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Pat's Race Report from Firebird West
11/20/05 Chandler, AZ
This is a race I wasn't looking forward to. Firebird West is a small
track with no run off in a few corners. It has not held races for five
years because of this. It has a lot of track days throughout the year,
but I thought it unwise for racing. Also, at the three previous Firebird
rounds, there were not enough on the grid for Ducati to pay contingency
in Super Twins.
The week before, Tom and I raced at Arroyo Seco in New Mexico. I rode
pretty good and decided I'd give Firebird West a try. The track is about
40 minutes from my house. Arroyo Seco is about 5 ˝ hours! Also it looked
like we'd have enough for contingency. The turnout was huge! A lot of
racers showed up that usually don't race with CCS.
The practice sessions were total chaos. There were too many people on
the track at one time. Many racers had never been on the track before.
Almost all the sessions were red flagged. The last time I was on the
track was over a year ago. During my last session on Saturday, I did a
1:02.175 just missing Tom's best of 1.02.106. I felt pretty good with
those times considering the traffic on the track.
I was scheduled to compete in three races: GTO, Super Twins and
Heavyweight Superbike. During our only practice session on Sunday
morning, I was a little too passive following a slower rider. I stayed
behind him too long and would pay for it. As he went around a corner,
his knee clipped an orange cone, sending it skyward. The cone hit me
square in the head at over 50 MPH!!!!! I stayed upright, but was a
little dizzy. The face shield on my helmet was ruined and my head and
neck hurt!
The first race of the day was GTU/GTL. The grid was HUGE! Probably
35-40. Way too many for this small track. This 25 minute timed race took
well over an hour to complete because of numerous red flags. My first
race was next, GTO. I entered this race to use as an extended practice
session. My teammate, Tom was also in this race. Tom would be racing my
749r. His transmission quit working on his CBR1000 during practice. This
was my first race start with a new clutch pack and master cylinder. I
went into turn one in 6th place. After the first lap, I went to 5th
behind Tom and another rider on a 600rr. I should have been able to pass
both of them and finish in third. I wasn't able to do it as they both
pulled away from me and I finished a lonely 5th. After looking at the
time sheets, Tom did a 1:01.9 on the 749r. He was faster on the Ducati
than his CBR1000rr.
During the GTO race, one of the cones in turn one would get clipped and
end up in right in the middle of the racing line and remain there the
rest of the race. The corner worker 25 feet away would leave it in the
track! After this race, I discussed the situation with the race
director. His response was, “He did not want his untrained corner worker
going on the track to remove the cone. If he tripped and fell, he would
be in trouble”. There was at least 40 seconds from the time the last
rider went through turn one and the leader coming around again. I would
later see the same race director go on the track to recover what looked
to be an air tube in a blind corner. As somebody that avoided a serious
accident earlier in the day from a cone in the track, I thought this was
an important safety issue.
The first race after lunch was the combined Unlimited Superbike/Super
Twins. The Super Twins racers start behind the ULSB amateurs (not
exactly what I'd prefer). Tom was double entered in both classes. He was
racing the 749r. I figured Tom and Mike on the amateur grid would be my
only competition in this race. Tom got the hole shot and I was in second
going into turn one. I followed him all the way around and passed him
going on the straight. I started pulling away and quickly ran into the
back of the ULSB grid. After a few laps I could see my teammate (Brian)
up ahead. I ran out of laps before I could catch him. Tom and I finished
first and second for $800 in Ducati contingency! My best time was
1:01.7. Scott Jenson (AMA Pro) set the track record this weekend at
:58.70. There were only five or six riders under a minute, including a
few AMA regulars. I already wrapped up the CCS Southwest Super Twins
championship few rounds earlier.
I sat out the Heavyweight Superbike race. Brian was in a fight for the
championship. If I finished ahead of him, he chances would be slim.
Brian inadvertently shut his bike off during this race and lost two or
three positions. He fought back to finish fifth. His nearest rival
finished second and Brian wins the championship by a few points.
The best part of the weekend was the forty minute ride home! This was
also another weekend without crashing. I have put over 2000 track miles
since my last crash in May. My confidence level is high and the team is
ready for a break. We start racing again in early February.
I want to thank my teammates (Mike, Brian and Tom) for the constant help
and support. Jason Etter from Section 8 Superbike, Mark Sutton from Duc
Shop. The guys at Speedymoto, Martin and Stephano from Motowheels,
Motorex, Lockhart Phillips, Suomy, Vortex, Michelin, Universal Forest
Products, Vesrah, Sidi, Savoca Construction and Desert Truss.
Pat Bushell
#468
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