Final round of my first race season… how exciting! The final chance to test the new R6 in race conditions before 2014. With some exciting new mods, I was stoked to get out to Thunderhill for the Z2 track day and round 7 of AFM for 2013.
Thanks to my amazing new sponsors Leo Vince Exhausts, my beautiful Yamaha now sounds as bad ass as it looks! With exceptional improvement to the bikes performance, my confidence on track was again increased, which reflected in my consistent decreasing lap times. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face all weekend!
A stunning day at Willows CA for the Z2 track day on Friday! With some sticky new Pirelli SC1's thanks to CT Race Tires I was ready to put the new Leo Vince exhaust system to test. Thanks to Alex from Fastline Cycles for again tuning the bike and installing the exhaust… as usual amazing results!
Saturday Oct 5 - Race Day 1
Pitting with Alex from Fastline and past AFM champion Chris Siglin was a huge confidence booster going into day 1 of Round 7. I feel incredibly blessed to have such an incredible team of sponsors and supporters! As I look around at my surroundings I become fully aware of how far I have come in just one (incomplete) season filled with opportunities to not only improve my racing but build quality relationships and friendships with the amazing people who dedicate their life to the sport and industry.
With a few practice sessions under my belt in the morning, it was time to get focused for the last Formula Afemme race of the season. With 7 women on the grid for Novice Afemme (9 total Afemme Grid) it was sure to be a fun race!
As the green flag dropped I was able to get a decent launch keeping me close to Experts Sara Probert and Joy Higa into turn 1. As Joy started to pull away, I was focused on keeping with Sara for a couple laps. With 6 Novice women behind me, I was motivated to keep the lead of the Novice grid. As Sara got just a little out of reach towards the end of the race my "seek & destroy" mentality died down a little enough to let #808 Brittany Chabino make a sneak pass on the inside of turn 3 of the 2nd last lap. Passing her back coming out of turn 15 and on to the straight away, I was able to hold her off to take the Novice race win & place 3rd over all (including experts) on the Afemme grid. Finishing the season with a win in Afemme was a goal I set out to achieve and was stoked to bring it home! This also put me in 3rd place for the 2013 NV Afemme Championship… not bad for a half season.
A HUGE Thank you to Ron from East Bay Auto Spa, Alex from Fastline Cycles, Chris & the team at CT Race Tires, Pirelli, Leo Vince Exhausts, Forma Gym and Johnson Chiropractic Group for your support and help, without these amazing individuals, it perhaps wouldn't have been possible! Thank you #488 Chris Siglin for your guidance and TJ for your encouragement and advice.
It was an amazing day at the track not only racing but hanging out in the pits with the likes of the amazing crew above. I also met some great people including the talented Eric Bostrom and getting tips from the man Shane Turpin.
With day 1 down, it was time to get rest and prepare for the 600 Production race the next day.
Sunday Oct 6 - Race Day 2
Eager to try out some new things on track after some tips from Turpin & Siglin the day before I was at the track early and ready to go!!
With one practice session, I was more than happy with the improvements and couldn't wait to launch off the line for the 600 Prod race.
600 Production featured a large grid of talented riders with 20 starting on the Expert grid and 18 Novice racers all launching in the same wave this was the kind of racing I loved to do…. Fast & action packed!
Starting mid pack in 9th position on the Novice Grid I had a much better start than the day before and launched in front of a few of my competitors. Trying my best to apply the things I had recently learned proved difficult under race conditions. By the end of the race I had some fun battles with those who I passed on the start to finish in my original grid position…. 9th place!! Stoked with a new PR lap record at Thunderhill of 2:04 and my first top 10 finish in (Nv) 600 Production.
After the race was over, I remained at the track to watch more action packed AFM racing! What an awesome way to end the race season.
From my experiences that weekend, I was able to create a plan of attack for the 2014 season and areas of focus for improvement.
Every day I am grateful for the wonderful opportunity to follow my passion and race motorcycles in America. For a young woman from rural-coastal Australia, it truly is mind blowing to see how dedication, determination, sacrifice and hard work can turn your dreams into reality.
See you at the Awards Banquet in 2014!
xo Monica xo
East Bay Auto Spa
Pirelli / CT Race Tires
Fastline Motorcycle Performance
Leo Vince Exhaust
Johnson Chiropractic
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