Race Sunday, 12/01/02
Carlsbad Raceway
The Christmas GP by Coast-Racing

This is a huge race. It draws lots of people (about 300 per age class) to race and have fun before the Christmas holiday. The track is 5 miles long and has all types of terrain. It's a very fast course overall.

It rained 2 days before the race and the track was awesome. My riding buddy and I got off to a rough start that morning. I forgot some of my gear and his bike wouldn't run. It worked out, he loaned me some gear and I fixed his bike.

TIP: don't leave rags in the air box when replacing your air filter and check the drier before leaving for the races.

My buddy missed practice but I got one lap in. I gave him the run down as best I could and we headed to the line. This is another live engine left hand on the helmet start. My bud goes off one line ahead of me. He got a mid pack start, good for him, he hasn't raced in over 10 years. My turn, rev it up, wait, wait, GO! Hey, I'm not moving! I look at the shifter as I kick it and it's not going into gear. My best guess is I had the revs too high and the trans wasn't slowing down enough to go into gear. I closed the throttle, shifted and took off. I'm now DEAD last. The field is about 50 yards in front of me. So much for the "we're here to have fun, it doesn't matter where we finish" statement. Fangs are dug into the tank and I'm going WFO. I railed the outside of the first turn and dove inside turn 2. That got me from 30th to 8th. Like I said, WFO. Now I can settle down and ride. I have 45 minutes to get by 7 guys. Most on the jumps are big singles on wide open straights. I spent most of time in 4th & 5th gear. I had a blast jumping at 50-60 mph. There are a couple down hills and holes to watch out for but all went well. I had a huge grin cause the suspension was making life soooo easy. I have to say thanks again to Paul Brent @ Moto Master USA for the awesome brakes. I passed a lot of guys at the end of the high speed straights.

At the end, we did have a great time. I don't know where I placed. Should be real close to the front. The results will be posted by Dec.15, I'll let you know.

Happy Holidays,

Kevin