Smash Allen
Banned
2018 AFM Round 5 Thunderhill Race Report
Thursday - Met with Dave and came up with two things to work on. Lines and RPM level. Installed 45 tooth rear to bring gearing to 15/45 and adjusted shift light to 13,500RPM. Arrived at Thunderhill and set up the pit area in front of turn 1. Jay #705 arrived shortly after and we shot the shit for a bit. I woke up around midnight to find that a mosquito had gorged himself on my lip...wtf?! So I set my fan in the bed of the truck to keep up airflow to prevent the buggers from landing on me.
youtu.be/NuvFh1Z6POA
Friday - Jay #705 watched my first session and when I got back to the pits he told me he wanted to introduce me to someone. ‘Mr. Apex’. Apparently I am afraid of Mr. Apex because I am consistently missing it by 6ft or more. Jay pointed out that Keigwins had ‘Ken Kones’ as I like to call them placed around most of the track and said that I should be parallel and right next to them. With this in mind I limited my throttle to 50% for the second session so that I could focus on my lines and get cozy with Mr. Apex. By only opening throttle to 50% I was no longer rushing my entries and could focus on my lines. I spent the rest of the day trying to stay on my improved line while picking the throttle back up. As soon as the speed got back up I started to have problems hitting the apex. I wasn’t slowing down enough before turning in and my fork tubes were showing excessive tube below the zip tie. I didn’t realize until after the races that my brake lever was adjusted all the way in...As I would get on the brakes (one finger braking) the lever would hit my knuckles and so I couldn’t increase pressure anymore...Since I was running with ABS enabled I assumed that was the sole cause of my stiff front end.
youtu.be/i-lg4XIkBe4
Here is a potato quality video of a Keigwins at the Track AFM NRS practice start
youtu.be/_4DXalwbx90
Saturday - Dave Stanton drove up and was my pit chief and the first thing he said was that I needed to soften up my fork springs to get the fork down into the stroke. Mike Castro with GP Suspension swapped my fork spring to get the rate from 1.05 to 9.75. This got the fork down into the stroke and it was much easier to get to the apex. As I was rolling out from GP Suspension, I asked Chris with CT Racing to check out my tires as things were feeling a bit ‘loose’ on entry and exit. He looked at my tires and told me that I was lucky that I hadn’t had any bigger moments, as both of my tires were roasted. I thought that I could take Pirelli past the wear cups until cords show but Chris educated me on what a tire looks like as it goes from fresh rubber down to when it is done and should be replaced. Looking at the profile of my front tire it looked like a ‘V’ with much more wear on the sides versus the center. I had Chris spoon on fresh sc2 front and sc1 rear and I was ready for Heavy Clubman.
Heavy Clubman - I got a decent start and passed #982 Ken into turn 2 and kept John #761 in sight for a couple laps. That first, standing lap, I did a 2:02.4 which was my fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately I lost focus and made a couple mistakes in the second and third lap which gave #982 Ken enough room to get back by me. The last lap #705 Jay got by me as well as a few of the Clubman Midweights including #775 Nick and #725 Sam. I started 3rd, moved to 2nd, then finished 4th. I am very happy with these results considering my brake issues!
youtu.be/fl7qDqXVXpw
youtu.be/VtBoV2g1CdQ
Saturday night had slow bike races and general tomfoolery. I rode around the track on my bicycle and after getting back I pounded down lots of gatorade and water and trail mix, hit the happy pipe, and passed out in my chair.
youtu.be/oYarb-ZNurs
Sunday - Heated up quickly and after my morning yoga practice I introduced myself to the guy pitted next to me Jason. He is also new to racing and we spent a few minutes sharing stories of how we got started and wished each other luck. A few hours later Jason suffered catastrophic injuries in a racing incident in turn 8 and tragically passed away. I will always remember your friendly smile, Rest In Peace Jason. My heart goes out to your loved ones and friends.
Open Superbike Novice - Was not the best start. Getting better but not as fast as I would like. My lines slowly improved and I was shown different lines in every corner, or so it felt. My times improved when there was space in front of me but I finished in fourth, two places down from where I started.
youtu.be/FwZkz3vFlhs
youtu.be/bZjoQALnO7I
Open GP Novice - Another milquetoast start followed by a red flag after a bike went down in turn 2 and caught fire along with the infield. The restart was delayed until after lunch, and after the riders meeting announcing #780 Jason passing I wanted to get home and kiss my wife. The 107F heat wasn’t helping either, and I was in a haze the rest of the day.
youtu.be/SCKZyl2qlFE
I want to give a big shout out to Hustle Hard Racing and Mark Harper for making space for me in their pits in the coming rounds. I look forward to working with Hustle Hard Racing in data acquisition and being shown a thing or two
Thanks to Chris and Cory at CT Racing for putting on a clinic, taking the time to explain and answer all my questions about tires and everything else.
Thanks to Mike at GP Suspension for taking time out of his day to go over my bike, twiddling my knobs and getting my fork rate to where it should be. I don’t know how, but you know what I am feeling better than I do and are great at explaining things (like why I am slow).
Last but not least, huge thanks to Dave Stanton for coming up and being my pit crew chief for the day It is a dream to have you coaching me and helping me go faster, I am honored and consider you a great friend.
