The Grattan Experience

As the smell of race gas filled my nostrils, I looked out of the Ducati Indianapolis pit garage at Grattan Raceway with trepidation.  The temperature was hovering in the upper 30’s and it was drizzling.  Not the way I wanted to learn Grattan counter clockwise.  As the rain continued I ran mental lap after lap of the track.  Having ridden Grattan clockwise, I knew the layout of the track.  The challenge would be finding reference points for braking, turning, and accelerating.  Some of the lines would change as well; especially into turn 12 (now turn 1).  When taken clockwise, this is a fast right left combo that leads onto the long front straight.  A fast rider can carry near triple digit speed through this section.  That acceleration would now be turned into entry speed.  To add to the challenge, the corner now sported a blind apex to make it a bit livelier.

Rather than worrying about things I had no control over, I focused on getting ready for the day to start.  Based on my Talladega experience, I was now considerably more prepared.  Registering online prior to the event saved me tons of time and the bike breezed through tech.  No last minute work or tire changing needed to be done so I talked strategy with Matt Carr and fellow racer Mike Brooks.  We decided that I would not go out for a wet practice and risk crashing.  The weather was supposed to clear by lunch and I had registered to ride in the 20 lap solo race later that afternoon.  This would give me additional and much needed practice laps to prepare for Sunday’s races.  Mike talked me through some lines and brake markers while Matt made sure the bikes were ready to go.

The weather did break and the track dried out enough for me to get two practice sessions in.  Based on advice from fellow Carrmoto rider Mike Flis, I entered myself into the 600cc and 750cc practice sessions.  This move allowed me to be a bit more flexible with practice sessions and would have doubled my time on the track had the weather cooperated. 

Again I have to say that I really felt like a pro at the track complete with tuner and teammate.  Matt Carr did an excellent job making sure the 848 was in perfect running order and would sit down with me after each session to get my feedback.  He balanced his time perfectly between the four Indy Ducati racers (I, Mike Books, Mike Flis, and Gene Burcham).  Being the lone novice in the group I could have easily fallen by the wayside but just the opposite happened.  I was able to draw upon Matt’s tuning expertise and my teammates track knowledge to improve my times continually throughout the course of the weekend.  Undoubtedly I would have been much slower had it not been for a consolidated team effort.    

PRACTICE (16 May 09)

My first session out was taken at an easy pace.  The “bus stop” and “sweeper” turns area was still a bit damp so I focused on my lines and gradually increased my pace as the tires got warmer and a dry line started to form.  I heard someone in the garage say “no one wins practice” and that person is right.  There were a few crashes in my session but for the most part it seemed like people were riding with a bit of sense.  The first session ended uneventfully and I came back in to get some feedback prior to going out again. 

The sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and the track was rapidly drying out for my second and final session.  I picked up the pace to see how things felt.  The first thing that became apparent to me was that turn 1 is fast!  You have to have a great deal of testicular fortitude to get through that corner effectively.  I worked on pushing my brake marker deeper and carrying more speed into the corner.  Nelson Ledges two weeks prior had given me a taste of what a fast, bumpy entrance felt like so I tried to apply that knowledge to this corner.  The main difficulty I had was overcoming the blind entrance.  Mike Books said it right, “You know the corner is there.  The track hasn’t moved in the last minute and a half but your mind has to fight your wrist to stay on the gas until you can see the turn in front of you.”  That is exactly how I felt.  I could feel myself rolling off the throttle before I got to my brake marker.  It was a mental effort to not be a pansy and stay on the gas.

My next sissy moment came on the infamous jump hump.  The jump hump is aptly named as fast guys will dirt bike style jump off this thing!  Slower guys will at least wheelie.  Matt had advised me to move my head over my wind screen to put more weight on the front end to keep it down.  The first time I hit this thing with any speed I found out that the head over the front thing works if you’re 220lbs, but if you weigh in closer to 155lbs like I do, the result is pretty much getting hit in the face with your wind screen.  Not cool.  It was a sort of one trial learning experience for me as I rolled out of the throttle and reached for my rear brake to bring the front back down.  I’d be checking my leathers as soon as I got back to the pits!  From that point forward I had to basically sit on my gas tank to keep the front end down.  As I picked up my speed, this would become more and more important.  In reality, my front end probably wasn’t more than a foot or two off the ground but from the cockpit my front tire felt like it was pawing the clouds!  The second practice session ended pretty much without incident but leaving me wanting more time to get up to speed on the track.

MIDDLE WEIGHT SOLO (16 May 09)

Starting from the back of the grid was a good thing for me.  Again, swimming in a sea of 600cc motorcycles would be challenging, especially since I still wasn’t up to speed with the track.  This race highlighted my main weakness, starting.  For some reason I struggle launching the 848 off the line.  A visit to the drag strip is in order but I digress.  I came off the line the best I could and set about to sticking with the strategy Matt and I decided on of using the solo as a practice session.  The first lap felt decent but at the beginning of the second lap I was able to enjoy my first serious “moment” of the weekend.

