KRYPTONITE!

AFM round 2 at Sonoma Raceway.....Kryptonite! This track has not been good to me,  lets just say I've spent a good amount of time off my bike here and this year I will change that. I was very nervous about this weekend,as stated before I don't have a good track record here and I did not want a repeat a minor spill that happened 3 months ago during practice with Pacific Track Time. This weekend I was focused on completing my races and beating my personal best lap time of 1:52 Seconds that I received 2 years ago with my Triumph Daytona 675,I knew it would be a challenge with limited practice here over the years but I was up for it!

Saturday
Saturday practice I had a lot to think about and work on, from track lines,restructuring of my racing program, still learning the capabilities of the tires,bike and myself, even with that said Practice went well.I would like to thank AFM # 878 Rory Kamper for the tips that helped me navigate through some corners I was having trouble in and also AFM #17 Eric Kondo for staying on me and making sure I stay focused and think about the off track portion of my race program.

Sunday
Sunday Morning I felt great and was ready for some racing!before morning practice I decided to make a last minute change to my gearing. I was not sure how much it was going to affect me but coming out of the S's with my current gearing ,I would hit my rev limiter causing me to shift before braking and downshifting into turn 9.

The first race of the day was 600 SBK,I got a good start and slotted in behind AFM #615 Wiles Stapp on the first lap, the end of the first lap going in to turn 11 I ran a little deep causing me to have to run wide on the exit and also having to check up because another rider I essential had the same line and we would of ran into each other causing a couple of people to pass me. Lap 2 I would then get behind AFM #209 Frankie Mehrer for a few laps before an appearance AFM #114 Deivede Silva and AFM #404 Tomas Covinha. We would all have a nice battle until the end of the race passing each other back and forth before I finish behind Deivede Silva.

Second Race of the day was F1, This race would go horrible for me. During this race I struggled with turning the bike in the S's,front wheel chatter,missed break markers,turning in to early in corners,missed gears on downshifting and Upshifting,This race just did not go as planned and I was completely drained and tired form having to man handle the bike. After the race I took my bike to Barry and Delaney of GP Suspension to get some suspension work done to help me turn in a little better and help the front chatter when we discovered another problem. We found that my Clip-on's were to inward making it close to my body and forcing me to use a lot of my arms to maneuver the bike.After re-positions my clip-on's and making some changes to the front suspension I was ready to change my rear tire and get ready for my last race of the day which was 600 Super bike when another problem arose.When trying to change my tire I was running into trouble with clearance of the rear brake, my older brother Maurice and I worked for about a hour,struggling to get this back tire on and could not figure it out. At this time I was so stressed out,tired,sweaty and Hungry because I haven't eaten lunch yet when my good friend Adelle Came to the rescue with food!Still focusing on getting my tire on I held of on eating the food for about 10 minutes before I decided to give up and call the weekend. Before walking away from my bike Richard Coffee asked what was wrong and decided to give it a try,after a few minutes of fiddling he found the problem.I would try to explain it but I don't even know how,lets just say it was a problem with brake pads and rear brake base plate.After Richard worked his magic,fixed the problem I was  ready to eat and watch Formula Pacific before my race, THANKS RICH!

My final race of the day was 600 Production,I was tired and yet at the same time ready to race but not sure how I would hold up after the weight lifting session I had in the F1, race but it turned out to be my best race of the weekend. The changes that Delaney and Barry made worked.I got a pretty good start getting behind an unknown rider for the first 2 laps,on the second lap going into turn 1 I thought I was going to run in the back of the rider because I was carrying a little speed in to the corner so I ran it a little wide allowing AFM # Fabian Fernandez to make a pass on me going into turn 2,Fabian Would pass the unknown rider before going into the carousel and I would pass him also out of the carousel.The next few laps I would stalk Frankie Mehrer,Wiles Stapp and Fabian Fernandez making some passes on each until the end of the race,taking the checkers flag leading our group.

                                      

This weekend turned out to be a little stressful but also a success!the 600 Production race I felt the most comfortable I had all Weekend and also completed the race with my best time at Sonoma of 1:49.1 and also finished the weekend with no crashes! Sonoma Raceway= Kryptonite no more!

I want to thank all my friends and family for coming out this weekend! and of course all my lovely sponsors! Pacific Track Time,Hustle Hard Racing,Motogloss,GP Suspension,Meen Motorsports,VNM Sport Gear,Serious R&D,Eric Kondo Racing,Optimal Racing,AXO.