This rear-facing onboard footage is taken from Sean Stettnichs' #92 1999 Yamaha YZF-R6 race bike. The video was taken on 9/1/19 during the sixth Sportsman & Supertwins race of the 2019 Central Roadracing Association (CRA) season. There are three classes on-track at the same time in this race, Sportsman Lightweight, Sportsman Middleweight, and Supertwins. I am racing in the Sportsman Middleweight class and am with the second group launched. The track is Brainerd International Raceway's Competition Course layout. The camera used was a GoPro Hero 5 Session.
I got off to a poor start, as both Justin Miest and Leif Nadeau showed me their experience launching middleweight bikes. After getting passed Leif before turn 3, I was determined to track down Justin. By the second lap, I was able to make up some ground and even make a pass into turns 4 and 5. Through turns 5 and 6, I was a gear too high, allowing Justin to get me back through 7 and have a slight advantage into turn 8, "the carousel." There we encountered some Supertwins traffic, which I believe Justin and I were both looking to use as potential "roadblocks" for the other rider. Unfortunately, this thinking resulted in too many bikes looking to take the same real estate. In my haste to stay on Justin's tail through the traffic, I made a poor decision to make an aggressive and unnecessary pass on a Supertwins rider. As I was flicking my R6 back left through turn 9, "the joker," this rider and I collided after I took his line away. He was down immediately and I was sent into the grass. I truly believe I should have been able to keep from going down; however, I used a little too much throttle causing my Pirelli slick rear tire to spin in the grass and put me down at a low speed.
I believe I have a reputation among my fellow racers as being an ambitious, but very clean rider. Many times I feel I give more room than I probably should. That was not the case in this example. I feel bad about my involvement in the collision between this rider and I and have since apologized. Decisions are made quickly in a race setting, and unfortunately I believe I should have exercised more patience in making this pass through traffic. I hope something can be learned by all who may watch this footage.
As always, I appreciate all of the fan and company support I've received this 2019 season. Cheers!
