NZ Nationals Hampton Downs
The drive up North is a reasonable hike so we split it by staying in Blenheim the night, that still leaves a 12 hr ferry/drive the next day and we extended that a bit with a side trip to Tauranga to drop some motors and parts off, look at bikes and talk shit for bit
Hampton Downs
We’re out at the track the next day and get all our gear setup on the skid pan and ready to go
BSTT in October was the last time we were at Hampton Downs so we take the first session fairly easy to reacquaint ourselves with the track and dial it up a bit more for session 2
The weathers alternating between wet and dry and for the last session we’re on wets and get a few good laps in before pulling back into the pits, we can hear air leaking from somewhere and find a chain clip embedded in the rear tyre
With the forecast for showers over the weekend we need it fixed and I plan on doing it at our Pukekohe branch the next day
Saturday
Once riders briefing is over I bolt for Pukekohe to get the tyre repaired and while doing that get a txt telling me we’re up in 5 minutes
I’d assumed practice was the same as race order and hadn’t checked but that wasn’t the case so we miss that session
Qualifying goes ok and we end up off P7 but a couple of seconds slower than last time we were here
It’s a fairly long day as we’re the last class and when we finally get the call there’s a few little spits of rain as we get up to the dummy grid
As we wait it starts pissing down and with time running out the race is cancelled and rescheduled for first race the next day
Race 1
It’s full wet when we get the call up and we head out and around to line up on the grid
Lights out and our start is a lot better than some of those around us, we pass the row in front of us and down into make another pas and go up into third
Adam/Stu gift us another position when they spin in T3 and all of a sudden we’re up into 2nd
It’s another lap before the guys behind us get their act together and Colin/Robbie come past and then Adam/Stu making up for their spin, next it’s Dave/Tony going really well and then the red flags are out as Des/Dean have rolled over into T6
The restart has got to be one of the worst I’ve done and we’re last off the line, lap 2 and pushing to make up time and we spin in T6, I think we’re going to be upside down for a second but Will drops down into the tray and stops it coming up further and we’re underway again
A lap later and we do a half spin in T4 and give the tyres a nudge, Will pushes us back off them and we’re back in the race
We’re the last one home and just glad to finish
A check over and back onto slicks for Race2
4 laps in and going ok when Will taps me and we pull over after T1, his visor has come off on one side and the clip has gone so it can’t be reattached and we sit the rest of it out on the sideline
Race 3
We clear the guys slower than us early on and maintain a gap and then partway through some light rain starts and we back it off a bit
As we exit T4 I catch a glimpse of the bunch behind us and think we’re pretty safe
Coming out of T5 Tracey/Tina give us a bit of a fright when they pull alongside on the F2 bike and the gap seems to have disappeared
Lap 11 and the three top teams come past, I can hear Tracey/Tina behind us but we’re in front coming down into T6 knowing if they get past we can still beat them up the hill
Sure enough they come alongside turning out of T6 and aiming up the hill and I’m thankful for the extra HP of the F1 using it to outrun them up to the line to finish 6th
Overall it didn’t go quite as good as we’d hoped with the dnf but we had a reasonable time and gained a few more points and we're looking forward to Taupo
Chrissie Whitfield @ WF consulting - www.wfconsulting.co.nz
Joanne van der Westhuizen @ Career Success - www.careersuccess.co.nz
Jason and Michelle Bishop @ Sourced - www.sourced.kiwi
Peter Macefield @ Independent Line services - www.independentlines.com
Scott @ Prometal Industries - http://www.prometal.co.nz/
Originally Posted by scracha
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