The Road to Carolina Motorsports Park…pt. 1

The madness started yesterday as I began preparation for the upcoming race weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park. If you have never had to prepare for a track day or race, you have NO IDEA the things that you need to physically and more importantly mentally to get ready. As a privateer, you really gain an appreciation for the professional race teams that have crews to worry about the logistics. All the rider has to do is show up, test, practice, race.  If something needs to be adjusted, he tells his wrench (mechanic) and the adjustments are made for him.

This weekend I will be racing my GSX-R 1000 in 7 races, 4 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday (if the rain holds or clears out). I am also trying to squeeze in a track day on Friday since I have never been to this track. My teammates may also be joining me. Jim Cohrs will be coming up from Atlanta to race in the 600 cc classes and Jose de Leon may be coming down from Virginia to race in the 1000 cc classes with me. I have to send out a big thanks to Eric, aka IJB (don’t ask). He is riding down with me as well as going to assist where he can in helping us get on track. Eric has been injured since January 2008 with a broken leg from a track day at Roebling Road. He  is doing much better and will hopefully be back on the saddle this summer. Even though this is about your personal efforts on the track, it’s always great having friends out there with you and if you can find the groove, it makes for an easier time working your way through the pack.

I will be posting more in the coming days and I hope to have a video put together from the entire trip!

 Below are some photos of the bike going through its transformation. Vanessa (that be the bike), hasn’t seen any track time since last September.  Because of issues with my last set of bodywork, I am converting over my older set of track day bodywork for the races. It’s not all about looks but you do want to look decent on the track, so I decided to paint my gas tank to match. I also had to spray on my number plates for the front and tail section. Before I button everything back up, I am going to change the oil and before she is loaded up on to the truck, she should have a fresh set of tires on. There is one thing that I have learned in my 4 years of track days and now racing, you can NEVER over prepare. The name of the game is “Early Preparation”. If I can get in bed at a decent hour the night before we hit the road, I will be a happy camper!