My first race experience in the USA | GTAMotorcycle.com

My first race experience in the USA

KneeDragger_#16

Well-known member
My first race experience in the USA + CSBK 2015 season videos

So since I'm new to your site, I'd figure I would share my ever first experience racing with our neighbours from the South, in September of 2015.

For those that don't know me, I'm Alex Coelho #10 AM... 2015 National Amateur Sportbike Winner !
For those that don't know either... I'm 43 :p I ain't no young rabbit... lol


You have to understand one thing with these events... they are sprint races, 6 lap races !!!
A lot of challenges for me that wknd (resume below)

But in big... Did 6 races (2 Saturday & 4 Sunday)
Got only 1 practice session of 5 laps !
Raced all sessions with 2 sets of scrubs all wknd !
Always started last, since I registered last and was never there to do the Friday practice.

Anyway, hope you enjoy ;)

2nd race of Saturday: This was my third outing on this beautiful track. Had only one practice session in and my first race (forgot to turn my cam on). Started last (25th) finished 15th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhG2tMWawfs

1rst race of Sunday: This was my 5th outing, of the wknd, on this beautiful track. Had only one practice session in Sunday morning before this race. Started last (29th) finished 3rd.
Best time: 1.30.037, 2nd best time of the amateurs and this with 10 laps scrubs !!! ;)
ENJOY :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJbryuAMu34


3rd race of Sunday: This was my sixth outing, of the wknd, on this beautiful track.
Started last (10th) finished 2nd.
Best time: 1.29.290, best time of the amateurs and this with 22 laps scrubs!!! ;)
ENJOY :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYpWzyxDWKc


4th race of Sunday: This was my seventh outing, of the wknd, on this beautiful track.
Started last (21rst) finished 3rd.
Best time: 1.29.063, best time of the amateurs and this with 28 laps scrubs!!! ;)
ENJOY :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGKzDscNHVQ


It's in French, this is too long to translate, sorry... :S lol



Et oui… je me suis décidé à la toute dernière minute d’aller faire une ronde aux New Jersey Motorsport Park (Thunderbolt Raceway) en fds passé.

Mon passeport avait expiré lundi de la semaine passée, j’ai donc opté pour un nouveau fait express.
Vendredi le 4 je suis allé en ville le chercher et je me suis préparer pour la longue route de 8h.
On (Amber et moi) a quitté à 16h30 pour arriver à 01h00 du matin. Vu que la gâte allait être fermé, on a opté pour un hôtel.

Samedi matin je me pointe de bonne heure, car je dois m’inscrire et savoir quel group j’ai le droit de rouler. La demoiselle à l’inscription me dit que je dois montrer preuve d’un certificat de pilotage ou carte de membre de pilote du Canada. CSBK n’en donne pas et je ne roule à aucune autre place. Mon cours de pilotage date de 1996, donc je ne l’ai certainement pas avec moi.

Elle me dit d’aller voir les 2 hommes responsables du CCS/ASRA. Je fais mon chemin et leur donne mon nom et le site web du CSBK, pour qu’ils voient mon nom dans la liste des pilotes en Amateur.

Ça fonctionne, je m’inscris mais il me faut un numéro de compétiteur et #10, 210, 102 et 201 sont déjà pris. Dac, j’opte pour le 320 et là je dois choisir quelle classes je veux rouler…???? Putain ils coursent 18 fois en une journée !!! Je choisi les deux seules que je connaisse, SuperSport Middleweight et SuperBike middleweight.

Je dois passer au tech mais les chiffres ne sont toujours pas sur le bike… TROUVE quelqu’un qui en vend. C’est fait, j’ai trouvé. Je défais mon bellypan et installe les nouveaux chiffres (noir sur jaune pour les Amateurs aux States) Je passe au tech et en même temps, mon groupe est appelé pour la première sortie de la journée, soit les pratiques. Je la manque et 1h plus tard je suis prêt.

Mes warmers sur les roues et j’entends l’appel pour mon group… putain 10min n’est pas assez pour les pneus ! Pas grave, je sors tout de même et au premier tour…. Drapeau rouge. On sort tous et 10min plus tard on rembarque pour 10min (environ 5 tours) Donc ma première VRAI sortie en piste, je sors avec des pneus froid… :s

Lunch time…. Mes roues sont sur les warmers finalement et ma course est la 12ième et 15ième de la journée. Beaucoup d’accident plus tard et c’est à mon tour de rouler… vers 16h !!!

