Well the last track day of the season went off without a hitch (for myself at-least). I headed up to Putnam Park with Commonwelath Ducati or Louisville for a one day event. When we got there it was in the lower 40° F and the track was still damp from the overnight rain. Sounds like a great combination, huh? I lent my friend Ed, who was putting the track day on, my KTM 560SMR for the day as his was being rebuilt. First lap of the first session he had a little get off at turn 7. He apparently got on the gas a little too early out of the turn and spun the rear tire up and the bike onto the ground. He came back in and was okay as was the bike.

I went out for the first session, but the track was so slick that I came in before it was over. I decided to wait until the track was in a little better condition. This turned out to be a good idea as there were a few people who went down that normally wouldn’t have. There were two guys, both experienced racers, who hit the asphalt before they got out of the hot pit! They got on the gas on the way out and lit the rear up which slid out and actually high sided both of them after the tire regained traction. Enough with the nasty though. At about noon the track temperature had warmed up more than 20° F. but the air temperature was still under 50° F. The image to the left is of me on my 748S/RS coming out of turn 4. The picture was taken two weekends before this track day, but the temp was about the same and I thought we needed at least one action shot in this post.

We decided to just have two groups and to respect everyone’s varying abilities which worked out great. We alternated 30 minute sessions for the rest of the day which made for plenty of track time even with the crap morning. There were only 30 or so people at the event so two sessions worked out great. The highest temperatures I saw in my tires all day were 95° F. Not too encouraging, but it was still a great event.

There were lots of great bikes at the event. A 749 with a home made exhaust system that looked great up close, Ed’s 450 vintage racer that has so many trick parts on it it is in incredible, the shop’s GSX-R1000 that has full Ohlins as well as other tasty upgrades, a super duper nice 851, and the list goes on….

It is sad for the season to be over, but I have almost as much fun preparing my bikes for the next season as I do riding them so the winter won’t be too bad. Plus my shop is heated! A big thanks to Commonwealth Ducati for putting on some great track days this year, I can’t wait until the next!

CLICK HERE for the rest of the photos from this set.