I set off for Wellington Thursday night after work, I was catching the 0845 ferry to Picton the next morning. I arrived at Ruapuna at 1630 on Friday afternoon, just enough time to get signed in and catch up with a few people.
Saturday came and I was at the track just on 0700, managed to get a spot next to the power outlets, yay ears will get a rest not having to listen to the persistent hmmmm of the generator. I get scrutineering out of the way and do the few minor things required to get my bike ready for the first session.
The first qualifying session comes around. Having a new set of brake pads to bed in I take the first 4 or 5 laps pretty easy and then go for two good laps. After the session I look at the time sheet and my fastest lap was a 1.47 putting me in 7th place. I was pretty happy with that, knowing there was plenty more there for the next session. I put on a new (to me) set of tyres and also made some jetting changes for the second qualifying session, hoping it would drop my times another second or so, to try and stay in the top 8 for the final qualifying positions. This session I felt a lot better and was pretty sure I went faster than the first. My times confirmed this with a best lap of 1.45.8, putting me in at 6th on the grid. I was really happy with this, seeing as all the guys ahead of me were on 96 or newer model bikes and most of the guys behind me were on better bikes too. This positioned me on the outside of the front row on the grid, having 6 wide grid rows.
The first race came in the afternoon, the temperature had got up towards 26 and it was pretty hot. I went out on the warm-up lap and was ready to go. I got an ok start, but was swamped by the newer bike and was probably around 10th going into the first corner. I set into a good rhythm and was into 8th after the first lap, behind both of the Robinson brothers. I kept behind them for a few laps, them having a 15kph or so advantage down the front straight but I was able to make back the lost time in the infield. On the 4th lap I managed to pass both of them under brakes coming into the hairpin. This left me in 6th place. For the rest of that lap I went as hard as I could to try and keep them behind me down the straight cause I knew if they managed to get back past me I would be slowed down again. I braked at my normal marker for the first corner and tipped it in, just as I was getting on the gas in second, boom. The front tucked out under me and I was on my arse. Sliding along to the side of the track then rolling 2 or 3 times in on the gravel/dirt/dust. Argh, all that work thrown away. I was alright, only a few bruises, the bike had a broken clutch lever which meant I couldn’t rejoin the race. Oh well, that happens, my new leathers looking not so new anymore too. After pushing the bike back to the pits I saw that my 4th lap was a 1.44.7. Was very stoked with that, only 3 tenths off Andy Evan’s fastest lap of the race, he went on to win the 125GP title at the end of the weekend, so not doing too badly.
After clearing all the dust and crap off the bike and straightening a few things on Saturday night I was in bed ready for another big day on Sunday. The second race of the weekend came around quickly and I had my bike ready. I was riding low on confidence after the crash and just wanted to make sure I finished to try and get some sort of rhythm back for the final race of the weekend. I got a fairly average start and settled into a tussle for 9th 10th and 11th with 2 other guys. I managed to pass them a couple of times but always got passed down the straight due to their bikes having an extra 10-15kph top end. I closed right up on them in the last lap but couldn’t get past them in the drag to the line. I ended up 11th with a best lap of 1.46. A pretty disappointing result considering how the prior race went but still plenty of positives to take out. My tyres were starting to show the signs of being too old and I could feel the front drifting wide on a couple of corners of the track.
I got another 2nd hand set of one of the other 125 guys there and fitted these for the final race of the weekend. This was the big one, the NZGP, 15 laps long. I did the final preparations for it and thought about the best strategy to apply for the race. I was having hydration problems and that together with temperatures nearing 30 degrees didn’t bode well for a 15 lap race. I decided that I would take it easy for the first 9 or 10 laps and then see where I was at. I got a bad start having to dip the clutch after bogging it slightly and was around 10th or 11th after the first lap. I got in behind 2 guys for half a lap and passed them on the 2nd lap. I thought that I would have them covered so was surprised to see them coming tearing past me on the straight on the 3rd lap. Knowing they were riding at similar pace I decided to tuck in behind and try and conserve as much energy as possible. On the 5th lap coming into the dipper we were right on each others arses, with me being the third in the line. The first guy in the group got on the gas too early and highsided. The guy directly infront of me went higher and managed to avoid the bike and body sliding across the track. I tried to slow down and go under him but was not able to avoid him. I ended up hitting the guy and then doing a superman straight over the handlebars of my bike. I landed face first on the tarmac and got up immediately. The guy that highsided was already picking his bike up and tore off again. I picked mine and saw that a lot of things were either bent or broken. Somehow the bike sustained damage on both sides aswell as the top of the tail section and also the front screen. I pushed it to the side of the track and leant it up against the wall. So that was the end of the weekends racing. Turned out that 6 bikes in the 125 race dnf’d with a combination of crashes and mechanical problems. Atleast I wasn’t the only one come a cropper.
So all in all a pretty crap weekend, quite easily my worst in racing. But oh well, that’s what its all about, taking the good with the bad. Out of my nationals races I dnf’d 5 out of the 9 races I entered. 3 being crashes and 2 being mechanical faults. Not a very good introduction to nationals racing but a good learning experience none the less. I’ll definitely be back next year, hopefully with a bit more success.
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Originally Posted by scracha
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