In the few weeks between the fourth and fifth round, for a variety of reasons I found myself feeling more and more like it was time to scale back my racing program. While the main reasons involved time and cost commitments, I must say that seeing the video of the tragedy involving World Supersport racer Craig Jones weighed somewhat heavily on my mind as well, not to mention other news of bad racer crashes that seemed to keep leaping to my attention.

I decided to put the 749R (849) up for sale, but continue to race it and the 1098 in the remaining rounds unless I found a buyer. My plan was to finish out this year and do my best to win the championships in which I’m in contention (1st in SuperTwins, 2nd in Twins GTO, and 2nd in Amateur GTU), and then next year to just occasionally race the 1098 for fun. Racing the two bikes has been a blast, but the demands on my time (and wallet) have been pretty relentless between races.

SATURDAY
This round was back on the west track at Miller. I’d done extremely well the last time we were here (round two), so was pretty excited about getting back on a track where I seemed to do better lap times than my main competition.

The practice sessions felt just okay. For some reason the 1098 wasn’t turning particularly well, although the 849 felt perfect. Just the opposite of the last round on the east track (with no setup change)! Because the west track is more horsepower-oriented, I was still doing better times with the 1098, even though it didn’t feel as good. I also seemed to have rear tire cold tearing issues all weekend, no matter what I tried with different pressures, suspension setup, etc. Very frustrating, as my tires always seem to wear very cleanly. Many of the other racers seemed to be having the same issue, and we surmised that it may have been a combination of some resurfacing they had done, along with cooler temperatures.

KING OF CLUBS: Time for Team Idaho to represent. I wound up gridded in position “A” on the outside of the second row, on the 1098. I thought I got a pretty good start, but man are there some fast guys in that race!

I wound up having some pretty good battles with some really fast dudes, and hung on for 14th, with a best lap time of 1:37.1. At least Idaho didn’t come in last this time – we beat Canada!

In the previous round my best times on both bikes were in the mid-1:35’s, which was pretty darn good. For some reason this weekend, I just couldn’t get there consistently at all. I felt like I was riding well, and giving it everything I had at every point around the track, but for some reason was doing 36’s, 37’s, and even 38’s. Are you kidding me? How the hell did I add two seconds? I’m supposed to be improving! I was getting pretty disgusted.

SUNDAY
The tire wear issues were getting worse. I had both the Michelin guy and the suspension guru look at the tires, and we added a bit more pressure and adjusted the rebound. I also added a bit of preload to the rear shock on the 1098, trying to get it to turn better, as it seemed to be running wide at the exits of some of the high-speed turns, perhaps due to too much squat while on the gas.

RACE ONE – SUPER TWINS: Due to missing the last round, Shane Turpin had relinquished his lead in the championship to me. I again offered to let him use the 849 for the race, as his 1098R is still down, but he declined.

From the pole position, I got the holeshot and led for a few turns before the very fast Patrick Lansu got by me on his 999, as I figured he would. In the second lap, once again I ran wide coming out of turn two and wound up in the dirt at very high speed, running parallel with the track. That allowed Paul (PK) Avery to slide by, and suddenly I was in third, trying to hold off the rest of the pack.

I did my best to stay with Lansu and Avery, but they were running a second or two better than me per lap, and so I rode a somewhat conservative race to finish in the final podium spot, which should have been enough to maintain a decent edge in the championship chase. I did manage a 1:35.9 in the third lap while trying to chase those guys down, but still not as good as in round two.

RACE TWO – TWINS GTO: The points battle in Twins GTO is incredibly close, with Mike Bunds in first, me just two points behind, and PK and Shannon Moham within just a few points of us. The four of us were on the front row of the grid, with me on the 849 in 1B. Shannon got a great start, but I managed to late-brake him into turn one, and got the holeshot. From that point on, I assumed everyone else was right on my tail the entire race, because I never saw anyone until the second-to-last lap, when Bunds started showing me a wheel.

