Jump to content

GregGorman

Members
  • Posts

    207
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by GregGorman

  1. At Barber Motorsports Park during AMA Qualifying, my best time on the rented GSX-R600 was a 1:33.137, 8 tenths of a second faster than on my ZX-10. That was on Dunlop AMA Spec DOT tires on the 600 versus Dunlop NTec slicks on the ZX-10. During the race I did several laps in the 1:33 range where I've only done one 1:33 on my ZX-10. I'm faster on a 600. My top speed on the 600 was 131 vs 142 on the ZX-10.
  2. The short story – A very good weekend. I finished 18th on Saturday and 19th on Sunday. Slightly longer version: For whatever reason, of the 34 entrants in Daytona Sportbike, only 31 actually made it out on track. Friday – Practice and Qualifying I recall sitting on pit wall and looking out over Barber Motorsports Park. It looked much different than I had ever seen it before – there were thousands of people there. They were there to watch practice – not a race, PRACTICE! This is what racing is supposed to be like. For practice and qualifying on Friday I spent most of the time learning slightly new lines and much more aggressive throttle control. I was turning in later and faster in many turns and getting to full throttle at rates that were scary to my ZX-10 programmed brain yet still much too slow. My best time, a 1:34.6, qualified me 26th, was essentially as fast as I'd gone on my ZX-10 and three seconds under the 110% qualifying cut-off but I knew I could do better. Saturday Qualifying Ray and Todd put on new soft tires on for the morning qualifying session but I didn't go any faster even with the new line through 9 and 10. After ten laps, I pulled into the pits and Stuart asked what I was doing in some turn – I don't remember which one. I know I answered rather dejectedly that I was just being a wuss. I needed to attack more. Go in faster, turn faster, and get the fricken throttle pinned. So I went out and did just that. Four laps later I had done two of my best ever laps around Barber Motorsports Park. AMA Timing and Scoring had me at a 1:33.3 and a 1:33.13 which qualified me 21st. That was tantalizingly close to my goal of top 20. Saturday Race – Feels like the first time. It's all different. I don't really know what I'm doing. The track goes green and I head out for the sighting lap. It's funny watching the BMW pace car push to go fast around the track while I'm sitting up waving at the crowd riding right behind it. Ray, Todd and Phoenix, my umbrella girl, meet me at the grid. Ray and Todd put the bike on the stands and throw the tire warmers on. Phoenix hands me some Gatorade while she holds the umbrella over head. It's bright and hot out, the shade from the umbrella is actually nice. A horn sounds and the guys take off the wamers and remove the stands. Another horn sounds and we head out for a warm up lap one row at a time. Back on the grid, the marshal holding the red flag walks off. The starting lights come on and then flick off. I get a decent start. I don't gain any spots but I don't lose any either. Two riders get tangled up in turn 1 and one of them goes down hard. The other, a Vesrah bike, manages to get back on track at turn 2. We get around 2, crest the hill and head into turn 5 – the hairpin. The bike that was off track in turn 1 appears in my peripheral vision as I'm turning in. He's on a dangerously low line and carrying way to much speed to avoid hitting the bikes in front of me. I immediately stand my bike up and narrowly miss getting caught up in the four bike carnage. That's the good news. The bad news is I'm in the gravel trap. I have the bike spinning at 10k RPM, rear tire throwing gravel in a large rooster tail behind me. I'm slowly walking the bike out. When I get out the red flag has been thrown. Welcome to the AMA – your first order of business is to survive the first lap. The restart went fine. I wasn't expecting such a short restart and I was a little slow off the line. I think I finished the first lap in 24th. After taking a couple laps to get comfortable I started picking up my pace and passed some people. Wooohooo! I passed someone! Then I passed another and another. I thought I was the fastest guy on the track! OK, not really but I was moving pretty good. I eventually made it up to 16th place and leading a pack of four. Somewhere in there I made a great (if I do say so myself) pass on two riders simultaneously in the turn 13-14 double right hander. I was really strong in that section and the two guys in front of me were battling. The lead rider tried to protect the inside and the guy behind was trying to pass on the outside but just wasn't going to get it done. Me, I kept the throttle open a bit longer, went around the outside then gently squeezed the brakes a bit to slow down for the second right and made the pass. Beautiful! Later, while going through turn 2 I had a pretty big rear slide that I managed to recover from. Somehow it made me get a really good drive and I unknowingly shifted to 5th gear while accelerating toward turn 5 and misjudged my braking. Shifting to 5th meant that my usual two downshifts for turn 5 put me in 3rd gear. As I was in turn hot I was already turning in when I realized the problem and couldn't get my big size 12 boot under the shifter to downshift again. Next thing I know, I'm not leading that pack of four, I'm trailing it by half a second or more. Well, pick up a place here, lose a place there. We were scrapping back and forth then the blue flags were being shown indicating the race leaders were about to lap us. It was two laps before the