trying to keep up with my best mate @ willow springs 11/29/2009

Il nostro “girovago” driver Antonio Palluan, d’istanza attuale a Londra, ci propone questo video di alcuni suoi giri a bordo di una Lotus Exige, auto fantastica da guidare per il suo rapporto peso/potenza e il bilanciamento pressoché perfetto, lungo il circuito di Abbeville, in Francia, durante una sessione d’allenamento ad un trackday. Godetevelo…

Rather than the usual dress up and drink or hawk candy this Halloween, I decided to go to the track.  Our friends, Kathlene and Jerry, let me know about the TrackDaz special for October 31- November 1 at the Streets of Willow at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, CA.

I had never been on the Streets and had only run the big track so I was a little disinterested at such a smaller, slower track. Jerry said that the track would actually improve my riding skills because it was more technical so I decided to at least try it for one day (Oct 31) and then we planned riding dirtbikes the following day (Nov 1) so Shawn wouldn’t be bored out of his gourd after pitting for me the day before.  So we packed our stuff up and met J&K out at the track early Saturday morning.

Already I knew it wasn’t going to be the usual track day.  We had a transmission issue in the truck on the way there and couldn’t get out of 3rd gear for many, many miles.  I had a riders’ meeting at 8 AM and the GPS advised that that ain’t gonna happen! We were really running it close. 

 We finally got there with 10 minutes to spare. Kathlene greeted us dressed as a witch, and the TrackDaz crew were all dressed as various ghouls, ghosts and hilariousness. Nothing like being black flagged by Tigger. 

This trackday was different, all I had to do was to check in and attend the riders’ meeting.  I came back to my pit and my canopy was set up, my carpet and chairs were laid out, my cooler with my drinks, food all in place, my bike was on stands with warmers, engine being warmed up, everything being checked, it was already teched, he was putting in the amount of fuel I asked for specifically, base notations of compression, rebound, tire pressures, etc were being recorded.  Shawn had taken care of everything. Now I know what it is like to have “a ride”. Well, without the money, glory, sponsors, or the speed it takes to garner such. But nonetheless! I know what it is like to have a pit crew! And to boot, Shawn can now fully appreciate what it is like to be the pit crew.   Holy shit! I could get used to this!!

I started out in group C [as usual] and after the first session Shawn had mentioned he felt I might be able to move up to B since it appeared I was being held up behind slower riders. The track was a lot more technical than I expected. It was a lot of fun though. Sure enough after my second session Gil from TrackDaz came by and asked if I wanted to move up. I was thrilled! I said I was nervous about it so maybe I could get him to follow me and I follow him to determine if I could handle it. One of the other guys from TrackDaz said that it would be the best thing because I would progress faster. So I did it and felt like I was bonsaiing it, nervous as hell that I was holding people  up and what not. I came back off and they said not to worry and Gil said he’d follow and lead me the next session.  So he showed me some lines and what not and we let the faster riders go around us at the right spots and I got faster and faster. Then I got slower. Like 10 seconds slower! WTH! Shawn came up to us and was not thrilled (soccer Dad!! He just read this and said “Damn straight! UN-ACCEPT-ABLE!!” :p) Well, I thought I was going faster. hehe.

Then I was left on my own (kicked out of the nest), and I improved my time better each lap. A few times I had come off the track early because I was so tired.  One other time because I hit my knee on the curb of turn 2 and I was not thrilled about it. It was the first time I had ever dragged a knee and it didn’t feel good. So the rest of the day I was apprehensive about dragging a knee, so I began dragging my bike.

Yes, I am aware that I need to file my nails shorter. I didn't have time.

