2001 Race Season Summary

Overall the 2001 season was successful.  There were quite a few setbacks, but it enabled me to learn a ton.  Here's a quick chronological order of the things to note for the season:

• Penguin school in April
• Races in April were a complete learning experience.. (I have to shift how many times per lap !?!?)
• Missed May Sat races coming back too late from riding the BRP.
• For July races I get bumped up to faster practice  :)
• CRASH on Sat July 7 practice.  Bike gets run over.  No racing, but also no injury.  Worst damage is a broken frame.
• New frame doesn't arrive in time for July 28 races.
• Discover carb problems during Aug 18 weekend.  Choke circuit is leaking.   Turns out it's been running poorly all year.
• Discover bottom end problems in Shannonville, ON August 28th.
• No racing 9/1 weekend, engine being rebuilt.
• Bike is finally running correctly for last season races.  Ironic, huh?
• TROPHY in Amateur GP Singles (first place!!) and best lap time in high 1:28's.   Great way to end the season!!  ;)
• Overall 8th place in Am GP Singles (even though I only ran half the events!)

While I had a lot of troubles, and I missed 3 1/2 race weekends (that's 9 out of 24 races!), I am actually quite happy with everything.  My bike wasn't running correctly until the end of the year, but I managed to click off some respectable lap times, and get 30 out of the 45 points I need to move up to Junior class.  I never gave up, and pushed myself in all aspects of racing to get this far.  I got to experience everything...  from coming in dead last in my first race, to a first place finish on the last weekend...   from riding a 1:28.8 lap, to crashing at high speeds in the bowl.  Even mechanical problems have their advantages... I can now take my motorcycle apart down to the nut, and reassemble it..  I have a good idea of how to troubleshoot most problems, and I know a lot more about how to set up the jetting, etc.  Plus I made a ton of new friends, and have had some fun exciting moments on the track (aka "pucker" moments).  I had a good time dicing with people I know, as well as helping to fix things in a hurry to get people back onto the track.  Sounds like a winning season to me!

Next season I am planning to accomplish several things:

• Move up to Junior class (only 15 more points!).
• Get my lap times down around 1:20.  The fastest experts currently run around 1:18s.
• Learn more advanced tuning techniques.
• Get my suspension settings sorted out.

Special thanks to all my garage mates (Steve Scott, Rick Moreau, Larry Hussey, Judy Mirro), the people in all the immediate garage areas (too many to list), Jim Wick (aka "Hotel Wick"), C2, Spanky and all the KLFGers, and all the 125 riders who willingly share their info and experience in order to help me out (esp Eric and Brian Yoo, and Dave Arvidson).  Everyone at the track is all really cool.. and it's like being among family.  Thanks to all the U.S. Marshall cornerworkers for looking out for us.   Nice to know help is nearby!  See you all next year!!