Karl Rehpohl CRA #910, 5/2-3/2003, BIR Hey gang, As you may know I started racing this year and my first race outing (first track time also) at MAM didn’t have my bike cooperating, so no races for me that weekend. This month I transplanted a different engine into the bike and headed for BIR. BIR is HUGE, let me repeat that for impact sake, it’s fucking HUGE!!! MAM looks like a go-kart track when you’re looking down the straight at BIR. Thursday night I finished installing the engine, safety wiring everything back together and loading up the van. Finally getting to sleep around 3:30am. Wake at 8am Friday morning and headed north to Paul Bunyan land. I got into BIR around 10am and found the rest of the MN-Sportbike gang that had arrived the night before. I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to know you have friends around when you emerge yourself in something like racing (more on this later). Unpacked the bike, went thru tech, registration and was ready to party on the track. I didn’t make the first practice, which I’m happy for because the New Rider Class was just loading the newbies into trucks to drive them around the track and give them a look at what they were about to ride. HOLYSHIT is this track fast!!! Turn one and two are full throttle, top speed on a GS500. Now that may only be somewhere around 130mph, but when was the last time you took full lean corners at 130? I certainly haven’t. The big dogs come thru here at 180 plus….unreal. Mounted up on the bike and headed out for couple laps of practice. I was trying to just follow people and get an idea of the race lines and brake points other GS riders were using. No such luck. You can’t “lollygag” around BIR, you have to haul ass!! Long straights are everywhere, if you don’t get a good exit on that last corner you’re passed like RIGHT now and you’re competition is long gone. I was getting my ass handed to me and the only place I was making up time was on the main straight, turn one and two. I didn’t like the idea of passing people in one and two. Did I mention the 30-40 mile an hour head/cross winds? My bike started giving me problems again late on Friday. It started bucking and kicking after a couple of laps so I dialed it back a bit. You see, I have a problem. I ride a Superhawk and that’s been ALL my sportbike riding experience. When you put me on that little GS500 I want to absolutely ring its neck. Don’t get me wrong, it’s plenty fast to have fun on, you just don’t have power and thrust on demand like a liter bike. I’ll be purchasing a rev-limiter before next month. I changed my gearing and tried finding what little upper mid-range power was available instead of smacking 10,000 RPM every shift. It didn’t feel as rewarding, but it kept my bike running. I miss read the schedule and missed my registration cutoff for Saturday races (DAMNIT!!). I tracked down the pres, Rich Fish and was able to get penciled into the Saturday trophy dash, but missed the supersport race at noon. Better than nothing, and with rain looking emanate on Sunday possibly my last chance to race this weekend. I was starting to think that maybe I wasn’t meant to race? It actually crossed my mind with all the frustration I’ve gone thru this month and last. My first race is a trophy dash, 17 laps, roughly 35 minutes of racing. It was amazing and scary and LONG!! I was swapping places with Mark Miller every lap. I’d pass him in turn one or two because I had lower gearing (higher top speed) and then he’d usually come back around me somewhere around turn 6. Another rider went off in 7 right in front of Mark and I, washing gravel all across 8. I didn’t have a choice and blasted thru right after the crash. But on the next lap I was nervous about how that turn would look. I came thru in front of Mark and target fixated on the gravel and ran wide, up onto the burm with both wheels and into a rut that was between the burm and the grass. SLAP, SLAP, SLAP my bars went back and forth and I thought I was going down. The bike stayed up and I leaned back onto the track right before the burm ended. It scared the shit out of me. Mark came around me and on it went like this for 15 laps before the leaders finished and put my neck, wrists, and knees out of their misery. Mark took third and I finished fourth. I was happy with my first race results. Sunday morning it was NASTY weather, high winds, cloudy, cold (45-50 degrees), and predicted rains coming soon. Not a good outlook for racing. I was looking forward to today because I’d get to dice it up with some fellow list members. There’s like 20 of us now on GS’s this year (kidding: it’s actually around 6). Dave, Chad, Sheldon, Scott, Dani, and some other GS racers that were turning good times. People I’ve ridden with on the street and always been impressed with their riding abilities. I’d be lying if I didn’t give complete credit to this list for supplying me all the tools that have made me the rider I am today. MN-Sportbike list is an amazing group of people! Gridded up for the 8 lap Superbike race and we were off. Dave, Chad, and myself were all lumped together as we went thru the first two laps. Dave had an engine/gas delivery problem and