ACC and year end report

Started by tstruyk, September 16, 2005, 09:32:58 AM

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tstruyk

This will be part 1 of 3... cause I am long winded!  ;D

PLEASE REPLACE YOUR DIVOTS!!!!!

this was the last nugget of advice at the riders meeting friday morning before the team challenge at Autobahn Country Club (ACC) and my final round of CCS sprints.

The weekend started out well dropping the trailer thursday night and heading back to the hotel. Friday morning was warm but with a nice breese and I was excited to be back at the track after a sub-par performance at Barber last month.

Practice went well, with only 2 sessions to: Figure out what turn was next, warm up the suspension, dial in geometry, tune suspension, figure out what lines worked (kinda) and try to get up to speed it was definately a frantic moring. To top it all off practices where cut short to 8-10 minutes for various reasons... practice went off without a hitch, made a few adjustments, got ready for the team challenge.

ACC South is (IMO) a really neat layout. Flowing rythmic front section combined with a point and shoot back section result in racing that benefits both types of riders. From Buellls, SV's and 2 smokers to inline fours, amazingly the laptimes across the board where pretty consistant in the upper ranks! Seemed like the mortal experts where turning low 30's (30-31'a) as where the top (ahem) amateurs... I digress.

First race fri, team challenge.

So we get all suited up, set up camp on hot pit and got ready for the team challange. More for the seat time than for the competition we seem to have found ourselves in the top 5 of a national points race! Of course not everyone enters this event at every track... but hey... we're in RRW magazine by golly! team cidacus with team owner and captain Tim "where's pit in?" Struyk and Jeremy "holeshot" Harvey on there Lithium Motorsports, Michelin, Vortex, sharkskins coughcontingencycough "sponsored" Yamaha R6 looked to continue their streak of Team Challenges finished without a mechanical or crashing to 3!

Harvey gets the nod from the owner (yeah... thats me  ) and proceeds to get the GTU holeshot and lead our class through the first 6 turns... rides a great pace and brings us in at 4th place after 18-19 laps. I hop on the bike after a splash of fuel and away I go. Get through lap one fine... cranking down the straight away head down clicking gears.. ok where's that breaking marker at..... THERE ARE NO BRAKING MARKERS!!!!! Heavy brakes, big stoppie, down shift to 3rd settle the rear just in time to run off a bit in T-1... damn, work my way back on track and away I go. Laptimes suck as I am still just a bit unsure (having only done 8 laps of practice) which way the track goes, where turn in points are blahblahblah. Fast forward to roughly 13-14th lap... signal I am comin in (holy jesus I am tired) come around 11-12 and am thinking... where the hell is pit in???? I decide to err on the side of safety and run straight... straight towards the north course.. I am an idiot. I guess fatigue had set in and I wasnt really thinking clearly.. lost some time there but returned to OUR track safely for the rider exchange.. (hey its my first year, I am still learning!  ) Harvey cuts some more quality laps and it looks like we have 4th pretty well under wraps, each team should have one exchange left and we have a half lap lead or so.... well fire the owner cause they did NOT do an exchange and we did. I ran the last dozen or so laps, almost ran out of fuel, and finished 1/2 lap down for 5th place. This does however secure us 4th place in the points for the Formula USA Team Challenge series.. WOOHOO!!!


To be continued... next up the sprint races, food coma's and one racers take on the amateur class "a perspective of crashing".... stay tuned
CCS GP/ASRA  #85
2010 Sponsors: Lithium Motorsports, Probst Brothers Racing, Suspension Solutions, Pirelli, SBS, Vortex

"It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can accomplish"

tstruyk

and now... the rest of the story.

So with the TC in our past we begin to focus on the sprints ahead. The only guys that had races on our team where our old farts, Randy "ray ray" sullinger, and Dave "men can be nurses too" Mckeem. Randy was heading into the weekend with a comanding lead in the points and needed only finish with a few points of the number 2 guy to win the series. he came outta the gate strong cutting 37's and 36's and mixing it up in the top 3... on lap 5 we never saw him come through?? I sprint down to the crash truck and ask if there is a rider down. "nope, got a mechanical... bike 181 amateur" awww damn randy... now we werent really sure how that would work out in the points. So with Randy out of the race we focus on Dave... DAMN!!!!! dave is cookin!! Dave has only a few races under his belt and a handful of track days and is running top 5!!! Unfortunately we couldnt see but 2 turns of the track... Dave was able to wrap up 4th. Long story short (this is MY race report  ) Randy sintched up the championship regardless... WAY TO GO RANDY!!!!

SO... after some comfort food at cracker barrel (mmmmm meat loaf) and a few brews we grab some z's.

