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Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: San Francisco Motorcycles: Kawasaki ZZR600, Yamaha WR250X, Feel Like a Pro Ninja 250 (rented) Name: Logan

Logan Hanks AMA Pro XR1200 Race Report This past weekend was my professional debut in the AMA at Miller. I rode as #42 on a Racing for a Wish XR1200 in the Vance and Hines Harley-Davidson series. I apologize for this being a very lengthy race report, but this turned out to be a 10-day riding adventure and I don't want to forget a single moment of it. Feel free to skip way ahead to read about the race itself.



WERA Nationals



My first professional race weekend at Miller Motorsports Park on a Harley-Davidson XR1200 started a week before. WERA Nationals were scheduled the weekend before the AMA event, and the Friday before WERA was a trackday for practice. My teammate, Michael Kim, and I flew out Thursday night and arrived at the track Friday morning. Dave Seyl and Pat Corcoran of Feel Like a Pro were already there to meet us with our racebike rentals: a Ninja 250 and SV650 for each of us.



Since this was my first visit to Miller, I spent Friday learning the track on the 650. Its been over a year since Id been challenged with learning a new track, but by the end of the second morning session I was already up to a decent pace. That was a big confidence booster, and I was able to spend the rest of the weekend having fun and trying to find ways to knock a few more seconds off my lap times.



The WERA event was a double-header, which meant a total of 10 races. I had some good battles on the 650 and the 250, and managed to pull off a few third place finishes. On Saturday I put in my best lap of the weekend on the 650 trying unsuccessfully to reel in Alan Cunninghams superbike on the last lap of a race, with a 2:10.608. Based on last years XR1200 race, I figured anything under a 2:18 would be safe for qualifying, so I felt encouraged as long as I could ride the XR1200 as well as I ride the 650.



Yamaha Champions Riding School



To prepare as best we could for the AMA event, Michael signed up for three days of YCRS at Miller. This made for six straight days of riding hard in the Utah heat, but it was well worth it. I learned techniques to be more in control of a fast bike and mental tips from riders like Scott Russell and Josh Hayes for my pro race weekend. I particularly found a lot of improvement in my corner entries. I learned that I wasnt positioning my foot properly on the inside, and I wasnt getting my knee out on the brakes. I was also getting off of the brakes too soon and too abruptly, and I had a tendency to fade into corners early, forcing me to carry less speed and more risk.



We spent several hours each day out on different configurations of the race track, riding a variety of bikes that Id never ridden before. The school focuses on the Yamaha YZF-R6, which we rode the first two days, but on the third day they put Michael and me on the FZ8 to try to replicate certain aspects of the Harley. Were used to clip-on handlebars and plenty of ground clearance, and the FZ8 had neither. We focused on maintaining good body position without putting too much input into the wide bars, which served us well once we got on the XR1200. I also rode the FZ1 and the YZF-R1. I practiced staying on the race line, and methodically and comfortably adding speed. By the end of these intense three days of riding and learning, I felt as prepared as I could possibly be for my professional debut.



Thursday and Friday



After a day of rest and recovery (and visiting the redditgifts office), I picked up our mentor Brian Bartlow and my girlfriend Sarah from the airport. We slept in a little on Friday morning, and then headed back to the track to meet up with Gerry Signorelli and Neil Chappell (aka Chappy) of the Racing for a Wish team. Gerry is an instructor with the California Superbike School and raced the XR1200 last year. He has a few XR1200s that hes able to offer up for rental at AMA events, where he also serves as crew and coach. He introduced us to the bikes, walked us through the weekends itinerary, and showed us how to take the bikes through tech. It was an easy process where they give us a sticker on our front number plate, a transponder, and control stickers to put on our tires. We left the track Friday evening with everything ready for the next morning, when we would have our only practice session and first experience of riding the XR1200.



Saturday Practice



Saturday morning started with the riders meeting for the XR1200 class. This mostly focused on logistical and safety issues. Afterwards the four of us who were participating in our first event stayed while one of the officials walked us through the gridding and race start process. Throughout the weekend all of the AMA officials were very friendly and kind and took effort to make sure our first experience ran smoothly.



