2008 Mosport Vintage Festival | |
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The 2008 Mosport round started out with a trackday on the Thursday before hand. Mosport is my very favorite track, and I always look forward to any time (track time or racing) on the big road course. Our trackday was rained out in the afternoon, and although I did run a few wet laps, it was surprisingly slippery. As a street rider I ride in the rain a fair bit, and I've learned that asphalt varies in it's wet traction but the surface at Mosport seems more 'slippery when wet' than most public roads.
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Photo by Flair Photo
Unfortunately by the time the mid-morning endurance race riders meeting Laura was feeling unwell, and sensibly declined to ride. It was surprisingly easy to find another rider willing to enjoy an hour at Mosport! Tim Speid joined the Dirty Girl team (the first ever boy to ride as an honorary 'dirty girl') which left the team short a crew person - Tim V. and Jeff would be left with all the crew duties, so we talked another team into sharing their crew with us and pitting next door. | |
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I started the endurance race, taking the flagged start and the first session on the bike. Since I was gridded on the outside of a row, I had a good view of the starter and his flags. I didn't get a great start, and I found the crowding in the first corner intimidating, but an endurance race can only be lost, not won, in the first lap. I passed a few slower riders in the first few laps, then settled down to a good pace, trying to bear in mind our plan to run half hour sessions. I felt comfortable on the bike, relaxed and focused, and the gearing seemed to be working well for the track once I'd figured out good shift points suitable to the up-hill back straight. When I saw my pit-board I came into the hot-pits on the next lap and handed the bike over to Tim. Jeff, who was timing for the team, told me that I'd beaten my previous best lap times by several seconds, and consistently. That had been my main goal for the endurance race, and I pretty gratified to have accomplished that in the first session out.
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Photo by Flair Photo
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Photo by Flair Photo
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Tim went event faster than I had, clocking a 1.49 as the record lap time for the NS 250 at Mosport. My best lap time was a low 1.54, so I've got a few more seconds yet to shed off my lap time next year. By the mid-race gas stop, the bike was on reserve. We were gassing up with a small gas can, and emptied the entire contents into the tank on the NS, but it vanished into the nearly dry tank, so we had to plan a second gas stop at the third rider change, adding to our time in the pits considerably.
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The endurance race was red-flagged as it started to rain and a few bikes crashed as the track became wet. The clock had ten minutes left showing when the race was called; a rather unsatisfying finish, the flagger waving the chequeres at the teams assembled in the pits and the riders straggling back in wet. Even with the extra gas-stop we ended up 19th out of a field of over 40 bikes. Once the endurance race was over, we spent most of the remainder of the afternoon trying to keep dry. We were pitted part way down the slope towards corner one, and had a lovely river running through out pits... which gave us the idea to race paper boats. Sadly, none of us could remember how to fold a paper boat! I'll be better prepared the next time we're rained out!
Here's a list of links to paper-boat folding instructions:
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Team Dirty Girl Thanks...The 2008 'Team Dirty Girls' would like to thank Laura and Tim S. for riding the NS so carefully, Tim V. and Jeff M. for crewing for the team, and Dennis and Scott's team for letting us share their crew and pit next door. The photos on this page are all courtesy of Flair Photo and Bob Ritter
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Weekend Sprint RacesSprint races are a different challenge than an endurance race, with only about 8 to 10 laps to get to the front, the start is much more critical, and so is the first corner.
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Photo by Flair Photo
The sprint races are exciting, particularly the first few corners when riders are grouped together closely. Here the pack is coming over the crest of Turn 2, heading down the hill towards Turn 3, a particularly exciting section of the track; a fast and blind crest. | |
Photo by Flair Photo
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Photo by Bob Ritter
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The final race on Sunday was particularly thrilling. My friend Bruce started behind me, but I got a terrible start and by the first corner Bruce was ahead of me with several riders between us. I put my head down and gave chase. I chased Bruce through the three riders ahead of me, and I finally caught him coming out of corner three. Unfortunately I messed up corner five coming out of the corner a gear too high, and he managed to catch me again before the top of the back straight. Just a few short corners later we took the chequered flag, me still chasing. A thrilling race even if I didn't manage to beat Bruce.
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Photo by Bob Ritter | |
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North Bay is our next and final round for the season, and while it's not my favorite track (it's a very challenging surface to race on) it is my favorite venue. We get to race at a running airport where we race on one runway while they land airplanes on another runway! Come watch us race at North Bay September 6 & 7 2008
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VRRA 2008 Racing Season:
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 For more information on the Vintage Road Racing Association please visit www.vrra.ca |
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Back to the 2008 Racing Page - Back to the Articles page
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Friday started out dry and the endurance race practice went very well, Laura has been on my NS before at this track, so was comfortable right away. Her experience racing a variety of bikes has been good for her learning curve. She went out for a round of practice, then I took the NS out for a few laps. I had found the track slippery on Thursday, and I wanted to convince myself that it was not slippery today. After a few laps of reassuring myself about the grip of my tires, I brought the bike back in for Laura. She ran a second practice session on the NS, refreshing her memory of the racing lines and getting comfortable with the blind corners Mosport challenges a rider with.