Nullement besoin de vous dire que je partais dernier sur la grille. Un peu bizarre, vu que j’ai partie toute mes courses en SuperSport de la première ligne au CSBK lolll

1ière course : Middleweight SuperBike AM
Donc départ de la 28ième place…. Oui oui 28ième en Middleweight SuperBike AM !!! Pour faire 5 tours de courses. La bas, ce sont des ‘sprint races’. Des courses de 6 tours mais du a tous les accidents au cours de la journée mes courses étaient de 5 tours. Et vu qu’on était beaucoup sur la grille de départ, ils le font en vagues. Donc j’étais sur la 2ième vague du départ.
Donc je pars finalement avec des pneus chauds mais ce sont mes vieux scrubs de ma dernière course à Mosport de 12 tours. Un départ de canon et quelques lignes de ramassé juste au départ. J’apprends la piste au fur et à mesure que la course progresse. J’ai bien performé en terminant 14ième.
Meilleur temps : 1.32.695

2ième course, Middleweight SuperSport AM de la journée de samedi… même scénario. Je pars 25ième pour terminer 15ième
Meilleur temps : 1.32.684

Dimanche je m’inscris pour la journée mais là je prends 4 courses et le plus tôt possible. J’ai tout de même un autre 8h de route à me taper pour notre retour.
On m’apprend vite que sur les 19 courses qu’ils ont, je peux participer à 12 environ… C’est malade !!!
Je change mes pneus pour un autre set de scrubs d’environ 8-10 tours. J’ai acheté 0 pneu en fds.


1ière course : GTU EX-AM (Expert et Amateur)
Je pars dernier (surprise, surprise lol) 29ième sur la 2ième vague car on est dans le même groupe que les Expert GTU.
Un bon départ et 6 tours plus tard je sors avec ce qui me semble une belle course. Je me dépêche à rentrer au puit car je suis inscrit tout de suite à la 2ième course de la journée.
Meilleur temps : 1.30.037 2ième meilleur temps des amateurs.

2ième course : Unlimited Supersport EX-AM (Expert et Amateur)
Je pars 10ième du groupe Amateur dans la 2ième vague bien sûr. Encore un autre bon départ et je me trouve à me battre avec les 3 premier des amateurs.
Meilleurs temps : 1.29.747 J’ai eu le temps le plus vite des amateurs lolll

3ième course : Heavyweight Supersport EX-AM / Ultra Light Superbike EX-AM
Partie 12ième dans les amateurs dans la première vague avec les experts. 3 groupes dans cette course.
Un excellent départ et je pousse vers l’avant. Aucune idée ou je termine mais le gars juste derrière moi termine a .014s Toute une course…
Je me déplace vers le tech car je vois ce même compétiteur faire son chemin là. Que de bonne nouvelle, je termine 1er J
Meilleur temps : 1.29.290 Meilleur temps des amateurs encore J

4ième et dernière course de la journée : Middleweight SuperSport AM
Je pars dernier…. C’est la course ou il me semble avoir le plus de pilotes, 21 !!! Une vague, tout le monde roule sur un départ ! Le pire départ de ma fds mais je m’amuse tout de même à dépasser tout le peloton. Je termine 4ième et très fière de ce résultat, car mes pneus étaient complément fini.
Meilleur temps : 1.29.630 Le plus rapide encore…. J’étais le seul à rouler dans les 1.29

Quand je retourne à la tour pour dire mes aux revoir aux responsables et leur remercier beaucoup de leur hospitalité, je demande aussi pour les feuilles des résultats. ET BIEN… ma première course j’ai terminé 3ième et ma dernière 3ième aussi, du a une disqualification !!! JJJ Quelle merveilleuse fds ce fut.


En résumé… Une EXCEPTIONNELLE expérience que ce fut !!!
 
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Watched the 1rst race of Sunday - nice smooth riding once passed the big group. Excellent job!


 
Thank you... :)

Funny anecdote, in Milville (where the track is) on Saturday morning leaving the hotel (took a hotel as we arrived at 1am in Milville and track closed at 10pm) and stopping at the gas station to fill up and wanted to pay with a $100 bill, the clerk said he didn't have any change...??? What, no change ? He says: "No, I got rubbed gun point last night when I closed"

2nd anecdote. When leaving the gas station, we crossed a gentleman stoned out of his mind... Mumbling and shouting at nothing !!! Guy looked like he was on crack... this at 6am !

