We arrived a little later than we should have, needless to say, we missed the first session. We had to set up our pit area, put the warmers on and get ready all in 20 minutes... Yeah, that wasn't happening.
After my friends and I spent the first 30-45 minutes or so getting set up, it was time to go for my first session. Bike felt great, I wasn't as rusty as I thought I would be and had more confidence going around the track than ever before.
Second session out, my friend and I were playing cat and mouse for the most part, it was good. He passed me, I passed him and I set my personal best time in that session. Grew more confidence, started braking harder, trail braking longer and really making the bike work. Came back to the pits, put the warmers on and waited anxiously for next session to start we can do it all over again.
Fabi layout, T3 is a very tricky one. On the third session out, after 3-4 laps, I was behind another rider who happened to run wide on T3. I wasn't far behind him, thought I would pass on the inside since I was carrying the right corner speed, I was sure that I would be able to hold my line and complete the pass in a safe manner. I was done trail braking, I'm committed to the corner and I noticed that the rider in front of me started to cut across again to over correct for his mistake. I panicked. I didn't know how far or how fast he's going to cut across. I touched the front brake and lost the front. Thankfully it was a slow-ish corner, I managed to walk away unscathed and learned a valuable lesson while doing so.
As far as the bike goes, it got away with relatively minimal damage. The Woodcraft frame sliders worked really well, the Sharkskinz bodywork held up great. Seriously, that stuff is worth it's weight in gold. Absolutely minimal bodywork repairs required. Aside from a broken windscreen, a torn grip and a scuffed up Brembo RCS lever, there's really not much to do to get it ready again.
I couldn't just duct tape the bodywork and leave it like that for the rest of the season. I just couldn't. As soon as I got home, I took the bodywork off and took it to one of the body shops we deal with at work. He's the guy who originally painted it and now he's the guy fixing it. Should have that back by the end of the week some time.
I also noticed there is no pressure on the front brake lever. Absolutely none. It seems that when the right clip on came in contact with the asphalt, things got moved around and the banjo bolt hit the fork and came loose. Not a big deal but still. It's annoying.
The gear held up well. The suit doesn't need any repairs, boots came out fine but unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about my Shoei X12. Hit my head as I crashed and wrote it off. I was due for a replacement anyways. Most importantly, the gloves did their job! They didn't rip upon impact and I didn't break any bones. 5ive gloves should take note on how quality gear is made!
Moving on, I went to GP Bikes and tried on an Arai Corsair V, RX-Q and Signet Q and none of them seemed to fit my head like the X12 did. I wanted a graphic this time, there isn't anything in Shoei's line up that is attractive and no, I will not buy a Marc Marquez replica, I don't care if he won 2 MotoGP titles back to back. I really don't like the guy.
Ended up replacing the X12 with another solid black X12. Thanks to Rider's Choice for the great deal.
Here are a few photos of the crash damage:
As far as replacement parts go, here's what I had to order:
1. Shoei X-12
2. Woodcraft custom seat pad
3. Woodcraft frame sliders, it seems the base on mine got bent so it was more economical to buy a new set than just the one side.
4. Renthal dual compound grips
The subframe got a little tweaked during the crash, a few mm's at best. I was going to buy a Yoyodyne subframe to replace the OEM one with but I really couldn't justify the expense just yet. It's something I wanted to do for a while but I can hold off. Maybe some time later in the season.
Will post a video of one of the sessions when I get around to it.
A short video following Sean around:
