Date: 26 April, 2009
Track: NJMP Thunderbolt (clockwise, second chicane)
Laps: 6
Class: Supersport (650cc and under)
Air temperature: 93F (34C)
Starting Position: 12th (4th row, far left, outside for T1)
Finishing Position: 16th of 21

Results

20 riders out of 21 were on 600cc 4-cylinder bikes. I was the only one on an SV650 (650cc v-twin), meaning the rest of the field had 40-50% more power (72HP vs. 100-110HP).

I swapped positions a few times with one of the club's coaches on a 2007 Kawasaki ZX-6R, then finally made it stick going into the long left at the end of the final lap. He said he got a better drive coming out of it, but I closed the door as we entered the esses preceding the front straight. I kept waiting for him to out-power and blow by me before we crossed the line but it never happened. Thanks to my move in the esses, he had to back off and lost his drive onto the straight.

Laps
1:47.26
1:40.75
1:39.60
1:39.44
1:38.88
1:39.44

AVG: 1:40.895

For reference, I heard the race winner's best lap (on a faster bike) was a 1:29.

Budget racing at it's finest.

Me on the bike during a trackday on a different track a few weeks prior to this race.

Hopefully I'll have some pics or even videos from the race soon.

UPDATE (29/4/09):
Here's a video of the race taken by the guy I eventually passed on the final lap for 16th. Unfortunately the last 45 seconds before we crossed the line got cut off due to Photobucket size limitations, so you don't actually see that pass. He may post the rest later this week.

You can see me at these times in the video:

9:57-9:22
4:44-4:41
0:14-0:11

http://s3.photobucket.com/albu ... ce4_26_09_NJMP_T-Bolt.flv

UPDATE (9/5/09):
You can find the rest of the video here, including my final pass on the last lap. Just fast forward to 8:00.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABWCeWPjNo0

Nice stuff. Good job and good looking bike too.

Is it powered with Coke? :P *cough*all the bottles everywhere*

nice! what do you think of the track?

Well done Forbin, nice to hear you kicked ZX6r ass. Just wondering if you have an SV650 racing series such as Minitwins here in the UK.

http://www.minitwinracing.co.uk

Quote from Knight_Atack :

Nice stuff. Good job and good looking bike too.

Is it powered with Coke? :P *cough*all the bottles everywhere*

Yeah, see the empty on the trailer? The VP can is where he keeps his drinking water. It's much cooler than a clear plastic bottle.

Forbin: Good to see you get in a real race for a change. Now the real fun begins!

Nice.
Btw, it is Dave Sauders or Souders ?

Edit: great driving

Souders. I emailed them about that but it hasn't been changed yet.

See OP for video.

Thanks everyone!

Quote from Knight_Atack :

Is it powered with Coke? :P *cough*all the bottles everywhere*

There's actually a running joke in the club that I'm sponsored by Coke.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Well done Forbin, nice to hear you kicked ZX6r ass. Just wondering if you have an SV650 racing series such as Minitwins here in the UK.

http://www.minitwinracing.co.uk

We have a couple amateur racing organizations that have what is essentially an SV650 class.

One of them (WERA) calls it Lightweight Twins and has the following limitations that are used for both Superstock and Superbike:

Quote :

Up to 800cc air-cooled twins
Up to 750cc water-cooled twins with 3 valves
Up to 700cc water-cooled twins with more than 3 valves
Unlimited singles based on Formula rules (Superbike only)
-No 125cc GP machines,
*Buell Firebolt and Lightning, Ducati 900SS and any model using the 1000DS engine, are allowed under Superstock rules (with slicks) in LWTSB only.
*There are no bodywork limits in LWT.

The other (CCS) calls it Lightweight Supersport and has the following limitations:

Quote :

DOT-approved tires only (no slicks), various modification limits
Single cylinder, Unlimited displacement
Twin cylinder, liquid cooled 2-stroke, up to 450cc
Two stroke, air cooled, Unlimited displacement
Twin cylinder, liquid cooled, non-desmodromic valves, up to 800cc
Twin cylinder, air cooled, up to 1210cc
Four cylinder, liquid cooled, up to 450cc
Four cylinder, air cooled, 2 valve, up to 675cc
Four cylinder, liquid cooled, pre-1987 model year, up to 565cc
Harley-Davidson Sportsters of unlimited displacement
NOTE: BMW HP2, Ducati/Bimota/BMW Supermono/Woods Rotax are excluded from the Lightweight class.

Quote from Forbin :

Date: 26 April, 2009
Track: NJMP Thunderbolt (clockwise)
Laps: 6
Class: Supersport (650cc and under)
Air temperature: 93F (34C)
Starting Position: 12th (4th row, far left, outside for T1)
Finishing Position: 16th of 21

Results

20 riders out of 21 were on 600cc 4-cylinder bikes. I was the only one on an SV650 (650cc v-twin), meaning the rest of the field had 40-50% more power (72HP vs. 100-110HP).

I swapped positions a few times with one of the club's coaches on a 2007 Kawasaki ZX-6R, then finally made it stick going into the long left at the end of the final lap. He said he got a better drive coming out of it, but I closed the door as we entered the esses preceding the front straight. I kept waiting for him to out-power and blow by me before we crossed the line but it never happened. Thanks to my move in the esses, he had to back off and lost his drive onto the straight.