So after scaring the crap out of myself the first 2 times in turn 2 and 1 time in #3 when hitting the peg (what an awful sound) I stopped leaning as much, but somehow improved my time. I don’t believe I was hanging off more, so honestly I just was not near the limits of the tires in the turns. Ergo, I could go faster.  On the last turn before the front straight, I felt the rear sliding a bit so I just kept the throttle smooth and it was so much gentler than I expected.  I decided after experiencing that twice, that I could not exit any faster at that angle so I went a little wider and came out screaming in 1st and kept it that way until just below the limiter to hit 2nd.  My speeds on the straight were better than most because of keeping it in the band and my bike was shrieking compared to most.  But still, I was in the rear of Group B with some slower riders behind me. But not many. I wasn’t exactly Johnny Rockpage (I’m kidding!), but damn it I was in Group B!

All in all, this was the best track day ever.  I was so thrilled and was completely bummed to leave the net day.  We were staying in J&K’s RV at the track and although it feels as though I have stayed at a track a million times this past race season, not ONCE did I feel like I did that morning. When the bikes were starting up and the announcer began his morning welcome over the loudspeaker. The track was calling to me. Not Shawn, ME!!!  I had this yearning feeling like I absolutely had to get out there and do better, pull a faster time, more, more, faster, harder. You know the feeling. It was fresh in my mind and body and I knew I could do it. But today was not my day.

Surprise! Shawn saw I wanted to ride and he found out there were cancellations. There were a couple of spots and I was taking one of them!  This time I could make real improvements now that I knew the track better.

The day before I had a habit of  knocking down into 1st before turn 2 with some rear chatter. NO biggie. We don’t need no stinkin slipper clutch!  So Shawn said try braking harder and later and then downshifting before turn 2 and I vastly improved my entry speed, and subsequently had a wider line and faster exit. Which had me better set up for turn 3. And on and on it went.  I had managed to considerably improve my performance IMHO and pulled a 1:37 which Shawn then said he wanted to pull me off the track at that point because I shouldn’t be improving by 3 seconds a lap. As he says, “too much.” 

Well, we both know why I began improving. My pseudo-nemesis was on the track.  I targeted, drafted and passed and then pulled away. It was an act of God I tell you! Shawn said that he thought, “don’t do it baby, back off.”  And then he said, damn it, there she goes.  Then he was proud after he saw I was in control of my riding, lol! He applauded me when I pulled into the pit and had a huge smile.

The last session of the day was AWESOME.  Jerry and I went back and forth on the track (he was on a Yamaha WR400  and was kicking my ass in the turns. SO I would pass in the straights and exits (My weakness is not braking deep enough and corner entry) and he would pretend like he was going to kick me heheh. He said he thought, ‘NO! You’re gonna park in the corners’, lolol Take that! Jerry!  There was barely anyone on the track so we had a lot of fun. The mid corner speed and exit of the back bowl was so intense my last lap I started thinking, “look ahead, look ahead. look ahead” and then started breathing for a few breaths like I was in Lamaze class HAHA!  I think I even let out a woo hoo when I could finally stand the bike up again.

The one thing I really wish I would have done was hang off more and get my knee out there. I would have been dragging all day. Something about it freaks me out. 6 Track days under my belt and I’m still apprehensive. All I had to do was hang off and rotate my leg out a little.

Turn 2 where I first dragged a knee--on the curb.

Shawn said I was doing so much better.  And Jerry and I were closer than I had been all weekend on the last sessio. Even Gil had followed me and told me in my last session that “I was smooth”.   I felt like I had made some leaps and bounds.  Next time hopefully Shawn will be out there with me and train me even more.  

Many thanks to Shawn for pitting for me so well that I had not one worry, thank you to Jerry and Kathlene for letting us stay with them at the track and for inviting us to begin with, and of course the good times, also to Gil and Trackdaz for their help and encouragement, the track cafe for their delish Garden Burgers and Cali Photography for the great pics. Can’t wait to get back out there! The Streets is now my favorite

Após ser flagrado em teste no circuito Nordschleife (Nürburgring), é lançado oficialmente no SEMA Show a evolução do esportivo BMW série 3 preparado pela divisão M: BMW M3 GTS 4,4 V8.

Ele é de uma classe de carros que pode ser homologado tanto para utilização em autódromos quanto para utilização em vias publicas. Possui 190 kg a menos e 30 cv a mais do que a M3 atual.

