Race #2- Infineon, April 28-29
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Team JaS embarked on a 1500-mile
round-trip trek to Confused yet? Try learning all
these turns at speed! The width is 50’ and includes a
3500’ front straight which beckoned motorcycles to push speeds in excess of
160mph! This was definitely one fast track – we took our pit bike/dirt
tracker out to scope out the layout and we were in top gear the whole time!
We left the track with a new appreciation for trail-braking as well as high
corner speed and came away from the trip rejuvenated for racing! |
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April 28- Practice Day |
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AFM presented us with a slight
change to the circuit at Infineon Raceway in the interest of safety. Ever
since the unfortunate accident of Vincent
Haskovec in turn 5 in 2005, air fences were added
in place of dangerous tire and cement walls. Cars and bikes demand different
safety measures and Infineon is certainly leading the way in terms track
improvements. This season AFM adopted the AMA chicane in T1. Instead of a
sweeping fourth-gear turn taken at triple-digit speeds, we now had to slow
down to make a hard left before charging up the hill for T2. This not only
made it safer if crashes were to occur, but also presented new passing
opportunities both on the brakes into the chicane and also on the drive up
the steepest incline on the track. We surmised that it would also add 2-3
seconds to lap times. Our previous best practice lap (on the shorter
configuration) was 1:48.0. With the new chicane, our new best practice time
which we recorded in session 2 was now 1:51.3. So we were right on pace! We
still needed to improve on the slow right-handers (T7, T11) where we were
getting too much lean angle and dragging our toes! A surprise came around noon when
fellow Open Twins competitor (and 2006 top novice) Matt Green got called for
emitting too much noise! Infineon has very liberal sound limits at 102dB and
it was especially unusual for a low-frequency twin to get called for
exceeding the limit. It was unclear whether AFM was operating under the 3-strikes
rule or the “one more violation and you can’t race on Sunday” rule so we gave
Matt an unused set of “dB-killers” (exhaust plugs) we had in our spares.
Shortly thereafter to our dismay, we heard “would #689 please see the race
director” over the loudspeaker! Could we be breaking the sound limit too? It
turned out not to be for sound but rather for sparking titanium toe sliders
on our Oxtars! We quickly replaced them
with plastic ones which would not spark but would be readily destroyed in 2
practice sessions! (Only later would we analyze the pictures to see that our
body position was slightly different in right-hand turns which would present
problems in only the two slowest, tightest corners on the track). The only other excitement of the
day came when we came through T8/8A faster than ever before and lost the
front briefly. This is a quick series of left-right-left-right flicks taken
at high speed and we literally felt the bars turn inward on the second left (the hardest turn out of the four).
Luckily we instinctively saved it having done this on the dirt hundreds of
times at the Mystery School! |
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Infineon track map
Plastic toe slider destroyed |
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April 29- Race Day |
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Once again we arrived in the morning
to find our newly-changed rear tire was flat! This time we had the ever-adept
Michelin boys investigate further
and sure enough, they discovered a small nick on the inside of the bead on the magnesium rim. This was quickly sanded
down and the wheel/tire then water-tested for leaks. We will now do this with
every tire change! |
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Race #1- Open Twins |
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“I got an awesome start and went through the
first turn in 5th! I was amazed because I was gridded on the 2nd
row near the inside wall with the worst possible line of all 9 riders in the
first two rows. I even got by Eddy Gonzales in the front
row and fixed my gaze on Matt Green who was in 4th. After the
first lap I was still in 5th but could hear the rumble of angry
twins just behind me. Eddy snuck up the inside and stalled it there for
second as he had a bad line in the off-camber turn 2. This caused me to stand
it up slightly or else run into his rear tire! I lost the drive and Simon Williams along with a
1098 pilot (on Ducati’s newest beast) got by me in T3/3A. The rest of the
race I just hung on as the lap times weren’t coming due to my caution on the
cold track (an area I need to improve). I ended up finishing 11th
out of 25 starters” reported Sherwick. |
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Open Twins: 11th,
best lap = 1:52.527 |
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Sherwick lead Open Twins in 5th
position |
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Race #2- Formula 40 |
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“I got another great start for this
race even though I was again gridded along the inside wall in the 4th
row – Rich Oliver’s camps are definitely helping! Very close racing
in this huge grid of 45 starters – racers seem to come out of the woodwork
for Infineon events! I managed an 18th placing and an improvement
on my lap time” said Sherwick. |
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Formula 40: 18th, best lap = 1:51.522 |
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F40 for
old folks |
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Race #3- 750
Superbike |
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“This year, 750 Superbike and
Formula 40 seem to always be run back-to-back so the eight-lap races become
16-lap events with only a small break in between. Although we don’t get
physically tired, mental fatigue comes into play. We also get quite thirsty
out there in the heat! The 750SB start was just average and immediately I was
swarmed by other riders in the 58-bike grid! I knew I had to get by fast or
risk getting trapped. I managed to turn my fastest lap of the weekend
(1:49.651*) along with a 1.5 sec improvement over my race lap average
(1:51.473) across the day – consistency is something we’re really working on
this season. I made one major mistake
in the T9 chicane though. Somebody had spilt oil at the exit of T9 in the
second race of the weekend which ruined this turn for the rest of the day. I
came in with a weird line which pointed me wide. Rather than risk losing the
front in the dusty residue left by the grease sweep (which is used to absorb
the oil), I picked the bike up and went off the track. I have to thank Rich
again for honing my bike handling skills as it only cost me 2 places and not
a crash! I finished in 26th out of the largest grid I’ve been in!”
said Sherwick. |
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750 Superbike: 26th, best lap = 1:49.651* |
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Off-track in T9 |
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Our
practice times are coming down but now we need to get back to work on our
race times! One thing we’ll be focusing on is the gap between our finish and
the winner. Recording the total race time (in addition to our individual
splits for the swim/bike/run) is something we do all the time in triathlon
and it is the only time that matters. We have already improved upon this
benchmark from the first race (dropping 5 seconds each in OT and 750SB and a
whopping 15 seconds in F40). Once our grid positions are more stable will the
numbers become more meaningful. |
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We’re looking forward to some more
training in the form of dirt tracking and multi-sport racing and will return
to Infineon in about a month! |
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Enjoy
the ride! –- Team
JaS
Special thanks to: |
