AFM 103 – Greg McCullough

We left Round 1 with a points lead in Formula 1 and high hopes for the season.  As I rolled into Infineon Raceway on Thursday night, my goals were pretty simple – go fast, stay on both wheels and get solid results in all classes, particularly F1.

Friday’s practice was my first real day at Infineon on the 30mm Ohlins front end we are running this year, with the support of Fast Bike Industries.  It’s so good, I had to rethink my approach to a few turns.  I caught myself turning in way too early in a number of places, and found some new confidence in old problem areas.  Charging up the hill to 6 and getting on the brakes late over the top was becoming really fun by the end of the day.  Even when the bike was moving under braking, it felt really predictable.

That said, I ended the day with some relatively slow laptimes, and some obvious problem areas with my riding.  Thankfully, Ken Hill was willing to set aside his packing and take the time to unwind my approach to turn 9.  He gave me a way to think about it differently, and hopefully break my bad habit of turning early.  I ended the day less than thrilled, but with a plan.

Saturday’s practice got off to a pretty slow start.  I had no major complaints about the bike, but I wasn’t near the laptimes I knew I needed for Sunday.  Although 1:43’s were good enough for wins at this round last season, I knew consistent 1:41’s would be required to even think about battling with Lenny and Cameron.  My infrequent 1:46’s from the morning weren’t close.  I always go significantly faster on Sunday, but not THAT much faster.

As lunch came closer, my crew chief Chris sat me down for a little chat.  “How hard do you run in practice?” he asked.  “90%?”  After some thought, I honestly answered, “about 85%”.  I’ve known for a while that my slow practice pace is really holding up my ability to go fast in the race, but like all bad habits, it’s been hard to break.  The conversation with Chris that followed helped put some structure around the whole issue, and made it pretty clear that if I was going to go faster, I’d need to use practice for its purpose… finding the limits of the bike, and myself, and making adjustments to both.

The last practice of the day went significantly better, with 44’s on the board, chasing Jason and Sebastiao.  Hanging with them for a few laps and seeing areas where I could make up time was a huge boost.  Some things I’d been doing intermittently in practice were obviously working, and I was able to put them in the bank for the races the next day.  Running on pace, with your competitors really helps.  Who woulda thought?  Big DUH moment of the day.

Sunday morning practice.  I think we ran a high 45 or two in that session.  Not fast, but for a morning warm up, not bad.  This “go fast in practice” thing is going to take some getting used to.

Race 1 – 750 Superbike

With Lenny, Jason, and Timmer to my left, I knew I’d be in for a fun run.  Jason was high on his 2^nd place finish from Buttonwillow and I knew he wanted to do at least as well this time around.  At the green flag, I got a pretty good jump and latched onto Jason’s back wheel as he latched onto Lenny’s.  As we started to put down the laps, it was pretty clear that Lenny wasn’t pushing super hard.  Jason didn’t need another invite, and passed him into 7.  Knowing that wouldn’t last, I kept close to both of them to see how Lenny would come back… and he did, on the brakes into 11.  As he pushed a bit too wide, taking Jason with him, I briefly put my wheel into the lead as we drove up the front straight.  Lenny was done screwing around though, and put down a 1:41 (laptimes later showed).  Chasing him, the best I could manage was a 1:42.9.  Obviously Jason thought he could do better, making an unsuccessful move past me into 9, then making it stick a bit later.  As I followed Jason for a lap or so, we hit traffic from the back of the previous wave, and I learned a good lesson about being the first guy through.  Jason caught one pretty good break, then I got hung out 4 wide between 400s and 650s in the carousel which lost me a couple more significant seconds and pretty much finished the race for me.  With no one for miles behind, I backed it down to save the tires and energy for the other 4 races in the day.

Race 2 – 600 Superbike

After an amazingly bad start, I found myself fighting for positions and fighting the bike.  Although nothing had changed from the first race, I was working my butt off to do 1:43’s, with nothing to show for it except lost positions.  Bringing it home in 7^th was not my idea of a good time, and I sat down with Chris to see what we could do about it.  The best I could describe the issue was a tucky feeling from the front end in high speed sections of the track.  After some listening, he proposed a 1-click adjustment to the front.  It made sense to me, so we went for it.

