Psst! Wanna hear a secret? We had a special test day on the mountain today! It was a private event. We were invited to join in on this test day by 4 car teams. They were generous enough to offer to share their private time with us and we jumped at the chance. We have never before in many years of coming here had an offer like this, and we were really excited to join these top drivers.
It was open to just 8 vehicles and far more private than the usual tire tests. Only the quaking Aspen trees with their spooky eyes were there to see it. Well, and the guys from Pirelli and Ducati North America who joined us too.
It won’t come as a big surprise to you that we had to get up early to go thru the gate. Yes, it was on the same schedule that we always have for testing – thru before 4:00am. Today we gathered in the dark at the start line area, but there was one notable difference – there were race cars there! The first couple of runs were just past half way – thru Georges Corner and the next few were from Glen Cove to the top. So for the crew it was a totally different routine than usual. We had to be quick on our toes with fuel and tire warmers, and then we had to caravan to Glen Cove in the middle of the session.
After that came the very best part and the most top secret part. We got a run all the way from the start line to the summit! Unheard of! Never, Ever, Done Before in any practice session! It was really wonderful for Greg and Carlin to have the chance to link all the bits together in one run. The only time they have ever had this chance before was on race day.
We raced it! We relished it! We timed it! But that’s the double top secret part. I’m not going to tell you anything more about that because it is TOP SECRET. And the Triumph guys are in town. They will be bringing their Speed Triples out to the test tomorrow. So mums the word, got it? Tomorrow I will fill you in on our first look at the competition in our class. It looks like they might be bringing some big guns.