Track day: Big Willow, April 3rd

[PowellB]

Re: Some Prep Questions...

Just did the new racer school there on the 14th with Motoyard. Have fun guys and be careful!

Let those tires warm up before you push it!

 

[nimzotech]

Vini, Vidi but not quite Vici...

Great day at the track today. It was my first time around, and to say it was a thrilling (sometimes frightening)and mind-blowing experience would be an understatement.

Awesome seeing Dave, John and Rob. Speaking of which, Rob I owe you a drink or three :iconbeer:. Thanks for rescuing my key.

Looking forward to riding again.

 

[rsw81]

It was a good day for everyone. Nimzo popped his track day cherry and managed himself very maturely. Too easy to try to pace with those around you instead of riding your own pace on an open track like this. Wavex & CaliRider hauled a$$ as always, easily outpacing everyone in the B group and holding amazing lines even through the tricky 4a-4b (Omega) turns (John you gotta teach me that one). One of hese days I'll have the cojones to join you guys out there, not to mention the proper track day gear.

Good to see you guys.

 

[DefyInertia]

Re: Some Prep Questions...

Sounds like it went well...glad to hear it! Looking forward to the pics! :thumbup:

 

[Motogiro]

Re: Some Prep Questions...

Sounds like it went well...glad to hear it! Looking forward to the pics! :thumbup:

They're prolly still recuperating Haha... Bet they had a blast!

 

[nimzotech]

I did not wipe out on the track, but physically I'm totally wiped out. Having experienced my first track day, I see how track racing is a true sport now. I learned a lot of respect of the track, many guys wiped out around exit turn 4B - on the Omega. Great experience just being there, getting to know the bike's (and more importantly) my abilities more. It was a blast.

 

[Hellgate]

Sounds like you guys had a great time. I can hardly wait to see the photos.

So nimzo...pretty cool huh? Nothing on the street compares.

And David didn't crash?

 

[Wavex]

lol no crash, but I hit a 1:40, which made me very happy!!!! John had a 1:36!!!

More info and pics tonight (no time right now), but I do have a 3min movie summarizing the amazing day:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjUgP5mKLKs]YouTube - Track Day: Willow Springs April 3rd, 2010[/ame]

 

[Lefty]

Awesome video, thanks! Glad you guys had a fun and safe day. :thumbup:

 

[rsw81]

Sick video summary David... glad everyone made it home in one piece and had a good/safe time.

 

[Hellgate]

Man, you guys were flying! Excellent times. Just wait until you really get into this season. Very nice.

I sure like that Omega turn, nothing else like it. :thumbup:

 

[Motogiro]

Killer!!! You guys look great! :rockon:

 

[rsw81]

Killer!!! You guys look great! :rockon:

Off topic: Cliff what's with the new screen name?

 

[Motogiro]

Off topic: Cliff what's with the new screen name?

It's not me...I'm somebody else....Hahaha!
Just been meaning to change it for a while and finally did it.
Love the video of the track were you on the camera?

 

[ozzieboy]

Encore!...lol. More vids and pics:BLAA::rockon:

Glad to hear it went smoothly for everyone.

Looking forward to some more pics and vids after the teaser...lol.:thumbup:

 

[rsw81]

It's not me...I'm somebody else....Hahaha!
Just been meaning to change it for a while and finally did it.
Love the video of the track were you on the camera?

No, David's stepfather was on the camera. I got to just enjoy the show and pretend like I knew what I was talking about between sessions.

 

[Wavex]

Alright... Finally some time.

I am so glad I have the week off, because after this weekend I don't think I could have worked tomorrow... and the next day! :BLAA:

As usual, it started with the excitement of signing up for a track day (at "Big" Willow Springs, no less), and then followed the exciting pre-prep (couple weeks in advance) of the bike and the whole logistics of doing this 18hour round trip to paradise...