O que chama mais atenção visualmente neste carro é o aerofólio traseiro, que tem um papel importante a desempenhar em termos de estabilidade, com base do BMW 320si que correu na WTCC (World Touring Car Championship).

Clique nas imagens e veja um vídeo promocional do M3 GTS, que chegará ao mercado europeu em meados do próximo ano.

Probably the last session of the year, due to the weather.

Until next weekend, I think no motorcycling for me. I’ll get back to you with pictures from Serres, Greece.

GirlsBike2, in conjunction with No Limits Trackdays,  have organised a charity trackday on the 2nd August 2009 at Rockingham.  All proceeds will go to Breast Cancer research.  It is open to girls and their partners and will have a Novice, Intermediate & Fast groups.

Priced at £129 the day includes free instruction, which is especialy good if it is your first time at a track

So if you fancy a trackday which won’t break the bank why not give them a ring..

Am intrat in posesia combinezonului. Nu, nu cel de la Dainese cum am zis mai de mult, pentru ca nici pana in ziua de azi nu am primit cizmele comandate pe data de 21 aprilie. Asta e, mai asteptam, ca asa e la noi, semnam contracte cu ochii inchisi doar, doar de ne-or lasa sa fim distribuitori. Continuam pan’ la Bingo…

In fine, noul combinezon este unul de la Alpinestars, mai exact modelul Octane. Nu l-am putut testa integral pe Amckart, pentru ca nu am cizmele, si cu ghetele imprumutate imi iesea 2 mm de piele afara.

Acia sunt cateva poze de acolo. Enjoy… ‘cuz I did!!!

I’ve had quite a few queries about where to find Joe Rocket jackets and gear here in the UK, so I had a bit of a hunt round and come up with these at www.FL1.Co.UK.

FL1 have a great promotion running.  If you register with them, making sure to sign in when you go shopping, you will be given an automatic 5% discount off your order value

Click on the images below to be taken to the correct page of their website for more details

Joe Rocket GPX 2 Piece Suit

Performance
• 1.4mm cowhide construction
• 360 Jacket/Pant zip connection
• Sure Fit Adjustable Waist Band
• Nubuck leather cuff with 2 stage
adjuster
• low profile Nubuck leather collar
• full flex stretch panels in crotch and back of legs
• curved sleeves & legs
Safety
• CE approved shoulder, elbow & knee armour
• bevelled knee sliders
• reflective Safety stripes on back
• spine & hip cushions
Ventilation
• Variable Flow ventilation system
• R.A.I.S moulded shoulder vents

Warranty
• 1 Year

Joe Rocket GPX 1 Piece Suit

A one piece suit which is proving to be a best seller. A high quality and good fitting suit at a great price.

Performance
• 1.4mm cowhide construction
• low profile Nubuck leather collar
• Nubuck leather cuff with 2stage adjuster
• full Flex stretch panels in crotch,
sleeves and back of legs
• curved sleeves & legs
• Road Approved Race Suit
Safety
• CE approved shoulder. Elbow & knee armour
• dual density spine pad
• bevelled knee sliders

Ventilation
• Variable Flow ventilation system
• R.A.I.S moulded shoulder vents

Apart from these suites they also do the Joe Rocket Meteor 5.0 Jacket, the Joe Rocket Mercury Jacket, the Joe Rocket Mercury Trousers, the Joe Rocket Alter Ego Jacket and trousers, as well as a couple of pairs of gloves.

Ahhhh track day…when everyone can be a racer in their own head, haha. As everyone who begins going to trackdays knows, you will eventually turn your streetbike into a trackbike and there it will remain in your garage until it is let out to run free again. 

As I have mentioned before, it is primarily Shawn’s fault (www.higbee-racing.com) and Dan Lo’s (from www.cornerspeedphoto.com) fault for the onslaught of buying parts.  I blame Shawn for exposing me to track day and soft compounds in the first place (THANK YOU!!! You may have my first born!) and for Dan for triggering me into buying my first set of bodywork which I had tried out earlier on the backroads and found I had indeed been enlightened. 