Back at the track saturday morning we set up and get the tires hot. I ditch the first round of practice to make sure my rubber is in the "sweet spot" for all my sprints! 1st race Unlimited Superbike. This has been a fun race for me all year as the 1k throttle jockies line up with the mw and hw riders and duke it out in a corner speed vs HP shootout. I get a GREAT launch from the 3rd row and run up the inside of T-1 only to have the door closed by a corner camper.. I check up and drift wide but loose my drive into 3-4... running top 6ish. Enter T6 when John Deuser falls down right in front of me right in the middle of the track!! Its all I can do to keep from running into him as I stand it up and kill my drive. At this point BE and half the field shoot around me... AWWWW HELL NO!!!! Get around a handful of slower guys and set my sites on the rookie. We enter into a VERY bumpy fairly fast T-5 left hander and brian drifts a little wide at apex.. not a good place to be.. BE  . Just past apex he looses his right foot and nearly falls off the bike... "HANG ON BRIAN HANG OOOOOON HAHAHAHA!!!" As I pass him up the inside I see a cloud of dirt and a black rr tumble in the air... "hope your ok buddy" I say in my helmet and press on. Next lap around I see B and he is up and pushing his bike to the tire wall... whew. Times area coming down into the 39's and 38's, finally getting the flow of the track. I am running pretty well but lose a spot on the straight to an 04/05 R1, keep him in my sites but cant seem to reel em in... damn HP. lap 5 of 7 I run wide at the exit of t-10 and lose my drive only to have a gsxr1k about suck my paint off on the back stretch... I pass back under braking for 11 keep the lead until the front straight where he is gone again. show a wheel a few times but his HP is just too much... settle for 12th.
CCS GP/ASRA  #85
2010 Sponsors: Lithium Motorsports, Probst Brothers Racing, Suspension Solutions, Pirelli, SBS, Vortex

"It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can accomplish"

tstruyk

Next up the blood bath... MW Supersport. you would think there where factory scouts in the stands with the way this class has been the last few weeks... Get a so so launch but am gridded on the outside, wedge myself to mid track but cant get a clean line to move up in the field... run it wide for 2 to drive outta 3... there's my lane! I shoot up the inside of a rider tiping into 3 and spook him... he GRABS THE BRAKE and tucks it, sorry bro! Picking my way through traffic I see BE up in front (early registerin MOFO  ) and once again" awwwww HELL no!!" I get in behind him for the remainder of the lap and am up his can onto the straight. B is late on the brakes but I am later, I trailbrake almost to apex of T-1 and block the inside line of 2, good drive outta 3 and I'm off. Pretty uneventfull after that, I am running the fastest I have all weekend for the next lap and a half and threaten to brake the top ten by the halfway flag when... red flag... damn. Cruise around the track to pit out only to see... its BE thats down, not moving! Paramedics are already there (less than 1 min after the crash) and tending to him, they dont seem too concerned. "hope your ok bro". We regrid after a 10 min delay... next restart same problem. good launch but am pushed wide by the pack (5th row start) move up in the field and get into a rythm when... DAMN!!! red flagged again!!

this time they call the race and will re-re grid tomorrow morning at our positions we finished the original start in.

We pack up and head out, get cleaned up and say goodbye to the old guys, they are done for the weekend... now let me explain something too you about tradition at the track! We ALWAYS have an obnoxious dinner one night of the weekend, and this was certainly no exception! Harvey and I head out to Al's steakhouse! Long story short... Oyster appetizer, deep fried stuff with dippin sauce appetizer for 2, salad bar, a couple Sam Addams, 2-21oz prime rib dinners with 2x baked taters, a 1lb lobster tail, topped off with deserts and coffee... we are essentially comatose. I waddle back to the car grumbling and groaning at every bump on the ride home... 4 tums and 3 advil later I am fast asleep.

stay tuned sports fans... the final race day of the season for us is just around the bend! Will Harvey crack into the 1:34's, will Tim ragain his early season top 10 form, will he have to poop 3 times before noon to unload the a$$ load of food he and jeremy ate the night before??? STAY TUNED!!!!
CCS GP/ASRA  #85
2010 Sponsors: Lithium Motorsports, Probst Brothers Racing, Suspension Solutions, Pirelli, SBS, Vortex

"It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can accomplish"

tstruyk

So we recover from our food induced coma's and make it back to the track sunday morning!

with 2 more races for me...well... one and a half and some great FUSA racing to watch it boasts to be a wonderful sunday afternoon! I reflect as we are driving in at the sounds and smell that we wont experience again until next year... sigh Its gonna be a long winter!

MWSS Re-re-start places me in the 5th row... snap of the flag and its off! Once AGAIN I get a good launch and pick up a few 4-5 places only to be forced to the outside of T-1/2... avoid a few mishaps and check ups and away we go! I am settled in mid pack just trying to get the shock woarm and finish the race in decent standing! A few runoffs by fast guys slow the big pack down and by lap 3 the field is pretty spread! I cant seem to get my rythm back from sat and the times show it! I settle in and refuse to force it. End up 14th... thhpbpbpbpbpb Oh well, after 2 red flags the previous day, I figured the dice had been rolled enough. Had a fun race with #200 Konstantine but he ended up reeling me in the straight when I caught a false N. I had nothing that race.

