Race #8 – Buttonwillow Backwards, October 20-22

October 20- Friday Practice

For the last round of the season, AFM decided to run the Buttonwillow track backwards. “So what!” you might say and to the casual observer, this change might not seem that interesting. But we can assure you that riding a race track backwards brings some new challenges and a few surprises. Increasing radius corners become decreasing, non-impact zones may reveal immobile objects & walls, uphills become downhills. Some AFMer’s were outraged and decided to boycott the race (a vote among the members was not used to make the decision). The remaining attendees were either in the points hunt and could not afford to miss the race or were more open to learning new tracks. These racers affectionately called this configuration “wolliwnottuB”. The AFM board was keen enough to test out this configuration several weeks prior to the race and accordingly changed some sections due to safety concerns: The longer “Star Mazda” turn was used instead of the “Sweeper” (which was now too close to the Esses), “Lost Hill” would be bypassed (because a corner worker station was in the impact zone) resulting in a .7 mile “Drag Strip” being formed, and the longer configuration double-apex “Off-Ramp” was used in favor of the decreasing-radius-sealer-infested shorter configuration. The Off-Ramp would claim several victims throughout the weekend due to many changes in camber along with a tricky kink at the exit but the talk around the pits was GEARING. Gear too short and you could expect to be bouncing off the rev limiter as other bikes fly by you into Riverside; gear too tall and you could be bogging exiting the tight, slow corners in the East Loop. We saw 10,000 rpm in sixth gear @ 155mph just before we banged two backshifts going into Riverside. Redline was a tick over this so we could expect to reach top speed in the race with this gearing at precisely the fastest part of the track. Accounting for the usual optimistic speedometer error (~ +5mph) and the 3% oversized rear tire (~ -5mph essentially cancelling out the error), the indicated speed was probably accurate.

October 21- Saturday Practice

We were aiming for 2:05s in traffic during Saturday practice to match the times we recorded in Friday practice without traffic. We decided to skip the first session which would not have been worthwhile due to the cold track and air temps (in the 50s) – too little benefit and too much risk. We nicely descended our lap times:

Session #2: avg = 2:09.473, best = 2:07.084

Session #3: avg = 2:09.138, best = 2:07.845

Session #4: avg = 2:07.948, best = 2:06.362

Session #5: avg = 2:06.135, best = 2:05.337

With everything looking good on the bike after the end-of-day inspection (including even the clutch – no new plates needed for the race), the wrap-up was fast! We were looking forward to some good dinner (at Denny’s) and rest (at the plush Motel 6).

October 22- Sunday Race Day

Practice Session-

At first we considered not going out since the track was so cold. Eventually we decided against skipping practice in case something was awry with the bike (you never know with race bikes). Sherwick rode conservatively due to lack of grip. Because of this, he did not transition very quickly from left to right through the Esses and the rear tire spun up while still leaned causing a near highside on the fourth lap! This is exactly why sometimes riding conservatively or “tight” is actually more dangerous than riding with the usual aggression! Luckily he saved it which was quite a feat, so much so that the rider behind who witnessed it came over afterwards to congratulate Sherwick! All-in-all this was sort of a useless practice session and the cost was nearly higher than the benefit but we were able to descend from 2:20, 2:17, 2:13, 2:14 (near highside) to 2:10.

Race #1- Open Twins-

Our first race (Open Twins) wasn’t until after lunch, race# 6. We decided to go out in the warm-up lap for race# 5 in order to loosen up. Sherwick got all suited up and was ready to go but then the bike wouldn’t start. We had to use auxiliary power for the battery from the generator but by the time the motor was warmed up, the 3-minute board was being shown (riders are allowed out until 3-minutes before the start of the race).

We started in 8^th position out of 18, on the inside of the 2^nd row: a perfect spot! We got a good start to the first corner and actually rubbed elbows with a rider trying to come up our outside while Lance Williams’ Desmoto Sport 749R was on our inside - tight racing from the very first corner! On the second lap, Sherwick hit a false neutral going into “Riverside”, a 120mph corner after braking hard from “Drag Strip”. We recovered but by the time we found a gear, three or four riders had gotten past us. At race speeds, the bike would hit the rev limiter flat-out in sixth gear @ 165mph just before we shut off and braked so our gearing was right on! Although we managed a 2:03 best time, the other lap times were inconsistent due temporary confusion caused by the tachometer mysteriously malfunctioning at the same time a “meatball” flag was shown by a corner worker. Unbeknownst to Sherwick, the flag was intended for #181 just behind him known as “Wile E. Coyote” whose muffler was loose and hanging (see pic). The flag is intended to alert a rider that there is something wrong with their bike and Sherwick thought that perhaps his motor was going south since his tach was reading a very low 7000rpm instead of 10,500rpm at each shift point. It took a few laps for Sherwick to realize that there was nothing wrong with his motor, just the tach, but he had already lost his rhythm and struggled to finish in 12^th place.

Avg = 2:04.503, best = 2:03.089 (race time on the AFM website is incorrect but unofficial results show the accurate lap time)

Race #2- Formula 40

This would be the first time racing in this class which allows 40 and older racers on ANY machine! We started in 27^th position out of 32, in the 6^th (or next to last) row because we had no points. We nailed the start this time passing the entire row of riders ahead of us. Consistent lap times resulted in moving ahead of 13 riders but into “no man’s land” – not quite with the fast group but way ahead of the slow group. We eventually ended up in 14^th place but we were starting to feel more comfortable.

Avg = 2:04.160, best = 2:03.538

Race #3- 750 SuperBike

Finally, the last race of the day! We started in 17^th position out of 26, in the 4^th row. Another great start and we passed several riders ending up in 13^th place. We were able to set consistent laps all within a few 10^ths of a second of each other with one flyer final lap of 2:02! Although this time equaled the time set by the Open Twins champion in practice (as seen in this video), Eric Gulbransen continued to find time and dropped another 7 seconds in the race!

Avg = 2:03.464, best = 2:02.728 (90.9mph!)

The thumb (not completely healed from the surgery) and ankle faired quite well and it wasn’t until the end of the day that Sherwick realized that his thumb was throbbing (more from being squished within the hard splint inside the glove than from usage).

What a great way to end the season! We have learned a lot about bike set-up as well as recovering from injury and bad luck this year and we will be sure to start off on the right foot in 2007. Already we are getting the bike ready with some new parts – parts we did not want to risk testing this season. We’re then looking forward to some good winter training with some changes to our program. There’s a lot more to come with Team JaS!

Enjoy the ride –- Team JaS

Special thanks to:

Motorex oil

Vortex Racing components

Stomp Design traction pads

Suomy helmets

Pump-X sports supplements

Motowheels performance parts

Michelin tires