Saturday practice:
Saturday was quite warm, easily into the 100s, other then the heat though the day was quite pleasant. Our practice sessions were going really well, I was really happy with new gearing on the bike, it made a huge difference with the drive out of the corners. Unfortunately in the last session of the day I realized that my exhaust had gotten louder, some how my mid-pipe blew a 14 gash in it. Luckily for me Ace Robey a fellow racer had some motor issues and he lent me the mid-pipe from his bike. Quick swap job and we're good to go for Sunday morning.

Open Superbike:
Coming into this race I think I had like 3 points in this class so I got to start pretty far back on the grid 30th out of 43 riders. Green flag dropped and I cut my way through a few rows on the start, my starts are really starting to improve these days. Not much to say about this race other then it was traffic hell and not much fun, best I could do were 2:00 second laps with allot of 2:01s mixed in. Finished 23rd out of 43 but it made for good starting practice.

Open GrandPrix:
After lunch we headed out for Open GP, the temperature had made it up to 100 degrees again and it was terrible. Lined us up for the start, we were the second wave behind 750 Production, green flagged dropped and my start was pretty good. Only problem I had this time on the start was since I have been launching at a higher RPM the bike hits the limiter a little sooner, so basically I banged the limiter in every gear till turn one. The race goes on and I do some back and forth action with some of my buddies but can't really put any fast laps in due to the traffic. When we start getting into the back of the 750 Production class everything just goes south, wasn't much like racing at all, more like a really crowded trackday. Impossible to ride fast I pull off one 2 second lap and the rest was crap, came in 14 out of 34.

Open Twins:
Now we're talking, this is why I come to the races to play with all my two cylinder buddies. Gridded on the front row and ready to roll, green flag drops and off we go. I made a super good start and was neck and neck with the hole shot till turn one when I rolled of just a bit not having anyone in front to gauge my entry speed. That little crack off cost me a couple spots but I recover quickly and make it up into 4th position. This is what I have been waiting for all weekend open track, I take full advantage and start doing my best laps so far on the 1098, down into consistent 1:58s. I have a huge lead over the 5th place rider and 3rd place is not to far ahead of me by the third lap and before I can finish that third lap the red flag flies.

Now I'm worried can I do it again, I hope so. While sitting waiting for them to let us return to the pits I realize that I'm having trouble shifting and can't get the bike into neutral so I'm a little worried at this point.

We pull the bike in and as were waiting for the track to clear we bleed the clutch and top of the gas. Bleeding the clutch remedies the shifting problem but it will for sure change my launching characteristics, so before the next race I do a couple practice starts. Practice starts don't go as good as I hoped and now I"m just a little worried.

OK, time to grid up for the 5 lap restart (instead of 6). Green flag drops and I completely wheelie the bike and veer to the left a little (sorry guys) drop it down and do the same thing again but not as bad. Pretty much the entire Open Twins grid passing me by and I'm thinking how am I going to recover from this. Well by turn 2 I'm am totally focused and just start blazing through my boys, can't even remember who or when as it is all a blur. My lap times the entire race are my best all weekend 1:58-1:59s consistently and by the second lap I'm up to 5th position and I'm clicking of the best lap times that I can trying to catch 4th. 4th position seems to be running about the same pace I am and he's about 1 1/2 turns ahead of me, no matter what I do I can not catch him. So the red flag burned me this time, I have always done better on restarts but not this time, 5th place and a new personal best lap time so I can't complain.

Saturday Practice:
Saturday was a great uneventful day, bike was prepped and looking great for the weekend so we just enjoyed a beautiful day of practice. We did play with the clutch stack and created a bike that would actually launch so it was a productive day.

Open Superbike:
First race for us Sunday morning was Open Superbike. I haven't completed one of these races yet so we started from the back, well we started 26th out of 38 riders. Waiting for the green flag to drop, green flag drops and we are off. Out of the corner of my eye I see someone to my left put their hands up, not effecting my progression I'm off. Not for long, however, because that guy ends up getting hit and they red flag the race.

