Witchkraft Racing: The Search for Speed

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Southern Hospitality

Last weekend dad and I went down to Road Atlanta to get some laps in on the still-relatively-new Honda East Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750. We wanted to get some laps in before the races there, so we wouldn't get our butts kicked by the southern guys and gals. Hot and sunny weather made for a lot of good laps, as we did every session but one over the two days. Lap times dropped and the bike continued to get more and more dialed in with dad twisting the clickers. I was good and wiped by the end of the weekend. The nice bonus was that I did my best time on the last lap of the last session on Sunday. Getting something like that always makes the drive home better.

Becoming more comfortable pushing the bike was also a big bonus, as this was the most laps I had ridden the bike – easily more than at Grattan in the first round, where we really only did the four races on Sunday, with sketchy weather Friday and Saturday. I also was able to convince my buddy Chris (Broome) and fiancee Lora to come out as well for the weekend, which made for a great time. Dad and I hanging out with them, along with the other people we met down there was good fun.

Overall I'm really starting to like the bike. There's still a ways to go on my part, but the Suzuki provides a lot of feel – more than I'm used to. The R6 was like a knife. It was sharp and exact and was very potent when ridden hard. The faster you went, the more comfortable it became. With the Suzuki, there's a higher sense of feedback with what the bike is doing. I think this has made dialing in the bike a little bit easier – at least so far. The jury is still out, but I think this bike has the potential to beat some of my personal best lap times that were done on the R6 – something that would really show things are progressing in the right direction.

With the Cycle Jam in Atlanta this upcoming weekend, there's a few more seconds I need to find in order to run up front and have a shot at a win. I've been reviewing the GoPro footage, along with some of the data from the AIM timer we just picked up. Lots to look over, but at least we know some of the things I can improve on.

Dad and I are heading out Thursday morning and making the 12-hour drive down. We're meeting up with Doug and Marion, who have family not far from the track. We're also going to meet up with Stymie and Jillian, who are making the long trip as well. I'm looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting some new ones as well. Fingers crossed for some nice weather!

Cheers.

Monday, June 2nd, 2014 | POSTED AT: 5:59 AM
FILED UNDER: General