suppose to be in the 50's with sun, but...in actuality, 40's with light rain:mad: felt like the group ride without the wind.
didn't bring any rain gear or many clothes cause i was counting on the sun being out. i've learned my lesson. thought the track would be dry also, cause the sun was out the last few days. wrong on that one also. rounded the bend and saw water puddles in the corners and an overall wet looking track.
5 FOOT TROPHY day at the dutchman 10/24
not sure what the turnout would be like with the PA series being over and the district series winding down plus the weather. saw 5 guys registered before me but it was still early.
watched the bikes for a few laps and could tell some corners would be tricky. berms would be pretty high so you definately wouldn't want to go over one and get saddlebagged. took my bike to the staging area and did a little bsing then retreated to my truck for a little rest period and to get out of the cold.
decided to leave my truck before i slept thru the race. checked the sign up sheet and we now had 18, about 8 too many. saw timmy wertman walking around so my chances of winning just dropped dramatically. he's won every race he finished at the dutchman this year! on 4 different machines no less! he's the c class equilivant of chris borich.
watched the bikes for a few laps and could tell some corners would be tricky. berms would be pretty high so you definately wouldn't want to go over one and get saddlebagged. took my bike to the staging area and did a little bsing then retreated to my truck for a little rest period and to get out of the cold.
decided to leave my truck before i slept thru the race. checked the sign up sheet and we now had 18, about 8 too many. saw timmy wertman walking around so my chances of winning just dropped dramatically. he's won every race he finished at the dutchman this year! on 4 different machines no less! he's the c class equilivant of chris borich.
we get lined up and once again, we start last! the logic they use befuddles me. they had the senior class starting right before us. if the c class starts last cause it's comprised of first year racers shouldn't the senior class start first? oh well.
the class has alot of new faces in it for some reason but one face that wasn't there was owen kapalski, the dist points leader. he always gets there late but he was pushing it today. turns out he never showed:confused:
horn sounds and amazingly i'm second off the line. a raptor gets the holeshot. i go wide around the first turn to set up for the second corner but wertman goes inside on his heavily modded 426ex. he gets around the raptor but it's so sloppy and gooeeeyyy that he doesn't pull away at first. i get around the raptor and am suprised nobody got around me yet as the mud had me all over the place. 1 holeshot and 1 razr front tire isn't the hot set up!:eek:
the class has alot of new faces in it for some reason but one face that wasn't there was owen kapalski, the dist points leader. he always gets there late but he was pushing it today. turns out he never showed:confused:
horn sounds and amazingly i'm second off the line. a raptor gets the holeshot. i go wide around the first turn to set up for the second corner but wertman goes inside on his heavily modded 426ex. he gets around the raptor but it's so sloppy and gooeeeyyy that he doesn't pull away at first. i get around the raptor and am suprised nobody got around me yet as the mud had me all over the place. 1 holeshot and 1 razr front tire isn't the hot set up!:eek:
we get out of the goo and wertman starts pulling away RAPIDLY. we run into traffic quickly. mostly utes and v forces then blasters. that works to my advantage cause it lets me catch wertman.but the lappers are being kind today and as soon as i catch up wertman is gone again.
borich and hertz weren't there so i figured jlhughes had the a class rapped up. he's been slacking lately so i wasn't worried about anybody coming up on me. i was beginning to wonder if wertman was going to lap me cause once we got into the open a little he took off. i would catch a glimpse of him now and then but his lead after a few laps was HUGE!
the pesky raptor kept stalking me, i had about 6-7 seconds on him but i couldn't shake him. he'd close in ever so slightly but igo hard for a while and get the 6-7 seconds back.
borich and hertz weren't there so i figured jlhughes had the a class rapped up. he's been slacking lately so i wasn't worried about anybody coming up on me. i was beginning to wonder if wertman was going to lap me cause once we got into the open a little he took off. i would catch a glimpse of him now and then but his lead after a few laps was HUGE!
the pesky raptor kept stalking me, i had about 6-7 seconds on him but i couldn't shake him. he'd close in ever so slightly but igo hard for a while and get the 6-7 seconds back.
the track was slick and spinning out was a concern. had to be gentle on the throttle and abuse the clutch to get good time in the corners, and the dutchman has about 400 of them.
i was just picking off lappers in the middle laps, content with a second place finish. with owen not showing the 10 points would put me 1 back of him in the district standings. but the raptor wouldn't go away...one slip and he'd be knocking on my door. on about the 4th lap i got my cornering technique down pat and could pull away from him in places. was concentrating on shifting my weight and yelling at lappers so they knew i was back there. didn't want a repeat of the last dutchman race where i got put on my head.
i was just picking off lappers in the middle laps, content with a second place finish. with owen not showing the 10 points would put me 1 back of him in the district standings. but the raptor wouldn't go away...one slip and he'd be knocking on my door. on about the 4th lap i got my cornering technique down pat and could pull away from him in places. was concentrating on shifting my weight and yelling at lappers so they knew i was back there. didn't want a repeat of the last dutchman race where i got put on my head.
half way and everything was fine. wertman was gone, raptor was still behind me and he had a good lead on 4th place, dale was running great. finished that lap and near the end of the next one i saw wertman sitting off to the side of the track in the short switchbacks. his dad had a rear tire in his hand and some other people were hustling around. i figured it fell off.
now i'm in first! and have all kinds of energy, but the raptor dude also was looking for a 5 FOOT TROPHY and turned it up a notch. hit the barrels and last lap! if they got wertmans bike back together fast he could probably catch me, so i was charging pretty hard. put a few lappers between me and the raptor but he was still back there. saw him getting aggressive with the throttle and nearly spinning out a few times so i knew if i didn't wreck i'd take the win...
now i'm in first! and have all kinds of energy, but the raptor dude also was looking for a 5 FOOT TROPHY and turned it up a notch. hit the barrels and last lap! if they got wertmans bike back together fast he could probably catch me, so i was charging pretty hard. put a few lappers between me and the raptor but he was still back there. saw him getting aggressive with the throttle and nearly spinning out a few times so i knew if i didn't wreck i'd take the win...
but there was a train of lappers ahead that could spell disaster for me. i was hopeing they'd finish before i caught them but it wasn't long and i was right behind them. to my suprise they left me by about as good as i could've wished for. cruised on in to the checkers for my first ever dutchman victory and a pretty 5 FOOT TROPHY!
i think we had 24 or so racers in the c class. talking to wertman after the race and he ripped the rear wheel off the hub! i'm not talking about the lug nuts coming loose and oblonging the holes either, i mean literally ripping the wheel off the hub. never seen anything like it. he might be worse than the loneracer as he broke the frame in 4 places at the dutchman a few weeks back.
seemed like everyone was stripping splines also, i know of 1 rear hub and 2 countershaft sprockets and heard of a few more. while everyone else was struggling my zip ties held my bike together long enough to become the new district 6 c class leader! but only by 1 point.:usa
i think we had 24 or so racers in the c class. talking to wertman after the race and he ripped the rear wheel off the hub! i'm not talking about the lug nuts coming loose and oblonging the holes either, i mean literally ripping the wheel off the hub. never seen anything like it. he might be worse than the loneracer as he broke the frame in 4 places at the dutchman a few weeks back.
seemed like everyone was stripping splines also, i know of 1 rear hub and 2 countershaft sprockets and heard of a few more. while everyone else was struggling my zip ties held my bike together long enough to become the new district 6 c class leader! but only by 1 point.:usa