Back to the starting grid once again, green flag drops and I get a great start. Race is going quite well, and I worked my way up to 16th position by lap 3. Lap 4 was a mess while trying to put the pass on someone exiting the horseshoe style turn 7 he spun up his rear, low siding, and sent the bike spinning in front of me. I fixated on the spinning bike for 1/2 second to long and instead of holding my line and going on the inside I opted for the dirt path around him. That let two bikes back by and I set out after them came into turn 11 another hairpin turn and someone highsides in front of me. This one I just ignore and go around the outside of him, basically, the only path available. Now I'm just thinking settle down let those guys go finish the race in one piece, that does not end up being the case. That next lap (lap 5) I end up going into the turn 9 chicane too hot, didn't feel that way going in or I would have just gone straight. Anyway, missed my apex at the entrance by 10 feet had way too much lean angle trying to make it work and I was aimed straight at the dirt, so I stood it up to ride through the dirt. At this point, I have way too much speed and I'm aimed straight for the tire wall, when I exit the dirt I try to get the bike turned as much as possible on the little pavement that I have, that is the exit of the chicane. That gets me turned just enough that I'm running parallel with the tire wall when I go into the dirt again. I must have ridden next to at least eight hay bails that were lined up in front of the tire wall, but I hit the second to last one in the line. I hit the one that was sticking out because it had a previously crashed bike propped up behind it. When I say "hit" I basically sideswiped it with my rearset and right leg which was enough to plop my ass down on the ground at an embarrassingly slow speed. Oh well, I was just not meant to finish that race that day I guess.

Open GrandPrix:
Second race of the day for us was OpenGP, I have some points in this race so I was gridded 11th out of 32 riders on the 3rd row. Green flag drops and I get a pretty good start Video Here (that's me in the grey and red leathers) but we only make it to turn 7 before the red flag flies and we have to bring it in.
Ok second start, Green flag drops and the guy in front of me gets a horrible start and I have to avoid him by swerving right Video Here . Other than the little swerve I get off to a great start and run a good race, end up finishing 10th against all the inline fours and I'm the first big twin in to finish so I'm happy.

Open Twins:
Well this is why I come out to the races, to play with all the twins. I’m 6th in points for Open Twins so I started 6th on the grid out of 37 riders, row 2 (second wave). Green flag drops and we fly up the hill, Simon (currently 7th) by my side through turn one and turn two then he edges me out before turn three. So I'm one spot down from where I started but I'm running a great race, it's not long until I can here Bud breathing down my neck, Bud is sporting a brand new 1098 and racing with us for the first time since last year when he came in 5th overall in OT. Bud gets by me cleanly and I'm thinking that I have to do everything I can to hold off the wild card entry of Nate Kern. Nate is teamed up with Brian Parriot and riding the BMW, he had to start from the back Video Here . Well it wasn't long until he passed me, I held him off as best I could but the video shows it all. Ok, ok that is it nobody else is getting passed me! and so it goes, we finish 9th and hold onto our 6th place overall in the championship.

When we pulled into the track Friday night the heat and humidity were terrible, easily over 100 degrees and humid, probably the worst conditions I have been in at Thunderhill.

Thankfully Saturday morning was cooler and not humid anymore, I'll take 90's over 100+ temperatures any day. First session out in practice we were having some power issues, bike wouldn't rev over 8,000 rpm. After checking the throtle bodies and the cables out, those checked out OK, so we had to look elsewhere. Zip ended up figuring out that it was the intake snorkels and they were collapsing, they didn't quite line up with the nose cone and so we had to remove them. problem solved! Saturday practice went well, wasn't much of a chance to get any fast laps in, to much traffic with not enough people going fast.

Sunday morning, race day! and even a nicer day then Saturday, definitely not as hot and seemed to start off pretty mellow. We get our round of practice in, sit through the riders meeting , then racing begins. I'm in race 4,5 & 12, and 4 & 5 or split by lunch so I should be in great shape. Unfortunatly the day goes a little sour and race 3 has two red flags, so they call race 4 to the grid in a hurry, that's us.

