After Friday’s two practice sessions the track was starting to seem somewhat natural. For Saturday we got in two longer sessions and I really started to get comfortable on the bike.
The first race was GT Lights and with competition things change. Everyone was a little more intense. I finished last as I was still trying to find limits, entry points, etc. Looking at the finishing order was an “Oh, Well” moment. The second race was CCS Thunderbike late in the day and something changed. I don’t know what it was, but I got a holeshot past the row in front of me on the grid and the rest of the race was a RACE. It was my overloaded little SV against a really nice Paul Smart Ducati 1000 and a BMW R1200. They caught me and were able to get by on the banking from shear speed. But I passed the BMW on the brakes into turn one and I passed the Ducati exiting the infield in turn seven.
The Ducati showed me a wheel entering the chicane, but I went in deeper. He passed me in NASCAR 4. On the last lap, for some reason he backed off at the finish line and blew past him to take the spot hard on the brakes into T1 again.
New to me was the Michelin PRO qualifying. I was running against another, newer model Ducati and as the session progressed an expert fell back into my clutches. The Ducati left me for dead, but his transponder was not working and his times were not recorded. SO lining up Sunday on the Amateur pole for Michelin PRO Thunderbike is yours truly. It was a wow moment.
I’ve had a lot of those this year and I thank God because they ARE a gift. -k
