AFM Round 7, 2016 Race Report and Season Wrap-Up

The season finale of the 2016 AFM race season was taking place at Buttonwillow Raceway. I came into this weekend knowing I had made a lot of progress over the year, and that the front runners (in a year with some crazy fast novices) were just outside of my reach – maybe not 1^st or 2^nd, but a podium finish was within my grasp in something other than my Legacy class. I wanted to have that finish badly, since it would be my last shot at it before moving up to Expert where I’ll be unlikely to see much of anything for quite some time…

I headed down Thursday afternoon so I could arrive and get settled in before traffic and so I’d be relaxed going into the weekend. I wanted to do part of the test day on Friday just to work on lines and technique, which is exactly what I did. There wasn’t a transmitter out, so I had no idea on my laptimes, but that was okay since I wanted to stay focused on proper technique. I chose not to put my own transmitter for that reason. The day went well with no incidents, and the evening provided a fair bit of entertainment as everyone hung out once again.

Saturday dawned with sunny skies and a promise of a good day. Practices went well, and per my usual, my times were far from amazing, but I was doing exactly what I thought I was, so my perception of my efforts versus my laptimes was spot on (compared to the past where I would think I was going way faster than I was).

Being that it was the last round of the year, however, I wanted to have a little fun in my races, too, so I signed up for AFemme instead of my usual Clubman Mid. I wasn’t contending for any special placing in Clubman, so decided I wanted to go race with the girls instead. There was only one other novice who was on a 250, so I knew my “competition” was going to be with the expert girls. I had my eyes set on Valentine who’s gotten pretty fast the past couple years. I wasn’t sure I could keep up, but I was going to give it that good old high school try. As we gridded up I eye balled the gals in front of me – I knew my starts would help, and just might give me a chance to chase Valentine for awhile. We got a green flag, and I saw Jennifer end up with a wheelie and a rough start which gave me the chance to get in front of her on her liter bike which I knew would be difficult to pass otherwise. Valentine took off, and while she was putting some ground between us, I was keeping her in sight until we started hitting lap traffic. She got through traffic a little better than I did and eventually I lost sight of her. I managed to hold that position, however, and came in 2^nd overall, technically 1^st in my class, but that wasn’t the race I was racing.

That concluded my Saturday, and we got ready for Sunday. My times got down to the 1:57s, and I knew there was more to be had. I wanted to see a minimum of getting into the 56’s, ideally down into the 55’s. Saturday night was the typical fun, party, hang out, eat, talk shit that we always do, and I enjoyed the evening with friends who I may not see for several months.

Sunday came with another beautiful day, and we got ready to go. Quick practice session to warm things up, then make sure I was ready for my morning races. First up was 750 Production. Not a race I’m a top finisher, but I’ve been doing better, so looked forward to dicing it up with some friends. We headed out, and gridded up. My start was fine and we took off into turn 1 with a little bit of action the first few corners. The race went on, and I had a good time chasing some guys down and trying to keep others behind me. I finished the race in 6^th place, and made my first goal of the weekend, getting down to a 1:56.2. I was stoked to see it that low, because I knew a 55 was within grasp.

I had two races between that and my next one, 600 Production. This was one of the races where I felt I had a legitimate chance at making a podium – it would be work, and I couldn’t let the leaders get away, but it could happen. I headed out with a decent enough grid spot, and we launched. I hit neutral, allowing a couple bikes past me, but I re-passed them in turn 1. The front 3 were in striking distance, and I was determined to hang with them. Problem was, my “determination” was overriding my focus on technique, and a couple small mistakes in the first couple corners were the red flags I ignored. They were tiny, but there none the less. I was too focused on catching the guys in front and not letting them get away. This caused me to overcook my entry to the “Bus Stop” and then I combined that with fixating on the edge of the track rather than my exit, and ended up asking too much of the front tire, causing me to tuck the front. I slid then tumbled for what felt like forever, eventually coming to rest in a cloud of dust. Picked myself up, and headed over to the turn worker station, and eventually over to where they had moved my bike while I waiting until the end of the following race so I could roll the bike in and get to work on it.

