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Road America Race Report....OUCH!
By Rhiannon Lucente
April 20-23
Road America, WI
Round 1 – ASRA/CCS
On Wednesday evening, after a couple of unfortunate events,
Sam and I finally parked at the Road America gate. The trip
proved to be an exciting one this go around. We not only fried
a bearing on the travel trailer, but nearly lost my cat in
the ghetto of South Chicago. We did eventually get that bearing
kit, and recover the cat that jumped out the window. It was
a 4 hour experience I will not forget soon enough! *Just a
note – There are no bearing trailer kits anywhere near
the ghetto of South Chicago (ha ha ha).
Thursday was a day to get the R6 and the Ducati sorted out
with gearing, and handling. The R6 was great right off the
line, so we concentrated mostly on the Ducati. The Ducati
seemed to have a stability problem under power, going straight.
We tried a few geometry changes, but ran out of sessions to
figure it out. The weather was beautiful, and I was feeling
very confident (finally a track that I didn’t have to
learn from scratch!).
Friday just seemed like it was going to be a great day for
racing. Even though we still had to figure out the stability
issue on the Ducati, I felt great. Because of the endurance
race, I had a lot of time to think about the changes we had
made to the Ducati since Daytona. I came to the conclusion
that it was an incorrect tire choice, so we mounted some new
Michelin DOT’s (instead of slicks), and corrected the
geometry. My first race was GTU on the R6, so I gridded up
and concentrated on getting a rockin’ start. I think
things went extremely well, and I felt very comfortable during
the entire 25 minute race…comfortable enough to finish
10th. My last race of the day was Supertwins on the Ducati.
I was nervous about the changes, but optimistic that I had
made the right decision. I got a pretty good start, and fell
into 3rd place for most of the race. The bike handled like
a dream (my changes were successful)! On the last lap Chris
Knight squeaked by me, to put me into a 4th place finish (oh
was I disappointed!). The day went super well, and I am very
happy with everything that happened.
Saturday started off to be another gorgeous day. We had two
qualifying sessions, and two races to compete in…I was
anxious to do well. I qualified 7th in Thunderbike, and 10th
in Sportbike. Then it was time to race. I gridded up for the
first race of the day, Supertwins, eager to make up for Friday’s
4th. The flag dropped and I almost had the holeshot…Mark
Junge slipped up the inside to take the lead. I held second
for a few laps, until Danny Bilansky passed me on the brakes.
I kept behind Danny, to take 3rd on the checkers. Fortunately
for me, when the results were posted Danny got disqualified
for not having a transponder. That put me in 2nd place; I
guess I really made up for Friday! I was now ready to go out
for Middleweight Supersport, on the R6, and see what I could
do. I had to start in the back of the grid, and got a tangled
up into turn one. I really had to work hard for a better position,
but wasn’t able to make up enough ground. I finished
in 17th place, but at least I finished the race. It was a
day of mixed feelings...happy with my 2nd, but glum about
my 17th. It was still an excellent day, though!
Sunday started out with a rainy, cold morning, and I just
wanted to stay in my warm bed. My first race was Middleweight
Supersport, and I was prepared to get a much better finish.
I gridded up, and zipped into turn one right behind Robert
Jensen. I let Robert make a hole into every corner, and just
tagged behind him until Canada corner (turn 12). That put
me ahead of a ton of guys, and I was ready to stay in front
of them. Well, I was ready until the guy behind me came into
turn one way to hot, and lowsided right into me. I ended up
getting sandwiched between my bike, and his, and surfed them
into the gravel trap. After a few moments of serious pain
in my right knee, I got up a walked it off. Man, was I livid!
Surprisingly, the bike had no broken parts (just a dented
Leo Vince canister, ugh)! Sam West, Chris Jensen, Chris Onwiler,
Roger Krueger, and Alexa Krueger all got the bike torn apart
and back together in record time. My knee didn’t seem
that bad, so I went out for my last two races of the weekend.
They were back to back races, so I was glad I didn’t
have to wait around. It was difficult getting my knee bent
(with all the swelling), but my friend Guy wrapped it and
told me it would be okay. I had Thunderbike first, and launched
into 5th place(from 7th). Unfortunately my knee wasn’t
happy about hard braking, Jeff Johnson and Brian Bemisderfer
got around me into turn three. I had to dice hard for 7th
with Brian Lacy. Luckily I had enough motor to hold him off,
and take 7th at the checkers. My next (and final race) was
Sportbike. I was starting from 10th, and was hoping I could
at least hold that position. I did, for while, but my braking
points were way too early. I had a great race with Michael
Arwood and Ryan Hall, but Hall got in front of me. That put
me in 13th place at the checkers. I wasn’t to upset about
it, though. My knee was throbbing and I just did what I could
to keep a fair position on the track.
Overall, this was our most successful weekend. I was confident,
comfortable and very aggressive. Luckily my injury isn’t
that bad…I guess you could say the bark is worse than
the bite (it looks gross). I will be strong for our next round
at BeaveRun (WERA North Central regional), and make sure that
we continue getting satisfactory results!
A special thank you goes out to Sam West, my Mum and Pop (Alexa
and Roger Krueger), Chris Jensen, Guy and Chris (K-3) Onwiler
for thrashing on the R6, and knowing I could still be competitive.
And to all of my friends that came to the track and helped
out, you guys rock! I couldn’t have done it without all
of you…
2006 Support
Sam West ChickenHawk
Komodo Leathers Smith Optics
Spyder Leatherworks PowerMist
Cycle Dynamics OGIO
Columbus BMW/Ducati Lithium Motorsports
Leo Vince Exhausts MBP Performance
EK Chains Cyclecat
SBS Brake Pads Ohlins
Beechwold Hardware Arai Helmets
Vortex Triple Nickel Motorcycle Supply
Hotbodies MSP Suzuki
Yuasa Batteries Michelin Tires
Motorex USA KWS Motorsports
Honda Northwest MotoCorse
VHS Photography Mirror Images Photography
I'm faster than your girlfriend, BRRAAAPP.
www.onefastgirl.com
www.myspace.com/onefastgirl
rhiannon@onefastgirl.com
Rhiannon Lucente #66/#166
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