Another weekend race report for everybody. Like usual, it was complete chaos. Am I repeating myself?

VIR opened it's gates this year for racing for the first time in 50 years or so. Everyone was real excited to get down there and try out the new track. New pavement and new twisties had everyone anticipating a great track.

I drove down with John Lemak in his van Thursday night, so we could make the all day practice on Friday. My dad came in from Nashville, TN to spend the weekend with us. First thing to do Friday morning was head to tech. The guy inspecting my bike went to check the front brake and found the lever a little soft. He questioned it and wasn't going to pass it, but I told him it was always that way. I kept it soft on purpose. That was a total lie, but I knew it would get me through tech and allow me to deal with the brake on my own time. It felt a little soft, but really not to bad. I suited up for the first practice and headed out. Pit lane exits onto the last half of the front straight. There's plenty of room to get fast before the first turn, and that's where I realized the brake really did have problems. I pulled it in, but the bike wasn't really slowing. I got around turn 1 and took my time getting around the rest of the track to pull into the pits.

Imediately my dad and I start checking things out, making sure there's no leaks or broken parts. Next we started bleeding the brakes and adding fluid. Still too soft. The master cylinder was shot. It must have gotten hit in my crash at Summit the race before. I ran around to the vendors at the track looking for a new master cylinder. No one had one. I asked a few other racers for spare parts. No one had one. We jumped into my dad's van and headed to town. Meanwhile practice was still going and I was missing it. Can't learn a new track (especially a tight, twisty, technical track). We first went to Yamaha dealer in town and asked if they had any master cylinders. Luckily mine was off of a newer model Yamaha. Unfortunately they didn't have anything in stock, but they did send me in the direction of a cycle salvage shop down the road - Rocket Roger's. Cycle salvage it was. Rocket Roger's was full of eclectic motorcycles and parts from years gone by. Apparently Rocket Roger was some flat track, drag race, or motor cross national champion from years ago. He had all kinds of stuff and would help me as soon as he got done with the other customers. I explained the situation to him. Being an old racer himself he sympathized with my dilemma and urgency and took his time helping us. Eventually we were led to a dusty warehouse behind the shop full of bikes and broken bikes. There he cut us loose to look for a comparable master cylinder. We had to find one that matched the brake line bore of my bike. Being a race bike, I had larger lines and master cylinder. Finally we found an old Kawasaki whose master cylinder matched. We pulled it off, paid the man $55 and headed back to the track. Yes $55 was a lot for an old used master cylinder we weren't even sure worked., but I was in a pinch.

We got back to the track and it was raining. Practice was still going on, but not many people were going out. We had lunch and got the new master cylinder on. Bleeding it, we could immediately tell the difference - this one worked. Though it was raining, I had to get out on the track and learn where it went. VIR has a lot of blind corners due to elevation change. Knowing what went were was imperative. I was still scared from my wreck in the rain at Summit, but had no choice. John and I suited up and we headed out. He went real slow to let me follow his line. He was going so slow he spent most of the time with his head turned around backwords facing me to make sure I was still there. I think I got one maybe two sessions in before they closed the track for the day.

That night I stayed with my dad in his hotel room. There I spent most of my time trying to memorize the track from a map I had and the time I spent on the track. By the time I went to bed, I knew where and what all the left and rights were with my eyes closed. Saturday was some more practice and races. I can't remember much of it, so it must have been uneventful. Sunday was raceday. I got 7th out of 17 in D Superbike and 8th out of 11 in F2. On the drive home John got a speeding ticket and that was about it for my first trip to VIR.