This weekend was a challenge on several fronts.  We dealt with the oppressive heat, as in 40  degrees Celcius (105 F), close people getting injured (as mentioned above), all while dealing with new, untested, equipment. 

The weeks leading up to the race were quite full for the team.  Dan put in a tremendous grind with over three weeks of solid work building his latest evolution of engine for me to ride.  Despite his skepticism, (read modesty) the bike performed flawlessly from the moment they took it out of the trailer.  I just can't say enough about how special and unique Dan's engine building and racecraft is. Pure genius.

With racing, specifically motorcycles, balance plays a huge role in my approach to unlocking lap times.  I'm so sensitive to the balance of grip from the front and rear tires that even the smallest changes can have a dramatic impact on how I have to ride the bike.  Case in point was the introduction to Pirelli's latest SC0 rear tire.  A tire engineered for high temperature, lower grip, conditions.  The grip, and consistency, produced by this tire is staggering and it found me having a few close calls in our first race.  With my typical set-up on tire compounds, I am able to slide the rear of the bike in certain sections of the track enabling me to finish the turn more effectively.  With this much grip, I wasn't able to slide as I wanted and it was even overwhelming the front tire causing me to run wide and off my "ideal" line.  More grip equals a terrific dilemma, sure, but it left me frustrated after the first race as I certainly didn't extract everything I could from the package.  Luckily with a decent sleep on Saturday, and a different approach to riding the bike, I was able to do a better job with the bike in Sunday's race.

Again, thoughts to Christine and Alex on speedy recoveries and continued thoughts to Kelly Johnston's friends and family.