Race 3 – 750 Production

I pushed on the warm up lap a bit, and Chris’ adjustment certainly didn’t feel any worse.  Alright, let’s see what this can do.  I made up for the last race’s start, launching from the second row onto Lenny’s rear wheel heading up the hill into 2.  As we came out of turn 4 into 5, I knew we had something better with this setup.  Hanging with Lenny through there was no problem, and we made time on the brakes into 6.  His exit was still significantly better, but I could work with this.  Ken Hill’s coaching on my entrance to 9 was paying back in spades, and I made up for the time I was giving away elsewhere.  As we came past start/finish for the first time, I was still right behind him, and didn’t feel like I was working too hard.  Coming out of 6, he looked back as he always does, and I figured he’d pull the pin.  Well, he really didn’t, and as I closed down on him in 9 again, I started to think it was time to push a bit harder, close it down, and see what we could do.

Heading into the 3^rd lap, I got a better drive up the hill to 7, and as I came out of the 8’s, I stayed on the gas just a little longer, looking to make up more time in my new favorite corner.  It might have all worked out, but I was busy staring at Lenny and all that time I was making up, not remembering my conversation with Ken.  I let the bike drift toward the corner too early, forcing myself to tighten it up at max lean still on the brakes, and my tire finally said “Enough!” and I found myself sliding into the dirt, with Sebatiao right behind me.  He later said he tucked the front trying to brake and avoid hitting me.  I only got a small tap on the back from his windscreen, so I’m thankful it worked out the way it did.

After we got the bike rolled behind the tire wall, it took all of 3 seconds to determine I wasn’t riding this back in after the race.  Both the front and rear brakes were out.  A quick conversation with the turn worker revealed that I probably wouldn’t get the bike back to pits via the crash truck with enough fix time before my most important race, so I pushed it out a gate leading to a spectator area, waving at the grandstands.  David BenJamin was on top of it, and caught up to me with a scooter before I made it very far.  A quick push back to the pits, and the whole team jumped to work putting the bike back together.  I can’t say enough about how fantastic all the guys are.  They literally pushed me away and made me settle down and cool off, while they took care of the bike.  Thanks Chris, Tom, David, Mikey, Sam, and everyone else who pitched in.

Race 4 – Formula 1

After a quick shakedown lap with the previous race’s warmup, I found myself gridded up for F1 in my first pole position start of my life, followed getting the holeshot.  It didn’t last long, with Gabe Santa Coloma coming around me out of 6.  With a freshly repaired bike, I wasn’t going to push to return the favor, despite my desire to win this race.  After the 2^nd lap, it was clear that although the bike was working fine, I was pretty well spent.  The red bull wasn’t making up for being on my 4^th race, after crashing, pushing a bike, and all those fun diversions.  With a decent gap back to Berto, I started watching Jason’s signals from the wall like crazy, and rode just as hard as I needed to hold onto 2nd.

Race 5 – 600 Production

Really?  We’re not done yet?  Starting from 3^rd, I got an OK start, but it all went backwards from there, and I crossed the finish line in 6^th, with nothing left in the tank, both the bike’s and mine.  Looks like I need to put in more miles on the bicycle to make sure I have something in reserve for days like this.

I can’t wait to see what we can do in Round 3.  Working harder in practice to get the right setup earlier should pay off, and I know a few places I can make up time regardless.

Thanks to Z2, Yamaha, David at Fast Bike Industries, CT Racing Pirelli, Leo Vince, Yamalube, Motion Pro, Race Image Graphics, Helimot, Suomy, Factory Body Works, Igartua, 4theriders, Sidi, Tech Spec, Ink Monkey, GP Frame & Wheel, CRG, Mach 1.  Special thanks to Ken Hill for the great coaching on Friday, and to the guys in the garage for getting me rolling again and keeping me in the points.