leaders actually caught us and we're trying to get out of the way of the non-existent leaders the whole time. We were covertly racing each other. Trying to be considerate of the blue flag rule yet still pass for position. Finally the leaders came by and the white flag was show. Woohooo! I made it to the last lap before getting lapped. Somehow I got the short end of the blue flag stick and was at the back of the group. Well, two passes later I crossed the finish line in 18th. My first AMA race and I get points and money – WOOOHOOOO! Sunday Riders Meeting Sunday was a rainy, wet, overcast, cool day. At the rider's meeting David McGrath, the race director, was explaining that the XR1200 racers were going out first and it was up to us racers to tell him what the track could handle as far as racing in the rain. "Great," I said jokingly, "we've got Michael Barnes and Jeremy McWilliams checking out a wet track for us." "No worries mate," says someone standing right next to me, "If it's not safe I'll tell you. And I'm Jeremy McWilliams" Now ain't that a cool way to meet someone who's been paid to race just about everything with two wheels? Sunday Warm Up I got to follow Tommy Aquino on his fast lap and had the pleasure of being bumped into in turn 2 by Dane Westby. I finished my four wet laps in 20th, just behind Aquino. Sunday Race The track was wet with several puddles but the rain had stopped. All of the racers were on full wets. Let me tell you, I've raced in the rain before but 20 bikes in front of you throwing up rooster tails is blinding. Again, I survived the first lap but I was a bit too careful and was in 24th place or so. Like Saturday, I started getting really comfortable and started going faster. My lap times were only three seconds a lap off the leaders and I passed up to 15th place by lap 11 when the red flag was thrown due three separate crashes. Gridded on row 4 on the restart I was pretty excited. I was actually doing pretty damn good at this. The track was drying but still damp. Everyone was still on full wets. Well, on the restart the top 14 were still faster than me but not by much. Over the course of the 9 lap sprint they gradually pulled away – 14th was 1 second a lap faster than me. On the last lap I got passed by Jodi Christie. I actually thought to let him go, to not risk crashing on the last lap of the race. He pulled about half a second on me through the first half of the track. But in turn 11 and 12, the left /right up the hill, I gained it all back and I knew I could take him in the turn 13-14 double right hander. Well, Christie knew my line there and stayed wide. I should have ducked underneath him but I was already committed and tried the outside pass anyway. I was right next to him when I had to roll off the throttle to slow down for the second right and the front tire lost traction. Oh was I cussing up a storm at my stupidity. As I was sliding across the asphalt and into the grass I was yelling out loud. When the bike came to a stop I picked it up immediately and restarted it. There was no real damage and I was back on track. I crossed the finish line in 19th – another top 20 finish! Points and MONEY! Later I found out that Christie had been a lap down from before the restart. Why, I don't know and neither did he. He thought he was on the current lap and so did I. I didn't have to repass him to finish 15th but that's how it goes sometimes. Oh well – I finished 19th! Recap My lap times improved from being 5 seconds off on Friday to 4 seconds off on Saturday to 3 seconds off on Sunday. I finished in the money in both races. Considering that 33% of the field DID NOT FINISH either race, just finishing an AMA race is an accomplishment. Truly, a lot can happen in 21 laps of Barber. Thank you to Susan, my wife, who has assisted, helped, cried, fretted, sacrificed for and supported me these past two and a half years so I could get here. Thanks to Ray, Todd, and Stuart for working their asses off so I could go play. Thanks to Phoenix for lending her looks to attract some fans to the far end of the pits so the little guys could get noticed. Thanks to David and Chrissy, the original crew, for helping unselfishly when I really needed it most. Lastly, again, thank you Susan.
  3. Something to check on is how it handles water. You'd think that a camera made for EXTREME conditions would handle water without some goofy case around it. They don't. The GoPro and ContourHD both require cases which make them difficult to mount in a position you could actually race with them. The Oregon Scientific ATC9K is waterproof but... I don't know. I just don't like it.
  4. Wow! That SmartyCam is COOL! I don't like that it's not HD but that's just my personal preference. A 10Hz GPS is good and it has an accelerometer too. Very nice. I'm using the ContourHD 1080 to record the video with. Standard stuff there. To do the data logging I use some software called RaceChrono which I run on a cell phone - an old cell phone I no longer use for phone calls. The cell phone connects via Bluetooth to a 5hz GPS Antenna from QStarz (818x.) The cell phone actually functions as my lap timer while I'm riding. And I can do lap time analysis on it - compare sectors, laps, hi/lo speed, etc... When I get home, I use some software called RaceChrono2AVI, which converts all the GPS data to a video file. I then use Sony Vegas video editing software to sync the data overlay with the video from the ContourHD. That's why the data isn't really in sync. Sometimes I get it just right, sometimes I get it close enough. Yeah, a lot of work and moving pieces in that process.