A couple hours later we went out for our first 40 minute practice session. After stretching and gearing up, I hopped onto the bike and we fired it up. My first experience of the massive V-twin engine idling nearly rattled my bones apart. I rolled out to the hot pits, where a couple of officials checked my tire control stickers and waved me out onto track.



Once the bike was under power, the vibration mostly went away and it felt like riding a heavy naked SV650. I rode at a cautious pace during my out lap, getting a feel for how the bike turned, got on the power, and decelerated on the brakes, and felt pretty good about it. As I came down the front straight the first time, I tucked down, grabbed the front fork with my left hand, and prepared to put in my first hot lap.



My first flying lap went well until I reached turn 7 (aka Witchcraft), a fast right-hand sweeper that exits into a slow left-hand corner. The bumpy entrance of this corner immediately upset the bike, and my weight on the handlebars amplified it, putting me into a pretty serious wobble that threatened to turn into a tank-slapper. As I tried to make the corner, the bike continued to try to buck me off. I was concerned that the wobble was just going to get worse until I crashed, so I straightened the bike up. It immediately stabilized, so I got on the brakes as hard as I could to scrub off speed before running off the track. After a week of hard riding, this was my first off-track excursion, but fortunately I was going slow enough that there was no drama. I waited for a couple of riders behind me to pass by, rejoined, and proceeded to try again.



After six more laps, I saw by the clock at the start/finish line that the session was about half over. I decided to pit in for a splash of water and to see if my crew had any suggestions. I was pleasantly surprised when they informed me that my lap time was already down to 2:17! This was fast enough to have qualified for last years race -- not bad for having less than half an hour of seat time on the bike! I complained about Witchcraft, and Gerry and Chappy suggested I focus on putting less input into the bars and hanging off the bike more.



I headed out to see if I could run the rest of the session with no incidents and better lap times. The next time I entered Witchcraft, I realized that I was pulling on the left handlebar a little, which was making the wobble worse. I also noticed that I was standing on the pegs a bit too much, and as I put weight on the seat and against the outside of the gas tank, I was able to dampen some of the oscillation between the front and rear. With some tools in the box, I was able to approach that corner with a little more confidence as I continued to polish my lines around the rest of the track. When the checkered flag came out, I rolled back around to the pits with some exhaustion and a very dry mouth, and a good feeling for how I was sorting myself out with the bike. I returned to some happy faces, where I was told Id dropped my lap time even more, to 2:14 on the last lap! In fact, I had dropped a little time every single lap out there, with my fastest times in every split on the last two laps. Thats the sort of consistent, methodical improvement I strive for, and the confidence I needed for the afternoons qualifying.



Saturday Qualifying 1



Provisional qualifying for the XR1200 class was scheduled at the end of the day Saturday, after all the races. We had 45 minutes to put in the fastest lap time we could. We would have a second chance with a shorter qualifying session early Sunday morning, but I tend to struggle with early morning sessions, so I wanted to put in some good times Saturday and not have to worry about it. My stretch goal was to drop my lap time below two riders who were faster than me so far, and get myself into 12th place and onto the third row of the grid for Sundays race.



I rolled out with a plan for one or two pit stops, but with just two laps in I had to throw that plan out the window. As I entered turn 12 (Clubhouse) on my out lap, a waving yellow flag popped out, and as I came around the corner I saw a bike and rider down at the next apex. It turned out to be Michael Barnes, the reigning class champion, who had high-sided exiting Clubhouse on his out lap. When I returned to this corner on my first flying lap, there was still a tremendous amount of gravel out on track. It was a dangerous situation, and when I saw the red lights flashing in turn 2 of my next lap, I knew there was going to be a bit of a break for cleanup.



The break turned out to be about 10-15 minutes. I sat in my leathers with my helmet on under our canopy by the hot pit and focused on hydrating and maintaining focus. Since I hadnt really put in any flying laps, I had nothing new to plan since obsessing over this session all day, but I kept visualizing laps until they put 35 minutes back on the clock and blew the whistle to send us back out on track. I rushed onto the bike and decided to just spend the entire session riding as hard and intelligently as I could.