Thankfully damage to the bike was pretty minor – it needed a new bar, footpeg, and my starter/kill switch was toast, but otherwise it was in pretty good shape. I was functional, with a hunk of the inside of a finger ground off and some bruises, but nothing that I couldn’t work around. My friends were amazing and rallied together to help get the bike sorted out while I addressed my wounds. They helped me find parts, get them installed, back through tech and ready to roll again over their lunch break. They were all amazing.

I decided to skip rushing out to my Formula 1 race since I hadn’t really had a chance to breathe since my crash and I wanted to give the bike one last go-over before trying to race it. My Legacy Middleweight race was right after Formula 1 and I really wanted to get out for that, even if all I did was finish, which would allow me to at least hold on to my current placing in the championship. 

I wasn’t sure about trying to shoot for another 2^nd place finish, but was going to play that by ear. Main thing was going to be just getting all my fundamentals right. Race was called and I headed out. Bike seemed okay, but there were a couple things I could tell right off the bat. First, my clutch adjustment was way off. Secondly, my quick shifter was being temperamental. Oh well, neither of these were reasons not to ride, but once the green flag dropped, I could tell they were messing me up. The clutch was screwing up my already problematic downshifts, and the quickshifter being moody meant sometimes it worked, then wouldn’t, then I’d have to shift without using it. Sam and another rider took off, and I just sat back and focused on fundamentals, getting through the race to the checkered. I finished in 4^th with a 2:00.5 laptime – significantly slower, but I finished.

I came in from that, adjusted my clutch back, and then reconnected my quickshifter, and headed down for my final race of the year a bit early so I could make a couple runs up and down the hot pits to be sure of what I’d be dealing with in the race. Things seemed back to normal, so we headed out for 600 Superbike. I decided this race I wanted to get back on the horse again – not pushing my limits, but not settling for just chilling out there, either. The race launched, and I had a few bikes I was battling with throughout the race. I finished the race in 8^th, with a very comfortable ride, back down to the 1:58.3 range, without feeling like I was “pushing” but not putzing around, either.

That wrapped up my 2016 season. I took some serious time off my laptimes from the previous year, and saw improvements every round since Round 2. There’s been some amazing help along the way, besides all of the outstanding support from my sponsors, Ken Hill’s advice has been priceless as well. My final standings in my races are thus:

Novice Legacy Middleweight: 3^rd of 14

Novice 750 Production: 5^th of 22

Novice 600 Production: 8^th of 45

Novice 600 Superbike: 8^th of 35

Clubman Middleweight: 8^th of 53

Novice Formula 1: 12^th of 37

Novice AFemme: 3^rd of 6 (which is sad since I only raced it once!)

Top 10 in nearly all of my classes, in what is probably one of the fastest groups of novices the AFM has seen. I can’t complain about my final novice year and everything I’ve learned and accomplished. I’ve learned a lot about how to ride a motorcycle. There’s still a lot of refinement and skill building to go, but the progress this year has been massive.

For 2017 my intentions are to change things up a bit. I’ve more than met all of my goals on my current bike, in fact, blew most of them out of the water. Therefore, my plans over the winter are to go buy the modern bike I’ve wanted to race right along, so am looking at picking up a new ZX10R for the 2017 season. I’ve already signed up to move up to Expert next year as well. Sure, I could hang back as a novice, but my long term goals require that I keep pushing myself to that next level, and I feel this is the way to do it. I’m not racing to collect plastic trophies against other yellow plates. Someday I want to be competing against the fastest guys on the grid, so making the leap now to keep pushing myself. I may be happy with “not last” next year, but I’ll have a realistic measurement of just where I stand in one of the fastest clubs in the US!

To all of my amazing sponsors: THANK YOU for a terrific year! The season finished strong, and I’m content with what I’ve accomplished, with my eyes set on the next goal. Your support has been beyond amazing, and I certainly hope that you’ve felt that it has been worthwhile as well! Thank you for a great 2016, and I look forward to working with you again in 2017!