I finally managed to make it to an actual race weekend here in Germany. The EuroSpeedway is located approxamitely 6hrs north of my location. Unfortunately due to a number of constructions sites and multiple staus the trip took much longer. The track is well designed and hosts many large scale race and entertainment events since its layout lends itself well to spectator seating.

It was my first time at the track and the Friday practice sessions were all wet. From what I heard Lausitz is not the easiest track to ride in the wet, since there are many painted lines that run across the racing lines. There was also a section of the track where the water drainage seemed to pool directly into a hard braking zone leaving mud grass and other debri strewn across the brake area. There were a number of riders who exceeded the grip limits of the track on Friday as the crash truck seemed to be so busy that it actually ran out of gas!
; P

There was about an hour or so of dry tracktime at the end of the day to finally get in some hot laps. All in all, I was VERY pleased with the wet weather training. It has been a very long time since I have been out in the rain and not fallen. So it was very good to get my confidence back.

Friday night the rest of the guys showed up and set up shop. We all had a good time BBQ'ing and benchracing throughout the evening.

Saturday gave us two practice sessions which were thankfully all dry. At the end of the Friday training day we had all just barely broken under 2min lap times and were eager to drop another 5-6 so that we would be competitive during the races. I was happy no knowning my lap times throughout the day and was working more on making the bike "feel" right under me. I made a number of suspension changes to get it to where I finally felt comfortable and as luck would have it I was able to qualify with a 1'57" for my race. That gridded me 21 or 22 of 41 riders on the grid.

I wasn't able to improve much on that laptime throughout the practices but was able to best it during the Sat race. The cable clutch on the 600RR is so much easier to get off the line than the hydralic clutch on the 1000RR. I was able to get a good launch but was a bit too timid going into T1 with the pack, so my start wasn't as great as it could have been. I was holding my own until the end of the back straight where a very aggressive move by another rider on a red honda nearly took me out. I had to adjust quickly and ran very wide into a spot where a pile of oil/kitty litter was earlier in the day. I lost allot of drive and it allowed a number of riders to close the gap or pass me. I struggled the rest of the race to just keep pace. It was pretty much a backward race for me from that point on. Slowly a number of riders slipped by me lap by lap. When it was all over I finished 7th behind fellow American Jason Van in 6th! All in all not a bad showing consider it was both of our first times at the track and had to learn it in the wet.

Emmediately after the race we were quarrintined in the tech garage until they had picked out the top 10 bikes and released the rest. The top 10 had to be dyno'd and weighed. The SuperSport B class had a ps limit of 130 (which I was well under at 113 at the back wheel) and minimum weight of 161kg (I came in at 165kg). So a free dyno run and a trophy for 7th place wasn't a bad start to my European race campaign. But now we all know why the entry fees are so expensive!
; P

Sunday was more of the same with two training sessions, neither of which I was able to reproduce the 1'55" laptimes I ran in the race. I was comfortable on the bike and the tires still seemed to have good wear. The BT003s were smoothing out nicely thanks to the suspension changes I was making, so I was hopeful for long life out of them. As chance would have it, I wouldn't even use them in the race. A sudden and torrential downpour with high winds (breaking canopies and blowing away the pits) force us all to make like NASCAR pit crews and swap out the dry rims for wets. Unfortunately, just as quickly as the weather blew in... it blew out. So we were all stuck with rains as the bright sun started to shine.

The start of our race was delayed and then we were given two warm up laps. By the time we all actually lined up on the grid most of the track was dried out. Most people were timid the first few laps letting me take full advantage of another good launch from the middle of the pack. I was able to hold off (or hold up, depending on how you look at it) a number of bikes for 1/2 the race. Then the dry track started showing and the rain tires were melting, sliding both tires onto the front straight as we accelerated down to T1. In my haste to swap tires, I forgot to change the suspension settings back to wet conditions and I was having a hard time feeling my front going into T1 which is where most people begain to over take me. Again, for the rest of the race it was a backwards motion for me until I finally ended in 6th place this time. Another trophy and top 10 finish in my second race. Again, not much to complain about. It was good to get the confidence back up and I am more than pleased with the new CBR600RR. It is a very nimble and powerful machine.

All in all it was a good weekend for me, but the rest of the Americans seemed to be suffering from a number of mechanical and mojo stealing gremlins. I am looking forward to the next weekend!

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