Gateway - Rookie Amatuer race report

[sdiver68]

In an effort to get others to share their race experiences, here's mine:

Adventures of a newbie....   :)

Track day Friday was a blast of course. I skipped the first 2 sessions, what with it being under freezing and knowing I could double up sessions in the afternoon. Peeps who didn't skip learned what serious hand freezing is all about!  :'( Kudos to them! Later, after learning what I could from the intermediates and dicing with a guy I know while passing about 6 bikes at once into 1 and 2, I jumped into advanced and was shown what it takes to race. Even though they weren't at race pace, I was! And I learned more in that 15 minutes than any other 2 sessions. The next intermediate session I was flying around relative to earlier in the day and almost hit about 3 guys all braking hard for the chicane, *geesh*.

So Saturday comes and I was disappointed the guy I was dicing with knee was acting up, I was looking forward to more dicing in the races. I was gridded in the second to last row and got a terrible start (first race jitters and all), so basically I was sitting 34 out of 34 going into turn 1.  :o I get my way past about 1/2 of the grid when I start feeling fatigued, I realize my shirt is soaking wet, and I'm getting cotton mouth.  :'( It was cold in the morning so I have my expedition class long undies and vest under my leathers that served me well that morning and the day before, but by GTU race time it was at least 55 degrees. DOH! With the race adrenaline pumping I was overheating in my leathers, so I tell myself OK just take it nice and smooth you got another 15 minutes to go (help). A couple of guys pass me back as I'm struggling with fine motor control (throttle hand losing smoothness due to fatigue) and concentration and really thinking of slowing down more when the red flag comes out to end the race. Now, I hate red flags but that one was welcome. I ended up 20 of 34. Note to self, better to be a little chilly than overheating.

Next up for me is MW GP. Again, I'm gridded near last (have to pre-enter next time). Another note to self, when running a staged start, do not go at the first flag!  :-[  I was so overanxious to not get a bad start and get stuck behind back runners again, I false started. Oops! The race was red flagged with about 1 lap completed so they did a full restart, good for me. This time I get a good, CLEAN start and we are off. Pass a couple going into 1, another couple out of 2 (Thank you tire warmers) and a few more during the race that I felt pretty good in the whole time. Ended up 8 of 15, which I think I could have had a few more places if I was better at passing or gridded further up.   No excuses though, a truly fast guy would have made it through no problem, its just that I'm a truly slow guy!

Sunday comes and the weather is sketchy so I'm not sure if I'm going to enter. Oh, what the hell, if I don't enter and it doesn't rain I'll be pissed so I enter 600SS. Rain holds off somehow, and I'm gridded dead last. Another decent start but I'm still near last going into 1. Passed quite a few and was clocked in the 1:20 range but by then my rear tire (I was running Supercorsa Street's the whole weekend), which by then had been through some street riding, a full track day, and 2 races was starting to go. I'm sliding my rear out of every corner and nearly highside in the carousel so I decide to take it easy and just concentrate on smoothness and proper lines. Ended up 13 of 20.

Big thanks to everyone who helped me prep my bike and cheered our group on, CCLStreetracers and MD Motorsports. Next planned race for me is Road America in late April. It's double sprints weekend plus lots of practice time in the schedule so the more that can make it to the Midwest premier racetrack for good bang for the buck, the better!

Thanks also to Kevin Elliot for his time and patience in helping me licenese and register, and the rest of the CCS crew and cornerworkers for their cold, mostly thankless (what's wrong with some racers?) hard work.

Stay safe, see everyone around!  8)

[Ryan Meskimen]

Congrats on your first race weekend.  The nervousness eventually becomes controllable.  I don't think it ever completely goes away.  

I have a special place in my heart for Gateway.  The only race I ever won was an F1 Novice WERA race in 2000 there.  Man what a feeling!  

Good Luck!

Ryan
#185 Expert