TonyB
3rd January 2010, 21:33
The B family arrived in the Nelson region on 28/12/09. We were staying on my parents farm near Tadmor (about 50 mins south west of Nelson). I had a loose arrangement to get the Ducati’s valve clearances done in Nelson before the street races, but hadn't sorted a date yet. I had been fiddling with the rear ride height before leaving home, and this had highlighted the fact that the exhaust needed bending a bit to clear the swing arm, so I was out in the shed that night using my dad’s expertise in heat bending to sort out the problem.
Next day I rang Andy at AB’s Motorcycles (http://www.absmotorcycles.co.nz/)to see if I could still book the bike in. He asked me to deliver it at around lunch time on the 30th, so I set about doing some other bits and pieces…including a marathon cleaning session as the poor old bike was filthy and had never had a decent clean. Also took it for a wee run to see what the new ride height felt like….it felt great, but as always the rear shock felt abysmal. Checked the sags and they were all OK.
Dropped the bike in on the 30th to a very busy Andy, he’s the president of the NRRA, so he was flat out arranging for the street races. 2.5 hours later and it was all done- all the valves were well outside of spec, but no damage was done. Andy gave me a very nice price, so I was stoked- thanks AB’s Motorcycles (http://www.absmotorcycles.co.nz/)! Once home again, I sorted out a few other niggling faults, and generally obsessed nervously about the bike- must admit, pre event excitement/nerves has never hit me this far out before.
Jan 1
Had to do another trip into Nelson for sign in/scrutineering. Almost got failed for something stupid, but a senior scrutineer sorted it for me. Spun some yarns with a few people, asked if any help was needed with track setup (it wasn’t), so I loaded up again, drove slowly around the track, and then picked the wife and kids up from the beach and went home, with all signs of nerves gone. Odd. Took it for another run on New Years Day, and then loaded it up. Slept better that night than I have in ages.
Race Day- Jan 2nd
“thank god that’s over”
“but it’s not”
And with that, my eyes opened at about 4:30am on race day. The Nelson pits are small, and being 50 mins from the track, I have to get up early to get a decent spot- alarm went off at 4:45am. MrsB and I were driving out the gate by 5:15, off on her favourite day of the year…has something to do with the lack of kids… We arrived at the track just after 6am, nabbed a spot overlooking the marina, and got our pit set up. It was dry but it looked like the predictions of rain were going to be right. Ate brekky, and then the rain started. It came down pretty hard for a while then slowly started to ease. The meeting was declared wet- made no difference to me, because I’m using Pilot Power road tyres.
Riders Briefing: “practice will be run under yellow flags, so NO PASSING”. Pretty simple I thought. The start was delayed slightly, because the heavy rain had caused the track to flood on some sections where the hay bales were blocking drainage. This was sorted quickly.
Practice.
I had entered in F3 and BEARS, the organizers had put me into F2 as well. I have found in other years that you can get too much of a good thing, but I decided to give F2 a nudge as well, particularly since it gave me the chance to do 2 practice sessions in the tricky conditions (one for F3/BEARS, one for F1/F2). Most of us must’ve been asleep at riders briefing, because there were people passing all over the show in both sessions, despite repeated warnings over the pits PA lol. The track was as slippery as I have ever encountered, but after a while I got used to where I could and couldn’t wind on my megre 65ish HP. I was kinda glad I was on a low powered L-twin…
The marathon cleaning sesh mentioned above was completely wasted- my bike was FILTHY by the end of practice….
Races
By the time the racing started, the rain was dying off to a light drizzle and the sun was breaking through. For my first race (F2) the track was pretty much completely dry, except for T1 and T2. I started off the back of the grid, and tried to get to grips with the track again. Turn 1 was particularly interesting, because the choice at the exit was either run through a deep puddle or over the “give way” paint. The back end was stepping out a lot and I was cursing my shock. I believe I was beaten by a 70 year old returning to racing after 40 years….I came in shaking my head, but according to the paper the guy has done a 112mph lap of the Isle of Mann, so maybe its not so bad.
By the time F3 came up, it was dry. I started somewhere near the back, and got an appalling start- really must work on my first corner aggression. Before the meeting started, I had decided to make a real effort to use the back brake, which I normally don’t use at all. It had worked OK in the first race and practice, but my pace was improving a bit during this race, and I was finding that it was difficult to stop the back wheel from locking. I managed to pass the 70 year old and one or two others and leave them behind. But it was still a pretty average result. Was still struggling with rear grip exiting the corners
The first BEARS race arrived, and again I started from the back row. Another bad start, but my corner speed was coming up again. By the time this race was halfway through, I had to admit that using the rear brake just wasn’t working. With engine braking thrown in, I was finding that I couldn’t use the front brake properly, as the back end would just lock up. I guess a more skillful rider could manage it, but I couldn’t, so I went back to front brakes only. This was much easier to deal with, and I passed a couple of guys under brakes, including Paul Bishop on his new Buell.
