My first win! Stockton Round 6
In the Middleweight Novice heat race, I was gridded on the front row next to David Goldstein, who I've been battling with all season. I've got some speed on him, but I've never been able to do anything with it. He always gets really good starts, and then he's incredibly difficult to get around. He knows how to block really well. I guess he's kinda like the Alan Yarrow of Middleweight Novice. I've been practicing my starts recently, and I was able to see some improvement at the Arco Arena race where I held my line a lot better in the mad rush for the first corner.
David had pole in the heat race, and I was gridded second. When the flag dropped I got the holeshot and got away from David pretty fast. Dorrey Ingoglia (441) started from the outside of the third row and got past the rest of the 1st and 2nd rows, including David. He was really fast and started pressuring me in the dirt. On the second lap he managed to sneak inside me down the straight and push me wide in the "backin' it in" corner. I went outside him on the next corner and had good drive, but spun up the back wheel and almost lost it. I had pretty much caught back up to him by the dirt, but he lost it right before the double. I think he even slid up and over the first jump. For some reason, the dirt section had developed two pretty bad sandy sections, one right before the double, and one right in the middle of the last dirt corner. People were crashing there all day. I went outside him and took off. I was able to put a good lead on the pack, and by the time Bert Toth (riding HighSpeed's CR250F) got past him, I was long gone. Even though I had a good lead, I couldn't believe how long it took for the white flag to come out, and I really couldn't believe it when the checkered flag came out for my first ever race win.
Unfortunately, at Stockton the pole position isn't actually that good, because it's pretty easy to get squeezed out by people on the outside. I got a good start in the main, but David Goldstein came over into me and pinched me out of the first corner. I guess the guy on the outside of him was really leaning on him to make sure he could get past him in the start. No one wants to have to pass David. After the first corner I wound up in 4th, with one rider between me and David. The three of us diced for a couple of laps, with the other rider and I trying to take the inside and outside lines around David, and neither of us being able to pull it off. I had a pretty big front wheel slide in the left hand corner after the straight, but managed to save it somehow. The next lap, the other rider went around David on the double, and managed to get in front of him before the next dirt corner. The next lap I tried the same move, but wasn't quite able to get in front of him. With David in front of me in the dirt, I cut to the inside going over the last jump just before the pavement. David drifted wide and spun out his rear tire in the loose stuff a little bit. He didn't crash, but I was able to get better drive than him onto the pavement and pulled past him easily going down the straightaway.
I checked out on David at that point, but there weren't enough laps left for me to catch the next rider, so I finished in 3rd place, which is my best finish in a main at Stockton. It was also the first time for me to get past David in a main and place ahead of him. He finished fourth, so I believe he's in the lead for the Middleweight Novice series, and has 8 points on me. It all comes down to the last two races, and whether or not I can beat him convincingly in both.
-- Don
SupermotoUSA #57
'01 yz250f, '00 xr100
Sponsored by: T-Pro Body Armour, Johnson Leathers in SF, EBC Brakes, Silkolene Oils, Scuderia West, and Motostrano.com.
David had pole in the heat race, and I was gridded second. When the flag dropped I got the holeshot and got away from David pretty fast. Dorrey Ingoglia (441) started from the outside of the third row and got past the rest of the 1st and 2nd rows, including David. He was really fast and started pressuring me in the dirt. On the second lap he managed to sneak inside me down the straight and push me wide in the "backin' it in" corner. I went outside him on the next corner and had good drive, but spun up the back wheel and almost lost it. I had pretty much caught back up to him by the dirt, but he lost it right before the double. I think he even slid up and over the first jump. For some reason, the dirt section had developed two pretty bad sandy sections, one right before the double, and one right in the middle of the last dirt corner. People were crashing there all day. I went outside him and took off. I was able to put a good lead on the pack, and by the time Bert Toth (riding HighSpeed's CR250F) got past him, I was long gone. Even though I had a good lead, I couldn't believe how long it took for the white flag to come out, and I really couldn't believe it when the checkered flag came out for my first ever race win.
Unfortunately, at Stockton the pole position isn't actually that good, because it's pretty easy to get squeezed out by people on the outside. I got a good start in the main, but David Goldstein came over into me and pinched me out of the first corner. I guess the guy on the outside of him was really leaning on him to make sure he could get past him in the start. No one wants to have to pass David. After the first corner I wound up in 4th, with one rider between me and David. The three of us diced for a couple of laps, with the other rider and I trying to take the inside and outside lines around David, and neither of us being able to pull it off. I had a pretty big front wheel slide in the left hand corner after the straight, but managed to save it somehow. The next lap, the other rider went around David on the double, and managed to get in front of him before the next dirt corner. The next lap I tried the same move, but wasn't quite able to get in front of him. With David in front of me in the dirt, I cut to the inside going over the last jump just before the pavement. David drifted wide and spun out his rear tire in the loose stuff a little bit. He didn't crash, but I was able to get better drive than him onto the pavement and pulled past him easily going down the straightaway.
I checked out on David at that point, but there weren't enough laps left for me to catch the next rider, so I finished in 3rd place, which is my best finish in a main at Stockton. It was also the first time for me to get past David in a main and place ahead of him. He finished fourth, so I believe he's in the lead for the Middleweight Novice series, and has 8 points on me. It all comes down to the last two races, and whether or not I can beat him convincingly in both.
-- Don
SupermotoUSA #57
'01 yz250f, '00 xr100
Sponsored by: T-Pro Body Armour, Johnson Leathers in SF, EBC Brakes, Silkolene Oils, Scuderia West, and Motostrano.com.
posted by Don at 9:51 PM
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