| 10/21/2006 Race 8 report Buttonwillow |
What a great end to the season! Had lots of fun this weekend and road well. I had a few days of practice riding in the reverse direction prior to the weekend of racing and it must have helped. Formula 1: This race made me a bit nervous at first, because of the large grid and unfamiliar turn 1. Didn’t seem to matter too much after the green flag dropped though because I got a great start. Let a few back by as I entered turn 1 but managed to get them back and finish 11th out of 44 riders. Open Twins: Open twins was back to back with Formula 1 so I had just enough time to top off the tank before heading back out to race again. This race rocked! I had a great start, launched into 7th place by turn one and sixth place by turn 2. Latched onto the lead pack and put my head down. It was a tough configuration to pass on but I managed to get past another rider before then end and gave one up as well. My season ending best finish was a 6th with consistent 1:58’s all day. 750 Superbike: Last race of the day, race 14. What a pain, I was tired but didn’t really know it until I started riding. Launched well on the start and raced pretty good, made one bad mistake and ended up dirt riding off the back straight for about a ¼ of a mile. Put my head back down and tried to catch 8th place. Luckily, he ran off as well and I caught him by the last turn. Set him up for a pass on the front straight. Drag raced to the finish and missed 8th place by a wheel. Another season ending best finish of 9th place and first twin in. Season ending results didn’t change much due to the poor performance at Round 7 and the two DNF’s out of open twins. |
| 9/29/2006 Race 7 report Infineon Raceway |
To start the weekend I ran in the four-hour endurance race with my fellow instructors from Keigwins. We ran on a Suzuki 750 provided by Eric (thanks, Eric). The endurance race was a new experience for me and with not much practice on the bike; I went out and did 33 laps in one hour. Definitely exhausting. Handed the bike over to the next rider and then it happened, blown head gasket! Damn, we didn’t finish due to a mechanical DNF. Made it halfway, but that wasn’t what we were there for. Not sure, I would run another endurance race the day before another race, because I was so sore the next day. Open Twins: Nothing was going right for me this weekend. I struggled with my set up, weather and psychological mess. Long story short, I finished poorly, something around 20th. 750 Superbike: Pretty much the same as the last race. Struggled a lot, went backwards and just wasn’t feeling it. Finished around 28th, worst finish in two year. Formula 1: This one went a little better. I managed to kiss the k-wall on the start, not good. Wheelied a little too much and missed a shift so the bike tilted to the left and my arm made contact with the wall. Managed to keep going forward, feeling a bit more confident, started giving chase to some of my competitors then it happened. The clutch started going out! |
| 8/13/2006 | current overall points standings:
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| 8/13/2006 Race 6 report Infineon Raceway |
Entered into this round thinking unclearly, not being happy with my finishes in the previous rounds. Mostly because I haven't reached my goal of being a consistent top ten finisher. I picked up a better machine for this year, I have ridden faster then last year at each round, and I have improved at every round. Then I realized so has everyone else, and it will always be like that. So what is one to do? Work harder at it and have fun doing it. So that is exactly what I did at this round, by far some of the best racing since I started out. It was perfect weather all weekend and all my friends and family were there. There were multiple battles throughtout the day my favorite being with Michael Aron on the 80 machine in Open Twins. Some how we ended up side by side through turn 7 and stayed that way through the esses. first left we were side by side, then the right still side by side, I mean it feels like there is only room for one bike through there. then the next left I just start to inch ahead, then the final right into the straight, I just managed to pull out in front and be the first into turn 9. Dam that was fun, unfortunately Michael would throw a chain in turn 11 on the last lap while trying to gas it and get me back. So I missed out on the drag race for the finish and was disappointed to not see him next to me in the end. My lap times suffered this weekend, I think it was all the battles I was having, who knows. I didn't even get close to my best lap time of 1:44 I think the best I got was a 1:45. Open Twins finished 12th out of 25 riders and got a 1:46.03 750 Superbike finished 15th out of 44 riders and got a 1:47.3 Formula 1 finished 15th out of 67 Riders and got a 1:45.12 |