had to drop out. Chad and I went back and forth with another GS rider thrown in the mix as well. The three of us had an absolute blast!! I stepped out the backend on turn three and six, which I didn’t think a GS had the power to do…it does when you’re already at the tire’s grip limit. Once again they were catching me on the infield and I was making up the difference on the straight, turn 1 and 2. Lap 6 I was able to hold them off till turn nine and came in WAY to hot for my ability. I thought of whacking it over and trying the corner but instead opted for the grass and rode off. To bad Dave wasn’t with us still because that would have been the third time he’d get to watch me ride off into the grass. J It’s a slow corner and I probably rode off at 25 mph. Turned around and looked to the corner workers for the o.k. to head back on. I had to wait for three riders to pass before it was clear and back out I went, knowing Chad and the other rider were long gone by now. My little ride off cost me 10 seconds and any chance at placing in the top three. Fourth place it was again. Tex and Kyle’s lightweight superbike race was next. Tex’s start put him around 5th and he passed three riders coming into turn three to get second place. (I was sitting in turn three watching) When he came around again he was in first and looking good. Kyle was in second and an orange jersey (new rider) was in third. Third lap Tex had widened his lead. Shortly after coming thru three Dag’s waved to us and told us Tex had gone down in six. We hopped in the car and headed to the scene. Tex’s hand was a bloody mess, they had cut his glove off and the paramedics were wrapping up his hand to stop the bleeding. They informed us he needed surgery and were taking him to the hospital in the ambulance. Man, I felt like shit. It sucks to see your friends go down, especially when they get hurt. Kyle took first (great job man!!) and then raced in the Supertwins race right afterwards. Kyle, you’ll have to fill me in on your work out routine, cause two races back to back has got to be hard? Luc and I packed up Tex’s bike and I got ready for my last race of the day. The clouds looked nasty and dark and the winds picked up with more consistent blasts. To top it off the race right before mine got red flagged because some deer had walked out onto turn one!! Could you imagine trying to avoid a deer at 130+? No thank you!! Everyone from the list decided to head out because of the weather and other reasons. That put me out in my last race of the weekend (ultralight GP) with Mark Miller and the other racer that was running with Chad and I in the superbike race. I got a decent start and pulled out in front of all the GS’s. The 125GP bikes were history and I wasn’t running even close to their times. Tex and Scott had both mentioned that I wasn’t getting off the bike enough in the corners, so my goal this race was get my ass completely off the seat and my outer calf muscle firmly against the tank. It worked wonders, I took every infield corner better and finished third with a 125GP rider in first and second. Fastest GS of the race and third place trophy for me!!! As I pulled off the track the rain started. It was the best luck I’ve experienced so far in my short race career. I’m not looking forward to racing in the rain. Luc (thanks for all your help Luc!!) and I packed up and headed for the hospital to see how Tex was doing. Tex already explained his hand issue, so I won’t cover that again. Sara and I stuck around till the doctors were done stitching his hand back together and Tex could wear off the sedatives from the surgery. We loaded up the van and head out around 10pm after spending 5 hours at the hospital. The people at St. Joe’s Hospital did a great job and were super friendly. By this time it was storming badly, 40+ wind gusts and dark. My vans windshield wipers don’t work and I had to concentrate on the road just as much as my earlier motorcycle trophy dash just to keep the van (a.k.a sailboat, when there’s a crosswind) between the lines. Halfway home I spotted a white and black object moving on the road ahead. I couldn’t swerve to miss it and decided to just straddle it with the van. It was a skunk walking straight down the lane towards oncoming traffic. My van had enough clearance to preserve the poor little stink bomb, but the next car probably got a nasty new fragrance enhancement. We pulled in safe and sound and I hit the sack around 1:30am. I was SOOOOO tired I hurt all over. I had a great time and wanted to thank everyone that helped me out, raced with me, gave pointers and/or just contributed to the fun. I can’t wait for the June race weekend and look forward to seeing everyone up there again. Tex: You kicked ass up there this weekend. Heal quick man!! Chad: It was great racing against you, most fun I’ve had and I’m jonesing for more. Special thanks to all the corner workers, medics and everyone that helps support what goes down at the track. Couldn’t do it without you. As always thanks to Bridgestone for keeping me upright and Lockhard Phillips for the support. Ride fast, ride safe, Copyright TeamPoop 2003
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