had dislocated his
shoulder earlier, but he was able to fight through the pain and make it
out
for the race. My thumb hurt even more than before and I was just trying
to
circulate at a decent pace. On the 5th lap I went to upshift on
straight
and there was nothing there. My bent shift lever had broken off. I
figured
this was a sign and I pulled into the pits.
It was a rough weekend for the Lightweight crew. I didn't get the
results I wanted. But, it was great having the support of my family out
there for the weekend, and they seemed to have a good time. (Except
when I was crashing). My sister (Stacey Boyne Photography) is a
professional photographer and she took some FANTASTIC pictures: Enjoy!