Final race of the year MWGP... still gridded on the 5th row I immediately work my way inside.. FINALLY I get the inside line! I get through 3-4 in what seems to be 7th or 8th. Getting a good rythm down I lose a spot to Konstantine AGAIN in the straight and can hear a freight train of people behind me! dontlookbackdontlookbackdontlookback... I adjsut my brake points and turn in and it picks up my pace .5-.75 per lap... still on my tail! Everything is starting to come together but I still cant get into the 36-37 range that I was on sat... white flag! I have flash backs of the LCRS boys talking about just running a perfect lap on the white flag... nothing different, no mistakes, if you get passed its their race... BUT I CAN HEAR THEM RIGHT THERE!!!! I force to be consistant, I know they are close but I havent seen a wheel yet. Late hard braking into 11 (protect that inside line) square a good drive into 12.. c'mon timmay keep it smooth, fast and smooth into the final double apex right hander.... head down onto the straight... did it! Its a top 10 which is where I was at all year prior ro my 2 crashes in July. Felt great! 3 guys right behind me give the thumbs up! WHAT A YEAR!!!!

In conclusion (yeah I know... bout time!!) I wanted to take a second to thank EVERYONE for all the support. I'm sorry, i know I'll leave some folks out but here it goes: My Wife who went by "fiance" until 5/7/05 (notice the race number correlation 575  ) for putting up with EVERTHING and supporting something she didnt fully understand! my teammates: Harvey who showed my what this rodeo was all about! Never could have done this without ya Bro!! Randy for the stiff competition until I lost the mojo in July and for always keeping me positive and pushing me! Dave for being the official back protector pusher in guy and one hell of a pit mate! LMS and SS for the season long support... you guys are AWESOME! Super Dave Rosno for the knowledge that I can draw off of for years, and anyone and everyone that offered advice throughout the season! Thank you all so much! See you next year!

Tim Struyk
GP AM#575...
CCS GP/ASRA  #85
2010 Sponsors: Lithium Motorsports, Probst Brothers Racing, Suspension Solutions, Pirelli, SBS, Vortex

"It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can accomplish"

Super Dave

Nice job, Tim!

Never give up.

e-mails helped?
Super Dave

tstruyk

very much so, retained the same gearing after our conversation anyway... didnt want to be chasing demons all weekend.  dropped rear height a bit and balanced out the preload in the front, made a few small adjustments throughout the weekend and seemed to have a rideable bike... I was more limited by course knowledge than setup!  I'd like to go back again and give her another crack!  thanks again for everything, you opened my eyes to alot!

tim
CCS GP/ASRA  #85
2010 Sponsors: Lithium Motorsports, Probst Brothers Racing, Suspension Solutions, Pirelli, SBS, Vortex

"It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can accomplish"

Jeff

Good job Tim!  Sounds like you had a great time & season...

Now go get a website so you can keep your memories forever.  Over the winters, I read my race reports from back in 2000 and giggle over them.
Bucket List:
[X] Get banned from Wera forum
[  ] Walk the Great Wall of China
[X] Visit Mt. Everest

Super Dave

Cool!  That's what I was hoping.  Learning new tracks helps with experience as you start to recognize things that are similar from one track to another.  Set up knowledge can be learned.  I think you've done well.  
Super Dave

tstruyk

QuoteGood job Tim!  Sounds like you had a great time & season...

Now go get a website so you can keep your memories forever.  Over the winters, I read my race reports from back in 2000 and giggle over them.

roger that Jeff! saved on my hard drive, I plan on keeping set up notes on various tracks and whatnot along with my reports, I typically try to mention places I had problems so I can focus more on them when I go back!  (believe it or not you get the abridged version)  i wont go full tilt next year, but will be at at least 4 weekends (barber and RA for sure!)  

now the big question is to bump to EX or chill AM one more year... decisions decisions.  I know i have the points to be offered and i'll get faster up there... but I also know its more fun to race with people and it seems that the back half Ex guys are a bit out of my league right now.   :-/  I want to keep it fun!  input?

yeah I'd like to read these in a few years and think back... damn, I used to be that slow ???  haha

Its a work in progress, I couldnt be happier that I jumped in with 2 feet!

thanks again Dave!  you are one hell of a resource and worth every penny!
CCS GP/ASRA  #85
2010 Sponsors: Lithium Motorsports, Probst Brothers Racing, Suspension Solutions, Pirelli, SBS, Vortex

"It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can accomplish"

Super Dave

I think you're selling yourself short on how well you did.  

Stop that.

Super Dave

tstruyk

QuoteI think you're selling yourself short on how well you did.  

Stop that.


dont get me wrong... I am very proud of how I faired this first year!  I am leaning towards white plates... just need a nudge!  its like when you have run a few TD's and your wanting to race but not sure where you stand... I'm sure I'll be up with the big biys next year!  ;)
CCS GP/ASRA  #85
2010 Sponsors: Lithium Motorsports, Probst Brothers Racing, Suspension Solutions, Pirelli, SBS, Vortex

"It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can accomplish"

Super Dave

Keep it simple.

You're safe, you have knowledge.  It probably "makes" you an expert.  You might not be out winning expert races at a FUSA event, but that's where you start.  
Super Dave