Mark Bothe
05-14-2008, 06:41 AM
#43 Mark Bothe OMMRA Round 2
Portland International Raceway
May 11, 2008
The week began with a real nice trackday with the PSSR crew. I put many laps instructing and running some private sessions here and there. It really helped to put in a bunch of laps and then I was able to rip around with Dave Salmi for a bit until oil was noticed on the track.
In honor of Simon Smith I have vowed to use the words “wee”, “wet spot”, and “balls”. This write up should have a lot of those words in it, so here goes:
Saturday was only a half day of practice. Dustin and I had a chance to work on our tire pressures and the heat gain or loss that came with it. It seems that this new track surface does not allow the tires to gain the temp that we need. The tires are having a difficult time getting up to operating temps and the compounding fact that the track temperature was only 56 degrees in the morning didn’t help. We did seem to come up with a good pressure for the temps of the day and seem to be headed in the correct direction. As I was running on these shagged trackday tires I got a wee rear slide coming out of turn 9. Nice and controlled. I’m sure I left a 50 foot darkie kind of like Gary McCoy at Philip Island, but I’d have to confirm with Kurt. I never thought an SV650 had that kind of power in it. Maybe it’s RPM Power! New set of tires go on in the afternoon and the bike is prepped for Sundays “sure to be dry” racing. Ummm, maybe not.
Sunday comes and it’s a real nice morning. This reminds me of the old sailor adage of …”Men can sweat, and men can stink, but no one seems to care, so throw your…..” …err…”There was a man from Nantucket?....” oh, wait it’s the other sailor adage of “Red in the morning, sailors warning.” I should have heeded this warning.
Morning warm-up went well. Put in a few laps, scrubbed the new tires and parked it to wait for my first race.
Middleweight Supersport, 4th Place, 4th Overall in Class, Best Time 1:19.438
This race was an interesting one. It began dry and my start was mediocre on my DOTs. I was able to make up 5 positions by lap 2. I held my own through middle sections of the race and having a good battle with Cameron Templeton, a tough up and coming novice. We traded positions a few times and by lap 7 and 8 the track was one big wet spot. Two riders were unable to finish and many riders began slowing. This allowed me and my big balls to begin moving forward through the field and was able to arrive close to the front. I survived, finished 4th, got some good points.
450 Superbike, 7th Place, 5th Overall in Class, Best Time 1:31.908
Major learning experience with this race. With about 10 minutes prior to the start of the race, I noticed off in the distance, over our West Hills, I could see rain showers approaching. I should have stopped right there and put my rains on and even if I missed the sighting lap, would have been, could have been a great move. I blew it. I went out on the DOTs again, as did all but one racer, and just rolled around trying to keep it on 2 wheels. The one guy on wets, WMRRA racer Chris Burgess, came around me after a few laps and I thought he’d work his way to the front, but I was able to keep him in sight. My singular ambition was to beat the guy on the rain tires. Alas, I couldn’t do it. Chris finished a solid place in front of me. But, that didn’t preclude some really fun racing with my pit buddies, Brian Moe and matt Gougler. Brian had a few good moments in T9, putting his foot down, flat track style. I started looking for a hot shoe on his right foot, but couldn’t find one. I want to thank my sponsor for this race, Depends Adult male diapers size Large. Parked the bike and collected 7th place points.
