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Pat's Race Report from Arroyo Seco Raceway
03/13/05 Deming, New Mexico
After the first race at Firebird, I was ready to pack it in. I was
sick and just not into riding. After going to the doctor and getting
some big horse pills to take for my infection, I started feeling better.
Round one of ASMA was next. Mike and Brian had other commitments and it
would be Tom and I representing BSR. Arroyo Seco has never been my
favorite track. It has a lot of areas I’m not very good at. The track
has some very slow corners with quick left-right transitions, bumps and
poor visibility (much better this year due to clearing of a lot of
brush). I have a problem seeing and using the whole track. Roger (track
owner) plans to paint the curbing and lines on the edges of the track
this year. Instead of skipping tracks I’m not good at, I decided this
year that if I learn to ride Arroyo well, it will make me a much better
rider everywhere else.
We asked Matt Hartlieb to come out with us. Matt is a very good rider
and is very good at helping other racers get better. Tom and I had our
very own riding coach for the weekend. Matt had been to Freddie
Spencer's school recently and it was like a continuation of that
teaching this weekend. We are trying to slow down and get the proper
fundamentals down before we start going faster. Matt doesn’t sugar coat
anything. If we are riding like shit, he comes out and tells us like it
is. We learned a lot about proper lines. I still may not do everything
right, but when I don’t, I’m aware of it now. I have learned that racing
is much harder than it looks and takes constant work to get good at it.
The people that have this so called “natural talent” also work at it
much harder than we do. Matt was also going to race my 749r in the
classes that Ducati was paying contingency in. Matt has the talent to
ride fast on any bike.
We also brought Rian with us. Rian is going to MMI in Phoenix. Rian was
our dedicated pit guy. He worked his butt off, working on the bikes. We
didn’t even charge him for the internship. After no crashes at Firebird
(at least for Tom and I), we were all loaded up and ready to go. We took
the small trailer and decided to stay in a hotel in Deming. This was the
first time we stayed in a hotel. We usually stay at the track in the toy
hauler or in Mike’s motor home. Of course, we didn’t get to the hotel
until after midnight. Arroyo always has a nice atmosphere. The track
owner is an ex AMA racer and he does everything he can to make it fun
for the racers.
The original plan was for me to ride the 999r and Matt to ride the 749r.
The 749r only had 130 miles on it. After a session on each bike, I found
that I made less mistakes on the smaller, less powerful bike. The 999r
is about 20 pounds lighter and has about 25 more horsepower. It was
easier to concentrate on your riding with the 749. Things came at you
pretty fast on the bigger bike. I was able to ride a lot closer to the
bike’s capabilities on the smaller bike. Right now, the 999r is way
beyond my abilities. I was able to get nice controlled slides on the 749
and it was a blast to ride. Both bikes were fitted with the new Michelin
Power Race tires. I had the PR2 on the front and PR5 on both bikes with
the 999r getting a 190 and the 749 getting a 180 on the rear.
All day on Saturday we worked with Matt on lines and body position. At
the end of the day, we were riding better and faster without trying. The
999r is mapped for VP U4 and doesn’t run very well on pump gas. I like
to run pump gas for track days, but I’ll need to run U4 at all times. It
was hard to ride with all the fuel stumbling problems. It also has a new
Dynojet Quickshifter that needs to be set up properly. It misses some
shifts.
On Sunday, I signed up for expert Superbike, Southwest Thunder, Formula
Arroyo and the Team Sprints (with Tom). Matt was to ride expert
Middleweight Supersport and Southwest Thunder on the 749r and Formula
Arroyo on the 999r. After the first practice on Sunday, we fueled up the
999r with U4. Apparently, at the last round, somebody took an empty U4
can and filled it with water to hold down the EZ-up. That was the can we
put in the bike. After starting the bike, it ran for a minute and died.
I open the fuel tank, it was filled to the top with water. We hurriedly
removed and emptied the tank, cleaned the spark plugs and got the bike
running right at second call for my first race. The first race was
expert Superbike. There was 5 of us on the grid, with four locals ahead
of me on the grid. At the start, I stayed close to the 3rd and 4th place
riders. After 2 laps I was unable to keep pace with them and came home
in 5th. At least, no yellow platers passed me. After the race I noticed
a problem with the rear wheel on the 999r. It lost a bolt where the hub
bolts to the spokes. The other bolts on the hub were loose and would not
tighten. Matt was to ride that bike in the Southwest Thunder and Formula
Arroyo race. He didn’t want to ride it with that rear wheel. I sold my
extra set of wheels (bad mistake). Matt would ride the 749r in the Twins
race and I rode the 999r with the bad wheel. We put brand new tires on
Matt’s bike and lined up for the race. There were six riders on the
grid. The race would be between Matt, myself and Aaron Grigsby on an
Aprilla Mille Factory. I got my usual bad start in 5th place. Aaron
wheelied at the start and had to back off as Matt took the lead. In the
big carousal I passed 2 riders on the outside to take third place. I
raced against Aprillas before and thought I would be able to get passed
Aaron on the straights. I would get close to him on the brakes and
through the esses and came alongside going into Yucca and he immediately
closed the door on me. I stayed on his tail for 5 laps, unable to make a
pass. Matt took first, Aaron second and Me third. I later learned that
Aaron’s motor is quicker than your average Mille. I’ll have to get
faster if I want to get in front of that Aprilla. It was a lot fun to
race with Aaron and another big twin. Matt was gone, he probably had a
half a lap on us. The good thing is Matt and I took home $700 in Ducati
contingency for our first and third finishes. After this race, we had to
switch the wheels and numbers so Matt would be able to ride the 999r in
Formula Arroyo. I did not do this race, because of the rear wheel
problem. The Surflex slipper clutch is hard to get a good start with.
Matt came off the line in 5th or 6th. It took him about 3 laps to get
into second place. By that time, Kane Lasky (new track record holder)
was well ahead and took the win. Matt had strict instructions, “TO NOT
CRASH MY BIKE”. His second place was worth $175. Our last race of the
day was the Team Sprints. It’s a 2 rider, one bike, 10 minutes each
sprint with a LeMans start. We had pole, I ran to the bike, shifted down
instead of up a and was off in fourth place. After 3 laps, I moved into
third. After 10 minutes, we switched riders and Tom was off to catch
second place. If he had a couple of more laps, he may have got second.
This was the first time that I got to ride the 999r back to back with a
180 and a 190 rear. I noticed that the rear slid a lot more with the
smaller tire. I will always try to have a 190 from now on.
Overall, it was a great weekend, nobody crashed and we won some money.
It was different at this race, we had a much smaller pit than usual. I’d
like to thank Matt Hartlieb for helping Tom and I with our riding. Rian
for busting his butt in the pits. Tom Boge and Gianni for the support at
the track, Roger for running a fun race series and Aaron for a fun race.
(maybe next time, the results will be reversed).
Thanks to my sponsors: Ducati, Michelin, Section 8 Superbike,
Speedymoto, Motorex, Motowheels, Desert Truss, Suomy, Sidi, Duc Shop,
Lockhart Phillips, Vesrah, Vortex, All Out Graphics, Racer’s Edge,
Savoca Construction, Vapor Blue, Universal Forest Products.
Thanks to my teammates: Brian, Mike and Tom.
Pat Bushell
#468
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