The remainder of qualifying went pretty well. I experimented with gear selection a bit. Earlier Id found 2nd gear awkward and difficult for turns 5, 6, and the final two corners (14 and 15), but I noticed riders really gapping me out of those first two. Turn 6 in particular was important, since it lead onto a bit of a straight before tipping into Witchcraft, and this was in the segment that Brian had told me I was struggling in the most relative to other riders. So I returned to downshifting a bit more into those corners, concentrated on improving controlling and timing my clutch release to stabilize my entry, and found my way to making much better exits out of those corners. I also tried it in the final two corners, but I felt like I was upsetting the bike too much on both entry and exit, without making any real gains.



Toward the end of the session I had a bit of luck. I found myself getting passed by a couple of riders who were just a few seconds faster than me. They passed me with a lot of courtesy, so I didnt even lose any time at all, and I was able to catch onto their draft a little bit and study how they approached the track. When I crossed the start/finish line I had a bit of a draft and saw 30 seconds on the clock. I was very pleased that I had a bonus lap to work with, and decided to make it really count. I pushed a little harder than I did the lap before, focused well and made no mistakes. I took the checkered flag and cruised back into the pits with a positive feeling.



When I came back in, the crew seemed pretty excited. I found out that not only had I dropped time on just about every single lap, but Id dropped 0.7 seconds on that last lap! My best time was a 2:12.363 -- comparable to my 650 lap times the Sunday before -- and Id just barely nicked 12th place on the grid! I was very excited at first, until someone reminded me that this was provisional and that Michael Barnes hadnt yet put in a lap. I realized I still needed to try very hard Sunday morning to improve on that time and try to push someone else off that third row.



Sunday Qualifying



Our second and final qualifying session was scheduled for 8:30am -- far too early for my taste. However, I know I have to be ready to ride to the best of my ability at any time, any place, on any bike, in any conditions, so I prepared as best I could. I got to bed very early, slept very well, and woke up with plenty of time for a little breakfast, caffeine, hydration to compensate for the caffeine, and lots of stretching.



Unfortunately the morning session came with a strong south wind. I also struggled a lot with some tightness and soreness in my legs, particularly in the hamstring area. I may have been hitting some limits in my physical fitness, but perhaps I should also have stretched a lot more the night before so as not to be so sore from Saturdays riding. After all, I did ride more laps than anyone else during qualifying the day before, and I just turned 34 the week before. Im not as limber as I used to be.



Excuses notwithstanding, I was able to run at a decent pace. I didnt quite match the 2:12 from the day before, but I did once again improve on almost every lap, once again ending the session with my fastest lap of 2:13.303. I also managed to put in a lap faster than a rider who had been faster than me the day before, but it wasnt sufficient to hold my position on the third row. Since Barnes was able to return on Sunday, combined qualifying placed me 13th on the grid, heading up the 4th row. I was a little disappointed, but aside from a few minor mistakes I was doing quite well, and even better than expected in a few ways. It was now time to get positive and focus on the race coming up in just a couple of hours.



The Race



Since Id felt so stiff during morning qualifying, I spent twice as much time on stretching my legs. My girlfriend Sarah did a great job of making sure I stretched out, got my blood flowing, and kept my anxiety under control. Immediately after the Fan Walk and National Anthem, it was time to suit up and head out for the sighting lap.



Gridding up after the sighting lap was an interesting experience. Gerry, Chappy, Brian, and Sarah met us out on the grid. As Sarah kept me out of the sun with an umbrella and wished me luck, I realized she was even more nervous than I was! Brian came by and gave me a pep talk while I slurped down water, and the entire crew made sure the bike was ready to go. Its really inspiring for a rider to have this sort of love and support, and to receive it just before the warmup lap makes a huge difference. As the grid cleared I switched my mind into race mode. It was time to do what I know how to do well, and just ride.