Open GP, 750 production
Leading into this race I had been practicing my launches with the Yoyodyne slipper clutch and not having much luck, you can only do launches 1 or 2 times a practice session and not fry your clutch. Well I had seemed to get it to a point where it would launch well but now it wouldn't go into neutral. So when I made my way to the grid I had to wait on the line with the clutch in, and was only able to hold one arm in the air as the first wave was released. OK first wave off (750 prod. was the first wave) and were ready to launch, green flag drops and I get a great start passed two rows of bikes then proceeded to let everyone pass me on the outside of turn one. I hate inside grid positions. we make are way round the track and I'm trying to regain as much ground as possible till we come to turn 11. turn 11 has a standing yellow and we make are way through the blind section of turns to accident scene that will for sure bring out the red flag. So we all put our hands up and ride through this horrible debris field and roll into the pits. Thankfully the riders were relatively OK, could have been so much worse. For those that weren't there a bike down in the center of the track was hit by another rider at full speed.

So much for the drama, that red flag took us to lunch so here we are back on the grid after lunch. Since the bike wouldn't go into nuetral we bled the clutch master and problem solved, right? yes, put now the launches feel foriegn again. Green flag drops for the second time and my start sucks, but I don't let as many go back by at the apex of turn 1. I spent most of the race weaving trough traffic trying to make it back up to where I started from. so much traffic that I was only able to pull off 2:04s when I knew we could run in the high 1:50s. Race is over, not much to see here, next!

Formula Twins Open;
Luckily they ended up re-running race 3 in between races 4 & 5, so we got to take a little break, gas up and cool down. started this race on the front row and knew (planned) that I would at least finish in the same spot no matter what. Started on the outside of the front row which was perfect, green flag dropped and my start/launch sucked but I stayed in it as much as possible and only let two people past me by turn 1. tucked in behind the 5 riders and put my head down, before the first lap was over my buddy Min lost it going into the front straight. Glad your OK Min, but thats one down.

Can't quite remember where I passed the next rider but it was in lap 2, so I'm feeling good. I can see third place about 5 seconds ahead of me at this point about the distance of turn 2. I start to see if I have enough to catch up to third when Phil on a Aprillia passes me into turn 10. Can't let this happen so I pass him into 14 and so we go back and forth a couple times for the next 2 laps. Once I'm past him for the last time I just don't want to let 4th place go, so I just put my head down and started clicking off some 1:59s. those fast laps brought me across the finish line in 4th, wasn't able to close up on 3rd, but that's my best finish ever and I'm pleased.

we are currently 6th in points in Open Twins

I skipped race 12 Open Superbike, I don't have any points in that class and because of the days bad accident we just decided to enjoy our 4th place finish.

Let me just start the segment by saying the last month has been absolutely crazy, from the demise of the 999 gear box to the arrival and race prep of the HPD 1098. Rebuilding the 1098 in a short amount of time really took over my evenings for a couple weeks, getting parts was also a challenge. We didn't even get bodywork till the Tuesday before the race weekend which started on Thursday night for us. All that being said I really want to thank all those that came through for me Dave Moss, GP Suspension, the guys down at HPD, Penske, Ed Freeman, Zip Showket, and Lionel for some night time assistance. Peter from Carbon parts Slovakia also put in some late nights to try and get me some bodywork on time but it just didn't get here in enough time to be able to use. Wish I would have had time to get the bodywork painted and get sponsor logos put on but we barely got numbers on in time for tech on Saturday.

Friday was a track day at Infineon, one that I planned on using for new bike set up. Didn't work out that hot for set up but that was the plan. I outfitted the new bike with some new rubber Friday morning and Dave Moss set our baseline suspension and I went out and got used to the new bike with all the new goodies on it. Felt comfortable yet completely foreign to me for some reason, no rear grip being the biggest problem. We tweaked the suspension trying to get some rear grip with no luck and I started thinking that it was me that could not get used to the new bike. Finally at the end of the day when I was buying my tires for the weekend I found out where my grip was, apparently Dunlop has a new tire... This new tire an "N-TEC"
requires 21psi instead of the 31psi that I'm used to, there for I was riding around on ice skates all Friday with over inflated rear tire.