I was going a bit faster than my skill level dictated through turns one and two.  I made my transition from right to left a bit early and was into turn two far too tight and approaching the grass on the inside of the turn way too fast.  I had to stand the bike up a bit to keep it on the pavement and ended up running over a dip in the middle of the turn.  This upset the chassis enough that I was bucked out of the seat with the front end in a near tank slapper.  All I could do was go to a neutral throttle and hold on for the ride.  Thankfully the bike righted itself at the very edge of the track and I was able to keep riding, albeit a bit slower as I tried to remember to breath and put my eyeballs back in my head. 

As the race continued I started getting my confidence back but still eased into turn one.  I moved my brake marker back and stopped rushing the corner.  As I developed confidence in my line, I picked up my pace.

Another section that I worked on was the esses.  A traditional, sweeping line through this section would make you faster in individual corners but slower through the most important corner in the section, the one that led onto the short straight, over the jump hump.  Matt recommended a point and shoot approach to this section.  It was a hard adjustment to make as it felt slower through the corners but much faster onto the short straight.  His advice proved sound, as always, and I could feel the difference in drive onto this section.  In order to not wheelie myself over backwards; I started short shifting into third gear prior to the jump.  This helped keep the front end down without robbing too much drive.  The race ended with me gaining a little speed in all the sections but still not enough through the first turn.  Sunday would prove to be a challenge.

PRACTICE (17 May 09)

Today was the day.  The races that mattered happened this afternoon.  I had to be fast if I wanted to have a decent result.  The results at this track were of particular importance because this was basically Matt’s home track.  I wanted to uphold the Carrmoto banner honorably and give Matt as well as Indy Ducati a return on everything they had invested in me.  No pressure! 

These thoughts were on my mind as I rolled out for my first practice session of the day.  However, they were pinned to the back of my skull along with my eyes as I head the throttle to the stop while rocketing down the front straight on my first hot lap.  Racing is no time for day dreaming.  It demands absolute focus and concentration at all times.  My focus was on going as quickly as I could as I refined my lines in preparation for my races this afternoon.  In Nelson Ledges I managed to finish 2^nd in the heavy weight twins super stock race and resolved to do one better today. 

One bit of additional preparation that I was keen on was my transponder.  In Talladega my transponder died during the solo.  At Nelson I figured I’d charge it until race time so I left it in the car charger until I needed it.  That was a great idea until after the second race when I realized that instead of being on my bike, it was still in my truck!  Two races with no results, not good.  Thankfully I did put it on for my third and final race when I finished second.  For Grattan, I made sure it was fully charged by Saturday morning and placed it on the bike before I did anything else.   Ditto for Sunday.  I charged it all night and prior to doing anything else, I made sure that transponder was in place. 

HEAVY WEIGHT TWINS SUPER STOCK (17 May 09)

I’d love to write about some race long battle full of fairing bashing and extreme passes between myself and three other riders but the result was decided before I even got on the track.  Yes, I won my very first race by being the only entrant.  Talk about mixed feelings!  On one hand it was great to get a first place trophy but on the other hand, I like to earn things, not have them given to me. 

Basically, I grabbed the back of the experts ahead of me and attempted to hang with them as long as I could.    I was getting gapped by about a second a lap for eight laps by the last place expert.  Not a great feeling but there were bright points to it.  I was actually holding my own through the bus stop section and the esses but would lose time on the straight since the guy in front of me was on a Ducati 1098.  I was still losing a bit of time into the first turn but not as much as the day prior. 

As odd as it may sound, one of the highlights of the race came from getting lapped by Robert Jensen.  For those who’ve never heard the name, Jensen is a full time fast guy who chases contingency money 52 weeks a year.  Let me tell you, he is VERY fast.  Coming out of the second to last turn, he came past me like I was parked and went into the last turn so much faster than me it was just ridiculous. 

When I came back into the pit, Matt wanted to make some changes to the bike.  Being a novice I’ve always felt like I’m not fast enough to start changing the suspension around and basically ride around any problems I may have.  Plus, I’m pretty physical so I just muscle my way through most things.  I was nearly bottoming the forks under breaking and would have to fight to keep the bike down in some of the longer, faster corners.  Matt added a couple of turns of preload to the front, reduced the rebound and stiffened the compression.  We also added about five millimeters of rear ride height.  No practice left to check the changes so I would find out how it worked in the race.

HEAVY WEIGHT TWINS SUPER BIKE (17 May 09)

This was it.  I was lined up in the front row against other racers in my class.  No easy win.  I would be racing all the way, neither giving nor taking any quarter.  I wanted more than anything to score a win for myself and Indy Ducati.  Adding to everything I was lined up next to the infamous Buell 1125 for the first time.  I knew I had the other guys on SV’s covered based on lap times but couldn’t find any of this guy’s times on the practice sheets.  At that point I resolved to either win this race or crash trying.  Everything else ceased to matter at that point.  I focused on the starter and waited for the signal. 

