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Sparky Bills
30th September 2009, 16:33
The whole week I had been wondering about what the weather was going to do. I dont mind the wet at all, but I do'nt have a spare front rim so if it was wet I was going to have to change tyres which I really didnt want to have to do. But after all that worrying we ended up having a nice fine weekend. I had my bike all ready a couple weeks before this weekend as I had to move the weekend/week before.


F2 Qualifying: After the last round I said to myself that I would try to push harder to set a half decent lap time.
So I went out and spent the first 3 laps warming everything up including myself. Once I was happy with everything I started to speed up. The track didnt feel too bad. I wasnt having any grip issues and the bike felt good. I ended up qualifying further back than I had wanted in 19th position.


F2 Race 1: I was confident I could make up a few positions on the start so I wasn’t too worried. But as the lights went out I quickly realised that the gap I was aiming at was fast dissapearing. I nearly ran up the back of the bike ahead of me and had to back off and brake to stop from hitting him. So by the time I got back on the gas I had lost my drive and had nearly the whole grid go flying past me. I spent the rest of the race playing catch up. I was finding that I had heaps more corner speed than the bike in front of me, so I managed to make up a few positions but wasnt enough for me to be happy with. I finished the race in 18th position.


F2 Race 2: After the first race I had to rethink what I was going to do off the line. I decided to launch hard again and go left which would put me on the outside in turn 1. This worked much better than the first race mess. I tried to push hard on the first lap to keep from losing too many positions. I spent this race dicing with a group of 4 riders. Once again I had more corner speed but the bikes I was dicing with were much faster than mine on the straights, so I was really struggling to get by them. I was getting very frustrated as they were starting to hold me up and the bikes ahead of us were slowly pulling away. I was trying different lines on the entry and the exit to try to get by them, but they just
had too much power so would be back past on the next straight.
I finished the race very frustrated and annoyed that I couldnt get by and make up some more positions.


F2 Race 3: Last race of the weekend. I was not going to finish this race frustrated with my efforts. I got off the line very well. I even nearly ran into the side of Lee on his Kwaka. But we kept it clean and both made up a few positions. I pushed hard on the first lap and managed to keep in front of the bikes that held me up in the previous race. I spent the race dicing with Darren and Bruce. We were having a huge amount of fun. All 3 of us were pushing it pretty hard. Once again I have much more corner speed than the others. We swapped positions a few time throughout the race.
Coming to the final couple of laps I knew I had to make a move soon. Coming into higgons I commited to the outside line to try make a move on Darren. Then I realised that he had run wide! But I had already commited to my line so had to keep going. He then missed a gear which gave me my chance. I powered as hard as I could down the back straight and left my breaking as late as possible into the Dunlop sweeper. I managed to hold both Darren and Bruce off and lead them down the start finish straight. Just to see the white final lap flag being waved. Thats when I said to myself that they were'nt going to beat me this time. So I put my head down and pushed as hard as I could for the final lap. That lap I manged to put a good enough gap on them as I went through the infield. That lap I didnt have anyone challenge me, so finished the race ahead of the group with a fastest lap of 1.14 which was done on the last lap. I was very happy to finish the weekend on a high.
I have decided that to get further up the grid I am going to have to spend some money on the bike.

I ended up finishing 16th overall for the weekend. Which has put me back to 13th overall for the series.
I can carry heaps more corner speed then the bikes around me, so am stoked that the Honda is handling so well.
To get down to 1.14's and knocking on the door of 1.13's on a standard Honda is just awsome for me. I mean all I have done to the bike is put a muffler on it. Shows what you can do with the basic bike. Next step... POWER!!!
So I have a few plans to make happen before the next and last round of the series. I have got a few goodies coming for the bike which will help me accomplish my top 10 goal.
Watch this space.

Id like to thank the following people for their help and support..
Motomart, Alpinestars, Robert Taylor and his team at Crown Kiwi Technical, Capital Chemdry, Motul Oil, Pirelli, Wakefeild and Scott Panel Beaters and Go Fast Energy Drink.
Without these people I would not be where I am now.

