I hadn't even crossed the track at Roebling Roads in Savannah, Georgia, to meet up with Scott, Kenny, George, and the Ducati Forza team for a weekend of CCS motorcycle racing, before being mauled by mad, toxic super bugs juiced up on race fuel. By the time I reached the tents, my left hand was so swollen, I could barely bend the third and fourth fingers.
Scott had a collision in pit lane during a practice run. The other guy forgot that passing a motorcycle with no mirrors with a rider who can neither see behind him nor hear any other engine but his own bike's is a bad idea.
Kenny's chain fell off his bike. Luckily he was able to coast back to pit lane where the Meat Cart could swing by and collect him and his unfortunate moto.
Riders were stressed from the high heat and Georgia humidity.
When they weren't stressing about the ominous rain clouds to the west. Or concerned about the low numbers of racers on the practice grids, which can affect CCS points and performance ratings.
And then Scott suddenly disappeared off the track, mid-race. I could see a poof of dust on the far side of the track. Ever the delusional optimist, I ignored the coincidence. The red flags came out.
Then the race was called for rain.
I decided that the red flag was for the rain. Not the poof or the missing 912 Ducati Supersport 1000.
It was tough to overlook the Meat Cart carrying Scott and his race bike back to the tents however.
Scott had his first crash. A tough high-side at about 70mph. He was fine. The bike? Not so much.
Racers are an unsympathetic bunch, if for no reason other than they all crash and bear the scars to show it.
After a quick check-on to make sure Scott wasn't any worse for wear, everyone went back to working on the bikes and preparing for the next race, leaving us with the damaged moto:
Bent exhaust can; broken right-side foot peg; twisted frame protector; cracked windshield; snapped off right-side windscreen bracket; and the right-side clip-on bar had broken off completely.
Who knows where the brake reservoir may have gone? Perhaps it eloped with the lower throttle housing?
All considering, the bike looked pretty good.
Importantly, the motorcycle never tumbled, even when it slid into the dirt off the track. It may have mowed the lawn and gouged out a half-dozen divots, but it stayed on its right side, which greatly limited, and localized, the damage.
And even more importantly, the engine sounded good. Mechanically solid: It could be fixed.
We started the process of picking out the sod, dusting off the dirt, and going over the bike inch-by-inch, looking for loose parts and leaks, compiling the list of "things to be repaired" before the next day's races began.
What? You thought racers crashed their bikes and went home? Not even close.
"I really wasn't expecting that," commented Scott as he inspected the dirt crammed inside the front tire edge. The debris had broken the bead, but was packed so tightly, the tire wasn't losing any air.
He continued: "It had started to rain, I was already out of the tough part of the turns, so I had backed off to keep from running into trouble with the wet track. Next thing, I glance over and the bike's tail is next to me.
After that, I got a neat view-from-above of the handlebars and more than enough time to consider the ground below me, rolling techniques once I left the ground, and how I was experiencing my first high-side."
And with that, he shrugged; it was back to work.
Racers aren't particularly introspective either.
It was an inexplicably tough day on Team Ducati Forza and friends. Scott may have been a bit perplexed as to the whens and whys of his high-side. But Larry of Moto Corse knew the answer to the ills of the day:
The dreaded CCS Poster Curse.
Every race, CCS puts out a race poster. Much like the Madden curse, where the NFL player who graces the box for the up-coming season suffers a season ending injury, the racer featured on the poster always, always, always, crashes the next race.
Scott was the CCS poster boy for the previous race. He thought he had thwarted the curse because he missed the event. Not so lucky. It appears the the curse applies not to the next scheduled race, but the next time the rider races.
Thanks for the clarification, Scott!
And congratulations! You may have crashed out, and you may have caused the red flag, but you also placed 2nd in that very same race. Not bad at all!
Cheers!