The warmup lap was my first real chance at a practice start. The clutch in my bike likes to drag the bike forward when in gear, even with the lever pulled in all the way. Id never staged for a launch using the brakes, so I wasnt really prepared with this bike. As my row was released, Shelina Moreda rocketed ahead, whereas I relied on the low-end torque of the motor to get going. I proceeded to follow her around the lap. I could tell she was struggling to carry what was to me a comfortable pace in every corner. Before Id been worried about getting caught up battling her and the other riders from my own row, instead of getting to ride with the faster riders ahead of me, but this warmup lap gave me confidence. I lined back up in my box ready to rock.



As the official in front of the grid held up the red flag and proceeded off course, I put the bike into gear, tried revving it a little without letting the bike move, and fixed my gaze on the lights. Because I knew how strict the AMA was about assigning jump start penalties for the slightest movement, I didnt try too hard to get a good launch, and focused on timing instead. The lights came on and stayed on for a long time, and I patiently waited for them to go out. As soon as they finally did, I started twisting the throttle wide open and letting out the clutch.



I had a pretty mediocre launch, but so did a lot of other riders in front of me. The one exception was, once again, Shelina, who rocketed ahead and seemed to gain at least four positions in the long run toward turn one. I focused on picking up some drafts, establishing an inside position, and finding my brake marker for turn one. I felt strong here diving up the inside on the brakes, and I think I recovered a position from my poor launch. I was able to hit my first apex, hold my line, and set up for a good run through the next few very fast corners while closely following a pack of five or six riders.



As I came out of turn 4, I had such a good run and strong draft that I found myself hitting the rev limiter on a straight where Id never had to upshift before. I popped up into top gear (5th) momentarily, set myself up on the inside, and braked late within a mass of three or four other riders. Some of them ran too deep into this corner, turn 5, while others overbraked. I actually braked a little too late and had to dive in even further up the inside to avoid a rider in front of me. For the first time I was actually utilizing the full braking power of the XR1200, and despite going over 120 mph on a quarter of a ton of steel, I was able to stop on a dime and claim the first apex without causing any trouble with the other riders. One of the riders I passed was able to reclaim the position on the second apex of that corner, but I think with that move I gained one or two more positions. At this point I believe I was in 12th place.



As we came out of turn 6, a cloud of dust told me that someone had gone down. Although I had no idea what my position was, I was now in 11th. I focused on drafting the riders in front of me. The next corner up was Witchcraft, and unfortunately I was still struggling here compared to the rest of the field. I soon lost my tow and found myself with a bit of a gap in front of me, but no one had passed me yet. I settled into what I feared might be a lonely race and began focusing on riding a consistent ride.



After a couple of laps, I was still holding my position, and it felt like I was very slowly reeling in the rider ahead of me. The occasional glimpse back as I exited turn 1 or turn 5 showed just one rider on my tail, but I wasnt able to leave him behind. Eventually he made a move on me coming out of Witchcraft. I tried to get immediately onto his rear tire and follow him through the esses, but I failed to carry enough speed and he developed a bit of a gap on me before the next corner. I began to feel a little doubt that Id be able to keep up, but I nailed my apex in turn 11 (Tooele) and got a good run (and a bit of a draft) down the back straight to catch back up. By the next corner I was all over his rear tire, and came out of the final corner onto the front straight only a foot behind.



As I followed this rider, I read the name on the back of his leathers and realized it was Sam Rozynski, who was the rider gridded immediately ahead of me that I felt I could keep up with. I decided that even though he was stronger than me in parts of the track, I would make his race as difficult as possible. I carefully managed the throttle so as not to get too close, until we got nearer to turn 1, and then used the draft to sling myself to the inside. He braked early, and I was easily able to retake 11th place. I maintained my lead for the rest of the lap. When I got to Witchcraft, I knew I was weak there, so I exited wide to eliminate the easy passing opportunity. It was time to race a defensive race.



On the next lap, I found myself getting passed going into turn 5. I tried to retake Rozynski at the second apex, but he was much better than me at getting on the gas. Once again he gapped me through my weaker corners, and by the time we returned to the front straight hed developed a lead of about a second. The white flag was out, so I had to do something quick to retake 11th place!



