Van-man's 2008 return season Part 3 (May)

CMRA 11 May

This round was at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in northeast Oklahoma. A pretty damn awesome racetrack that is about thirty years old but has been kept up with quite nicely. It has alot of elevation changes in it and some very technical sections. We raced the clockwise direction for this round which made for alot of downhill braking areas and decreasing radius turns... that equals plenty of room to have problems. And boy did I have some problems!

Ironically, my problems largely centered around braking problems. My first practice session was spent getting reaquinted with the track again since I hadn't seen it since 2003; and since my last trip ended in a pretty nasty highside on some pirelli tires.

But by the second session I was beginning to find some speed and that's when I noticed the developing issue. You see my brakes were fine for the first three or four laps of practice, but then they would quickly fade. Since morning practice was cold I could still manage to cut some decent laps, but I couldn't brake real deep. I tried bleeding the system after the last practice session but I would have to wait until my first warm up race to see if that helped.

It didn't My first race was B Superbike and I was gridded on the last row of the first wave, but I got a flying start and came out fifth by the end of the first lap. I was easily hanging on to the lead pack and knew that a podium spot was within reach. That is until the end of the second lap/beggining of the third. Sure enough the brakes started to go off. I thought that I would just hang in there as long as I could and then let the group go only when I could no longer hang on.

Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. On the back section of the track is a downhill straight that bends into a decreasing radius righthander that you take in roughly third gear. I was in the top of fourth gear when I went for the brakes... but there were no brakes to be had! The lever pulled straight to my knuckles and was not slowing the bike at all! So, I stabbed the rear and slid sideways heading off the track straight for the tire wall about sixty yards out. I let off the rear brake just as I was coming off the track, straightened the bike out, and began pumping the rear to scrub speed. Luckily, I managed to scrub enough speed to turn the bike with only 2-3ft to spare. I was glad that I managed to turn the bike because I couldn't make up my mind as to what would cause less damage; hitting the wall headlong or lowsiding and sliding into it...
I rode her back to the pits and called it a race on that one. By the way, that was the first race I have ever pulled out of, ever!

During the down time before my second race, I took the calipers off and scrubbed the glazing off the pads. David, my Dunlop guy, suggested that the pads my be generating enough heat to boil the fluid even with its 500 degree wet boiling point!
I went out for the second race (A Superbike) and quickly bedded the pads on the warm up lap. Again I was starting from the back, but that wasn't much of a problem for the ol' Duc. Again I smashed everyone on the start and went into turn one in fourth! I was reeling in second and third very quickly and by the fourth lap I was setting up a braking pass on third position, but it was no bueno! My brakes were giving out again! There was no way I was going to pull out of another race so, I backed off my braking markers and tried to keep up with my drives out of the turns. But, it wasn't enough. Two more guys got by me and I ended up sixth.

I have to say though, my 1098 was pulling like a freight train! I've got the motor tuned beautifully, and a bad-ass corse clutch pack with the help of KCI Ducati; and a sick-ass map courtesy of AF1 Racing that all came together to make that sucker run. Combine that with my super sticky Dunlops and I was having to short shift that sucker just to keep the front end close to the ground! Damn that puppy's got some torque!

Anyway, back to the story. I repeated my previous procedures before the Heavy-Weight Twins race and reinstalled the stock brake lever which has the ability to adjust out way further than my folding CRG lever. The theory was that by adjusting it out to the max I would have enough lever travel to survive the inevitable brake fade. It worked, but just barely. I was gridded on the inside of the front row for this one. So, as you might imagine I nailed the holeshot and ran like hell! I put in three hard laps and then the brake issue began. I backed off just a little and waited to see if I would see a wheel or hear an engine behind me... I didn't. I gapped second place so much in those first three laps that he appeared to give up the chase! By the time I slowed up, he was no where to be seen. In short it was a easy win despite all the fuss. I was able to goof off on the last lap and ride wheelies down the straights! Something I haven't done in a while.

I've had alot of help this season so I need to thank the people who truly own a piece of the win:
KCI Ducati has really come through for me. We had a shaky start and I wasn't sure if it was going to work out with them, but they are real enthusiasts there and have really stepped up when I needed them.
David Roy of North Texas Superbikes and Dunlop provides me with a seemingly infinite source of wisdom and experience it is a real treat to pit under his canopy and benefit from all his knowledge and those killer Dunlops! Dunlops and Ducati's were meant to be together if you ask me!
AF1 Racing is a true race shop. They know what it takes to win and are willing to bend over backwards to get you there. I am blessed to be able to hang out with such a talented group of guys.
Acculign... well there's just no one else like Mark at Acculign. The guy makes the highest quality parts I have ever put on my bike and they really to make a difference!
Komodo, lets just say that your next suit needs to be Komodo.
PartsUnlimited, thanks to them for providing me with a quality lid.
Powerstands, motowheels, and Drippin' Wet Graphics for hooking me up with great deals on stuff that no one else had!

Looks like its gonna be an interesting year!

(yes I know I'm wearing alpinestars in the photo, but that was during practice, and I'm not gonna ruin my good leathers in practice!)

More to come for May:

Testing @ Harris Hill Raceway 26 May