Ok... Here is the trip report...
Ben and I drove down together first thing Monday morning. It was about 9 hours with stops from Charlottesville, VA to Brasselton, GA. The drive down was uneventful.
Once there, we stayed at the Chateau Elan Holiday Inn.
The first morning it was cold and moist! 40 +/- degrees with some winds and occassional misting sprinkles. By noon it had warmed up to 48 +/- but with all of the track adrenaline, you hardly noticed.
The day goes like this... You start in the class for about 20 minutes and then move out to the track for 20 minutes. This pattern repeats (except for during lunch) until the day is complete. On the first day I think we got 6 sessions on the track. This works out to roughly 2 hours of track time. Ben and I went through two tanks of fuel in the first day! And, our tires got pretty gummed up even with the frigid temperatures.
For the most part our class was made up of us and them. Them being the Evil Pumpkin Racing team (check 'em out here:
http://www.evilpumpkinracing.com ). Except for one pumpkin (he was the resident pro), Ben and I were hanging with the racing team. Which may have ticked them off considering I had only been to the track once before, and this was Ben's first time!
The SV track bikes handle VERY nicely and had plenty of spunk to keep us in the game. I was extremely satisfied with the performance (as was Ben). I think they will work out very nicely as beginner track bikes. Our plan is to ride them all of this season and perhaps move up to GSX-R 750's next season.
Back to my story... Ben and I were doing pretty good speed wise. I believe Ben was a little bit faster than me, but he doesn't like to admit it (except prolly behind my back!) Dan and Chris weren't nearly as quick, but some of that can be attributed to the stock SV's with street tires they were riding. Our track SV's had Pilot Race H2 tires on and they are nice and sticky! Also, remember that Dan and Chris ride Honda 600's on the street whereas Ben and I ride busa's. I feel we have an advantage there, because we have to push the busa HARDER to keep up with the 600's in tight twisties. Switching from the bus to a tracked out SV was SICK. That thing likes to DIVE into corners and hold at excellent lean angles.
Before the first day was over, jetset (from this site) had lost control and dumped his bike. I will let him tell that story, since he knows it better than any of us. Let me suffice it by saying that he was not hurt badly and I am not sure what damage the bike had.
After the first class, we all (students and instructors) meet at a Mexican restaurant and hang-out during dinner. While there, Ben and I started telling Kevin, Marnie, Harry, and Jamie about our busa experiences on the street. These stories extended to Ben's 120MPH standing wheelies...
The next day, we were on our second or third session and Jamie James took me and Ben around the track. We were about two or three laps in on the back straight (8 tenths of a mile long) with the SVs at about 120 +/- when Jamie James looked over his shoulder and nodded at us. Next thing I know, he stands on his foot pegs and pulls a big ole stand-up wheelie at 125+ MPH. He takes the bike immediately to the balance point and rides the wheelie out for the remainder of the straight. By the time he set down, he was prolly rolling close to 150MPH!!! I was freaking out and hooting and hollering swinging my left arms in the air. When we pulled back into the pits, he pulls of his helmet and winks at us. That was the coolest!
By the second day, Ben had scraped one knee pretty nicely. I never did. Sometimes I felt like I could have, but I was nervous with my leg sticking out there at 90MPH... Who knows what it feels like... Not me!
My favorite turn is 7 and I proved it a couple of times with some nice rear wheel slides... It is a very sharp turn that is less than 90 degrees! But, I will never forget my one "experience" on turn 7... During the previous lap I had taken an early apex and ended out wide... So, this time I held my apex a bit and past my normal spot. When the time came, I cranked her over deeper than ever before and the SV just grabbed and threw me into the turn like a banshee! I couldn't believe how nicely the tires held... In my excitement, I slammed the throttle open just as I reached the apex... Well, normally I just roll it on and I am not leaned over as far either. To make a long story short, the front tire broke loose followed by the rear one! The bike was bouncing and sliding and it felt as though I would low-side. Finally the racing tires grabbed near the edge of the track and I immediately stood the bike as I rolled onto the rumble strips! Talk about adrenaline...
My next fun time, Ben was right on my tail and I screwed up my entrance to turn 1. Going wide on one is nasty, because it is full of tar repair lines, and tons of bumps. After a nerve-racking, bumpy, slippery ride, I finally eased into two a little slower!
Anyway, to sum it up, we went down there and had the most fun of our lives (except my wedding day)! We will go once a year from now on, prolly at the beginning of the season.
I can't tell you guys how awesome this class is, but I would recommend it to EVERYONE who rides! Hopefully I will see and meet more of you next year!
I am compiling our racing footage into a video and will post it in the video section soon.
-Vaughn.
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