02/20-02/22 Portimao Portugal:

RocketJockeyRacing made arrangements for some winter testing in the brand new World SBK track in Portimao Autodromo Algarve!

After a 30hr drive through France, Spain and Portugal to arrive at the track, my co-pilot and I suffered our first of a number of setbacks that were to befall us all weekend. Jonas discovered that his radiator had mysteriously developed a hole in it leaking fluid into the belly pan. Luckily I had plenty of epoxy weld and the dudes from Jeremy McWilliams' RaceDays.net school had a spare (brand new) radiator to lend while the weld took hold.

The next installment of bad luck to strike was a very stuck throttle on the 600RR. Unfortunately for me only 3 laps into the very first session, the throttle gets lodged wide open and in 3rd gear. I only had time to think "why am I bouncing off the rev limiter...?" before the rear broke loose and spun around on me sending me and the bike sliding into the gravel trap.

The support staff at the track is by far some of the most helpful and just plain cool cornerworkers I have ever met! They are all basically Miguel Praia's World SSP team! So as soon as I get back to the pits, I start wrenching to get the bike ready again for the following day's qualifying and races. Not but a few minutes into my wrenching, and the crash truck makes another stop at the pits. This time dropping off another broken 600RR belonging to Jonas. Apparently he had been clipped in a braking zone and was forced to hit the deck.

Unfortunately it wasn't just a routine crash as somehow his clipons were actually "ripped" from the frame. Once again, the most excellent Portimao safety crew came to the rescue by finding a welder who was not only able to but also willing to weld on a weekend night! We followed one of the safety crew to the workshop and 40EUR later, Jonas had a welded and helicoiled fix in place!

Finally we make it back to the track for some well deserved and overdue rest!

The next morning we double check the repairs and head out for a few warmup laps. Getting more familiar with all the blind entries and elevation changes. Things go smoothly enough and I was able to catch some interesting onboard footage.

Time for qualifying and bad luck strikes again. During my qualifying run, my throttle cables come loose again and rather than risking another crash, I pull into the pits to check it out. Unfortunately by the time I have the issue addressed, the entire qualifying session is over. I only managed one recorded lap which was barely even enough to qualify me for the 600cc race.
: (

I found myself gridded bottom of the starting sheet, but was given a small break when I actually lined up in the pre-pit area. The officials allowed me to bump up a few rows. Excellent! A few less traffic to deal with. As the timing lights come on, the entire grids perches ready for the launch into T1. This would be the first time I've tried to launch with the quick throttle. It was a bit trickier than I expected. I managed an "OK" start, but nothing great. T1 was a bit of a cluster and I lost out in the shuffle, getting moved back in the pack. After a few laps I managed to catch a tow from Ron who started a few rows ahead and apparently lost out even worse than me in the T1 cluster. Following Ron, who runs wide in T1 a few laps later, I go right with him allowing about 4 bikes by. After a few laps of struggeling, I fall off the pace a bit and witness Jonas putting down a great banzai pass on me in T8. I had to adjust my line just a bit, but it was a great wake-up call! As I prepare to chase him back down, I watch as he goes sliding out in T10. A bit of the "Red Mist" got ahold of him and he was really pushing! I managed my fastest lap after the incident with Jonas, but was just shy of breaking the 2min barrier.

Even with all the bad luck, the experience was one of the greatest in my motorcycling career. I will make it back at least once to have another go at the circuit, hopefully with a little less bad luck next time! If there is ever a circuit that every racer should experience, it is the Autodromo Algarve in Portimao Portugal!!!

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