So with the help of Shawn in my garage, we started chucking needless parts like headlights, tailights, etc..  Also made suspension adjustments, bougth new Pirelli soft compounds, etc. Of course the bike  required modification of the OEM structure itself just because of the bodywork alone, i.e. hacksawing a portion of my tailsection off, making brackets for the belly pan to attach to, tapping holes, resituating the lean sensor, etc. etc. etc.  However, I am NOT Happy with the bodywork that I purchased. I have no idea which model in REALITY they used to make the mold but it seemed like a one size fits all for the Honda CBR. There were some oddities.  But that article will follow when I have time.  

But not to be a downer, this is about Track Day! Yay! So, we take off for Fontana and Shawn ia making fun of me (in a friendly manner) as to why I have all the junk in the rental truck. Canopy, rugs, stands, tire warmers, a cooler, a ramp, fuel cans, tools, tools and more tools, everything you would need to run an actual  race.  I told him simply because then I can be like every other wannabe racer at the track ;)

I am lucky that Fontana is less than an hour away. I don’t have to get up at dark thirty to get to a rider’s meeting like when we go to Willow.  SO we finally got there and a few other guys allowed us to share a garage. I felt bad for Shawn when we were driving around the paddock because a few people said stuff about the skull and crossbones and you know they thought it was his and were making fun of him being a guy in a 600 with a skull. But HA! It’s mine and I’m a girl and I could put a pink bow on it and use the girl card as an excuse. We are forgiven as a gender. 

Shawn wasn’t riding at Fontana that day. Although he did take Dave’s bike for a run to get some vid of me. Higbee on anything but a Buell? Say it ain’t so!  (Of course I have a pic)  So to get to the story, Shawn pitted for me. Um, well, he tried pitting for me. He had to be reminded how to pit, lol. His excuse was, “I have never pitted for anyone, give me a break.”  or “You don’t need your tire pressure checked every session!”  Yes, I do.  I am no different than any professional racer when I am on that track when it comes to gear importance. I don’t need it in my head  that I may have low pressure from a leak while going 100+. He understood. It worked out in the end. And I am only giving him a hard time as he did a lot for me. that day.

I felt like I was riding my ass off all day and I swear to you the best recorded time was 2:00.106.  WTF!!!  I was bonsaiing it every turn.  How can this be??  I know I felt I did better on the last session of the day (they always take your transponder before the last session) . But I have no way of knowing if I really did do better.  I looked back at my prior times and was told that was only my 3rd track day ever so my improvements were acceptable. Acceptable? I am over 30 seconds slower than Shawn.  This is not acceptable.

1st Trackday February 2, 2009 / Time: 2:13.510
2nd Trackday March 14, 2009 / Time: 15:55:30.4 3 2:05.283
3rd Trackday July 12, 2009 / Time: 15:58:05.6 7 2:00.106

But it was fun and that’s all that’s supposed to matter and I do feel I made pretty good progress on transitions–especially making turns 14 – 20. Turns 16-20 have now become one long turn for me with negligible corrections. I still hate turn 3.  [map: http://www.fastrackriders.com/tracks/cal-800.html]  it is worthy to note that we had to adjust my set-up a few times to help my bike transition for turn 1 because of the highspeeds coming out of the front straight. It seemed slow to flick and eventually it got better but still feels heavier to flick than last track day.  It shouldn’t be but the adjustments did alter the feeling in a negative way for this particular turn. I will figure it out eventually.

The modifications held up, the bodywork didn’t fall apart, but even with the wrap the pipes are truly overheating the crap out of my belly pan. S drilled holes in the front to help but we still need to make some mods to get it to cool down. It was actually bubbling my paint. That’s hot.  The belly pan is smaller than the OEM one so making it fit is not easy. 

So after a fun day of riding and visibly salt-stained Under Armor, I left elated and exhausted. And might I add planning a track day at Willow a few short weeks later. WillowTrackday Update: http://msxxfast.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/willow-springs-track-day-what-an-intimidating-track/