Race #7 - Infineon, September
29 - October 1
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As the saying goes, “when it rains,
it pours!” Well, we had been having a drought of a season as far as crashes
go and that was a good thing! Unfortunately, riding conservatively usually leads
to poor race results. After the last AFM round of “follow the leader” at
Infineon, we needed to take action. We decided to use the long, seven-week
break before the next race for five straight weekends of riding (including a
special invite to Rich Oliver’s Mystery
School). As our riding improved we
got more comfortable riding fast … and then we had four crashes in five
weeks. None of them were related to each other, three were due to rider error
and one due to another rider. |
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Crash#1 – Jami started off the
series with her first get-off in T8 at Thunderhill, THE fastest corner on the
track (the fast guys go through there at 100mph!). As her lap times dropped,
she began to catch other riders in the group and now she was faced with a new
challenge – how to pass?! She had been pulling into the hot pits whenever she
caught a long string of riders (which is more common in slower groups where
riders are more hesitant to pass). But now she was catching them with greater
frequency and it was time for a change. Jami tried an inside pass in T8 and hesitated just a fraction too
long causing her to be side-by-side with the other rider as they turned in-
with no idea that Jami was next to her! Luckily both riders were unhurt but
Jami learned a important lesson in passing 101: plan
and commit to the pass several turns in advance!
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Crash#2 – We fixed up the 748 (a
replacement left side engine case was hard to find!) and traveled down to
Buttonwillow the following weekend. This would be an important track day
because AFM had decided to run the track backwards for the last race of the
year. We needed the practice as this would essentially be a new track to
learn. Fortunately Keigwins had announced that they would be running the
lunch session each day under the AFM backwards configuration. To start the
day off, Sherwick planned to test out the repairs to the 748 by riding his
first session on the smaller Ducati. Unfortunately, he was so used to riding
the 999 at speed (which handles very differently than the 748) that he turned
the bike too hard on the last
corner causing it to go off the inside
of the corner! This rarely happens as we usually have to fight to avoid going
off the outside of the track. The front
tire rode up onto the berm and no sooner than you could see daylight under
the tire, Sherwick had low-sided. As you can imagine we were both unhappy
starting off the weekend like this. Fortunately, a friend of ours, Eric
Arnold who races against Sherwick in 750 Superbike, was generous enough to
loan Jami his bike to ride during her sessions. The weekend ended up quite
good as Jami experienced the thrill of using the powerful Brembo GP radial
brakes, a quickshifter (where one does not have to use the clutch or back off
the throttle for upshifts) and GSX-R 750 horsepower (about as much as
Sherwick’s race bike)!
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Crash#3 – The next weekend was
back at Thunderhill. Sherwick had been consistently lapping in the 2:01’s which
was his previous race-best! In addition, these times were collected in
traffic which gave ample opportunity to practice alternate passing lines. #3
happened when Sherwick was in the process of passing two riders in turn 10.
The first rider was on the inside while the second was mid-track leaving the
outside line completely open. He was carrying so much more speed into the
banked turn that it would have been a very easy pass on both of them in one
move. Easy, that is, until the second rider decided to make a line adjustment
at the last moment to set up wide. Sherwick was already on the brakes and
consequently pulled the lever just a bit harder to avoid the rider – this was
all it took for the powerful Brembos to loft the rear wheel. It was at this
most inopportune time that the other rider made contact with Sherwick
knocking the Team JaS 999 rear-end sideways. Immediately Sherwick was on the
ground tumbling. He was unhurt but the bike fared much worse.
At first glance, the damage seemed
minimal and restricted only to the fairings and controls. We cleaned
everything up, replaced a few parts with spares and Sherwick went out again,
only missing one session. However, he came in early complaining of a loss in
power. The flashing number on the dash indicated high coolant temps and the
smell emanating from underneath the fairings confirmed that the engine was
overheating. When we unbuttoned the bike again, we realized that what we
previously thought was gasoline in the belly pan from the tank overflow tube was
in fact water from the radiator! One of the screws from the fairing had
punctured the side of the radiator causing a leak and Sherwick had run the
session without coolant! As if this wasn’t enough, low air pressure in the
tire the following morning revealed that the Marchesini front wheel was
cracked at one of the spokes. The crack was so small that it was invisible to
the naked eye but unfortunately magnesium wheels are not weldable. As a
result, Sherwick missed the second track day and we spent the following week
calling around for another set (yes BOTH front AND rear wheels) because these
special racing rims were not sold separately. We mounted fresh rubber to the
new wheels, found a low mileage radiator off of EBay, repaired the old one as
a spare (making sure to reinforce the vulnerable areas of both radiators),
fiberglassed/painted the fairings and were good to go for AFM round 7!
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September 29- Friday Practice |
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Crash #4 - Cold ambient and track temps
marked the morning of practice. It was one of those “wear lots of layers and
see your breath” kind of temps! The morning would be dedicated to testing
that the motor was undamaged after overheating at the last track day. The 1st
session was sparsely attended. In fact, the only riders venturing out into
the mist were Sherwick, Dave Stanton (the current AFM #1 plate holder), Ken
Hill (a top-five AFM veteran) and just a few others. After just two laps, we
pulled in, helmet visor fogged and dripping with moisture. It was so slippery
that even We went to the nearest hospital and
found out that the weekend was over. Sherwick had broken his thumb and
sprained his ankle badly. Because of the nature of the break, the thumb would
need to be affixed (pinned or plated) while the bone healed while he would
need a pair of crutches to get around. |
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September 30- Saturday Endurance
Race |
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We had been
invited to participate as part of an endurance team with three other riders
aboard a 125cc two-stroke GP bike. How different can you get from a 998cc
four-stroke superbike! Unfortunately, we never got to experience the “bicycle
with a motor and awesome brakes”. Maybe next year? |
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October 1- Sunday Race Day |
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No racing
for us. Instead, we spent the day icing and taking ibuprofen… |
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The Recovery- |
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After getting told by Kaiser Permanente
doctors that it would take 6-8 weeks of recovery while Sherwick’s thumb
healed (essentially ruling out racing for the year), we went to Dr. Arthur
Ting, official team physician of the San Jose Sharks NHL and San Jose
Earthquakes MLS teams, and orthopedic surgeon to renowned professional
athletes like Barry Bonds and Jerry Rice and world-class motorcycle racers
like Wayne Rainey, John Kosinski, Mick Doohan, Kenny Lee Roberts, Miguel
Duhamel, Nicky Hayden, John Hopkins, Eric Bostrom, Jamie Hacking, Jason
Pridmore, Jake Zemke, the list goes on. Ting said that Sherwick could be
riding within 10-12 days and the bone would be almost healed in three weeks,
just in time for the last AFM race of the year. One titanium plate and 7
screws later… we looked forward to the final race of the season.
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Here is a
picture of Sherwick’s hands BEFORE
surgery:
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Here is a
picture of Sherwick’s hands AFTER
surgery:
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Here is a
picture of the Team JaS 999 BEFORE
repairs:
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Here is a picture of the Team JaS
999 AFTER repairs:
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Enjoy the ride –- Team JaS Special thanks to: |
