It was great to meet both of you guys, and your significant others too! Thanks for lettin' me plug in to your gen. Oh, and thanks for bringing me a V Day date too. She was the sweetest girl and very well behaved in the paddock
The next day everything did come together. I started trusting that Pirelli front tire, the track flows way better backwards and I wasn't feeling rusty anymore from my winter hibernation, so the pace didn't seem quick.
I pitted in the same spot and the guy with the Aprilia RSV4 factory pitted where you guys were. I bought gas and he let me plug in to his gen. He was running 40psi hot off track pressure in the back of his Dunlop NTEC slick.

I was surprised he didn't highside to the moon on that. We dropped it to 26psi hot and he was lovin' the grip. A session later he asked me to take it out in B group to check it out and so that he could hear it mashing down the front straight (those V4s sound the best WFO in the powerband). That thing was the funnest bike to ride EVAR! So smooth, so refined. Handled like a 600 and accelerated like my liter. I flogged it down the straights passing 2 or 3 peeps on the brakes into T1 every lap.

arty