Tom's Race Report from Firebird Main

10/10/04 Chandler, AZ

Once again, working on bikes till 11pm the night before a race weekend!! Gotta thank Brian for coming to the shop and helping prep the 600rr. Also gotta thank Sally for letting me race her 600rr this weekend. I knew Saturday was gonna be a tough day. I had to balance tire strategy, shift points, and brake points on 3 different bikes. I never had enough time with 1 bike to really figure out a track, let alone 3! It helped that I did a track day a few months back at Firebird Main. I also knew how slippery the track was early and that until it came in, you really couldn't get much work done. I missed the first session leaving only 5. I did 1 on the RC51, 2 with the 600rr, and 2 with the 1000rr. The best I did was 1:16:0, which isn't very good. Hell. I did 1:15:6 on the trackday!

The tires on the 1000rr were done. They did 1 day at STAR school, so I did 1 session on them then put on new ones and did the second session to scrub them in for Sunday. The 600rr tires had 1 (Mark Lesdema) race on them, so I did the 2 sessions and the 25 min GTU race, heavyweight Superbike, and F-40 on them. Now they are definitely done!! The RC51 had 1 day at STAR school, 1 session Sat. and 1 race Sunday, so they were good. As you can tell, tires are a huge concern to me. Gotta have confidence in your tires!!!

Sunday, first race GTU with the 600. Gridded last row and used the race to get more track time on the 600. I think I finished 10th.

Second race GTO. Still don't have the starts down with the 1000rr! Had a good race and finished 6th.

Third race Unlimited Supersport. I was gridded last, finished 4th, and was getting better on the 1000rr.

Fourth race Heavyweight Superbike. I ran the 600 but should have run the 51!!! Finished 4th.

Fifth race, Unlimited GP. I got a good start on the 1000rr!! Took the inside and went by a bunch of guys, but got pinched off at the apex of T1 and banged into a couple of bikes as the leaders got away. I picked through a few and wound up in 5th with $90 prize money!

Sixth race Supertwins. A rare shitty start on the 51!! Damn it, Pat off to the lead followed by Brian. Got around the "experts" first lap. About half way I had to stuff Brian into T10 to get by him and head after Pat. He would pull 10-15 bikes on me on the straight and I would get them back on the backside. The closest I got was about 4-5 bikes. I knew if I did get him he would turn it up and out drive me to the line, I would have to get a huge gap. When he hit some lappers my eyes got huge, I lost concentration and missed a shift! I never caught him and he had me by about 8 bike lengths -- fun race trying to catch him!

Race 7 last race F-40. I ran the 600 and started to feel better on it. I took 2nd. Don't know the guy that finished 1st because I never saw him before and couldn't find him after the race. It was neat coming back to the pit. They had a F-40 CCS Southwest/Pacific Region Champion Banner up!! Thanks guys!!

Lessons learned this weekend: I will not race 3 bikes again! I missed too many shifts just because of 2 different shift patterns!! I did learn, and this is the reason for riding so many bikes, how to feel different things. Every bike is different and since December of 02'was the first time I rode a bike (since 1980), riding all these new bikes has given me a feel. That said, it's time to lock in on one bike. The rest of the season I'll ride the 1000rr in every class I can. I'll have to run the 51 in SuperTwins and Heavyweight Superbike. I wish there were more classes to race the 1000rr in. Another reason for racing different bikes is to get more track time. Next year I'll race the 1000rr and the 05 600rr I have on order.

My best time was on the 1000rr (1:12:4), the RC51 (1:12:8) was 2nd, and then the 600 (1:15:1). I clearly feel more comfortable on the RC51; it's set up feels great. The 1000rr needs to come up in the back and more of a plush feeling in the front, which the K-Tech internals and Ohlins rear will do. The 600 actually felt good but I never got used to wringing the shit out of it. Damn thing sounds like it's gonna blow up!! That's just a matter of time, I never been on a 600 before ... hell, I was coming out of turns at 6,000!!!!

Be sure to read Brian's report about his nailing, it's a trip! Thanks again to all my teammates. Sorry Mike could not race but helped anyway. Tim for coming from Tucson and helping in the pit. Matt being a really fast guy in our pit, and Sally for letting me beat the shit out of her 600! (it's all back in it's street clothes honey!) Gotta thank our sponsors, Dale Keifer of Racers Edge for our Michelin Tires, Motorex for our fluids, Desert Truss and all the others on the site.
 

Tom Savoca

#151