Another one not so funny, when going to the restaurant on Saturday night, we crossed a few cops on a call.... Well going back to the track to sleep, we had to detour cause lots of cops and ambulances at a resto. The next day when we left, a sign read at the corner resto: R.I.P.
A murder... just as we had passed by it before supper !!!


One hell of an exciting wknd to say the least... lol
 
Great success!

Welcome to the site bud. See you soon.
 
Alex,
Great riding
i watched that last night up on the big screen.
It looks like a difficult track for passing - yet you worked your way through picking your spots with no issues. really good riding.
Hope you plan to race Csbk this year.
 
Thank you... :)

Funny anecdote, in Milville (where the track is) on Saturday morning leaving the hotel (took a hotel as we arrived at 1am in Milville and track closed at 10pm) and stopping at the gas station to fill up and wanted to pay with a $100 bill, the clerk said he didn't have any change...??? What, no change ? He says: "No, I got rubbed gun point last night when I closed"

2nd anecdote. When leaving the gas station, we crossed a gentleman stoned out of his mind... Mumbling and shouting at nothing !!! Guy looked like he was on crack... this at 6am !

Another one not so funny, when going to the restaurant on Saturday night, we crossed a few cops on a call.... Well going back to the track to sleep, we had to detour cause lots of cops and ambulances at a resto. The next day when we left, a sign read at the corner resto: R.I.P.
A murder... just as we had passed by it before supper !!!


One hell of an exciting wknd to say the least... lol

faack. new jersey eh. tony soprano land. faaack.
nice riding, great entertainment, watched all the vids. you nailed almost all the starts hope we get to see some more vids this season. 43? your still a youngster!
 
Thank you... :)

Funny anecdote, in Milville (where the track is) on Saturday morning leaving the hotel (took a hotel as we arrived at 1am in Milville and track closed at 10pm) and stopping at the gas station to fill up and wanted to pay with a $100 bill, the clerk said he didn't have any change...??? What, no change ? He says: "No, I got rubbed gun point last night when I closed"

2nd anecdote. When leaving the gas station, we crossed a gentleman stoned out of his mind... Mumbling and shouting at nothing !!! Guy looked like he was on crack... this at 6am !

Another one not so funny, when going to the restaurant on Saturday night, we crossed a few cops on a call.... Well going back to the track to sleep, we had to detour cause lots of cops and ambulances at a resto. The next day when we left, a sign read at the corner resto: R.I.P.
A murder... just as we had passed by it before supper !!!


One hell of an exciting wknd to say the least... lol

Nice. Just how do you connect a sign saying R.I.P to there being a murder? Did somebody actually tell you there was a murder or did you just assume that because you were in New Jersey? It could just as easily have been a heart attack.
 
Thnx guys, very kind.
Looking to upload a few CSBK 2015 races that I have.

For this year I will be filming, when I remember to turn on my cam... lol


Nice. Just how do you connect a sign saying R.I.P to there being a murder? Did somebody actually tell you there was a murder or did you just assume that because you were in New Jersey? It could just as easily have been a heart attack.
Deduction by the amount of cops in sight and barricades around the premises...
and then looked it up and found a quick news article... ;)

FYI... I never thought that NJ was a violent place.. and still don't ! Sad events happen everywhere and it just happened that two of them happen while I was there.
 
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Thnx guys, very kind.
Looking to upload a few CSBK 2015 races that I have.

For this year I will be filming, when I remember to turn on my cam... lol



Deduction by the amount of cops in sight and barricades around the premises...
and then looked it up and found a quick news article... ;)

FYI... I never thought that NJ was a violent place.. and still don't ! Sad events happen everywhere and it just happened that two of them happen while I was there.

Fair enough.
 