| 7/16/2006 Race 5 Report Thunder Hill |
After last round I decided I needed a little help at T-hill so I sought out a mentor for a little guidance. After a few days of training I was excited to not only get below the 2 minute mark but get down to 1:58s in practice. I was so impressed with my progress I thought I would do great in my races. Didn't quite work out that way, 100+ degree temps kind of zapped my will to run real hard. If I had open track I would fly but I did not have the will to pull off good times in traffic. Would have, could have, should have (blah blah blah) had a top ten in Open Twins but Brian Parriot came by me on his BMW Boxer, now that is humbling. Was great fun watching him charge through the pack on that thing, and if anyone is going to pass me why not a former AMA top privateer gone Boxer Cup racer. Open Twins finished 11th out of 21 riders and got a 1:59.77 Formula 1 finished 16th out of 37 riders and got a 2:00.18 750 Superbike finished 10th out of 18 riders and got a 2:01.70 |
| 6/18/2006 Race 4 Report Thunder Hill |
I went into this round at T-hill with one thing in mind break the 2:00 lap time threshold I'm stuck at. Did I make it? not quite, got a 2:00.06 darn it! The weekend kind of went like this; Open Twins finished 10th out of 22 riders and got a 2;:01 Formula 1 finished 21st out of 48 riders and got a 2:01 750 Superbike finished 15th out of 28 riders and got a 2:00 So I didn't break the 2:00 minute mark and T-Hill is my weakest track so I have a little plan up my sleeve to do better next time. |
| 6/13/2006 News |
Well it's official! I have become a full time instructor with northern California's top track day and track school provider www.keigwin.com. I have been on a probation period for almost a year and now it's finally official. Teaching new riders and coaching good ones has become a very rewarding challenge and it's fun too. |
| 5/28/06 Race 3 report Infineon Raceway |
So the story goes... NO practice Saturday due to my brothers wedding, and from what I hear I didn't miss much. Allot of short sessions due to a few oil incidents on the track. Race #1 Open Twins: Gridded up Sunday morning 22nd out of 30 something riders, green flag drops, we take off and the race gets red flagged! Back to the grid, green flag drops, we take off and we get red flagged again! Wow for a minute here I'm thinking their going to call this race. Back to the grid for a 5 lap restart instead of our normal 8 laps. Green flag drops, we take off. Not my best start but I know it will be a short race so I start making moves right away. Guess what in the last lap we get a third red flag it was like the wild west out there. Well I made my way up to 9th place in the short time that I had, put down a new personal best lap time of 1:44.51. I was pretty exited about my finish and my lap time which matched that of the next 4 riders in front of me. My times say I should be battling for 5th place which is right where I want to be, and since I have some points now I will be gridded closer to the guys I should be playing with. Race #2 Formula 1: So we grid up, I'm 12th on the grid, we take off and I basically cruise. Race #3 750 Superbike: Gridded 12th same as F1, how convenient. We launch and all that is going through my head is "just finish the race Eddy" so that's what I do. Came in 18th and only ran 1:48s, but the bike is still in one piece and I will still probably be on the third row for the next round. Life is good. Current overall points can be found here |
| 4/22//06 Race 2 report Infineon Raceway |
Saturday was another beautiful day at the track, slightly overcast, but not to hot or to cold. We spent Saturday working through suspension and geometry set ups, even had to go as far as to change out my shock spring. I guess my Diet has worked as well as I thought, actually I was just over riding the spring rate we had going from the beginning of the year.
