Vikings Grand Prix Report

[scar tissue]

Happy Monday. Man am I sore. That race was rough. The bak sections looked like they'd had military artillery practice out there.

Here's the low down

I did my normal prerace routine which consists of playing cards and having drinks Friday, then Saturday playing 6 softball games followed by more drinks then to make sure was ready to go woke up at 430 Sunday to drive out to the race which started at 730. There;s nothing like showing up to a race beat up and sore, dehydrated and slightly hung over. :bang: But i new i'd be able to spin that around and make it work for me :cool:


I showed up and met Holeshot at sign ups. Man the GP series really has sign ups nailed. If you per enter, you are in and out in less than 5 minutes. very slick.

We find a lace to park right next to the track. and get ready to go. it's 20 degrees and slightly windy. So my new vented gear will come in handy :coocoo: but hey at least I look good for my pictures.


The 730 unclassified race was delayed a 1/2 hour due to frozen ground, we ll guess what a 1/2 hour later it was still frozen but off we went anyway. I was taking it easy to learn the course for my real race. I planned on doing 2 laps then pulling off as my race was the very next one. lap one no issues the bike ran great and I headed out on lap2 this time pickig up the pace and hitting some things at speed. about half way thorugh I hit an ice patch in a 4th gear corner and lauched into the guy next to me. I went down in a heap, that frozen gorund didn't give an inch. After lying there or a minute I picked myself up and finished the lap My bars were pretty bent and I had some road rash but everything else seemed ok.

I fueled up and headed for the start of my race. Off we went I passed a few and got passed by a few back and forth for the first lap. it was fun the the course was hammered. The main track jumps were big and had some step ups and rythem sections I proved I have no rythem. Fitghting my way through the course lap 2 and 3 were quite lonely. I didn't catch many guys and not many caught me. At the end of lap 3, it had been about an hour, I was spent and looking for the checkers Nope I got the white flag. I just made it in to get another lap in. Normally I'd be happy but I was done in this one. I did my last lap at a 3/4 pace and finished. It turns out I took 3rd in my class. my previous best was a 5th, so I was pretty happy about that. :)

I stayed around and toured the vender booths and watched holeshots race. He did well on the track sections I could see. I didn't wait around to hear his results as it was still quite cold.

It was a good GP. I'm totally spent today.

One product tip. I bought new TLD gloves with silicone lines on the fingers for grip. and man do they work. When I got outta shape and tried to let up on the throttle. The silicone would stick and grab a handful of throttle. It made for a few OH S**T type moments for me. But if you have problem with having your hands slip, these will fix that quickly

 

[the Eel]

Thanks for the report, Tim. Unfortunately I ain't gonna make Rovers. Have fun and keep it on 2 wheels! Make the Crew proud.

 

[kelsorat]

Nice job Tim. Good to see someone enjoying GP's instead of the same ole enduro fare.

 

[scar tissue]

Hey i just got the official results and I took 2nd place not 3rd. I'm not sure what caused the scoring change but I'll take it :cool: :cool:

FYI I'm still a bit sore.

 

[holeshot]

I didn’t crash all day, so I don’t have any good stories to tell. I’ll try to do better next time.


Instead, I’ll give a little review of the auto clutch that I installed one week prior to this race.

I rode the unclassified to check out the course and the most recent auto clutch “adjustment”. It was a “hand on helmet” start, so I pulled an easy holeshot with my cheater device (but there weren’t many on my line, so this holeshot didn’t really count). I pulled off after a lap and fiddled with the clutch a bit and then went out for one more lap of testing. Everything was working fine.

Now I was ready for my real race and I was planning to pull a gargantuan holeshot against my peers. Yeah. :p The flag goes up and everyone takes off - except me. :whoa: My friggen bike is in neutral. I had shifted into to second on the line and was trying see if could hold the front brake and twist the throttle a little for an even better shot, but somewhere between that point and the flag raising, the bike shifted into neutral. I felt it go to neutral, but at the time, it didn’t register in my brain that something strange had happened. I clicked the bike into gear and the auto clutch/shifting worked flawlessly for the entire 1.5 hour race. Next time, I’ll tap the clutch when putting into gear on the line. Cornering seemed to be a bit different with this setup, because the bike “freewheeled” on the entrance to corners if the revs dropped too far. I think I’ll set it up so that it engages immediately off idle.

As far as the race goes, this was my best GP this year. I found the happy medium between going way too slow and going too fast and crashing out. But I’m still pissed that an Energizer Bunny on a 1980’s XR200 beat me – I still need to step it up.

 

[scar tissue]

Like I said I thought you looked good in the sections I could see. nice job.

Re rekluse. That is the holeshot weapon for GPs. Since they are live engine start and with the rekluse you can keep it in gear and just pin it whiel teh rest of us have to pull the clutch and then shift and go. Most of the guys in the pits were talking about it.

 

[holeshot]

There will be another GP there next month...update link below...



http://www.vetxracing.com/jpg/California Classic Grand Prix Series.jpg

 

[decade377]

Hey guys. I'm new here and just found this sub forum. I was at the last 3 Big6 GP's. I camped overnight at the Viking's race. Dang! That was cold! The guys camped next to us were showing Dust to Glory on the side of their trailer, that was cool.
Holeshot- If that guy on the XR200 passed you, that meens you were in the same race as I,( He passed me at the race in Goreman!). I was one of 4 nuts that were running 125 out there. I was on my YZ125, the one that was sitting in the sand wash on the last lap just before the MX section. I had lost the axle nut off of the rear axle. With the help of a corner worker and the sweep riders I tried to limp it in but it did'nt work. That was my 1st DNF since 1988!
My bro and I will be at the Taft GP and I will be on my new 06 CRF450X. A 200lb 42 year old on a 125 is just :coocoo: ( sure was a lot of fun passing all those tired 450 pilots on the last 2 laps though :rotfl: ).
Ride safe..........John

 

[holeshot]

Decade...I'm pretty sure I saw you lined up in the row just ahead of me (I was a YZ125 , for sure).

One thing about that XR200 guy - he rides a real wide bike when you show him a wheel.... :nod:

 

[thumbs]

Decade...I'm pretty sure I saw you lined up in the row just ahead of me (I was a YZ125 , for sure).

One thing about that XR200 guy - he rides a real wide bike when you show him a wheel.... :nod:

Try showing him the rear wheel..... ;)

 

[decade377]

Decade...I'm pretty sure I saw you lined up in the row just ahead of me (I was a YZ125 , for sure).

One thing about that XR200 guy - he rides a real wide bike when you show him a wheel.... :nod:

I was lined up on the 2nd row next to the guy on the KTM125. I had a great start but was riding tight on the 1st lap. After I relaxed a bit I started catching guys,(up to the point I lost that axle nut! :bang: ).
I've talked to the guy on the XR200 a few times. He's with the Dirt Diggers. I was with the Dirt Diggers from 1986-1994 so I stop by and chat every now and then.