My first race was the Intermediate Sportbike Open and began with a crappy start, too slow off the clutch will never get you anywhere. After the usual mayhem of the first 2 corners things settled down behind a camo painted R6. I could hear a herd of about 4 more kept at bay by my fat ass, and knew I could get the R6 but for his drastic line changes between turns 3 & 4. Our turn 1 is a fast opening corner onto our longest straight (400yards) and I was catching the guy there every lap, but found out trying to overtake on the outside of a fast corner leads to vinyl farts. However by placing my aforementioned derriere firmly on the inside line into said corner I could manage a better line out of the corner even if drive suffered. In the midst of dicing I did get stuffed into a corner by a faster rider tired of admiring my backside, I was actually surprised it took as long as it did for him to go by and wasn't spooked by the pass. Not long after establishing Ace dominance over a measely R6 the race was red flagged due to another yamaha and a pile of it's pieces scattered right on the racing line exiting a corner, and it was over.
The Sportsman Race (10 years or older for the bikes), set off with a great start, and settled in between a long time racer on a CBR600F3 in front and a slight girl with a strong SV650 behind. The horsepower of the 1000 was negated by the late braking of both the other riders, and the fun stayed the same for the rest of the race. The only drama was on the last lap when, for the last 4 corners, old faithful decided to have a float stick open. This is something that seems to happen once a year, but the erratic throttle response and lack of drive was almost the chance Lorna needed to improve her standings, almost. Her front tire was beside my left foot as we crossed the finish line, but it was still me in front of her!
Now where did I put that carb hammer...