Continuing down the front straight, I used the draft as best I could and was able to get within a bike length before reaching the braking zone for the first corner. Fortunately for me, he braked early once again, and I was able to dive into the corner on the inside before him. I braked all the way to the apex and powered out toward turn 2 before he could challenge me, and then powered through turns 3 and 4 faster than Id ever gone before. At this point I was using everything Id learned at YCRS, hitting apexes, using the entire track to open up the radius of each corner, managing my speed and direction with subtle braking, and staying calm and methodical. Because Id improved my technique for corner entry so much, I was able to increase my aggressiveness without feeling rushed or losing control. As we returned to turn 5 I took a more defensive inside line and braked hard, not even bothering to glance back as I powered out toward turn 6. I figured the other rider was right on my tail and would make a move at any opportunity.



Every corner for the rest of the lap I expected to hear a rumbling twin coming by to challenge me. Once again I took a defensive line out of Witchcraft. I lined up the esses as best I could and charged hard into Tooele, but there was still no challenge. I think at this point the other rider had a problem of some sort and I pulled out a big lead, but I had no idea. All I knew was I had a good drive toward the final three corners, and a waving yellow flag let me know that his best passing opportunity had been taken away. A rider had crashed in the penultimate corner of the last lap, which moved me up another position. I navigated the final two corners, exited cleanly and strongly onto the front straight, and put my head down all the way to the checkered flag.



I had no idea where Id finished, but Id beat the rider that Id wanted to, made very few mistakes, and survived my first professional race! After a few corners on the cooldown lap I settled down enough to notice the thumbs up from the turn workers, and started enthusiastically returning the gesture. As I made my way to the east side of the track I began passing some grandstands full of fans waving, and I happily waved back. I was ecstatic!



As I returned to my crew I received applause, and Chappy asked me how I felt about 10th place. 10th??! He also told me my last lap was my fastest lap of the weekend, a 2:12.247, and said thats the way to do it! Although I was a little disappointed that I couldnt find the extra pace to run with the riders ahead of me, I really couldnt ask for anything more. I ran my 650 pace on a weird new-to-me bike, ran a good clean race, and out-rode a few riders more experienced than me and more familiar with the XR1200. A top 10 finish was my stretch goal for my professional debut, and with a bit of luck and a lot of training I pulled it off!



Thanks



Seeing the enthusiasm and satisfaction in my crew, friends, and girlfriend made it all the more worthwhile. I have to give special thanks to Sarah for her patience, love, and support. Shes also an excellent coach, making sure Im physically fit and tuned in for my performance.



My first AMA ride was made possible thanks to Gerry Signorelli and Racing for a Wish, who provided the bike to ride, along with Neil Chappell. Together they provided crew services for me and Michael, along with coaching. They debriefed us after each session and helped us plan for the next one. Without their help I would not have improved every lap.



I also must thank Brian Bartlow, who put this whole deal with Racing for a Wish together. He also used to own and operate Feel Like a Pro, which has given me the entirety of my racing experience thus far. These past two years on the Ninja 250, and the past six months on the SV650, have prepared me for this event in the best possible way. Im also grateful to have Brian around for all the pep talks and all the crazy entertainment he brings to the paddock. Racing without Brian around just isnt the same.



Im also very grateful to Dave Seyl, the new owner and operator of Feel Like a Pro, for helping me continue to build up race experience at the club level. Thank you to all my FLAP teammates and other friends and competitors from the AFM who cheered me on from afar in between their own races this weekend.



Id also like to thank Yamaha Champions Riding School, Nick Ienatsch, Ken Hill, Shane Turpin, Dale Kieffer, Scott Russell, Josh Hayes, and everyone else who helped me develop tremendously as a rider in the days leading up to this event. I could not have placed myself in better hands, and they gave me the skills, mindset, and confidence I needed to successfully take on this new challenge.



Finally, thank you to Suomy for the lightest, coolest helmet Ive ever worn, and Pilot for rushing me out a set of leathers to look good in for the weekend (I cant wait for my custom reddit leathers to be ready!). Also, thanks to reddit, Inc., for the coolest job in the world that also affords me the opportunity to pursue such a time-consuming endeavor! I cant wait to try again at Indianapolis. __________________

AFM/WERA #942