First 2 Novice Races Complete...

What a rush...That's all I can say.

Saturday was practice and unfortunately the timing system was down, so I didn't get any actual lap times. By approximation (using a stop watch), I believe my best lap that day was 1:38ish. My goal for the day was to hit 1:35 and I was very close. By the end of the day I was exhausted and wasn't sure how I would be for the Sunday races.

Sunday came along and with enough sleep, I was feeling somewhat rested...Besides the nerves, I was good to go. There was a short practice round in the morning and the first Novice race commenced at approx 10:30AM. Even though I didn't get a chance to practice my starts, I was rather impressed with the both of them.

For both races I started 10th on the grid and there were 16 racers.

First race I decided to hang back on corner one as everyone bunches up on the starting lap. From there I stayed in 7th place until the last few laps. I was on the ass of the 6th place bike the entire race and finally managed to pass her on the inside at the end of the straight into the first corner. However, I out-braked myself and went wide after the pass and didn't have enough confidence to keep it in the corner, so I had to stand the bike up and rip across the grass doing about 140KM. That was hairy. ;) After getting back on the track I was still behind 6th place, but just didn't have enough laps left to pass her again. We all had a good laugh after the race about my mistake and I guess I had more track and lean to actually make the corner. It's all about learning at this point.

The second race commenced at approx 1:35PM. My start again was great and I hung onto fourth place into corner one. After a couple laps I was passed and from then I stayed in 5th for the rest of the race. The second race is where I got my best lap time of 1:35:500. I was rather excited about that because I came very close to my original goal for the weekend.

Lap times for Race 2:
1st Lap: 1:42.800
2nd Lap: 1:37.500
3rd Lap: 1:39.600
4th Lap: 1:39.800
5th Lap: 1:39.300
6th Lap: 1:38.500
7th Lap: 1:35.500
8th Lap: 1:36.000

All in all it was an awesome weekend and I was impressed with how I did. I don't think I did all that bad for my first time. ;) Now I just have to wait patiently for July 17 & 18 for the next set of races.