To be honest, with nine races across three classes and three rounds, the rest of the day is a bit of a blur. OK, its a major fuzzy patch.
I only got 2 starts from a decent grid position (ie 3rd row). One was wasted when the bike in front of me slowed momentarily half way to the first bend, the other when the guy in front’s bike stalled on the line. The rest of the time, my start/first corner issues had me pretty much last around T1 in every race, then I had to try and make up ground.
I can say that I had some great battles with Paul Bishop’s new Buell, a big KTM, a Hyper Motard/Monster 696 (depending on which one he was using!), and I had fun chasing Deisel Pigs CBX572 and Paul Fishers sweet 750SS. I chased Darren Heeman’s Softail 1580 a couple of times (when he duffed the start) and he demonstrated the way to get past people, definitely another thing I need to work on.
The Buell was a bit slower through the bends but had way more stomp in a straight line, so I was trying everything to get by, including late braking, tight lines, wide lines and hanging back a bit to take the corner faster.
The KTM was using tight-entry-wide-exit-point-and-squirt tactics. After trying everything I settled on hanging back a bit before the last corner, then belting through it as hard as I could and using momentum to carry me past. The only issue was getting the timing just right, and I managed to get it right on the last corner of the last lap twice.
The Hyper Motard/Monster 696 were much the same as the Buell- too much power for me to make a pass stick.
I eventually hardened up and got used to the back end sliding under power. I loved hearing my front tyre chirp and protest under heavy braking, but had to try to remember not to brake heavily while leant over while desperately trying to make up ground on a more powerful bike (I’ve lost the front doing this a few times now).
One thing that has frustrated me in past years is not being able to get my knee down at a street circuit. Finally sorted that one this year, and as always it happened when I wasn’t thinking about it…gave me a fright and I nearly ended up in the haybales! lol T1 has always given me issues- its bloody tight with a very narrow exit. So I was stoked when I got the knee down a few times there as well! Hopefully there will be some photographic evidence…
The day ended for me with a close battle in the final BEARS race with at least 3 other bikes. A guy with a camera at T1 was applauding us and giving the big thumbs up at the end of the race, so it must’ve looked all right from his perspective. Then came the unique elation you get when you realize that you have completed an event like this with zero problems. It’s a great feeling.
MrsB and I then spent half an hour or so helping dismantle the track- I’d promised Andy Watson that I would do a bit, but didn’t count on my lovely wife doing it as well. We didn’t go to the prize giving dinner, because we had to go and rescue my parents from our kids.
All in all a bloody mint day. The organization was superb, and without a doubt I have never attended a street race that ran this smoothly. They managed to cope with heavy rain early on, numerous crashes (one that needed the ambo), a bit of fisticuffs at the end of one race, and classics leaving an oil slick around 3 or 4 turns TWICE, and yet still managed three full rounds of racing including at least 1 restart, and a 10 lap King of The Port feature race, and the whole day ended on time. Pretty bloody impressive I reckon. A BIG thanks to every one involved with making this event happen….now you get about 2 weeks off before you have to start all over again for 2011…
Next day I rang Andy at AB’s Motorcycles (http://www.absmotorcycles.co.nz/)to see if I could still book the bike in. He asked me to deliver it at around lunch time on the 30th, so I set about doing some other bits and pieces…including a marathon cleaning session as the poor old bike was filthy and had never had a decent clean. Also took it for a wee run to see what the new ride height felt like….it felt great, but as always the rear shock felt abysmal. Checked the sags and they were all OK.
Dropped the bike in on the 30th to a very busy Andy, he’s the president of the NRRA, so he was flat out arranging for the street races. 2.5 hours later and it was all done- all the valves were well outside of spec, but no damage was done. Andy gave me a very nice price, so I was stoked- thanks AB’s Motorcycles (http://www.absmotorcycles.co.nz/)! Once home again, I sorted out a few other niggling faults, and generally obsessed nervously about the bike- must admit, pre event excitement/nerves has never hit me this far out before.