  5. Wow! Thank you! You see the entry points by following reference points that lead to them. It's just a game of connect the dots.
  6. Thank you for the offer! I'll definitely keep it in mind next time I run. I won't be doing the GNF, other obligations are calling this year.
  7. Thanks for the implication but not likely! Pole for Daytona Sportbike will be a low 1:28, maybe even a high 1:27. When AMA had the 1000 SuperStock class, pole was a low 1:25 I think. So my 1:33.9 pinpoints exactly where I currently stand on the world class level.
  8. Well I'm about to find out first hand. One 39 year old, 215lb rider, same track, very similar competition, two different bikes, two weeks apart. The 1000 is my own Supersport spec 2008 ZX-10R. At the WERA National Endurance race at Barber Motorsports Park, on 9/11, I recently did a best of 1:33.964. The 600 is Geoff May's Daytona Sporbike Spec 2009 GSX-R600. Haven't ridden it yet but I have setup the controls and sag on it and it feels more comfortable than my 10. Being a 600 I know it's going to be more responsive side to side which will hopefully make a big difference at Barber. I'll be racing it in Daytona Sportbike on 9/25 and 9/26. Fair enough test?
  9. I haven't been on the forum in a while but I've been busy. I participated in the WERA National 4 Hour Endurance at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday, 9/11. I was riding 2008 ZX-10 with co-rider JD Mosely. This event was simply to be a test for me to see if I could ride 25 laps at speed consistently. I needed to know if I could do it because I'll be racing AMA Daytona Sportbike on Geoff May's prepped GSX-R600 the 24th-26th at Barber. The Race: At the riders meeting, the starter very nicely went over his exact starting procedure and timing. As I was gridded on the last row, 14, of a two wave start, I got to see the procedure again for the first wave. By the time he flagged the second wave, I had his timing and was off. Quite possibly my best start ever. I had the thought I might have even jumped the start, but I didn't. I passed almost half the field going into turn 1 and then lost a few spots when I got pushed wide cresting the hill at turn 4 - we were 4 wide there. By the time we got to the 9-10 esses, we were pretty much single file and sorted out. I got distracted 3 laps in when a rider low sided in front of me and then again the next lap when the debris flag was shown in that area. That hesitation allowed the two guys I was running with to gap me and I was running alone after 6 laps. I eventually got up to 8th place and was running consistent 1:34s-37s depending on traffic. Around 9 laps in my right foot started falling asleep and demanded considerable attention. I tried using my outside leg more but that made my lower back cramp up. Still, I made my 25 lap goal at speed and improved my best time to a 1:33.9. Due to the foot and back problems, my teammate and I decided to retire at the 3 hour mark after 94 laps and we finished 6th in the Heavyweight class of nine, and 25th of the 30 bike grid. Two weeks to AMA! As promised here's the video - the start and the first few laps. and some more: about 15 laps into the first hour following TVR 131
  10. For me I like Road Atlanta. Road Atlanta is really two tracks. It has the connected corners of turns 1-5 where any mistake really haunts you until you exit 5. And it has the 6th gear back straight that isn't a straight. Turn 9 at 160+ is really a turn that takes a bit of planning. Finally, the Turn 11/12 combination is great. Wheelieing while leaned over cresting the hill at turn 11 and heading down to turn 12 in 3rd and then sliding around 12, great fun. Another favorite for the sheer lunacy of trying to go fast at - Nurburgring Nordschleife.
  11. Sounds like classic charging corner syndrome. Try the No Brakes drill and gradually build up the corner speed and the required quick turn.
  12. Weird? Not to me. That's a GREAT list! 1,3, and 4(to some degree) are addressed in the single day Level 1. Most of the vision skills are in level 2. And the Brake Rig (2) is only for 2-Day Camps.
  13. Try putting a layer or two of electrical tape over the microphone, that's what I do.
  14. I went to my first real trackday in a while and my observations led me to this conclusion: Trackdays are fricken dangerous! I watched in horror as the beginner/novice riders meandered around the track with no real sense of direction and no real guidance despite the best intentions of control riders. The intermediate riders seem intent on figuring out just how hard they can hammer their brakes after they swerve back in front of the rider they just passed. The Advanced group riders go all day as fast as they can with no real plan of practice to actually get faster and making close passes with a 40+mph closing rate. The passing rules make no sense to me. Beginners can only pass on the the straight. Intermediates pass on the straight and outside in the corners. Advanced can pass anywhere. Their passing rules promote charging corners and take your attention off your rider because you have to figure out if you're in a corner or not. My only real track experience is CSS or racing. This experience was probably my 6th trackday. I don't recall the previous trackdays being like this but they were four years ago so maybe I'm just remembering the good times. Did I just hit a bad trackday? If so, how do you make it good?
