- Joined
- Jun 21, 2012
- Messages
- 1,507
- Location
- Florida
Well, my fiance and I took drove the Red Hulk (That's what we named the Transit, corny I know.) to Talladega Gran Prix Speedway Friday night for the 3rd round of the South Eastern region with Wera. I didn't arrive early to get any practice time on Friday because of work commitments, so Saturday morning practice was going to be all I got.
It was still very wet from the late Friday early morning rain, so I have to mount the intermediate rain rear and full rain front. It looks as if I watch enough video, I can get an indication on how to run the track and it showed once I got out there. I only got 4 laps of practice the session was red flagged. Practice continued for the other groups and then we all broke for lunch. After about 20 mins, the sun start to shine bright and I switch back over to slicks in preparation for my first race.
In race 1, I got a pretty good start from P2(Novice) and was able to jump up into battling with the experts from turn 1. I passed a good friend of mine John Cooke (Amish Racing) hard on the gas coming out of the apex to turn 1 and tried to catch the top 4 guys in expert. My lack of the track practice showed as they pulled away from me as the laps grew. I was able to bring home another 1st place win in the HW twins SB novice
In race 2, pretty much the same as race one. Started from P2 and got a great launch (My launches are really getting better) and jumped right into P1. I just ran a clean race for the most part and brought home another 1st place finish in the HW twins SS novice.
In race 3, I start in P6 and got a great jump off the line and used the 1199 POWER to jump into P4 be turn 1. I kept my eyes on the novice P1 guy and I was able to jump into P2 on the brakes going into turn 2. I was able to hang onto P2 for one lap and got passed by my boy Steven on the brakes into turn 1 and so I tried to hold onto 3rd for as long as possible. To my dismay, I got passed on lap 6 by Henry (the points leader in A Superbike novice) and I started loosing ground. I took a deep breath and start riding at 98/99% of my ability and lack of track knowledge to see if I could just get close. Looking at the lap times after the race, I wasnt going any slower, Henry just picked up his pace. So, I was able to get on his rear wheel and figure where I could pass him and made my move on the brakes going into turn 4. Once I got him behind me, I was no going to let him pass me again. On the last lap, I was just holding the throttle a little longer, braking a little deeper and on the gas a little earlier and was able to bring home third place.
Not a bad weekend, but one lesson I have learned is I need to make sure I start getting to the track a day earlier to get some practice. The season is only going to get tougher with GNF (Road ATL and Barber) coming up on the schedule. Right now, I believe I'm #1 in HW twins SS, tied for #2 in HW twins SB and #5 in A Superbike novice. I did miss out on points in the first race of the season (I had to attend a wedding) which was a double header weekend, so I just have to stay consistent and score pts. to achieve my season goals, to win all 3 classes as a novice.
I'm uploading the videos of the races now and will post them tonight or tomorrow. Follow my instgram, twitter and youtube pages for pics and videos. Thanks everyone.
Instagram - https://instagram.com/leonjohnsonracing
youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/HLFybLeon/
It was still very wet from the late Friday early morning rain, so I have to mount the intermediate rain rear and full rain front. It looks as if I watch enough video, I can get an indication on how to run the track and it showed once I got out there. I only got 4 laps of practice the session was red flagged. Practice continued for the other groups and then we all broke for lunch. After about 20 mins, the sun start to shine bright and I switch back over to slicks in preparation for my first race.
In race 1, I got a pretty good start from P2(Novice) and was able to jump up into battling with the experts from turn 1. I passed a good friend of mine John Cooke (Amish Racing) hard on the gas coming out of the apex to turn 1 and tried to catch the top 4 guys in expert. My lack of the track practice showed as they pulled away from me as the laps grew. I was able to bring home another 1st place win in the HW twins SB novice
In race 2, pretty much the same as race one. Started from P2 and got a great launch (My launches are really getting better) and jumped right into P1. I just ran a clean race for the most part and brought home another 1st place finish in the HW twins SS novice.
In race 3, I start in P6 and got a great jump off the line and used the 1199 POWER to jump into P4 be turn 1. I kept my eyes on the novice P1 guy and I was able to jump into P2 on the brakes going into turn 2. I was able to hang onto P2 for one lap and got passed by my boy Steven on the brakes into turn 1 and so I tried to hold onto 3rd for as long as possible. To my dismay, I got passed on lap 6 by Henry (the points leader in A Superbike novice) and I started loosing ground. I took a deep breath and start riding at 98/99% of my ability and lack of track knowledge to see if I could just get close. Looking at the lap times after the race, I wasnt going any slower, Henry just picked up his pace. So, I was able to get on his rear wheel and figure where I could pass him and made my move on the brakes going into turn 4. Once I got him behind me, I was no going to let him pass me again. On the last lap, I was just holding the throttle a little longer, braking a little deeper and on the gas a little earlier and was able to bring home third place.
Not a bad weekend, but one lesson I have learned is I need to make sure I start getting to the track a day earlier to get some practice. The season is only going to get tougher with GNF (Road ATL and Barber) coming up on the schedule. Right now, I believe I'm #1 in HW twins SS, tied for #2 in HW twins SB and #5 in A Superbike novice. I did miss out on points in the first race of the season (I had to attend a wedding) which was a double header weekend, so I just have to stay consistent and score pts. to achieve my season goals, to win all 3 classes as a novice.
I'm uploading the videos of the races now and will post them tonight or tomorrow. Follow my instgram, twitter and youtube pages for pics and videos. Thanks everyone.
Instagram - https://instagram.com/leonjohnsonracing
youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/HLFybLeon/
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