So far so good, it's all excitement... then arrive the last 3 days before the Day, when I usually get anxious and try to focus my attention on what I will have to do to ride well... the long awaited morning starts with a 4:15am alarm disaster, which frankly does not help with the anxiousness ....

It usually starts getting better as I sip on my hot homemade double espresso... my usual morning cold shower kicks me into gear, but it's only 30min later, talking to John in the car during the 2h trip, that eases the process of finally having to man up and jump on the "speed machine"...

It's an unreal feeling to jump on a bike (a tool to go FAST!), and strive to master it around a racetrack trying to go as fast as you can. It's unreal and very very real at the same time... I feel really alive when I ride on a track, especially a track like Willow Springs, where a time of 1:40 means 90mph average speed around the 2.5mile course... Taking a big sweeper at 130mph all tucked in will make anyone VERY alive, and I recommend it to everyone

Anyway.......... felt like sharing tonight :Flip:

Props to Nimzotech for making it on the track and Rob for making it to the track, it was great to have some support and to hang out :thumbup:

John, you're the man.

Some of the pics (video doesn't do some of them justice):

The evening before, setting up the trailer and loading the car:

We arrived there at around 7:30am, and we FROZE our butts off... the wind was blowing HARD, and temps were probably around the high 50's (or at least it felt that way).

We went to sign up and get the bikes through tech, and sat in the rider's meeting... the dude from Motoyard wasn't very well rehearsed, but the overall msg was understood. They did insist on taking it easy for the first 2 sessions (not laps, sessions), due to the cold track temp and the # of crashed from the wkd before...

John's kawi integrated lap timer was a blessing since we rented the beacons but they didn't work. We learnt that news at the end of the day and kinda pissed me off... So thanks to the Ninja, we know we did something like 50+ laps and went from around 1:50min/lap in the morning to around 1:40min/lap by the last couple of sessions of the day (it had warmed up, even though the wind stayed pretty consistent throughout the day). BTW, wind sucks!!! I had a couple of scary moments in turn 2 and 8/9....

Few crashed throughout the day, but the main show stopper was a dude in group C who lost his oil filter between turn 6 and through turn 7... it put us on hold for about an hour, which was a bummer but also pretty cool as it allowed us to participate in the easter egg hunt that Motoyard had setup (props!) in the midfield of Big Willow!!! So while we couldn't care less about the eggs, we were stoked to be able to walk on the track... (the oil ended up being way on the outside of the track and was a non-issue).

 

[Wavex]

John and I at the end of the front straight (usually going about 145-150 before braking for turn 1 behind us):

Me and my step dad (visiting from France):

Turn 1:

The front straight, looking back at it from turn 1:

John in front, setting up for turn 1, this time on the bikes

Turn 1 again, with me trying to find the courage to go faster in there (lots of margin, but scary turn when seeing it arriving at 150mph!!):

oh btw, you can see me pass someone in turn 1 in the video :BLAA: passing ppl in turns rocks hehe

You can see me there going through turn 3 (down the hill), but what's cool is you can see turn 4a in the forefront, the front straight behind me, with turn 1 behind the Willow Springs sign, and some of turn 9 all the way at the back of the pic:

Here is me again apexing turn 4b, John second from the right:

 

[Wavex]

John, setting up to nail 4b: :rockon: :rockon:

Me coming out of 4b, about where I crashed (last time) in the video on page 1 of this thread:

Thanks for coming Rob!

Nimzotech's FZ is in da house!

No mercy on the brand new BT003s (my new favorite tire!!! :BLAA

 

[ozzieboy]

John, setting up to nail 4b: :rockon:

Me coming out of 4b, about where I crashed (last time) in the video on page 1 of this thread:

Thanks for coming Rob!

Nimzotech's FZ is in da house!

No mercy on the brand new BT003s (my new favorite tire!!! :BLAA

Thanks mate. Nice job on the pics and stories. BT003's FTW:rockon: They are an awesome tire for track days. You can imagine how secure my stock fZ6 felt on them...lol.