Gingerman write up

[natedogg624]

Yesterday was the second time out for me in 2012, the first being a semi-full race weekend at Grattan (a physically demanding track I had never ridden before). This time we went to Gingerman with the Riders Discount team. Joey Pascarella, 2012 Daytona 200 winner and newest Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki rider, flew out from Cali to ride our team bike to get used to the Suzuki after riding Yamaha's for quite some time. Joey is a cool kid and fast as hell, it's no wonder he won and also puts into perspective just how fast these AMA guys really are as he was within a couple seconds of the lap record within the first two sessions out.

Little flashback, ever since I've moved to Michigan it's been pretty busy with little time for track days. I haven't been to a consecutive track since fall 2010. 2011 was a wash as everytime I went out it was a new track to learn as well as struggling to gain confidence on the bike. Turns out the entire season I was riding with piss-poor geometry and a bent swingarm. I haven't really had a confidence inspiring day on this new bike since I purchased it, until yesterday. What a feeling it was to have confidence on the bike and be able to just twist the throttle at full lean and have the bike GO without any doubts. After the first session I dropped all inhibitions and just went for it, slippery sealer strips - no problem, track dips and bumps - no problem. I was eventually keeping Richard Harris within respectable distance for a couple laps (and Joey Pascarella for a couple turns...) I was making progress every session out.

Gingerman, if you've never been there is a combo of tight turns and swooping on the gas leaned over turns with mediocre straights, more like an Autocross track than for bikes. It's also divided into three "lanes" by sealer as well as wrinkled braking zones from the Autocross cars braking force effecting the asphalt over the years...

The bike is setup with proper sag and geometry this year, and other than this I haven't touched any of the clickers. I'm still working the "street" riding style out of my system and as such I need to get used to the bike before I start changing it up. I've realistically only been on a track ~10-12 times overall in my relatively short time riding. So yesterday was all about focusing on me, the rider, with body positioning and consistency, both of which were massively improved upon.

The other nice thing about Gingerman is the backstraight leads right into the pit in, so needless to say I was working on hard braking without the threat of running off track with pit in as a safety net. I blew my markers quite a few times, back end got super slideways which was a new feeling to get used to. I eventually got to the point where I was confident enough to start banking it over while it was still moving around and nail the apex with high corner speed and a strong drive onto the next straight. Another massive confidence booster.

Had to call it quits though after 4-5 times out as I was just exhausted - more motivation to hit the gym harder. Afterwards, myself, the team, Mark Junge, and Joey Pascarella went out for dinner and shared some great paddock stories. My job is pretty awesome to allow me to do this and interact with these people.

Overall a great day and thanks for reading!

[Hoblick]

great story Nate... sounds like you have the life right now

[4DAIVI PAI2K5]

Awesome and congrats Nate.

[shadyone]

Good for you Nate. Really seems like you are living the life right now..

[redkow97]

So Joey is nice in person?

[RidersDiscount]

Yes, Joey is very nice in person and wicked fast.

[RidersDiscount]