Toast
30th September 2009, 17:07
Hey Martin

Good to catch up with you again.

Top effort, mate, but you should come to the dark side and get some Yammy horsepower! :)

neil_cb125t
30th September 2009, 17:32
yeah mate - more power will help destroy those tyres even faster!!

well done dude

scuzeme
30th September 2009, 17:39
Sorry mate to be one of the bikes holding you up, the pressure was on in those races and our group was tussling well.
Once you did get past on the final race you were gone mate and i couldnt do anything to catch you, congrats on your lap times, i really enjoyed the competition and cant wait till round 6.

Cheers.

Clivoris
30th September 2009, 17:56
Great read Martin. Looking forward to catching up and finding out what voodoo you have planned for the Honda. I hope it helps with even more reductions in lap-times.

Biggles08
30th September 2009, 19:22
Hey Sparky...nice write up bud! Good to catch up with you again! Make sure you don't spend too much to get more horsepower...then you might as well buy a kwaka..eh hehehehe ;-)

Sparky Bills
1st October 2009, 07:31
Cheers guys,
I wont be spending a fortune. Just a couple extras.
As I have said, the bike is bog standard apart from a muffler (mainly to get some noise). Its even still has the standard air filter in it.

Sparky Bills
1st October 2009, 07:32
Sorry mate to be one of the bikes holding you up, the pressure was on in those races and our group was tussling well.
Once you did get past on the final race you were gone mate and i couldnt do anything to catch you, congrats on your lap times, i really enjoyed the competition and cant wait till round 6.

Cheers.



You were riding bloody well mate. Nearly took my front wheel off a couple times, but ill get over that.. ;)

Hope you get your toy sorted for the next round!

k14
1st October 2009, 07:58
Nice work man. That race 3 was pretty cool. I managed to just eek ahead of you two or three times but just couldn't hang on down the straight. The other guys on the duke and zxr would come past and I'd be back to square one. Would have been good if I could have got clear of them and tag onto you, didn't quite manage to get into the 14's. See ya next time!

Sparky Bills
1st October 2009, 15:32
Nice work man. That race 3 was pretty cool. I managed to just eek ahead of you two or three times but just couldn't hang on down the straight. The other guys on the duke and zxr would come past and I'd be back to square one. Would have been good if I could have got clear of them and tag onto you, didn't quite manage to get into the 14's. See ya next time!


Ahhhhh.... Was that you.
Was a bit of fun :)
Thats a pretty nice bike you have there mate. I got to see it up close side by side on a couple occasions... :whistle::2thumbsup

k14
1st October 2009, 17:49
Ahhhhh.... Was that you.
Was a bit of fun :)
Thats a pretty nice bike you have there mate. I got to see it up close side by side on a couple occasions... :whistle::2thumbsup
Yep was a lot of fun, thanks. Sorta thinking I should have raced in the other F2 races now but didn't at the time. Was too nervous being fastest in F3 and was also getting a little bit of arm pump. Although it got a lot better by the final race and probably wasn't bad enough to hold me back. Need to do more push ups :whistle:

wharfy
2nd October 2009, 04:31
Good stuff Martin and good write up, I like to say catch you next round but I wasn't even close this one :) SEE you next round !!

slowpoke
2nd October 2009, 10:06
I watched you battling away in one of the F2 races and could just about hear your teeth grinding from the stands, lol. Good lap times when you found a clear lap though mate, so plenty to happy with there.

Forget the 600 mate, go a CBR1000.....I just happen to know where a purty stars 'n stripes number is available.....hahaha

MOTOMART
2nd October 2009, 10:09
Id love to ride a thou mate, but dont have the funds at the moment.
Id be happy to ride it for you though :2thumbsup

Sparky Bills
2nd October 2009, 10:24
Opps... Forgot to change the log-in.
My Bad.