Nemesis CVMA #74 Race Report - Round 4 2012 / Round 1 2012-13

[Nemesis]

Sorry for the late and "H"ONG report (I've been really busy with quarter-end):


I arrived at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway in Desert Center, CA Thursday evening carpooling with Shawn Pen (#666) and Max Reissig (attending NSR). Arriving in our usual pit spot, the moment I got out of my truck I knew I was home. It felt so good to be out there again. Couldn’t believe it’s been 4 months since our last race (round 3).


I was really excited for this round because a lot of racers, influenced by our infamous 250 threads in the CVMA sub-forum on Socalmoto.org, have jumped ship to race in the 250 class. In addition, we had asked another member (Jason a.k.a. Rojoracing53) to come down and take part in the festivities. I didn’t really know the guy except through another motorcycle community forum. More on that later.

Friday trackday with Trackdaz: It was 109-113 degrees at the track but it was nothing compared to last year’s heat—120 degrees. This day, last year, I suffered a minor heatstroke. So 109-113 was nothing especially after acquiring an air conditioned trailer from Jason Currie (heal fast bro…luv ya!). That and the fact that the restrooms and showers were completed was icing on the cake. Thank you Micky/Aimee/CVR/CVMA!

To this day, I still get butterflies when I think about racing. And to help eradicate the feeling I attend trackdays. Sadly I don’t take full advantage of the sessions because my stamina sucks balls, and I get really tired after 3 laps hence why they call me 3 LAP WONDER!

Saturday

Just before practice I heard the commentator mention that CVMA had a special guest. This person was the AMA Rookie Champion in 2005 and would be racing in the 250 class. My eyes lit up with excitement until they announced his name: Jason Perez. Nah, this couldn't be the same Jason I knew through the ninja250 forums was it? Surely not the same person I invited to come out and race with us. Turns out…it was! Dammit!!!

Practice:
I’m really horrible at practice. I usually tell myself what areas to work on but given the fact that I only do 3 laps (stamina issue again) I end up just riding around, or tow other 250 racers and help them with their lines/times. However, I did manage to put in one decent lap in session two: A 2:09 which basically was the same time I did in Round 2. At least I was consistent, and I was pretty happy with that. But after hearing Jason was laying down 2:06-2:07s, that happiness quickly diminished.

Qualifying:
Just before heading out, I told myself if I grid 4th or 5th I’ll be happy with that. I knew Jason, Steve (Rexbo), Andrew (Cheeks), and Darren were faster. And I was okay with that because I wasn’t expecting much from myself this round. I’ve come to the realization (actually I realized this last year competing against Steve & Andrew) that I’m not fast like these two. In fact, the feeling got worse during rounds 1 and 2 when Steve (who always won) were putting down times that I couldn’t even fathom. It was a huge disappointment for me last year but I accepted it. But I never gave up. I redirected my goals from trying to win to trying my best regardless of the results. Headed out for qualifying I struggled to get a clean lap in…constantly battling for position with another racer, and my exhaustion kicked in so I pitted after 3 laps. When they posted the grid position I was surprised to discover I had gotten pole doing 2:07.xxx Second on pole was Josh Fogle. And next to him was Jason Perez. I believe Steve Dawson would have gotten pole but he forgot to mount his transponder rewarding him with pole in the back row. LOL I still couldn’t believe I had dropped two seconds in traffic. During qualifying I remember feeling something different in my riding…I felt like cornering was too easy and I felt like I could throw the bike anywhere I wanted. It’s very difficult for me to explain. I guess one can say I was in a zone.


Saturday Race #5 on the schedule: 250cc Supersport

We had 22 racers!

I told myself, if you get a horrible start so be it…JUST DON’T “HONG” (loop) IT like you did last time!!!! Hahaha

Green Flag: Jason Perez gets the hole shot, with Josh Fogle and I side by side measured who got the bigger balls going into T1 (T17 going CW). Apparently, he did because he wasn’t letting up and it would have looked ugly if I didn’t give in. Remind me to donkey punch you, Josh! But I managed to pass him in the first lap and I was right on Jason’s tail. I believe it was the start of the 2nd lap where I out-braked Jason going into T1 on the outside. As I was about to turn in for T3 (T15 going CW) a gust of wind came out of nowhere and prevented me from leaning my bike causing me to run wide into the dirt giving back the lead to Jason. I chased him down for another lap or so and in that same turn where I ran off, Jason did the same which gave the lead back to me. As I was feeling very fatigue, I turned around to see how far Jason was but to my amazement (or not) Rexbo (Steve) was only three bike lengths behind me. Great! Here we go again...with him passing me and taking the win. But this time I decided I’m going to give it my best so I put my head down. Corner after corner, lap after lap, I kept looking back just waiting for him to pass me but it never happened. And I finished the race with a win! I managed to pull a 2:04.897 which was a new lap record racing counter-clockwise. I was so ecstatic and proud; the emotions running through were very similar to my very first win at Willow Springs which I will never forget.


Here’s the race vid from Jason’s perspective: Thank you Jason.
http://youtu.be/qdRNjpMNEUc


Saturday Race #9: Ultra-Lightweight Shootout

Experiencing arm pump, and still feeling exhausted from the previous race, I decided I wasn’t going to try too hard. Win or lose I didn’t care. With Josh Fogle out of the race due to breaking his chain and radiator pipe, it was only Jason and I on front row. Green Flag!!! Jason gets the hole shot again, and I just stay with him throughout the entire race. The race must have been very boring to watch because I never made any attempts to pass him. That is until the last corner on the last lap beating him to the finish line by 0.027 of a second. Taking my second win for the weekend. I hope those who watched the race enjoyed it.


