A couple of months ago, Anthony began to ask me about trying out a 600. Until then, he’d said he didn’t like them and that he just wanted to ride his 125. I think part of the reason was that most of his race-buddies had moved up to 600s and Anthony had grown. In the span of only a few months he’d shot-up a few inches.
I mentioned Anthony’s crazy idea to a few people, one of them Chris from CT racing. Chris has taken a liking to Anthony and they get along really well.
A couple of weeks ago Chris called me and said he had talked to Eric Kondo, a fellow BARF Racer, and he had agreed to give Anthony a go on his 2011 R6. I was happy to hear that someone like Eric would let Anthony try out their bike because I knew it would be safe. When I told Anthony, he was ecstatic and anxious.
The big day was set for a trackday at Thunderhill at the end of April. I had my normal chat with Anthony and explained to him that it was NOT HIS bike and that he needed to be careful and just enjoy himself.
The time finally came after lunch. Anthony rode the bike for two sessions and every time he came back with a bigger smile on his face. He could not believe how much power the bike had and how easy it was to spin the rear tire. Obviously he disliked the extra weight. He commented on how difficult it was to counter-steer the bike and how much effort and time it took to get it turned (I guess he’ll need to start working out).
Anthony was so happy to ride the bike that he didn’t want to get off. We are thankful to Eric for letting Anthony use his bike and to Chris for spreading the word. We were also fortunate to have a few of Anthony’s sponsors enjoy the day with us, Jim from Suomy, Rob from Evolution Motorcycle and Rob from MotoGloss.
Anthony rode the R6 as a true professional and with respect!! I congratulate him on his professionalism..He has always displayed a proper attitude every time I have observed him at the track!! I am totally impressed with this young man!!
Now there is no hope for us old guys….. It will be easier to swallow now getting passed by a kid on a 600 than it was to say that kid on that bike with less than 1/2 the power of mine just blew my doors off.
Anthony, it was a pleasure to watch you ride the R6. As Jim mentions, you are definitely a true professional and it was fantastic to debrief with you afterwards to get a thorough description of your experience. Bike will continue to get better, pipe and more mapping going on the bike next week as well as race glass, and we’ll have to see you get another go at it! Glad you had a great time!
Also, Dito got some nice pics of you on track – http://www.gotbluemilk.com/web120430/y/imagepages/image246.html