As usual, Valentin Debise tells us about his discovery of the American MotoAmerica Supersport championship, in a way that is as lively as it is detailed.
You can find the first episodes of his adventure in the section “Rookies” from our site.
Valentine Debise: “Here I arrived at “VIR”, in Virginia. The horizons are green, the weather wet, and the track magnificent, bordered by trees in certain places; yes, yes, no wall or row of tires, but trees which are located 400 meters from the track. Iincredible!
Typical American track with numerous chicanes, drops in all directions, corner exits delimited by “vibrators” which are in truth quite high and made of concrete. I had a bad experience during my first laps while trying to put my wheels as close as possible to these famous vibrators on the insides, my toe clip hit the concrete and the bike went in all directions! That will teach me! lol
Once again, I was unlucky with the weather, which amplifies the challenge of performing in races with little track experience. Friday morning took place in the rain, I took my time by adopting the usual strategy, namely staying on track during the 40 minutes of the session to finish in 2rd position. Second free session, which has plenty of sunshine in store for us; it's hot and humid (100% humidity), and honestly, I was struggling on this session. I repeated the mistakes several times in a row, without having the ability to correct the situation. I returned to the hotel early that evening to think about this situation, and make a plan of attack for the next day.
My technical team made some small changes to the bike to help me; I leave with my plan in mind, and everything goes according to plan. I start with an old tire, I work on my trajectories at 2 critical points and validate the gear ratio of the bike. I put on a new tire, gain confidence and the time arrives nicely. I put on my second new tire and I improved again, being hampered in my three fast laps out of four; that's the game... I place myself second, not far from the track record set during this very session, to tell you the level of competitiveness this year!
We are already arriving at first race of the weekend. I get ready, my mechanic comes to see me and warns me that there is going to be a little rain. No problem because I was quickly in these conditions on Friday morning. We place ourselves on the starting grid….
And there… It's not rain but a storm! A real one, like on TV! I was afraid; At least they're used to it. I even saw a guy dancing in the middle of a mini tornado with his arms in the air! lol
Evacuation of the starting gate, we leave the motorbikes there, we take shelter, all the arbors fly away; a real fiasco. The sun comes back with a vengeance after ten minutes of heavy rain. The track is flooded, but MotoAmerica restarts a departure procedure. On the starting grid, the choice of tire promises to be critical. Due to my lack of experience on this track, I did not make the right choice (front rain tire, rear slick tire), and I take full responsibility for it. The track dried out in three laps; I pushed the bike to the limit, as much as I could, but it was impossible to follow the others! I finished at a disappointing 9rd place. The positive side is that other drivers in the same situation as me did not score any points; I saved the furniture (not the team's arbor).
Second race. I believe in my chances of victory today. I had two possible scenarios; one was that I was not fast enough, so to overtake the leader as many times as possible to hinder him, and control the pace of the race, the second was that I had the right pace and that I waited behind while trying to keep the rear tire as best as possible, which will be the key to success for the final laps of the race.
I get off to a good start, I take the lead two laps, my competitor overtakes me, I pass him immediately to see his reaction, he passes me coolly in the pit straight, I stay behind, I see him forcing himself when accelerating, I make the opposite choice, I force more on braking. We are a group of five pilots, some of whom are angry. The fight is in full swing throughout the race. Not a second of respite, with a driver overtaking me then going off the track, and the latecomers who are still not decided to push themselves off the line; it was fun! I prepare my final strategy by trying to understand the possibilities available to me to manage my last turn. I spend the penultimate lap second, my teammate passes me under braking (that was not planned), I pass him in the next corner (a left that goes deep three at the breaker), the leader has took the opportunity to gain a few tenths, I go back up quite quickly, braking on the return straight, I choose to close the door and stay where I am. I do a good sequence, I come out just behind the first one, take the lead in a downhill braking, enter the corner and lose the front. I manage to recover, wait a little before taking the gas again to return to the rope and block the second, then I veer into the left at full tilt. I make a good last turn, accelerating as early as possible to anticipate the long straight, I squeeze my buttocks, tuck my elbows in as much as possible, keep my head against the tank, I believe it! I don't hear its engine anymore... until I see the finish line where he overtakes me by 3 hundredths!
This is what I missed; you will say “it’s nothing”, but I have the impression that there is a world.
A little disappointed, but happy to get closer and closer despite the lack of driving on this track. I now have the bike in my hands. I am patient; my turn will come.
I'm back in second position in the championship, which is huge!
Thank you everyone and see you soon"
VD53