The time between the two board and green flag seemed to drag.  I wanted this thing to start so badly!  When it did I actually got a pretty decent start.  I was third off the line behind the Buell and one of the SV’s.  I was able to motor past the SV and get onto the Buell’s back tire going into turn one.  We were right on the back of the experts.  My plan was to stay close to pass at the first opportunity I had.  No race craft, no watch and pick my over taking spot.  I wanted to pass him, make my break and win convincingly.  We went down the hill and into the bus stop.  I noticed immediately that the Buell had very good acceleration but I made up a lot of space on the brakes.  Through the sweeper and into the bowl we went.  Again, the acceleration of the Buell was strong but the rider was weak on corner entry.  I actually thought about going around the outside of him through the bowl but remembered a warning Matt always reinforced to me about passing on the outside, “careful going around the outside because if the guys runs wide, you’ve got nowhere to go.”  I waited. 

Through the esses and over the jump hump we raced.  He had a pretty bad tank slapper going over the jump hump so I backed off a bit to avoid a potential accident.  He held it together but had created a tiny gap going through clockwise turn four but I was back on him entering turn three.  I knew that if I got a good run on the straight I could draft past and out brake him into turn one.  I was on the brakes a bit later than normal going into the final corner, squared if off and fired out as hard as I could.  That was all I needed.  I ended up with a much better drive than him, made the pass half way down the straight and held the throttle all the way to my brake marker. 

This is the first time I felt the changes Matt made to the bike.  It was light and responsive into turn one, turn two, and down the hill.  Whereas I would have to muscle the bike down before, this time it turned easily and allowed me to make line changes as needed.  It was firm on the brakes.  The only down side was that I could feel the bumps a bit more.  That wasn’t too much of an issue however as I was able to put the bike exactly where I wanted on the track with relative ease.  I ended up running into turn one a bit wide at one point but was able to hold the wider line and make the downhill left without incident.  That would have been difficult to pull off on the setup I was running earlier.  From a physical stand point, this was the easiest race or practice I had all weekend and I was going faster than I had gone to this point.

I put my head down and pushed the pace as fast as I dared.  I was spinning the back tire coming out of the bus stop but not uncontrollably so it became a habit.  The rest of the world fell away.  I could see one of the experts in front of me so I focused on trying to catch him.  I knew I was clear of the Buell and was increasing my gap with every lap.  I was pushing pretty hard and made a few mistakes, costing me time against the expert ahead of me.  It was the 1098 from the earlier race so I was losing out down the straight as well.  Eventually he increased his gap on me and I couldn’t make it up. 

When I first started racing, I resolved never to look behind me.  Coming out of the bus stop, I could see back up the turn one/two hill in my periphery.  By about lap five I glanced up to see where how close the Buell was and got a shock.  As I was exiting the bus stop and accelerating into the sweeper, the Buell was just coming down the hill!  I had put a few seconds between us so I shifted from riding as hard as I could to riding as fast as I could while still being smooth.  I didn’t want to back off my pace and get lax but wanted to make sure I maintained my gap and came home for the win.  The expert was long gone at this point so I was pretty much riding by myself for the final few laps.

Seeing that checkered flag wave as I came past the finish line in first place was awesome!  I have won running races before and various physical competitions in the Army but never a motorcycle road race.  This was amazing!  I had an overwhelming feeling of joy as I waived my index finger (number one!) to the corner workers on my way back to the pits.  It felt like my smile was going to break through my helmet at any time! 

I got back to the pit garage.  Mike Books was already back, having won the expert race.  He helped me get my bike on its stands.  Before I could get my helmet off, Matt came up and gave me a huge bear hug.  I actually did it!  I won my first race.  I was happy and he was happy for me.  Veteran racers with tons of wins may have gotten use to this feeling but I have no doubt they still remember the first time they tasted sweet victory.  Since we were done racing for the day, Mike Books grabbed a couple of beers from the cooler to celebrate.  Beer never tasted so good.

PROLOGUE

Overall it was a monumental weekend for the Carrmoto sponsored riders.  Mike Books and Mike Flis each took a win.  In superbike, Books, Flis, and Gene Burcham finished one, two and three.  I took a pair of wins in the novice HWY twins’ classes.  Books set the fastest twins lap of the weekend.    Best of all, we did it on Matt’s home track.  I was so happy that even the seven hour drive home that I still had in front of me couldn’t dampen my spirits.  Everyone was in high spirits as we loaded the trailer and said our goodbyes to fellow racers and new friends alike.  Despite having a near perfect weekend, I still wanted to improve so I focused on a few things that I could do better next time.  Here they are:

1.       Give better suspension feedback.  I have a habit of using my physical ability to force the bike to do what I want it to.  With just a few adjustments Matt showed me that I don’t necessarily have to do that.  If I give better feedback earlier, changes can be made sooner and I can go faster earlier in the day.

2.       Walk the track.  I did this on Saturday night and it helped a lot on Sunday.  I need to make sure I walk the track before riding it to get a better understanding of the pavement.

3.       Starts.  My starts are terrible.  I need to get to a drag strip or something to practice coming off the line.  Instead of conceding places at the start of the race and having to make them up later, I need to get better starts and be at or near the front sooner.