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WERA Round 5: Grattan National Recap (Another Step)
Friday started off well with a full day of practice, as the rain held off, which it wasn't originally supposed to. It was just my dad and I, with Aaron arriving a bit later. We were stuck in the 1:23's and finally got into the 1:22's by the end of the day. Talking with Garry afterwards, we figured out a change to try on the bike, as the rear end didn't feel like it had good grip. Just a disconnected feel overall. We were still doing pretty well compared to everyone else and faster than some of the National guys.
Saturday morning was raining, so no practice was to be had. It dried out enough for the endurance race, where my dad, Aaron and I helped out the Carney's with their pit stops. They did quite well, landing on the podium within their class. After they packed up and left, my dad and I went and saw Justin (Fleming) race cars at I-96 Speedway, which was great. Dirt track racing on an oval and sliding the car all over the place. I should have taken some video to post. It's pretty wild how fast these guys go. He finished 6th in the main. It's pretty cool when you can get close enough to the racing where you get hit with dirt as the pack goes flying by.
Back to the hotel and up early Sunday morning. Foggy and a bit chilly, I was in my leathers and ready to go early. I was pretty focused, as just about everyone in attendance had been part of the endurance race on Saturday except for me. Our first session was in the mid 1:22's. The change we had made Friday after practice was straight away better. I could flick the bike easier and get on the gas harder. We tried several changes throughout the next couple sessions trying to get a better feel for the front end, which was now doing some different things – probably because of our increased pace. We were into the low 1:22's and in the third session, I went out behind Jensen, Taylor (Knapp) and Shawn (Conrad). Between chasing them and our latest changes, I dropped nearly a full second. The fourth session was spent working again and into the low 1:21's we went, with a fast lap of a 1:21.1. Jensen and Taylor were clearly out front and into the 1:19's, but we were still quicker than most everyone else.
First race was 600 Superstock. Jeff (Wrobel) went down on the warm-up lap unfortunately, but was up and alright. I started on the second row and had another 2nd gear launch on the flag. Dammit. Not the first time this has happened. Apparently when coasting to my grid spot in neutral, I'm not engaging into first gear like I think I am beforehand. Sometimes I'm in first, sometimes I'm not. No idea on that, but I was hammered on the start, passed by a bunch of bikes. I caught and passed a few guys and finished 5th behind Shawn Conrad. Best lap time of the race was in the 1:20's though, which was a new fast lap around Grattan. Knapp won, with Jensen, Cory West and Conrad finishing ahead of us. Not bad company, although Jensen and Taylor were in the 18's. We were right there with West and Conrad.
750 Superstock was next. The field was stacked with Jensen, along with the entire Vesrah team, including Tray Batey, West, Mark Junge and John Jacobi all lining up. On the front row and making sure I was in first gear (clicking back and forth between first and second to make sure beforehand), we headed into T1. I was passed by Mark Junge and as we all headed into T3. It was Jensen followed by a swarm of yellow bees. It reminded me of the old GLRRA days when Dega Racing had four top-level riders dominating week in and week out. Now Jensen was being chased by a team that does that on a national level across the country week in week out. And little did I know, so was I.
Each lap I was getting the "no lead/go faster" sign. I could hear a bike behind me. I had no idea it was John Jacobi until about halfway, when a yellow bike passed me down the straight. Crap, it's a Vesrah bike and I'm ahead of it! I was able to out brake John and stay ahead into T1. Mark Junge was just ahead through almost the entire race. We stayed about the same distance throughout and I could still hear John behind me. Everyone on the wall was giving encouraging signs and I was like – what do I do?! I kept pushing and as we came up to the checkered, he pulled alongside and passed as we crossed the finish line at nearly the same time. Timing would later show that I had edged him out by two thousandths of a second. Fast time in that race was again in the 1:20's.
