OS Racing - fri test ruapuna

[SWERVE]

As the weather forecast was good we decided to have a day testing prior to KOR RD2 on sat.
We just got the front forks for the SV back from CKT and need to dial the bike in. We did baseline settings for the first session.......pete reported that bike felt very unstable in mid corner, ok under braking and acceleration but not in mid turn. Dropped the forks a few mm in the yokes and added a bit more preload and sent him back out. Previous best lap time was a 1:53 ....... constantly lapping a 1:50 - 51 with a 1;49 1'47 and a PB of 1:46.8 there was a lot of traffic so good clear laps were not readily available. That has now equalled the quickest time i have done on that bike (& he has only been racing since May) looking forward to tomorrow as he will be contesting clubmans (currently 2nd) and also pro-twin.
Anthony was out on the RG 150 to set up for tomorrow also... just fitted a dunlop slick to the front as we have been running a treaded front over winter and in damp conditions. Good solid laps all in the 2:00 bracket( previous best at ruapuna 2:04) with him reporting much improved turn in with the slick tyres.
During one session Pete caught him and soon as Ants realised his team-mate was behind he turned up the heat doing a 1:59.4 and a 1:58.8 consectively.
so another PB.
Ants took the 675 out in the last session to re-accustomise himself to it before racing it for the first time tomorrow in clubmans.
weather was AWESOME and a very good turn out especially from our "northern rivals" Glen skatchill - Geoff Booth - Sam Love - Team Moto-Acadamy.
Should be an awesome meeting tomorrow with our local boys not wanting to be "shown up' by the boys from the north. Weather forecast is good again.
The 600 battle should be worth watching!!!!!!!!!

[wharfy]

look forward to reading the race reports :)

[Clivoris]

And a small boy waits......

[SWERVE]

Well race day blessed us with more AWESOME weather.
Pete SV.
as the timing system was playing up (again) grid positions were from last meeting so pete on front row for clubmans and second row for pro-twin/f3.
He immeadiately found the pace much "hotter" than what he was used too, resulting in an excursion onto the grass at T1 on the first lap. re-starting last he managed to take 7 scalps by the end of race.
He settled down into clubmans and took a 4th and was lapping around the 1;48 mark.
pete by his own admission is not good at starting so he lost a few places in 2nd pro-twin race off the line. however he managed to pick people off one by one and ended up at the back of the mid pack by race end.
next clubmans race saw a similar story to the first and resulted in a 5th.
with him fired up for last round (and raving how good the bike felt) he was determined to get a better start......... he managed to get straight onto the back of the main pack into T1..... picked off a couple at pothole and another into T3... as they approached the dipper he was right behind a group of four he decided to try and stick it underneath going into the dipper but the pack slowed and guy infront braked and pete hit his rear end. resulting in pete haking an early bath over the bars and landing on the rumble strip on the outside of corner. The bike he hit was ok (we went & checked).
the bike looked a mess but i was already getting it ready for last race when Pete said that the ribs were too sore. (a visit to medic on sun revealed a broken one). He was gutted as he needed clubman points, but already rearing to go for RD3 as he loves the new front end and says he can go much quicker.
Constantly lapping in the 1:48 bracket all day....... and a PB of 1:46.8 on fri.A big improvement after previously only doing 1"53,s
ANTS
Ants had a mixed day....... we had one transponder and two bikes so with us forgetting to swap and timing people not entering him into clubmans system we had to rely on stop watches and "who is this" on timing sheets.
The 150 is starting to tire (a re-build over xmas for the nats) so he is finding it hard to keep up the pointy end. However a good days riding saw him take 6th - 8th & 10th. Also reported another gear selection problem which i fixed on Sun(loose gear selection pawl bolt)
This was his first race outing on the 675.......... told him to start at the back and just feel his way into it. Race 1 saw him start at the back and he took a few scalps lapped around 2;05.
race 2. getting more confidence he moved up the finishing order a bit and improved to around 2;00.
race 3 in a smaller field saw him with a bit more space and he really got into the swing of it........ his riding style getting much better and his brothers video proving it. he finished 8th and the stopwatch had him at 1:55.
So another big improvement.
So looks like i am officially "team pit bitch" now........ gonna do Nelson & Metheven street races... but gonna put all my energy into progressing Ants now.
Really impressed with the Yamaha R6 (R450) triple that was racing............. a plan is hatching!

[wharfy]

Good write up mate, having kids that are into bikes is pretty cool - but it's a "two edged sword" :)
Mine aren't into bikes so I don't have to share :)