  15. JT; I would encourage you to contact the School before you attend. IIRC, on board video is not permitted. Kevin Kane Definitely need Cobie to chime in on this as I know we've allowed it before.
  16. Looking at pictures of Jarno Saarinen and Kenny Roberts shows very similar hang off positions to those used today. Jarno's upper body seems to go with the bike, Kenny tends to counter lean. The main difference I see today is more top riders keeping the upper body lower and to the inside. I think most of the credit goes to bike design. Look at the stretch to the bars on those 60's & 70's GP bikes, yikes! Talk about weight on the bars. The improvements in tires, suspension, brakes and chassis design have greatly increased corner speeds and lean angles and emphasize the benefits of hanging off that would barely be noticeable at slower speeds.
  17. I though this video might be relevant to charging corners: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAvSSJNs7FY Skip the first 57 seconds.
  18. Yeah, looked like some... acceleration issues there.
  19. That seems a bit extreme to say never. But, if it gets people positioned for a turn early, cool. Just don't expect to be at the top of the speed charts at Daytona, Road America, Monza, Mugello, etc... Laguna Seca, sure never having your butt in the center is fine though. Really though it gets interpreted as an authoritative rule that people don't think about or bother with WHY they are doing it. And, if the bike is difficult to turn in or they're getting forearm pump they don't look at the right things to correct because of the, IMO, over emphasis on how your toe is pointed. They're missing the WHY of body position.
  20. That makes me want to start racing SuperMoto. Looks like a lot of fun! Some crazy passes there!
  21. Yes, I'm fine. And, yes it is a ######! I really thought I was about to be high-sided to the moon. The first time it went out I was a bit slow reacting to it and I could feel the tire was right at the point where it seems to just grip suddenly. I was very pleasantly surprised when it came back without so much as a bobble or head shake. Anyway, that limited me to 6 laps of practice on Saturday due to cleanup and verifying the oil filter was indeed the problem. On Sunday it was 47f degrees when we took to the track for first practice at 8am and it was just a shakedown run. My first race, GTO, was at 9:30 and 50f. I wheelied off the start and lost some time there. I then worked on hitting my reference points and getting up to speed. I was mostly in the 1:32 range for laptimes with two 1:31s. My personal best is a 29. The winner was doing 26s and the track record is 23.8. So the track was a bit slick but I've really got to work out why I'm 6-7 seconds off at this track and only this track. I made three passes and finished 7th of 14. Next race was at 12:30, Unlimited Supersport, and a warm 57f. I was doing better, consistent 31s but so was everyone else. On the last lap, I was running in 8th and about to lap an amateur when I used a bit too much front brake and lowsided on the entrance of turn 4 at about 50mph. 15th of 15. Next race was at about 2:30, Unlimited Superbike. I just wasn't in it. I was on the same front tire and I just didn't trust it at all. I was running 1:34 laps and was going backwards. I finished 10th of 11. When I got back to the pits we found a small hole in the engine cover that was leaking oil, damage from my crash. We could have fixed it but it was time to call it a day. I did not start my last race, Unlimited GP. Apparently there was a red flag on the warm up lap for that race and only 7 finishers. Next it's on to Daytona February 27th and 28th.
  22. Well, I got 6 laps of practice in yesterday. On the 6th lap, the oil filter backed out a half turn and blew its seal. Apparently it wasn't properly safety wired. I didn't know there was oil on the tire at the entrance of turn 1. If you watch this video to the end, you'll see me enter turn 1 at about 147mph which was about the speed I was doing when the bike went full sideway right when I turned it in. I thought I was gone. I thought I was on high-side trip to the moon. As gently as I could, I picked up the throttle and picked up the bike. Surprisingly the bike came back real gentle and it didn't even pop me up out of the seat. I thought I had the problem handled so I rolled off and turned in again. Again, the bike whet sideways but quick. Again, a little throttle and pick the bike up. Now I'm heading off track, through the grass, across an access road, through more grass, and directly on to the steep banking. I managed to get the bike slowed down enough to turn it. I got it completely off track and stopped. The engine is fine, I'm fine, the rear tire is covered in oil and thrown away. We cleaned the bike, put a new oil filter in and safety wired it real good. Races start today at 9:30. Ride smart,
  23. Btw, it's Troy Corser on the #11 Yamaha. Kagayama would be on a #71 Suzuki.
×
×
  • Create New...