Round 4 is almost here...

Just a quick post to talk about my strategy / goals for Round 4, which takes place August 16/17.

After losing a footpeg TWICE in Round 3, both footpegs have been red-loctited and safety wired.  Now they can't come off.  I have also replaced the brake lever guard that got ruined in my crash.  I still need to clean the rest of the mud off my leathers and boots though.  Everything else is checked, straightened, and ready to go.

A New Track Layout - "Reverse Technical" Unleashed

This should be an interesting round, since the scheduled track configuration is "Reverse Technical".  So far as I know, no one has ever run this configuration before, so no one has any clue what kind of lap times to expect!  This makes it a bit harder (actually, impossible) to set target lap times for practice.

The good news for me is that, for the first time this season, I will be able to attend the Friday practice day preceding the race weekend.  That means a whole day of practice to figure out the new layout, which should give me an advantage over those who just show up on Saturday and will get only three 15-min practice sessions in the morning, and then again Sunday morning.

I made a map of the layout.

 Most of the turns we have all seen before, running the "Reverse Screaming Alien" layout - T1 (dogleg), T2 (carousel) are familiar to everyone, but then there is a HUGE long straight ending in a medium speed corner that no one has ever run before in this direction, so finding the braking and turn-in points is going to be interesting.  I called this T3, but I think we should call it "What Was Ken Thinking?" corner.  The next three turns (T4 - T6) are also unique to this layout, but I doubt they will present any particular challenges.  They are followed by a turn that is part of Reverse Alien (T7), but it is approached from a shorter straight section than normal so the entry speed will be quite different.  Then we are back into familiar territory with Big Daddy (T8 - long triple-apex left-hander) and the rest of the esses (T9 and T10) leading onto the start / finish straight.

Plans for Round 4

I have registered for both Battle of the Twins Lightweight and Rookie 600 again, and of course the Prairie Dogs will be running Humpty Dumpty in the GTU Endurance class as always on Saturday evening.

Given that I am completely out of the points race for both of my sprint classes, I hope to spend the weekend just "honing my craft", working on developing quick lines, getting good race starts and challenging for position where possible.  I expect that by the end of Friday I am going to need to visit the Ripp Racing trailer for a new set of Bridgestone slicks.

My Realistic Goals for Round 4:

• Use Friday practice to good effect so that I am confident in my lines and braking markers going into Saturday
• Don't crash
• Finish no worse than second in BOTT LW
• Beat somebody in Rookie 600  :)