I started to ride very defensively, altering my lines a bit to mix him up. On the west track, there are a few turns where a wide entry will get you a much faster time. A wide entry, however, makes for a very inviting spot for the rider behind you to stuff you up the inside. In the white flag lap, I did my best to prevent this, making a very narrow entry into turns five, six and seven, and braking at the very latest possible moment I felt comfortable with. My exit drives were getting killed by a really sketchy rear tire, sliding all over the place.

Exiting the triple-apex left hand turn seven, drifting to the right to take the right-hand turn eight, in my peripheral vision there was Bunds on his beautiful tricolore-painted 848. And he was really, really close to me. I mean really close. Scary close (to me, anyway) –within inches. I’m amazed we didn’t bump. I guess I could have pushed him wide at that point, but instead altered my line a bit to give us both some room, and he stayed on the gas and got by me. At that point there were only a couple of turns left, and I couldn’t get my lead back. I wound up finishing second after leading for 95.7% of the race! Very frustrating, but he made a bold pass and it worked.

I turned around at the finish line and PK was just behind me. Apparently he’d stalled at the start and climbed back to third with some smoking good lap times – a lot better than my 1:36’s. Looks like I’ll remain in second place for the championship in this class for now.

RACE THREE – AMATEUR GTU: Back in position 1B on the 849, with Spencer Steed on pole, and Nathan Titus (who managed to beat me in the last round) in 1C on his Gixxer 600. The green flag flies, and I get a great jump, but Titus does too. He manages to slip into turn one just ahead of me, and is going strong! The first four turns at Miller West are really high speed. Turn four for me is usually hard on the gas in fourth gear, dragging the knee at speeds approaching 130. Between two and three, Spencer got by me, and left me chasing him and Titus. Turn five is a nasty hairpin at the end of a long straight. It makes you go in really hard on the brakes while clicking a couple of downshifts. Ahead of me I saw Spencer try to late-brake Titus up the inside. As he did, his rear tire stepped out a bit and clipped the front of Nathan’s bike. I saw tire smoke coming from the friction, and next thing I know, Nathan is veering off the track after having to stand the bike up.

I chased Spencer for a couple of laps, but didn’t have the pace this weekend to stay with him, especially with continuing rear grip issues. Next thing I know, here comes Titus again, showing me a wheel up the inside at the end of the straight. I was determined to not let him beat me like he did last round.

He late-braked me into five, but ran wide, so I dipped back underneath him. Hey, this is fun! I’d see him show me a wheel and I’d (gently) close the door. I’d see a shadow in my peripheral, and twist the throttle just a bit more, or brake a little later. Again he got by me, but again he made a mistake and I got back past him. In the fifth lap, I ran a bit wide in ten and he shot underneath, and then it was a side-by-side drag race down the straight. Who would brake latest? I saw his bike slow a bit, so I thought I’d start braking (it was getting pretty critical!) – but then he shot out back ahead and went into turn one ahead of me. Again in five he ran wide and I got back by him.

As I saw the white flag, and tucked in on the straight as tight as my 6’2” frame would allow, I found myself thinking that even if he wound up beating me, this has been so much fun that I really wouldn’t mind that much. Nathan’s a very good friend from Idaho, a former snowcross champion, and has a ton of potential for roadracing.

Now I was really riding defensive – very tight corner entries, late braking, unusual lines – anything I could to hold him off. In turn ten I saw him coming up the inside, so I gently closed the door – but as a result I needed to run wide. Suddenly we were exiting the turn into the straight at the exact same time. A drag race to the finish line! Come on, Ducati! Show me what you’ve got, baby! I managed to nip him for second place by just five-one-hundredths of a second. Phew! Maybe one of the most fun, competitive races I’ve ever had. After the race we both thanked each other for such a fun (while clean and respectful) battle.

I wish all my races could be like that one! Unfortunately, the next one sure wasn’t.

RACE FOUR – FORMULA 40: I thought about bagging this one. I was pretty tired and had a headache, but when I’ve dropped this race before, I’ve been in the paddock loading up for the trip home, hearing the announcer describe my buddies out there dicing it up – and I’ve felt like I wanted to be out there beating them!

You may remember that last round I spent most of the race chasing my diminutive pal Tommy Richardson on his GSXR-750, frustrated about not being able to make a clean pass around him. That was the race I put on the YouTube video.