Knowing that made Saturday a much better experience. With rear grip we set out to make the bike handle, 6 geometry changes later we had a great bike. A great bike and a new tire that I had to get used to but we had a great bike so at least I felt safe. We did manage to get down to the 1:50's at the end of the day but just barely. Only complaints I had at this point were just some items that I wasn't able to take care of before we went racing that weekend. Couldn't get my hands on any gearing so we ran tall and didn't have time to get and install a race throttle which I'm used to running. These things will for sure be sorted before our next round of racing in July.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...
Race 1 Open GP
Crap! and I wish I could just right crap under all the races but I won't.
Didn't launch well and 1:52s is all I could pull off, had a ruff time out there. Didn't feel unsafe just "off" 4 seconds off to be exact. next please...

Race 2 Open Twins
Another bad launch, struggling with a new brand of slipper clutch, I did multiple practice launches that day and just couldn't put a good one together. Somehow turning this race I managed to stay mid pack and pull of some 1:50's to finish 13th.

Race 3 Open Superbike
First time for me in this class starting from the back, should be making my way through the grid, right? Was not to be, maybe next time. Somehow I managed a good launch then went backwards, backwards and slower each lap.

Conclusion
I don't like struggling, I don't like gremlins. Luckily I was able to identify each and every problem and take note so they are not a problem next round. I have work to do, this much I know and I have a whole month to do it. I entered the weekend on a cloud being able to race the bike that everyone wants right now the famed Ducati 1098, thank you very much Honda Ducati Peninsula for this opportunity. I left the track Sunday night disappointed on one hand and happy on he other, we didn't wreck the bike and we did take huge strides in set up over the weekend thank you Dave and Zip for that. And actually I'm doing OK in the points still for the races that are important to me;

Open Twins; currently 9th out of 38 riders Open GP; currently 16th out of 41 riders

Well a week after the last race I head up to Thunderhill for our first Novice school of the year, with the 999 in tow. Half the day goes by and the gearbox locks up, thankfully it wasn't at the race but it doesn't help that I have to teach for two days either. Pat Blackburn comes to the rescue hooking me up with a bike so I can finish off the two day school. 999 is in for repairs, maybe she'll be back in a month or so.

Perhaps I should back up a bit here. The friday before round two our HPD
1098 arrived, we took it to the races to give it the once over and get measured for break lines. Had some tires put on it to get it ready for break in. Once home from the races I had to remove the rear shock and send it to Penske to get a new shock going. So, unfortunately I was unable to take the HPD 1098 with me to to Thunderhill for the above mentioned Novice school.

But... I did manage to get the HPD 1098 back together for a Mothers Day trackday at Thunderhill (insert fan fair and applause here). Time to break in the new beast and what fun it was. Great power, great handling, and great looks, all around great day. Even with the bike in stock everything and over riding all the suspension I still had a wonderful time. Managed to put 150 break in miles on the HPD 1098 before bringing her home for the complete once over and bike prep.

Round 2 at Infineon started out on a good note Saturday morning, good weather, good mindset, bike was prepped out well and ready to roll. Got out there for my first practice and started getting warm up, had a real good rhythm going when the throttle got stuck wide open entering turn 11. Luckily I was guarding the clutch lever and was able to pull it in quickly enough and take the access road off track with out incident.

That unfortunately broke my rhythm of quality practice time for Saturdays practice. Between sourcing the parts we needed to get the aftermarket throttle back in order, installing, and reinstalling to get it back to the way it was, the day was blown. I want to thank David Lucero for donating the cables needed to get me running again and Zip for doing such a great job with the pain in the butt job that is installing and adjusting the throttle cables on a 999.

Sunday morning Race 1 has now become my first practice essentially, so right into Race 1 Open Twins we go... Started up front and got an OK start, made down to the 1:48s and came in 9th. 1:48's was awesome for me at the time because this was our first time racing the AMA configuration at Infineon.

Race 2 for us was 750 superbike which I did poorly at but still manage to stay down in the 1:49s, think I came in 24 out 54 riders. This race was when I started experiencing some gearbox issues and was hitting some false neutrals in bad places on the track.

