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nicko
21st October 2003, 16:10
<DIV>Team Metalform Racing Weekend 18/19 October 2003 - Formula Thunder</DIV>

<DIV>Team Metalform Racing competed at the Formula Thunder race meeting at Ruapuna, Christchurch on the 18/19 of October. The event&nbsp;replaced the 'Drivesafe 500' V8 meeting but was not short of action with Transams, Mini's, saloons and of course&nbsp;bikes! Team Metalform had an 'extra' for the weekend at Ruapuna, R1 pilot Bernie Johnston joined us for the meeting. Thanks to Oceanbridge for their help with the container we shipped the bikes down in. Keep an eye out for a feature of the event on Shell Helix Motorsport on Channel One, here's our account of how we got on for our first time at Ruapuna:</DIV>

<DIV>Nick Odermatt</DIV>
<DIV>The weekend was my first time&nbsp;at a South Island race track so I could hardly wait to get on the track. I'll give Christchurch&nbsp;something, they may not have the Ranfurly Shield but they've got an awesome race track. Thursday was practice day and Mike and I attacked the new track learning curve with&nbsp;heaps of time on the track as there were hardly any others practicing. The weather was fantastic and it was nice to have a dry track after the last few meetings in the wet. I used my gearing and suspension settings from Manfield which seemed to work well. The infield is great fun and there are some long corners which means you can take any number of lines. The circuit was run without the dipper which was a shame as this is used in the nationals. </DIV>
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<DIV>Friday we relaxed as we'd had plenty of tracktime the day before and wanted to save some rubber for the weekend. Saturday was practice and qualifying. I qualified with a 1.34 lap in 12th spot out of the 22 or so riders, bit dissapointed as this placed me on the 3rd row but hopefully with my starts I'd gain a few places off the line.</DIV>
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<DIV>Sunday racing we were first up at 9am. The day was slightly overcast for the morning which helped keep track and rider temperatures down. I had a great start on the first race but the first lap was red flagged when 2 riders went down on the first corner. The restart had me dicing with Hayden Fitzgerald for the first couple of laps but once he got&nbsp;past and made a gap&nbsp;I couldn't hold on to him, I finished 9th place and was 4th 600 home. I got my best laptime down to 1.32.6 with race pace helping speed me up. </DIV>
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<DIV>I was one of the first out for the second race warm-up lap and for some reason the bike was sliding all over the place along with the 2 riders in front.....oil on the track! We put our hands up and I looked back to see Mike and bike sliding off the track, turns out 5 other riders went down too - not good. The race was delayed till after lunchtime while the marshals cement dusted the oil which ended up on nearly every corner. I took the 2nd race a bit easy to avoid the dust and any left over oil, finishing 9th and 3rd 600.</DIV>

<DIV>The third race was a blast. I diced with an R1 for most of the race and managed to stay ahead till the finish line. Yet again I finished 9th - at least I'm consistant. This race I had my&nbsp;best laptime of the weekend with a&nbsp;1.32.4. For the weekend I finished up 8th overall and 3rd in the 600 class. A great start to my South Island racing career and a great weekend. </DIV>

<DIV>Mike Smith
We shipped the bikes down in a 20' container along with Bernie Johnson on another R1 Yamaha. Nick and I&nbsp;had a good full day on Thursday learning the track and working on getting our lap times down towards last years times of the front runners. We ended the day with Nick just in the 1:34s and me just in the 1:33s

We worked on the bikes Friday to be well prepared for the qualifying day on Saturday. Saturday went well for me as I had a chance to follow some of the South Islanders around the track and pick their lines to good use. I qualified 6th and on the front row of the grid with a 1:31.

First race on Sunday went well as I managed to come home 5th just ahead of Bredon Gare and got my lap times down to 1:30s

Race two and thinking things can get better but on the warm up lap turn three I crashed, on my return to the pits I find so did 5 other riders, oil had been carefully spread all over the circuit by the towing of a broken V8 back to the pits. I managed to fix all the broken bits and was ready for the restart. Start was good and soon past Jon Lowther on another R1, but then as I came onto the main straight the engine chocked and died then ran then chocked, this was the story for the rest of the race coming home 7th. The problem was when we removed the air box to get the stones out from the crash we dislodged the ram air intake connection which is required to give full air flow&nbsp;to the motor.

I fixed that and started race three and managed another 7th as there was no point pushing with ongoing problems from my crash as this time the end can stared to disconnect as it had been crushed in the slide earlier.

So with a 5th, 7th, 7th,&nbsp; I finished 7th overall. We had a great time and got valuable track time in.
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<DIV>Team Metalform Racing would like to thank the following for their support. </DIV>
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<DIV>Metalforming Technologies, Il Woo Industries, Pacific Direct Lines, Corporate Design, Haldane Motorcycles, Pacific Freight Management, Waikato Sandblasting Services, Armour Linings, Fredco Motors, Metzeler Tyres, FFM Helmets, GP Star Leathers, Nazran Gloves, Maxima Oils, Izumi Race Chains, Forma Boots </DIV></DIV>

SPman
21st October 2003, 16:43
Nice one guys:)&nbsp; Good to hear your reports. Interesting and informative and its good to hear what everyone else is doing, not just the "names"..............:niceone:

750Y
27th October 2003, 08:48
way to go guys. great reading. good luck for the next outing.