Middleweight Superbike, 4th Place, 6th Overall in Class, Best Time 1:21.647
The Who. I won’t get fooled again. The 600 race preceding ours was full wet, however the rains had stopped. The track was getting a dry line but the front was still spraying. With the help of Matt Gougler and my lovely wife Elaine we were able to switch out to my rains and prepare for this race with time to spare. I started on the 3rd row. Most of the bikes in this class are stock SV’s except for Oliver Jervis on his fire breathing Zlock SV9000 with a google horsepower. I got a great start and was able to slot into 5th place behind Brian Pinkstaff going into T1. Kevin Pinkstaff, Dustin Ranck, Brian and me were nose to tail through the first lap and then I was able to pass Brian on the outside of T3 to continue pushing Dustin and Kevin. The 3 of us gapped Brian by a few bike lengths. I was able to get by Dustin 2 times in the next 10 laps and Dustin was able to make a few pass attempts on Kevin going into T1, which he was unable to make stick. Then on lap 11, Dustin made a mistake and ran it too deep into T7 and couldn’t get it turned. I was right on his tail pipe sucking all of his Sunoco fumes that I could handle. He went into the grass and was heading right to the exit of T8 and right into MY path. He was either going to keep it together and ride right in front of me and take the outside exit or slide right in front of me and take the outside exit, both of which are better than riding or sliding right INTO me and taking us both out and maybe Brian who was right behind us. He missed me or I missed him, not sure which, but I know that I missed my downshift and had no drive out of T9. Dustin collected himself and got back onto the track and hauled freeking arse to chase me down, pass me like I was waiting for the bus and was immediately back onto Kevin’s tailsection. All three of us, and now Brian too, going for the last lap. Dustin tried another pass on Kevin going into T7, but was a bit late and we finished in order…
Oli, many seconds ahead, and Kevin, Dustin, me and Brian. The time differential between 2nd and 5th place was 1 second. 1 solitary second. The best race I have ever been involved with. I got to race hard with 3 of the best people I know. 3 of the best racers I know. And learn from the best. Thank you.
Once again a special thanks to Matt Gougler, Connie, Miriam, my wife Elaine, and Dustin and all the other Tomater Haters. My sponsors Richard Petty Enterprises, Al P Painting, Cycle Gear, Sunoco, Competition Motors, PSSR, Pirelli, Moto Interactive, PSi Leathers, Impact Armor, ACME Motowear, Icon Tattoo, Tech Spec and Jason Pridmore’s tar School.
Thanks Eddie....
http://photosbyfasteddie.smugmug.com/photos/294831740_aMNFU-XL.jpg
Portland International Raceway
May 11, 2008
The week began with a real nice trackday with the PSSR crew. I put many laps instructing and running some private sessions here and there. It really helped to put in a bunch of laps and then I was able to rip around with Dave Salmi for a bit until oil was noticed on the track.
In honor of Simon Smith I have vowed to use the words “wee”, “wet spot”, and “balls”. This write up should have a lot of those words in it, so here goes:
Saturday was only a half day of practice. Dustin and I had a chance to work on our tire pressures and the heat gain or loss that came with it. It seems that this new track surface does not allow the tires to gain the temp that we need. The tires are having a difficult time getting up to operating temps and the compounding fact that the track temperature was only 56 degrees in the morning didn’t help. We did seem to come up with a good pressure for the temps of the day and seem to be headed in the correct direction. As I was running on these shagged trackday tires I got a wee rear slide coming out of turn 9. Nice and controlled. I’m sure I left a 50 foot darkie kind of like Gary McCoy at Philip Island, but I’d have to confirm with Kurt. I never thought an SV650 had that kind of power in it. Maybe it’s RPM Power! New set of tires go on in the afternoon and the bike is prepped for Sundays “sure to be dry” racing. Ummm, maybe not.
Sunday comes and it’s a real nice morning. This reminds me of the old sailor adage of …”Men can sweat, and men can stink, but no one seems to care, so throw your…..” …err…”There was a man from Nantucket?....” oh, wait it’s the other sailor adage of “Red in the morning, sailors warning.” I should have heeded this warning.
Morning warm-up went well. Put in a few laps, scrubbed the new tires and parked it to wait for my first race.
Middleweight Supersport, 4th Place, 4th Overall in Class, Best Time 1:19.438
This race was an interesting one. It began dry and my start was mediocre on my DOTs. I was able to make up 5 positions by lap 2. I held my own through middle sections of the race and having a good battle with Cameron Templeton, a tough up and coming novice. We traded positions a few times and by lap 7 and 8 the track was one big wet spot. Two riders were unable to finish and many riders began slowing. This allowed me and my big balls to begin moving forward through the field and was able to arrive close to the front. I survived, finished 4th, got some good points.