Race 3 for us was Formula 1, didn't even go the distance in this one. Shifting became a problem and I got worried so I came in so we could go through the bike and hopefully finish our 4th race.

Race 4 was Open GP, not having found a problem with the clutch or the tranny I decide to go out and baby the bike to get some points. Open GP has become an important class for me because when the 1098 arrives It will be my 2nd race behind Open Twins in importance. Can't remember where we started sorry, but we finish Ok for limping around the track. 18th and stayed in the 1:50s

AFM Round 1 Buttonwillow

This report should be titled "the importance of the first lap". Reason being is that I learned this weekend that a race can be won or lost in the first lap. Once you start lapping within 5-7 seconds of the leaders pretty much so is 5th -15th finishers. That being said you need to do absolutely all you can to run on the edge of the tires grip during the first lap when you know dam well it is not up to full temp yet...

Formula 1

First race of the day was Formula 1, which I road in last year so that gave me great grid position. I rolled up to my chalked grid position on the second row and waited for the green flag to drop. with the RPMs lingering around 5 grand I launched! launched good too, but rolled off the throttle to early for turn 1. won't fricken do that again got eaten up and pinched off by like 10 bikes. Being flustered I spent my entire first lap riding around in the wrong gear. Once I got into my my rhythm I started picking off some bikes and putting down some good lap times, was doing some 1:56s (compared to last years 1:58s). The race did not go the full distance due to a red flag situation, think we were on the last lap so I finished 14th out of 64 riders. Luckily I got that out of the way and I wasn't going to let that happen again.

Open Grand Prix

Ok, so now that I have the butterflies out of my stomach it's time for the second race. Open Grand Prix which is basically all liter bikes 1000cc and lots of HP, my guess would be between 150 - 180 hp some may even have more.

So me and my 135hp twin line up way in left field since I've never raced in this class before I get to start 30th out of 34 riders! So the green flag drops and I struggle a little to keep the front end down which slows me down a little but points me to the right! Hmm, perfect! I dropped the hammer and made myself a lane on te right side, right along the dirt and passed about 15 bikes on the outside of turn 1, SWEET! from that point I just started hunting, picking off another 10 or so bikes, which wasn't that easy cause they would pull away in the straights and I would have to work to get back up to them to make the pass. my lap times suffered in this race only 1:57s being that I had to work thru traffic, but I finished 14th out of 34 riders and had a ton of fun doing it! (ps. we ran Open GP to get some points and grid position for when we get the 1098)

Open Twins

Open Twins is my primary race for those that don't know and will be one of two races that I will be campaigning the Honda Peninsula Ducati 1098 in this year.

So having gotten all my bad starts out of the way I grid up on the second row behind Brian Parriott (former boxer cup legend), Tom Montano (former Isle Of Man racer on a 1098), Ken Hill (AFM champion), Craig Mc Lean (on a 1098), Matt Green (riding one serious 999r), Lance Williams (AMA racer), and my buddy Pat Blackburn (just one fast mofo). my point being is that I was surrounded by talent, good place to be, wouldn't have wanted it any other way at that very moment. So when the green flagged dropped we all left hard and made it thru turn one just fine. I was behind the flowing dreadlocks of Lance williams and the lead pack for about three laps, then either they picked it up or I dropped off or both. Not much of a race really, never saw another soul after that. Got down to the 1:56s again and finished 8th out of 25 riders.

750 Superbike

Last race of the day, gridded on the second row once again with lots of guys behind me. Got a great launch and weaseled my way to the outside lane once again to try and keep my advantage. Plan worked out pretty good held my ground and tried to keep the pace up on the first lap. well from the first lap till the last lap I managed consistent 1:56s and got to do some great dicing back and forth. I did get passed by a couple guys towards the end and when I tried to fight back I pulled off a 1:55.34 SWEET!! new personal best lap time and I'm hoping for more in the future as it didn't seem over my head or dangerous, just fun! Ended up 11th out of 49 riders, great way to end the weekend.

Average winning lap times for all the above races was 1:50s, amazing how 5 seconds can seem so far away...