AFM 2016 - Last Round at Buttonwillow Raceway

This is Going to be a Short One...

The weeks between round 6 and this last round (7) was crazy busy with things that weren't moto-related (how unfortunate!). I wanted to do more dirt riding and practice my starts, but I didn't get around to that. I needed to get some riding in because I knew ahead of time that I would miss Saturday due to a family's wedding that day.

But, at times, things don't go according to plan and I decided that I still wanted to come down and race Sunday. I knew it would be rough since my competitors would have Friday, Saturday practice and Saturday races all under their belts.

Yup! This was going to be interesting, I thought.

Sunday - Novice 250 Production and Lightweight Twins

I arrived at the track Saturday evening around 10:30 pm. Luckily, Greg was ready to go to bed and the Dunlop tent stopped playing music a little after 11 pm. I got a great night's sleep and woke up excited and ready to rock and roll that Sunday.

I was the first group out for the short practice session, so the track was cold, which means I can't really push it. This didn't really matter because as soon as I picked up a bit of speed, I felt like I was going to run of the track. Even though I've been to this track and ran this configuration a handful of times, I still was having a tough time nailing down my lines and hitting my apexes.

I came off track a bit uneasy, but I wasn't feeling defeated like I at times do when I don't perform well during practice. I figured that I could figure it out while I raced, and I just had to get my hand and focus on keeping up with the rest of the guys.

As we gridded for my 250 Prod race, I was (as I always do) feeling very nervous but was super focused. I needed to not botch my start and make sure I can stay with everyone. Unfortunately, I did sort of botch it by staying on the front brake a tad too long when Phil dropped the green flag. Everyone shot ahead but I eventually caught up going into turn 2.

I saw my competitor Pao right ahead and he was sandwiched between two expert racers. For a few laps I kept all three within sight and passed one eventually. The other expert got by Pao and he was my target for the remainder of the race. I desperately wanted to pass him, but since I wasn't familiar with track, I wasn't sure where to or how.

However, on our last lap I was closing the gap and I knew I would pass him eventually. I was getting a bit nervous as we were going into The Sweeper and I was still behind. But once we got through The Esses and headed into Sunset (the last turn before the straight) I knew I could get him on the exit. Sure enough, as we exited I pulled away and crossed the start/finish right ahead.


Though I didn't get podium, it was still a fun race and I felt very proud of myself that I was able to go into this without having much practice or seat time at all. During this race, I also set a personal best and dropped five seconds from my previous PB at Buttonwillow.

As for the Novice Lightweight Twins race, well... that didn't go as well as my 250 Prod one. The good news is that I FINALLY was able to get a good launch off the line! However, when it came to going into turn one I back off since there was a whole lot of chaos around me. Again, I'm not familiar with the track so I didn't know where I needed to be in order to get around all the bikes.

I eventually stuck with previous competitor, Jak and he was my carrot for this race. Things looked good initially: I was able to, again, get a good drive coming out of sunset and almost passed him going into turn one. I, of course, backed off though going in and he stayed ahead. This definitely put some fire under his ass because he started to pull away more, all while I was making more and more mistakes. I was also having a really hard time refocusing, which was weird because I was able to be so focused in my race earlier. Anyway, this race ended up being terrible as I was left all alone to race myself. I really don't like that kind of racing...

Anywho, the good news is that I was able to race and I, overall, had such a wonderful season. There were a lot of highs and lows, and to be honest, I didn't perform the way I wanted to. But, this showed me that I am capable of getting better--I'm just a person where it takes time and a shit ton of practice to make progress. I've come to terms with that, and decided to look at it the way I look at my personal health and fitness. Did I lose weight and get fit in one month? Six months? No. That took a ton of time that I 100% dedicated myself to. I've decided I'm going to 100% dedicate myself to becoming an even better rider than I was this past season.

To help me get to where I want to be in terms of riding, I've decided to go ahead and move up to expert. This will pressure me to perform at my optimal level--I'm never going to get better if I don't ride with the fastest of the fast on these little bikes.

Now, as for the bike I want to race next year, I am leaning towards my old faithful Santiago (the Ninja 250). Even though a lot of my competitors will be moving up to 300s, I haven't ridden the 250 to its full potential, and feel that I need to before I move up. It's going to be a fun 2017 and I'm looking forward to racing with everyone again.

As always, I want to thank my sponsors who've supported me all season: Suomy Helmets, Spy Optics, RACER gloves, Sidi Boots, and Moto Guild. I also want to thank the AFM staff and turn workers for doing an amazing job--can't wait to see some of you at the banquet! Also, these always rad pictures would not exist without Max and Koi over at Oxymoron Photography. Finally, I want to thank all those who helped me so far on my racing journey: Ken Hill, Z2 track days, and my main squeeze, Greg. 

See you in 2017!