So here are a few races from the 2015 CSBK season...
In the Shubie race, we get a full view of Derrick's rear end... :p lol Followed him for as long as I could but arm-pump from my SS race made it unbearable ! :(

The filming, just like the USA races, are on board my ZX6R '09 (right where the right head light would be)

RD01 SS Bogie - 2nd on grid - finished 1st - not a very exciting race. Chris Brent got boggled up in the start... It would of been a nice little battle ;) He managed to claim 2nd :eek:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4myIyF-dY

RD03 SS Edmonton - 1st on grid - finished 2nd - nice little back and forth with Leckie in the few first laps. :cool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92K8GS0MFHQ

RD04 SS Edmonton - 1st on grid / finished 2nd - red flagged half-way and had to restart for a sprint race. Didn't give much time to catch up !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdduWHw0Kog
If you want to see why the red flag came out...-->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyuTRm2duNA

RD05 SBK Shubie - 5th on grid / finished 7th (thank you arm-pump !!!) - Derrick's cameo appearance ! :p :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT9t8OAd6K0

RD06 SS CTMP - 1st on grid / finished 2nd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1-hOTv4m7M

Enjoy ! :)
 
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Sweet! I was hoping you got some of the second race in Edmonton with my late race charge :(

Good to see you got some off season practice in and mixing it up with other racers always helps too.

Should be a good year! Are you doing all the CSBK rounds and did I see you on Dominguez's zx10??

Oh and it's spelled "Derrick" btw lol
 
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Ooops my bad Derrick... thnx for the correction :)

Ya sorry... I forget often to turn on the cam (not very used to doing vids) Could of had you also in the Bogie round but battery was dead !!! :rolleyes:
And it was a nice charge at Edmonton.
Really loved that experience...

Yup you so right... got me a big bike to play with the big boys ! loll Now... if only I can it set-up for the season. Thing was not in very good condition. Tuning was way off and suspension also (geometry wrong)

You were at the Saturday test day ? Should of passed by and say hi !
 
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Ooops my bad Derrick... thnx for the correction :)

Ya sorry... I forget often to turn on the cam (not very used to doing vids) Could of had you also in the Bogie round but battery was dead !!! :rolleyes:
And it was a nice charge at Edmonton.
Really loved that experience...

Yup you so right... got me a big bike to play with the big boys ! loll Now... if only I can it set-up for the season. Thing was not in very good condition. Tuning was way off and suspension also (geometry wrong)

You were at the Saturday test day ? Should of passed by and say hi !

No I wasn't there, Nelson is a bit much on the 1000. I planned for Sunday but it wasn't meant to be. I just saw some pictures of you on it.

It's taken me 3 years to get mine sorted. In the shubie video I can see all the spots where I was having issues, which was most of the track lol.
 
Ohhh I'd like to see those pics... :)

loll... so I have two more years to get mine sorted :p
So where are your vids ??? Would like to see your perspective of the 2015 season... if you have any.
You seem to go well at Shubbie... I ain't to worried for you, more for me !!! lolll
 
Ohhh I'd like to see those pics... :)

loll... so I have two more years to get mine sorted :p
So where are your vids ??? Would like to see your perspective of the 2015 season... if you have any.
You seem to go well at Shubbie... I ain't to worried for you, more for me !!! lolll

They were up on FB. I'll see if I can find them again.

Well you can ride around the issues like I did but it's much better once you get it sorted lol.

I don't have any video. I was too busy and the one I did get at Mosport the camera bounced up so you can see my helmet when I sit up but that's about it unfortunately.

I'm more worried about doing 40 some odd race laps in a weekend at shubie! That's going to be killer!
 
So here are a few races from the 2015 CSBK season...
In the Shubie race, we get a full view of Derrick's rear end... :p lol Followed him for as long as I could but arm-pump from my SS race made it unbearable ! :(

The filming, just like the USA races, are on board my ZX6R '09 (right where the right head light would be)

RD01 SS Bogie - 2nd on grid - finished 1st - not a very exciting race. Chris Brent got boggled up in the start... It would of been a nice little battle ;) He managed to claim 2nd :eek:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4myIyF-dY

RD03 SS Edmonton - 1st on grid - finished 2nd - nice little back and forth with Leckie in the few first laps. :cool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92K8GS0MFHQ

RD04 SS Edmonton - 1st on grid / finished 2nd - red flagged half-way and had to restart for a sprint race. Didn't give much time to catch up !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdduWHw0Kog
If you want to see why the red flag came out...-->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyuTRm2duNA

RD05 SBK Shubie - 5th on grid / finished 7th (thank you arm-pump !!!) - Derrick's cameo appearance ! :p :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT9t8OAd6K0

RD06 SS CTMP - 1st on grid / finished 2nd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1-hOTv4m7M

Enjoy ! :)

says the rd04 edmonton Vid is private....not sure why I cant watch
 

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