Saturday Night Thunder Series, round 5 Ascot Park

[motox757]

As I said in my race report from round 4 of this series, my son has been bitten by the race bug. He now looks forward to racing each time the Thunder series is having another round… …except when it rains… When driving down to the track this time we began to notice sign of a recent downpour. When we got to the track the rain had moved through about 30 minutes prior. No dusty conditions! (BTW, mx547 and his daughter joined us for the drive down and so his daughter could keep her points lead in the Women’s class, as most of you know mx547 has a fixator on his right leg and cannot drive with ease… …but I will leave to mx547 the task of reporting on his daughters race…)

My 11 year old had moto finishes of 9/9 for an 9th OA in his class. He was not happy with the track conditions. He did not go out for the first practice since he was seeing so many racers slipping around and falling due to the slick track conditions. It was not a mud mire by any means, just very slick right after they track operator disked the track and after the four-wheelers went out and “polished” the turns. I told him after his motos that he did great for racing in conditions that he does not like. (He is NOT a mudder; he hates the mud/slick stuff…)

I finished 5/4 in +40 for a fourth OA. I was happy with my motos. I kept extending my jump length on the big table on each lap. In the second moto I lined up between a KTM525 and a VOR. Talk about LOUD! Anyway, I stayed safe and got home in one piece. The only place it hurt when I got home, was where a raked the back of my right calf on the kick starter when I tried to start my bike with muddy boots… …DUH!

 

[BSWIFT]

Kinda glad I didn't go down to Ascot with you guys. In my present state of recovery I wouldn't have liked the mud either. I usually like the mud. Glad you guys had fun.

 

[mx547]

it's not that i can't drive, it's that i can't load or unload bikes or anything. now i know what it's like to be a woman :debil: (duck & cover).

my daughter had more fun going to the race than she did racing. motox757 and his son always stop at a go-kart track on the way and do some pavement racing. she got to join them this time. i just had to watch :whiner: . she had a big grin on her face the whole time even though they lapped her. she asked if we could go back the next day. i'll bet that we have have her next birthday party there.

at the track, the conditions were not good for our two 60 class riders. i let kendall skip the first practice too. nothing discourages her more than falling in the mud several times (i'm kinda that way too). she signed up for the women's class and was the only one entered. there were a few other girls there but they always seem to ride the regular classes. they had her ride with the 60 beginner class. she got good starts which surprised me because she usually lets most of them go first (she's doesn't have an aggresive bone in her body). in the first moto she just putted around, afraid of the slick conditions. i tried to convince her to at least open it up on the straightaways and she did much better in the second moto. she beat several of the boys. that's always the first thing she asks me, "how many boys did i beat?" she's already clinched the series championship with three rounds to go.

i parked my chair right next to the bleachers and watched motos all nite. i haven't done that in years. out of the 42 motos, i probably watched 40 of them. the fixator is quite the attention getter. i probably got asked about it twenty times. one kid talked to me for about ten minutes, then asked me my name. i told him and he said, "yeah, my dad read about you on the internet."--i'm famous. ;) it was weird watching my class. i thought we were faster than that. maybe it was the slick track. it was cool though, my buddies took the top 4 positions in the 40+. i wish i could have been out there...

i'll reserve my spot by the bleachers for august 24th, the next round. i hope to see bswift there racing. he's still in the running for the final spot on the awards stage at the series banquet.

 

[motox757]

Originally posted by mx547
i hope to see bswift there racing. he's still in the running for the final spot on the awards stage at the series banquet.

How 'bout it bswift? Three rounds left... ...round 6 is next on Aug 24th. There will be a another round on Sept. 21st as well. The last round will be the Saturday after DW'02 (Oct 12th)...

mx547, I didn't mean to imply that you could NOT drive, it's just that I have tried to drive with my right foot out of commission (which means the left foot then becomes the throttle foot, brake foot, high beam foot, etc...) and it ain't easy... ;)

 

[BSWIFT]

I would like to do it. I may get lapped 4 times each moto but I will try.

 

[motox757]

Originally posted by BSWIFT
I would like to do it. I may get lapped 4 times each moto but I will try.

All right! They have changed the track for eack of the last 3 rounds I have been there. I asked the operator about the race on the 24th and he said he was changing the track again... (This past weekend he put in a very tight set of whoops, 6 total, that were over 2 feet high... There was only one pro there that could triple in and then triple out...)

If you can get an early start you can join us for some pavement racing at the go-cart track in Talequah.

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by motox757


There was only one pro there that could triple in and then triple out...

he was an intermediate, none of the pros could do it. it was sure fun to watch him, looked awesome.

 

[SirThumper]

mx547, in my last two months of spectating and watching my friends race, I too thought I was faster than I am. I kept on watching, thinking, scratching my head, "I know I can go faster than that." :)