At post tech, John was really cool. I apologized because I thought I had been a little wild and all over the place, but he said he didn't even notice. He said he was trying to get by and just couldn't make it happen. He said he was hoping we'd have caught Mark and made it a race with him. There was definitely some intense pressure being felt during that race and this was probably the best 5th place finish I've ever had. Vesrah is one of those teams that are just at the pinnacle of their game.
After the first two races, there seemed to be some handling issues with the bike. For lack of a better and more detailed description, it felt all over the place. It seemed that I was riding on the edge in a few spots. I felt like I was pushing harder, but unable to break into faster times. Since practice, I had only dropped a few tenths in the first two races. It seemed we were now facing a new set of issues trying to get out of the 1:20's, compared to when we were running 1:22's and 1:21's.
600 Superbike was the third race. We tried one change in the front end that wasn't much better or worse. Jensen got the holeshot and I followed him into T1. I was able to stay a consistent 10-15 bikes lengths behind him for the first several laps, but I think he was on cruise control. Brian Gibson closed in and passed me over the jump on his new Triumph 675. I followed him onto the straight and drafted past him – the Triumph didn't seem to have the legs compared to the R6, but this was their team's first race weekend with the bike and I'm sure they’ll have more in store for it.
As we passed the white flag, I thought I had Brian covered into T1, but he went in way deep on the brakes and got back by. I squared off the turn, went underneath and it was a drag race to T2. I had the inside line, but he was pushing hard. He came across my front end into T2, just missing my front wheel. I was back shifting and hard on the brakes, with the back end starting to slide out to the left, as I tried to avoid making contact. I had gone pretty late into T2, so with him going in there ahead of me, he was carrying a lot of speed. It was too much, as once he hit the apex a little wide, he went down. He slid off into the grass and I finished out the lap to take second place. Afterwards, Brian apologized. He was racing hard, but it wasn't any big deal. Had we made contact it might not have been pretty, but we avoided it and it was done with. Fortunately Brian and the bike were good and without any major damage. Nathan finished right behind in 3rd.
750 Superbike was the last race. Jensen again checked out. I had a bit of a race with James (Dillinger), as we went back and forth a couple times. I was able to stay ahead and finish 2nd. Lap times in the previous two races were low 1:21's. Not the kind of forward progress I was hoping for.
Overall the results for the weekend were very good. As Aaron had said afterwards, we took another step this weekend. We competed at a high level and had great results. A big thanks to my dad and Aaron – we were organized and on the ball all weekend. Congrats to Aaron on his finishes as well on Sunday. He set the fastest SV time of the weekend. Thanks also to Garry, Doug and Marion, Gina, Matt, Tom, Eric Nacke, Jeff (Kov), Dustin Boyd and everyone who came out to watch and support us this past weekend. We had a great turnout and hopefully everyone had a good time.
A thank you also to Jamie Hanshaw for the strong motor. It should be nothing new, but when things are going well, people are always supportive and happy for you – at first. Then if it continues, some of those same people start to almost turn on you. It kinda sucks. Going out and doing well is great. What's not fun is when people point to your success because of something else, or aren't quite honest with you to your face. I've got a lot of friends at the track (or so I'd like to think) and hearing stuff like this just puts a damper on it. Maybe I should start going slower. While I'm extremely competitive and want to win, I'm also doing this for fun and if I'm not having that, then why am I doing this in the first place ..
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- You're currently reading "WERA Round 5: Grattan National Recap (Another Step)," an entry on Witchkraft Racing.
- Published: 07.14.09 / 5am
- Category: Race Reports
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Good progress Ed. It is nice to see things are coming along well for you this year. Also thanks for stopping out for some dirt slinging action.
No problem. Glad we made it out. Wish we could have stayed longer ..
Sitting here at DFW airport and googling 675 when I came across your article. Good stuff Eddie and you really seamed to be riding well that weekend. I don’t think I ever seen you so aggressive, it’s probably a good time for me to retire again ;)
Thanks Brian. No way. Like I said, I was hoping that race would have been just like the final lap we had last year. Those races are the most fun. You were railing out there. Especially for being your first time on the bike.