Thursday - Met with Dave and came up with two things to work on. Lines and RPM level. Installed 45 tooth rear to bring gearing to 15/45 and adjusted shift light to 13,500RPM. Arrived at Thunderhill and set up the pit area in front of turn 1. Jay #705 arrived shortly after and we shot the shit for a bit. I woke up around midnight to find that a mosquito had gorged himself on my lip...wtf?! So I set my fan in the bed of the truck to keep up airflow to prevent the buggers from landing on me.
youtu.be/NuvFh1Z6POA
Friday - Jay #705 watched my first session and when I got back to the pits he told me he wanted to introduce me to someone. ‘Mr. Apex’. Apparently I am afraid of Mr. Apex because I am consistently missing it by 6ft or more. Jay pointed out that Keigwins had ‘Ken Kones’ as I like to call them placed around most of the track and said that I should be parallel and right next to them. With this in mind I limited my throttle to 50% for the second session so that I could focus on my lines and get cozy with Mr. Apex. By only opening throttle to 50% I was no longer rushing my entries and could focus on my lines. I spent the rest of the day trying to stay on my improved line while picking the throttle back up. As soon as the speed got back up I started to have problems hitting the apex. I wasn’t slowing down enough before turning in and my fork tubes were showing excessive tube below the zip tie. I didn’t realize until after the races that my brake lever was adjusted all the way in...As I would get on the brakes (one finger braking) the lever would hit my knuckles and so I couldn’t increase pressure anymore...Since I was running with ABS enabled I assumed that was the sole cause of my stiff front end.
youtu.be/i-lg4XIkBe4
Here is a potato quality video of a Keigwins at the Track AFM NRS practice start
youtu.be/_4DXalwbx90
Saturday - Dave Stanton drove up and was my pit chief and the first thing he said was that I needed to soften up my fork springs to get the fork down into the stroke. Mike Castro with GP Suspension swapped my fork spring to get the rate from 1.05 to 9.75. This got the fork down into the stroke and it was much easier to get to the apex. As I was rolling out from GP Suspension, I asked Chris with CT Racing to check out my tires as things were feeling a bit ‘loose’ on entry and exit. He looked at my tires and told me that I was lucky that I hadn’t had any bigger moments, as both of my tires were roasted. I thought that I could take Pirelli past the wear cups until cords show but Chris educated me on what a tire looks like as it goes from fresh rubber down to when it is done and should be replaced. Looking at the profile of my front tire it looked like a ‘V’ with much more wear on the sides versus the center. I had Chris spoon on fresh sc2 front and sc1 rear and I was ready for Heavy Clubman.
Heavy Clubman - I got a decent start and passed #982 Ken into turn 2 and kept John #761 in sight for a couple laps. That first, standing lap, I did a 2:02.4 which was my fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately I lost focus and made a couple mistakes in the second and third lap which gave #982 Ken enough room to get back by me. The last lap #705 Jay got by me as well as a few of the Clubman Midweights including #775 Nick and #725 Sam. I started 3rd, moved to 2nd, then finished 4th. I am very happy with these results considering my brake issues!
youtu.be/fl7qDqXVXpw
youtu.be/VtBoV2g1CdQ
Saturday night had slow bike races and general tomfoolery. I rode around the track on my bicycle and after getting back I pounded down lots of gatorade and water and trail mix, hit the happy pipe, and passed out in my chair.
youtu.be/oYarb-ZNurs
Sunday - Heated up quickly and after my morning yoga practice I introduced myself to the guy pitted next to me Jason. He is also new to racing and we spent a few minutes sharing stories of how we got started and wished each other luck. A few hours later Jason suffered catastrophic injuries in a racing incident in turn 8 and tragically passed away. I will always remember your friendly smile, Rest In Peace Jason. My heart goes out to your loved ones and friends.
Open Superbike Novice - Was not the best start. Getting better but not as fast as I would like. My lines slowly improved and I was shown different lines in every corner, or so it felt. My times improved when there was space in front of me but I finished in fourth, two places down from where I started.
youtu.be/FwZkz3vFlhs
youtu.be/bZjoQALnO7I
Open GP Novice - Another milquetoast start followed by a red flag after a bike went down in turn 2 and caught fire along with the infield. The restart was delayed until after lunch, and after the riders meeting announcing #780 Jason passing I wanted to get home and kiss my wife. The 107F heat wasn’t helping either, and I was in a haze the rest of the day.
youtu.be/SCKZyl2qlFE
I want to give a big shout out to Hustle Hard Racing and Mark Harper for making space for me in their pits in the coming rounds. I look forward to working with Hustle Hard Racing in data acquisition and being shown a thing or two
Thanks to Chris and Cory at CT Racing for putting on a clinic, taking the time to explain and answer all my questions about tires and everything else.
Thanks to Mike at GP Suspension for taking time out of his day to go over my bike, twiddling my knobs and getting my fork rate to where it should be. I don’t know how, but you know what I am feeling better than I do and are great at explaining things (like why I am slow).
Last but not least, huge thanks to Dave Stanton for coming up and being my pit crew chief for the day
It is a dream to have you coaching me and helping me go faster, I am honored and consider you a great friend.Attachments
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eventually I will be able to stay out front 
