Team Pro Motion was having a 3 day track weekend but since by brother is a broke bastard we only signed up for Sunday. Good thing because, Friday they rode in a downpour and Saturday was called off due to the lake that had formed in turns 4 and 5.

We got up early and drove out to Pocono hoping that the day wouldn't be called off and we would get some laps in. It was about 50 degrees when we got there and I don't think it got out of the 50's all day long. About 10 miles from the track i look out the back window of the truck and notice one of the ears on my vortex fairing stay has given out. F*ck. I knew I needed a new one as I had cracked it when I tried to bend it back after I found the grass at VIR, I just hoped it would have lasted until after Pocono.

We got to the track and found a few people walking around but the pits were pretty much deserted. I expected as much because it really was a **** day. I chatted with a few people I knew and one helped me duct tape my bike to my upper fairing and windscreen so it would stop flapping against guages and clip on. Ghetto start to the day.

The track riding in the morning wasn't much better. It was mixing between raining and misting up until lunch so riding with your face shield open a crack was a must if you wanted to see anything. This wasn't much fun when your hitting 120 down the back straight with a rooster tail of water coming off the bike in front of you. The lake had gone down a bit in turn 5 leaving just a few inches of mud/dirt on the very inside of the turn, no bother since you don't hit that apex that close anyway. Turn 4 still had a river running over a few feet of the track but it was also off the racing line, Pro Motion did a great job cleaning the track and making off the areas with cones so you didn't forget to stay away from them. As the track dried out they continued to clean and move the cones further and further off the track.

I worked mostly on body position in the morning sessions, I had a two coaches come up to me and tell me I was riding great in the wet and was very smooth. They were super surprised I was doing it on street tires also. That's a bit of good news because being smooth now will hopefully translate into more speed as I get more and more comfortable with riding on the track.

First dry session of the afternoon and I'm really starting to like the intermediate group. I got bumped to it after my second track day but this is the first time I was able to ride it, much less congestion and much closer and faster riding. I'm glad I got out of the beginner group because now I really have some room to work on my speed. I was getting lots of good nods from other riders and coaches and felt totally in control. It's a great feeling when your smooth and everything just clicks.


Last lap of the session I was tucked right on my brothers back wheel down the straightaway, we came up on a slower rider and my brother decided to overtake him. He got on the brakes way late and passed inside just before the turn in cone, I plated myself a foot behind the guys rear wheel and we all turned in.

My brother was carrying way too much speed, he trail braked all the way down to the apex, it looked like he got is slowed enough but he started to run it a bit wide. He squeezed some more front brake, and we're not sure if the front just gave out and he tucked it or the wet white line around the edge of the track did him in.

He was right at the edge and I got the front row seat from 15ft behind him as the bike slid out from under him(70 mph maybe?) as his head smacked the pavement. The bike went sliding into the air fence as my brother went sliding wide of it and through the mud. It's a very strange feeling to watch you brother crash and seeing an air fence impact out of the corner of your eye, while your rolling on the gas trying to hold your line.

Instead of hitting a guardrail and wet hay bales, his bike hit the air fence with a total damage report of:

Bent slider bolt
Rashed track fairings
Bent left clip on

His leathers and gloves held up great, his helmet is going to be replaced. Sad to see a limited Rossi replica die that way.

That stuff saves lives and money, I know I will be hard pressed to ride with anyone else other then TPM at a track like Pocono because they are the only org that I know of that uses air fence.

I rode one more session then got a bad cramp in my leg and called it a day. Overall it was a shitty weather day that was made good by some fun riding and a safe return home for both of us

Here is a picture of my ugly tan duct taped R6 and I from early in the day when it was still wet. Click for bigger version:

 

I like that color

Good for you bud
Schu

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I like that color

Good for you bud
Schu</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well now you can say your the first for something!

At least I'm easy to notice.

 

Are you close to the Pocono's? I see it says you are from Westchester. PA?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Gravity &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you close to the Pocono's? I see it says you are from Westchester. PA?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Westchester NY.

Next county above the bronx.

Pocono Raceway is located is about 1.5-2 hours from me in Blakeslee, PA

 

yeah I can be in the in the Pocono's in like an hour or so. Just wondered.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Gravity &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah I can be in the in the Pocono's in like an hour or so. Just wondered.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You should come do some track days there next year

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RebornGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You should come do some track days there next year </TD></TR></TABLE>
Maybe. I never knew they had it up there.