Mistakes were made, and lessons were learned this weekend.
First practice session I was so stiff and was gripping way too hard everywhere. Felt better during the second session but it got cut short when my chain popped off. Took me a while to diagnose what happened and to get it sorted, it ended up being that the previous owner had put the front sprock on backwards, so I missed the 3rd practice. Ended up making it out for the last practice and felt great. I’m still trying to convince myself to scrub speed instead of braking so much but we’ll get there. Very happy with how fast I’ve gelled with the new platform of bike and how hopeful this year is looking.
I ended up not writing anything down for my qualifying races on Saturday but they went alright. AM 600 was as hectic as I imagined it would with the race being red flagged after someone stalled on the line and was hit from behind then 2 or 3 other small crashes from rider’s during the race. That class will definitely teach me to hold my position and how to make passes while close to so many other bikes. Lost Era qualifying went a bit better and I was able to place 10/29 giving me a decent starting position for Sunday.
I swapped out for the spare helmet as I felt my main helmet might be a bit too heavy and after a few practices on Sunday, the spare helmet will be the main helmet from now on with how much lighter it felt.
Practices Sunday morning were confidence boosting as I felt very comfortable and had decent pace. First race AM600 I had a decent start which I ended up blowing halfway through the race as I missed my downshift into the fastest corner (the carousel) and lost about 5 positions. I managed to keep it up and make my way back past 2 of them finishing 22/26 and wasn’t happy at all with the results. My eyes are set on a good start and some battles in Lost Era! Let’s go racing!
Final race on Sunday was Lost Era Lightweight, my starts on the R6 are my weakest link at the moment as I’m losing multiple positions right off the jump that I have to then work my way back through. Aside from that and the usual of trying to push braking points further and getting on the gas earlier, I’m progressing quite well on this new platform of bike. Ended up finishing the race 14/29 which should be a good starting position for next round. I ended up with a fastest lap of 1:12.661 which for the amount of time on this bike I’m fairly happy with. Thanks to everyone for the great weekend and I’m excited for what’s to come of this year! Let’s go racing!
