WERA Cycle Jam 2023

WERA Cycle Jam at Rd. Atlanta was such a great time over the memorial day weekend! Got to see my friends that I first started road racing with last year again which was great as I had not seen them since GNF at Barber 2022. I entered 7 races total, 1 endurance race and 6 sprints. My buddy David Hildebrand and I ran the Coffee Break Liberty Racing Yamaha R3 for the 2 hour endurance race Friday which was really good track time. Not the best result, 26^th outta 32 I think it was… not that important though as the result wasn’t the main objective but rather more and more track time which I needed as I had not been on this track since the year prior. In the race I was able to set a 1:57 which was 6 seconds faster than my fastest lap the year prior. I set this lap time, which was our best for the whole race, with less than 5 minutes left in the two hour race! The race was also announced by Michael Hill from Moto America and World Super Bike which was really cool! Made us feel like super stars. Saturday was “go” time as it was time for 3 sprints! Sadly the story for how they all started was the same, just awful… something I really need to work on. By turn 1 I sometimes found myself in last place! This went on throughout the entire weekend making my job much harder for me. Saturdays results went as such, 11^th beating out 12^th by .01 seconds!, 3^rd (woohoo another podium) where I was catching 2^nd place by over a second a lap at the end but just didn’t have enough laps to do it and lost out by .5 seconds and a 6^th setting a new PB from the day prior but with more to come! Sunday was a bit better result wise and a new PB! BUT the same issue, horrible starts thus making me have to battle my way through again! I got a 4^th, where having to battle really killed my chances at a podium as I was able to run 1.5 seconds faster than 3^rd but was over 6 seconds back by the time I got out of a battle and was able to break away setting my best time of the weekend a 1:55.6. I got a 2^nd in my next race with not much to that one there was four of us running together but I was able to navigate the traffic best and then able to set decent enough lap times that kept the others at bay. And then the final race of the weekend for me, this was simply the best time I have ever had racing! I had never had so much fun and had no issue coming in 6^th when there was a 4 way battle for the last spot on the podium. The others just wanted it more than me and that’s ok at times. Being only 2 bike lenghts behind them all going three wide into turn 10 was such a great show but I also knew I didn’t want any of that as last year my raceweekend ended in the gravel trap. I put a few passes on em but was never able to break away and would get drafted on the back straight by the KTMs and another R3. Oh well can’t win, or get 3^rd, in em all but still had such a great time in that race honestly the best race I have ever been in fun wise. Huge shout out to my sponsors, Just1 Helmets, Woodcraft CMF, Hotbodies racing, Galfer Brakes, Blud Lubricants and RK Chains.