I felt pretty confident I could get the job done this time, being on the west track, despite his better grid position. I didn’t get a great start, however, from the second row, doing a big wheelie off the line. As we went through turn one, guess who I found myself slotted behind? Yep, Tommy. Here we go.

I’d followed Tommy on the warm-up lap, and noticed that in turn 8/9 he was a lot slower than me, where everywhere else he was really strong. I stayed right on his tail, and sure enough, as we exited eight, I found it very easy to get on the gas and just slide right by underneath him. Ha! I thought about waving at him as if to say “How’d that taste, buddy?” but I refrained.

I figured I was done with him and could set out on chasing the leaders, but I guess I forgot just how competitive Tommy is. He wasn’t having it, and between two and three on the next lap, he zoomed right past me! Huh? Not again!

We diced it up a bit, and after a couple of laps caught up to Tom Bowers. Tom is the hypercompetitive guy I mentioned back in round two as having been the only guy I’d ever heard of that had been to Freddie Spencer School more times than me. Tommy and I slipped past him (I don’t think Bowers was expecting company at that point), and then it was on. Next thing I know he’s back by me, and he and Tommy started going at it, with me trailing just behind.

These guys were hard core. A couple of hardheaded 40-somethings that weren’t giving an inch. I saw some passes (and attempted passes) that were just insane, in my opinion. I guess I’m a bit soft, but there was no way I’d be trying those. I need to go to work on Monday.

I looked behind me and saw no one, so I knew I could just hang back and finish the race. I thought about it, as I was tired and ready to take a break. But the battle in front of me raged on, bringing me closer to them once again. Too close, apparently.

As I closed in on them going into the slow, tricky turn 10 (which leads onto the straight), I saw Tommy charge up the inside to try to stuff Bowers. This didn’t look good, as I knew Bowers was going to shut that door hard. Next thing I know, WHAM! Tommy tucks the front and takes out Bowers, just a couple of feet in front of me! All I see are bodies and bikes everywhere, and I have nowhere to go. My front wheel hit Tommy’s sliding bike (I think), and suddenly I’m flying through the air, tumbling, sliding, hoping everyone is going to be okay in this ridiculous mess.

Fortunately, I was fine, and although Tommy was a bit dinged up, he was okay too, as was Bowers. Looking at the 1098, though, made me want to cry and puke at the same time. Busted footpeg with tweaked frame tabs (again), smashed up frame slider, smashed tail bodywork, busted windscreen, bent aftermarket aluminum subframe, with a very expensive set of Termignoni exhaust cans poking out at the wrong angle.

Brand new leathers all scuffed up with a big hole in the shoulder. Amazingly, my custom painted helmet got just one little cosmetic scuff that can be buffed out. I figured it was toast.

Disgusted. Bummed. Sad. So stupid, so unnecessary. Tommy apologized profusely. I told him not to worry about it – a racing incident is what it was. These things happen. I just have to decide if I’m willing to have them happen to me.

CONCLUSION
At this point I’m taking a break. I’m taking round six off (at least that’s how I feel today).

Championship points? So what. The fact that I had my most fun race ever? Meh, whatever.

I love racing. It’s so much fun, such a rush. Trackdays are okay, but racing is incredible.

The reality, however, is that there are a bunch of racers that are much more hard core about this than me. They have beat up bikes that they patch back up when they wreck them (which is fairly often). They are willing to risk their own health and safety (and that of others) to beat the next guy. Frankly, some of them don’t have the technical skills to match their giant balls.

I’ve proven myself to be a pretty fast and competent racer, who is very competitive. Apparently, however, I have a much lower threshold than many of my fellow racers for taking huge risks on the track. When I can get out in front and battle with guys who are like-minded, I have so much fun it shouldn’t be legal. But I’m having doubts that the fun factor is enough to overcome the concerns about jeopardizing my family’s and company’s security, and the cost of replacing and repairing expensive gear and bikes is getting kind of old.

I usually like to end these reports on a more positive note, but I’m a little bummed right now! Maybe I’ll snap out of it, maybe I just need a break. We’ll see.

ON TO THE NEXT ROUND >>>