Laps
1:47.26
1:40.75
1:39.60
1:39.44
1:38.88
1:39.44

AVG: 1:40.895

For reference, I heard the race winner's best lap (on a faster bike) was a 1:29.

Budget racing at it's finest.

Me on the bike during a trackday on a different track a few weeks prior to this race.

Hopefully I'll have some pics or even videos from the race soon.

UPDATE (29/4/09):
Here's a video of the race taken by the guy I eventually passed on the final lap for 16th. Unfortunately the last 45 seconds before we crossed the line got cut off due to Photobucket size limitations, so you don't actually see that pass. He may post the rest later this week.

You can see me at these times in the video:

9:57-9:22
4:44-4:41
0:14-0:11

http://s3.photobucket.com/albu ... ce4_26_09_NJMP_T-Bolt.flv

Nice vid.

Can see why he ended up 16th.. seems to ease off quite early in to a lot of the corners. Some sweet lean angles though. A bit keen with that overtake at 4:44 weren't you??

Quote from gezmoor :

Nice vid.

Can see why he ended up 16th.. seems to ease off quite early in to a lot of the corners. Some sweet lean angles though. A bit keen with that overtake at 4:44 weren't you??

He ended up 17th. I was 16th.

Yes, yes I was.

Quote from Gabkicks :

nice! what do you think of the track?

Not nearly as technical as some of the others I've been to (Summit Shenandoah, Pocono East, VIR Patriot) but still a lot of fun and also way faster than those others.

Nice stuff Forbin! Glad you are keeping us posted on progress and results. It looks like you've really caught the bug now.

Looking forward to more news, videos and piccies. You got a website or anything?

My first trackday was 4 July, 2008 and I'm now *this* close to getting bumped up to my trackday club's advanced group. I've been told as much by the coaches. I actually asked for an evaluation the same day following this race but ended up not getting the bump as a result of sheer exhaustion. I was just all over the place after giving it everything I had in the race.

Quote from fujiwara :

Nice.
Btw, it is Dave Sauders or Souders ?

Edit: great driving

You don't drive a bike, you ride it!

Quote from McDee :

You don't drive a bike, you ride it!

More often than not you just cling on for dear life.

rofl s14

Nice to see more and more people get into real racing
I don't know why but i'm also more of budget racing then the "real stuff".. i guess it's the fun and looseness between drivers/riders..

Well gl & hf with your career

NJMP is a blast! It's fun on four wheels, too.

I'll find out if it's still good this weekend. I have pit passes for Saturday's Grand AM, SPEED Channel weekend. Yayyyy!!!

OP updated with a link to an updated video with the rest of the race included.

I SEE THE BEAST GO BY! Muahaha

As I said before, I kept waiting for him to pass me on the front straight after I made that last pass, but I guess the practice I had taking that final kink flat out paid off. You can see he kinda turns it in too early and has to crank it over much harder on exit.

I had it pinned all the way from the exit of that long left from 4th, to 5th in the esses, then short shift to 6th for the final kink, revs go up as I lean it over, apexing it at around 110 mph, knee barely off the deck, then the revs drop back down as I exit, crossing the line at about 130 mph.

I notice the 4cly is so bloody quick compared to the trusty twin of the Ess Vee'. It was like a train and he was having to back off behind you on the straights at points!

Stick a SV1000 engine in and don't tell them.. *giggle*

Yeah, power-wise the SV doesn't compare. The SV's a lightweight-class bike, the 600's are middleweight-class.

I was kinda like damn this thing looks scary, then i saw some black thing come past like a bat out of hell was like fak but looked like he overcooked it. Nice clinging on for dear life there

Good racing, and you proved you have alot of skill matching it with the guys with alot more powerful bikes good job plus add the fact this is your first club race?

anyway good job hope to see more videos.

Pearcy: I was the one in blue. The guy who flew by on the front straight on lap 2 was not me. I was already bottoming the forks under braking due to the soft stock suspension on my bike, so I'd probably lock the front brake if I tried to go in that deep.

Mustafur: Thanks. Third club race, actually. The first 2 were last year, on my 1990 Kawasaki EX500 on a much tighter track with no 600's. I wasn't nearly as fast then as I am now, though. The first I finished 9th out of 10. The second ended abruptly when I slipped on some oil left by another bike that blew its motor. I was chasing down an Aprilia RS250 at the time. There's a thread about it elsewhere in this section of the forum.

Quote from Forbin :

Pearcy: I was the one in blue. The guy who flew by on the front straight on lap 2 was not me. I was already bottoming the forks under braking due to the soft stock suspension on my bike, so I'd probably lock the front brake if I tried to go in that deep.

Mustafur: Thanks. Third club race, actually. The first 2 were last year, on my 1990 Kawasaki EX500 on a much tighter track with no 600's. I wasn't nearly as fast then as I am now, though. The first I finished 9th out of 10. The second ended abruptly when I slipped on some oil left by another bike that blew its motor. I was chasing down an Aprilia RS250 at the time. There's a thread about it elsewhere in this section of the forum.

Is it a champinship this year or are they all just seperate races?