450 Superbike, 7th Place, 5th Overall in Class, Best Time 1:31.908
Major learning experience with this race. With about 10 minutes prior to the start of the race, I noticed off in the distance, over our West Hills, I could see rain showers approaching. I should have stopped right there and put my rains on and even if I missed the sighting lap, would have been, could have been a great move. I blew it. I went out on the DOTs again, as did all but one racer, and just rolled around trying to keep it on 2 wheels. The one guy on wets, WMRRA racer Chris Burgess, came around me after a few laps and I thought he’d work his way to the front, but I was able to keep him in sight. My singular ambition was to beat the guy on the rain tires. Alas, I couldn’t do it. Chris finished a solid place in front of me. But, that didn’t preclude some really fun racing with my pit buddies, Brian Moe and matt Gougler. Brian had a few good moments in T9, putting his foot down, flat track style. I started looking for a hot shoe on his right foot, but couldn’t find one. I want to thank my sponsor for this race, Depends Adult male diapers size Large. Parked the bike and collected 7th place points.
Middleweight Superbike, 4th Place, 6th Overall in Class, Best Time 1:21.647
The Who. I won’t get fooled again. The 600 race preceding ours was full wet, however the rains had stopped. The track was getting a dry line but the front was still spraying. With the help of Matt Gougler and my lovely wife Elaine we were able to switch out to my rains and prepare for this race with time to spare. I started on the 3rd row. Most of the bikes in this class are stock SV’s except for Oliver Jervis on his fire breathing Zlock SV9000 with a google horsepower. I got a great start and was able to slot into 5th place behind Brian Pinkstaff going into T1. Kevin Pinkstaff, Dustin Ranck, Brian and me were nose to tail through the first lap and then I was able to pass Brian on the outside of T3 to continue pushing Dustin and Kevin. The 3 of us gapped Brian by a few bike lengths. I was able to get by Dustin 2 times in the next 10 laps and Dustin was able to make a few pass attempts on Kevin going into T1, which he was unable to make stick. Then on lap 11, Dustin made a mistake and ran it too deep into T7 and couldn’t get it turned. I was right on his tail pipe sucking all of his Sunoco fumes that I could handle. He went into the grass and was heading right to the exit of T8 and right into MY path. He was either going to keep it together and ride right in front of me and take the outside exit or slide right in front of me and take the outside exit, both of which are better than riding or sliding right INTO me and taking us both out and maybe Brian who was right behind us. He missed me or I missed him, not sure which, but I know that I missed my downshift and had no drive out of T9. Dustin collected himself and got back onto the track and hauled freeking arse to chase me down, pass me like I was waiting for the bus and was immediately back onto Kevin’s tailsection. All three of us, and now Brian too, going for the last lap. Dustin tried another pass on Kevin going into T7, but was a bit late and we finished in order…
Oli, many seconds ahead, and Kevin, Dustin, me and Brian. The time differential between 2nd and 5th place was 1 second. 1 solitary second. The best race I have ever been involved with. I got to race hard with 3 of the best people I know. 3 of the best racers I know. And learn from the best. Thank you.
Once again a special thanks to Matt Gougler, Connie, Miriam, my wife Elaine, and Dustin and all the other Tomater Haters. My sponsors Richard Petty Enterprises, Al P Painting, Cycle Gear, Sunoco, Competition Motors, PSSR, Pirelli, Moto Interactive, PSi Leathers, Impact Armor, ACME Motowear, Icon Tattoo, Tech Spec and Jason Pridmore’s tar School.
Thanks Eddie....
http://photosbyfasteddie.smugmug.com/photos/294831740_aMNFU-XL.jpg