Thrilling, unpredictable, mind-blowing stomach-dropping exhilaration, pushing-you-beyond-the-limits-you-thought-you-had, all rolled into a high speed chase on a short track to where you started. Destination: the checkered flag.
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| George Mayer on the Ducati Forza Racing 848, CCS #899 |
That’s racing. You never know what’s coming at you next. And just as anything can happen during a motorcycle race, there are all sorts of different ways to win one.
I’m not talking about the moral victory either. Find me a racer who doesn’t want to finish with a trophy and everyone else sucking his bike’s exhaust fumes behind him, and I’ll show you a guy who is lying. But winning, especially over the long CCS racing season, isn’t always a straight forward as it seems.
This season has been a tough one for me and the Ducati Forza Racing team. Technically: the Ducati Forza 848 missed two races due to issues with completing a series of upgrades added during the off-season. And personally: I missed two races because of a difficult loss in the family.
Given the four-race loss, heading into the final CCS race at Homestead, Miami, you’d be forgiven if you thought DFR was in “testing for next season” mode.
Given the four-race loss, heading into the final CCS race at Homestead, Miami, you’d be forgiven if you thought DFR was in “testing for next season” mode.
But it’s racing. And anything can happen. Including arriving at Homestead to discover that I am still sitting in first place for the SuperTwin class championship. By 15-points. With the Homestead finale race worth double points.
Screw “testing for next season” mode. We were in this one to win it all!
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| George Mayer on the Ducati Forza Racing 848, CCS #899 |
It’s impossible to complete a race weekend at Homestead without some rain. Luckily, the weather sorted itself out early, raining on the Saturday morning practice only.
The shortened practice run meant using the first half of the second session to work though the normal warm-up kinks and make sure that the 848’s suspension, braking, and engine were all set and functioning exactly as needed. Of course, with resident genius, Charlie Stratton, in charge, it was hardly a surprise that the 848 was already in top shape. By the end of the day, I was lapping just under race pace.
The shortened practice run meant using the first half of the second session to work though the normal warm-up kinks and make sure that the 848’s suspension, braking, and engine were all set and functioning exactly as needed. Of course, with resident genius, Charlie Stratton, in charge, it was hardly a surprise that the 848 was already in top shape. By the end of the day, I was lapping just under race pace.
Can’t ask for more than that.
Well, other than watching the latest MotoGP documentary, Fastest, that night. Which I did. Really can’t ask for more than watching the fastest racers on the planet battle it out the night before the biggest race of my own short racing career.
George
Click the links for more information on the Ducati Forza 848 racebike and Ducati Forza Racing.
George
Click the links for more information on the Ducati Forza 848 racebike and Ducati Forza Racing.