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WERA ’14, Round 3 – Pittsburgh International (Brake Check)

Going into the weekend, we had both Honda East Yoshimura Suzuki's ready, for the first time this season. I had been riding one so far, but now with the second ready to go, I'd be spending some time with her, getting her dialed in for the weekend – and dad would ride the first bike (or Abbey, as we've dubbed her).

Early on in Saturday practice, I was just sorting things out on the second bike (Bridget), making sure everything felt good. A few ergonomic tweaks for the most part and I was ready to go. I hopped on Abbey for a couple sessions as well to make sure I felt up to speed on both bikes. We didn't have a Friday practice, so we'd be jumping right into the races after lunch.

Saturday's Heavyweight Solo started off well enough. Stymie had the lead early on, with Aaron Borello in third – two 1000's sandwiching a 750. Aaron had just switched to Pirelli and would set his fastest lap ever around his home track. After a couple laps I snuck into the lead on the brakes, about 3-4 laps in. Into the left-handed T1 and then flicking over to the right for T2-T3, I was on the gas and leaned over, looking for a good drive. I moved my hand over the brake lever in anticipation for T4. Somehow I hit a bump and the bike jerked – while still on the gas, where it pulled me back in the seat and with it, my fingers. I inadvertently yanked on the brake lever and locked up the front tire. The bike tucked and down we went, sliding on the pavement and into the grass. Ugh.

I got up, took inventory of myself. I was fine. I walked away from the track, sharing a wide range of expletives from my helmet. Dammit. I went to the bike and tried to lift her up, but both clip-ons were snapped off and with my wrist, there wasn't much strength to perform any type of Herculean-effort. I walked out of the way and with the bike still in the impact zone, the race was red-flagged. I grabbed the array of pieces in the grass left from the bike, shaking my head. How the hell did I do that?

Saturday night was a long one, piecing the bike back together. With dad and Doug's help, we got it all back together. Special thanks to Eden Weston of the 419 crew for loaning us some parts we needed. Much appreciated. Also to Dave Grey who helped us with a variety of odds and ends to get back going as well. Most of the damage was cosmetic, although the cosmetic damage was pretty good. The fairing stay, clip-ons and subframe were all pretty mangled, which meant the bodywork took a good hit, dragging along the concrete. After a few hours, some zip ties and duct tape – at 100mph, you couldn't even tell what had happened. Good team, for sure.

Up early for Sunday, I had been thinking all night on how I wanted to rebound. I didn't want to let one silly crash ruin the weekend for us. Practice was all business and with four races on the schedule, I was ready to go.

Formula 1 was first up. I nagged the hole shot and with Stymie and Gene (Burcham) in tow, we swapped leads several times. Stymie passed me into T4, I passed him exiting T4. He passed me on the front straight. I ducked inside and passed him back, while Gene passed us both to take the lead. Stymie ended up winning and I caught Gene to finish 2nd, on the crashed bike. We set the fastest time of the race and subsequently, the weekend as well, at a 58.8. It's still a ways off from my personal best on the R6, at a 57.9, but it was a good pace and the race itself was a blast.

750 Superbike was up next. Based on my feedback, we tried some changes to the front of the bike, which didn't work out great. I suppose my feedback wasn't ideal. I struggled to put in good laps and a couple 600's were close throughout the race. I stretched a bit of a gap out by the halfway point and Cale (Jones) unfortunately ran off-track and Eric (Swahn) crashed in T6, bringing out the red flag. Fortunately everyone was alright. Being past halfway, they called the race final.

1000 Superstock was the third race. Stymie got the holeshot and I followed him for most the race. On the last lap, I passed him into T1 and was able to lead the final lap, up to the checkered flag, winning by a narrow .2 seconds. Another close one. I had switched bikes for this one, which had the suspension better dialed in – and I could feel the difference from the first lap.

Between the third and fourth races, rain started sprinkling. It would end up being dry for our last race, but between that – crashes, and mechanical issues amongst the competition, there weren't many bikes on the grid for 750 Superstock. We won with a fairly large gap in what seemed to be a battle of attrition.

Dad did well in both his races. His first time racing the 750. He beat his best lap time on the SV in his last race, which isn't easy to do on a short track like this – not to mention being his first time racing the bike. He tried to mask his happiness, but I think it shined through a little bit. :)

Overall, challenging weekend. The crash on Saturday set us back, but we did the best with what we had and managed to do well with three wins and a second. I really need to get back into the 57's for lap times, so hopefully when we visit PIRC again in September we'll get there. Next up though is Mid-Ohio, which is only a few days away!

Thanks for reading.

Friday, July 11th, 2014 | POSTED AT: 5:14 AM
FILED UNDER: Race Reports

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You're currently reading "WERA ’14, Round 3 – Pittsburgh International (Brake Check)," an entry on Witchkraft Racing.
Published: 07.11.14 / 5am
Category: Race Reports