Race 3 of the CMDRA series was last weekend in Edmonton.
At this race we did our Qualifying on Saturday, and Elimination rounds were held on Sunday
This was the first time that I had ever raced on a full ¼ mile drag-strip.
But that was OK, because this time I had a Plan.
Off Road wrote:
I need to do some experimenting and find the optimum launch rpm (4k or 4.5k or 5k).
Off Road wrote:
After I pre-stage the bike, I’ll set the rpm and hold the throttle steady, and then I’ll stage the bike.
Off Road wrote:
(Don’t know why I didn’t think about this when I was at the track. It would have been helpful)
I soon learned that Having a plan, and successfully implementing the plan, are 2 completely different things.
I made 3 passes down the strip during the Test and Tune session.
1 – 13.60 sec at 99.76 mph
2 – 14.06 sec at 99.40 mph (I left early and got a red light)
3 – 13.86 sec at 99.65 mph
Wasn’t impressed
Qualifying - Round 1
Hot Twin – 13.12 sec at 103.50 mph
Street – 13.28 sec at 102.65 mph
Not bad. I didn’t have the best launches, and my 60’ times were still high.
I was thinking I should be able to break into the 12 second range pretty easy.
Qualifying - Round 2
Hot Twin – 13.52 sec at 97.36 mph
Street – 14.54 sec at 88.44 mph (I left early and got a red light)
Then it rained for ½ hour.
And it took another hour to prep the track.
And then they ran a few qualifying rounds for the cars that were there.
Several hours later the bikes were back on the track for the final qualifying round.
Qualifying - Round 3
Hot Twin – 13.78 sec at 96.90 mph
Street – 13.49 sec at 97.59 mph
In Round 1 and Round 2, I was paired up against the Harley’s and Victory’s.
They always left the line first because of my slow reaction time, but once I got going, I could keep right up with them.
They didn’t pull away from me on the top end of the track
In Round 3, I was paired up against a guy on a KTM 1190 Adventure bike, complete with dual sport tires and luggage racks.
In the Hot Twin class he got the jump on me and disappeared down the track.
In the Street class, I got away from the light first, kept the front wheel down and made a good launch.
Just as I was shifting into 2nd gear, the KTM blew past me and disappeared down the track.
I checked the time slips after qualifying and the KTM’s top speed on both runs was 115.53 mph
His ET’s were 11.74 and 11.83 seconds
Damn, that thing was quick.
Sunday, Test and Tune
Only made 1 run in 13.21 sec at 103.50 mph
Now, I had to pick an ET for my dial in.
Crap.
My times are all over the place. There is no way for me to accurately predict what I’ll do on any given run.
My best time in Qualifying was 13.12 seconds. My worst time was 13.78.
3 of my 6 runs were around the 13.5 second mark.
If I dial in at 13.5 and have a good run, I’ll break out and lose.
If I dial in at 13.5 and have a bad run, I’ll be 0.3 sec off my dial in, and I’ll still lose.
Sunday’s run was 13.2 seconds, so that’s what I went with. What the hell, that’s as good a number as any.
If I don’t f*ck up, I should be able to get close to that time.
Hot Twin Eliminations – Round 1
I qualified last in this class, so I’m racing the Victory which qualified first.
I left early, got a red light, and lost.
I knew I jumped the light as soon as it happened and I was pissed at myself and took it out on the bike
Oh well. No time to think about it. I had to get right back to the starting line for round 1 of the Street eliminations.
Street Eliminations – Round 1
In Street I qualified 6th, so I’m up against the 5th place qualifier. The other Victory bike.
We line up and the light goes green.
I have my worst reaction time of the day.
The revs were low and the bike bogged.
I feathered the clutch and gave it gas, and pulled a wheelie.
Finally gathered it up and just as I shifted into 2nd gear, the victory passed me and went on to an easy win.
My time was a dismal 13.85 seconds at 97.59 mph.
And that was the end of my race weekend.
Good news from the weekend.
1 – I’m starting to get a better handle on the timing lights and my reaction times down.
On most off the runs my reaction time was in the 0.2 range. My best time of the day was 0.18 sec.
I still need to bring that way down. The guy who qualified 1st in the Hot Twin and Street class, did it with reaction times of 0.035 and 0.037 seconds.
1 – I outran the Victory.
In the Hot Twin elimination round against the Victory bike, I left early and was disqualified.
I was a bit annoyed and just held the throttle pinned as I shifted gears.
At half track I could hear the Victory’s exhaust and knew he was really close, but he never passed me.
I was talking to the fellow after the race and he said that he got right up to my rear wheel, but then I started to pull away, and at the finish, I was a bike length out in front.
That made my day.
However, to be fair I should tell you that we had a really strong headwind all day, and this fellow tips the scales at 300+ pounds.
He’s a big lad, and on a cruiser style bike, he’s a big sail.
He might as well just mount a sheet of plywood on the front of his bike, it might be more aerodynamic.
3 – My good luck is holding.
After losing both my races in round 1 of eliminations, I was finished for the day.
So, I don’t get any points for moving on to round 2, round 3, or the final.
However, right after round 1 was finished, the sky opened up and the rain came, so they cancelled the rest of the racing program.
This means that nobody gets any points for going to round 3, or going to the final, or winning the final.
So the 2 guys who are ahead of me in the points standing missed out on chance to pull further ahead by another 80 or 100 points.