Sunday Race #1 750 superbike; Race 1 went really well for me we were gridded 17th out of 43 and I finished 12th. I have gotten really good at launching the bike and staying with pack, not giving up any spots during the first lap is key in these sprint races. Did some 1:46s in this race which matched my best lap times from last year. I was the second 1000cc twin to finish and that is actually a good thing when you compare lap times between the 750s and the 1000cc twins. the leaders on the the 750s can lap about 5 seconds faster then the fastest twin out there. We are currently 12th in points out of 32 riders that are in the points. Sunday Race #2 Formula 1; Race 2 went pretty good for me as well gridded 18th out of 74 riders and finished 16th. I launched my start like a champion again but missed a shift in-between turn 2 and 3 letting about 3 bikes sneak back by. We beat our best lap time and got down into the 1:45s. We are currently 16th in points out 55 riders that are in the points. Sunday Race #3 Open Twins; Race 3 started good for me, after last months mechanical DNF I was excited to get in there and do well, maybe to excited. We were gridded 25th out of 31 riders launched my start like a super hero and in one lap we were up to 12th! Hot dam! But like I said I was a little to excited and while executing a clean turn 2 inside pass the other bike battled back so I gave it more gas. The back end came around slightly snapped back in line and I thought I was golden then my head hit the ground. Low side didn't even see it coming I was already in turn 3 in my head, race over for me. What's really unfortunate is that my lap times would have easily put me up with the top 5-8 riders, and my 1:45 lap times are only a few seconds off of the leaders 1:42 lap times. So In my mind I'm doing pretty good for having a new bike and all. Zip told me something after the race and I'll be taking it to heart in for the rest of the year "you gotta win the war not the battle" this is making allot of sense to me right about now. Final thoughts: In closing I would like to thank Zip and Dave Moss for sorting through my setup problems over the weekend and my wife Cheryl for running and picking up parts. Also a huge thank you to Brad Claussen owner of Honda Peninsula Ducati and my primary sponsor for coming out and cheering us on, that meant allot to the whole team. thanks again!! |
| 4/21/06 | Friday was a track day for us at Infinion and weather was good, riding was good, clutch not so good. Apparently when we the previous clutch overheated and burned up we destroyed a small oil seal and didn't know it.
This little oil seal lets quite a bit of oil out into the dry clutch, not good. Friday was spent sorting through this problem getting parts and getting it fixed. So now we know that we need spare seals, and even I have gotten good at servicing the clutch. Zip my crew chief usually takes care of this stuff but he was out having a good old time on the track, It was only a track day and he needs to have fun some times too. |
| 4/19/06 | Surflex and Motowheels finally came through with the warrantied clutch, were installing it tonight and we'll see how she works. |
| 3/28/06 | Surflex Italy has agreed to warrenty the burnt clutches and replace the spun clutch basket. |
| 3/27/06 Race 1 report Buttonwillow |
Open Twins DNF mechanical, nuff said! ok ok here's the story Got off to a great start, launched myself into 5th place by turn 1 and started hustling around the track. Unfortunately almost immediately my clutch started slipping while on the gas (dammit! I yelled inside my helmet). by lap two it started to slip worse and worse I thought about pulling in but just couldn't bring myself to not finish so I forged ahead. By lap 4 or so I lost another spot and really started having problems getting the bike to go. I put my hand up a few times because I didn't want to get hit from behind but there was no one there so I just kept going. On the last lap, I passed the white flag that was it total clutch failure no more forward movement at all had to pull off into the turn 2 run off (insert cus words here). Apparently on the launch the retaining ring around the clutch basket slipped out of position and from that point on just went into barbeque mode. 750 superbike and Formula 1 Zip managed to get my stock clutch into the bike just in time to run these to races Thanks Zip!! |
| 3/10/06 Zard News |
I would like to thank Doug Cameron for coming on board with the ZARD Exhaust system. So far the system has gained us 7 hp and 6 lbs of torque. another great advantage is the ten pound weight savings and the unmistakable exhaust note. We are still planning on doing another round of tuning with the system so stay tuned for some more results. Thanks again Doug! |
2005 Highlights: |
During my 2005 novice season, I ran primarily in AFM Open Twins, 750 Superbike and Best finish in AFM was 7th in Open Twins
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Formula One. Bringing home two top novice trophies and several top ten finishes