Sunday Race #10: 250 Supersport

This was not a good race for me. I woke up early morning and had decided to swap out old tires for new. Due to the fact that my $80 tire gauge malfunctioned, and all the other tire gauges readily available in our pit were slightly off I couldn’t get an accurate tire pressure reading. And it showed during the race because the tires would not hold its line. I passed Jason for the lead going into T10 in the first lap, and lead the 2nd lap turning a 2:04.651 breaking the lap record again. Downside to that was I had towed Jason into the 2:04s too. He managed to pull a 2:04.769. On the 3rd lap, as I tried to tip the bike over through T14 (T4 going CW) the tires just wouldn’t hold its line causing me to drift wide into the dirt. I stood the bike up and it shot me straight into the middle of the track (literally in no man’s land) dodging bushes, rocks, etc. all the while trying to keep the bike upright. In the end, my run off automatically disqualified me. I was really upset about the run off than anything else. After a long talk with the pit marshall regarding my run-off (10 minutes or so) I immediately took a tire pressure reading and both tires read 36 psi. Yikes! And that was after 10 minutes of cool down.


Sunday Race #13: Ultra-Lightweight Shootout

After my off roading excursion, I told myself I don’t care if I win or not…I was just going to go out there and work on my lines and try to get some good times. Well it was Jason and I out there again. Laps 1 and 2 I was right on his tail again but on the 3rd lap, in the same corner (T14/T4 going CW) I had run off again but fortunately it was on the exit out, and not in the middle of the turn. I got back on the track, and with Jason ways ahead and with a clear track ahead of me I decided to put my head down and see just how much I could close the gap. By the beginning of the 4th lap I managed to reel him in and we were once again the human centipede. I realized winning this race was a possibility so I decided to pass him second to the last corner which I did in success, and took home another win. During my attempt to close gap (3rd-4th lap) I managed to break the lap record again pulling off a 2:03.973. I couldn’t believe it! And apparently neither could Shawn Pen as he ran out the trailer yelling it to everyone. Hahaha!

Here’s the race vid from Jason Perez’s camera: Again, thank you Jason.
http://youtu.be/jzxYCcPmZ-8


All in all, though I came home with a few trophies I felt the true winners were the ones in my pit and my sponsors. Watching the smiles on their faces, jumping for joy and take pride in besting their PR is something I cherish more than racing in itself. We joke, motivate and help one another. It’s awesome. Oh, and the potluck is amazing like always! I love our group!

And always, I’d like to thank Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. And follow that up by thanking all my sponsors for the support and encouragement.

Cyclemall – Thank you Tige Daane for the support & coaching, and for putting up with my BS.

Aftermarket Cycles - Thank you Mark Yeoman for coming through with parts when I needed them. Love your products!

MotyDesign – Brian, you and your products have never let me down. Thank you.

HotBodies Racing – Matt Beier have always gone out of his way to make sure I was taken care of. Thank you!

RB Components – Couldn’t have done it without your support. Thank you.

[Kevin2109]

You forgot one:

Modified Engines - Because its faster yo!

[Kevin2109]

All kidding aside, sounds awesome!! Sounds like you guys had some wicked fun!! Congrats on the stupid fast lap record

[Kevin2109]

And the video.... Awesome!

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Zombiphone]

Why don't you have any footage from some sort of NemCam? Is the secret to 2:03s saving weight by removing all gopros?

Originally Posted by Nemesis

I told myself, if you get a horrible start so be it…JUST DON’T “HONG” (loop) IT like you did last time!!!! Hahaha

Apparently you need to tell this to everyone else next time, too! Buncha clowns on the back of this grid

[Dmented]

Originally Posted by Zombiphone

Apparently you need to tell this to everyone else next time, too! Buncha clowns on the back of this grid

BWAHAHAHAHH!!!
i didn't get to see any of that.
plus Steven's camera's were turned off. :/

[sierrahotel]

Originally Posted by Zombiphone

Why don't you have any footage from some sort of NemCam? Is the secret to 2:03s saving weight by removing all gopros?

Seriously. I know you had cameras cause I A) mooned it and B) turned it off for you. Hook it uppp

[Nemesis]

Hahaha...I totally forgot to turn it on the first 3 races and only managed to capture the last race (Ultra-Lightweight Shoot on Sunday). The reason why I didn't post it is because even though I remembered to turned on I totally forgot to clean the windscreen. So, all you see are dirt & grime, not worthy of posting.

[sierrahotel]

Methinks you're trying to hide the sound of your blow off valve in the video

[Nemesis]

hahaha...You talking about this?

[Zombiphone]

Originally Posted by Dmented

BWAHAHAHAHH!!!
i didn't get to see any of that.

Haha, Shawn Penned it on the very first race, and I think it was John Lazear (Not sure since there were so many primer bikes) who almost looped it while gridded directly in front of me in the next one.

plus Steven's camera's were turned off. :/

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Hahaha...I totally forgot to turn it on the first 3 races and only managed to capture the last race (Ultra-Lightweight Shoot on Sunday). The reason why I didn't post it is because even though I remembered to turned on I totally forgot to clean the windscreen. So, all you see are dirt & grime, not worthy of posting.

WOW. Just. Wow. We are done professionally

(I..... didn't have my cameras running either -_-)

[Shawn3210]

I almost looped my bike in every race on the start lol

[Dmented]

Originally Posted by Shawn3210

I almost looped my bike in every race on the start lol

WELP...
That's what happens when Hong works on your bike.. ALL KINDS of horsepower be added!

[Rexbo]

Originally Posted by Dmented

BWAHAHAHAHH!!!
i didn't get to see any of that.
plus Steven's camera's were turned off. :/

Yeah I didnt have my cameras on for all of sat because they were dead. Then they also seem to have nasty habits of turning themselves off mid race so I kinda just say effz it.