Jan 1
Had to do another trip into Nelson for sign in/scrutineering. Almost got failed for something stupid, but a senior scrutineer sorted it for me. Spun some yarns with a few people, asked if any help was needed with track setup (it wasn’t), so I loaded up again, drove slowly around the track, and then picked the wife and kids up from the beach and went home, with all signs of nerves gone. Odd. Took it for another run on New Years Day, and then loaded it up. Slept better that night than I have in ages.
Race Day- Jan 2nd
“thank god that’s over”
“but it’s not”
And with that, my eyes opened at about 4:30am on race day. The Nelson pits are small, and being 50 mins from the track, I have to get up early to get a decent spot- alarm went off at 4:45am. MrsB and I were driving out the gate by 5:15, off on her favourite day of the year…has something to do with the lack of kids… We arrived at the track just after 6am, nabbed a spot overlooking the marina, and got our pit set up. It was dry but it looked like the predictions of rain were going to be right. Ate brekky, and then the rain started. It came down pretty hard for a while then slowly started to ease. The meeting was declared wet- made no difference to me, because I’m using Pilot Power road tyres.
Riders Briefing: “practice will be run under yellow flags, so NO PASSING”. Pretty simple I thought. The start was delayed slightly, because the heavy rain had caused the track to flood on some sections where the hay bales were blocking drainage. This was sorted quickly.
Practice.
I had entered in F3 and BEARS, the organizers had put me into F2 as well. I have found in other years that you can get too much of a good thing, but I decided to give F2 a nudge as well, particularly since it gave me the chance to do 2 practice sessions in the tricky conditions (one for F3/BEARS, one for F1/F2). Most of us must’ve been asleep at riders briefing, because there were people passing all over the show in both sessions, despite repeated warnings over the pits PA lol. The track was as slippery as I have ever encountered, but after a while I got used to where I could and couldn’t wind on my megre 65ish HP. I was kinda glad I was on a low powered L-twin…
The marathon cleaning sesh mentioned above was completely wasted- my bike was FILTHY by the end of practice….
Races
By the time the racing started, the rain was dying off to a light drizzle and the sun was breaking through. For my first race (F2) the track was pretty much completely dry, except for T1 and T2. I started off the back of the grid, and tried to get to grips with the track again. Turn 1 was particularly interesting, because the choice at the exit was either run through a deep puddle or over the “give way” paint. The back end was stepping out a lot and I was cursing my shock. I believe I was beaten by a 70 year old returning to racing after 40 years….I came in shaking my head, but according to the paper the guy has done a 112mph lap of the Isle of Mann, so maybe its not so bad.
By the time F3 came up, it was dry. I started somewhere near the back, and got an appalling start- really must work on my first corner aggression. Before the meeting started, I had decided to make a real effort to use the back brake, which I normally don’t use at all. It had worked OK in the first race and practice, but my pace was improving a bit during this race, and I was finding that it was difficult to stop the back wheel from locking. I managed to pass the 70 year old and one or two others and leave them behind. But it was still a pretty average result. Was still struggling with rear grip exiting the corners
The first BEARS race arrived, and again I started from the back row. Another bad start, but my corner speed was coming up again. By the time this race was halfway through, I had to admit that using the rear brake just wasn’t working. With engine braking thrown in, I was finding that I couldn’t use the front brake properly, as the back end would just lock up. I guess a more skillful rider could manage it, but I couldn’t, so I went back to front brakes only. This was much easier to deal with, and I passed a couple of guys under brakes, including Paul Bishop on his new Buell.
To be honest, with nine races across three classes and three rounds, the rest of the day is a bit of a blur. OK, its a major fuzzy patch.
I only got 2 starts from a decent grid position (ie 3rd row). One was wasted when the bike in front of me slowed momentarily half way to the first bend, the other when the guy in front’s bike stalled on the line. The rest of the time, my start/first corner issues had me pretty much last around T1 in every race, then I had to try and make up ground.
I can say that I had some great battles with Paul Bishop’s new Buell, a big KTM, a Hyper Motard/Monster 696 (depending on which one he was using!), and I had fun chasing Deisel Pigs CBX572 and Paul Fishers sweet 750SS. I chased Darren Heeman’s Softail 1580 a couple of times (when he duffed the start) and he demonstrated the way to get past people, definitely another thing I need to work on.
The Buell was a bit slower through the bends but had way more stomp in a straight line, so I was trying everything to get by, including late braking, tight lines, wide lines and hanging back a bit to take the corner faster.
The KTM was using tight-entry-wide-exit-point-and-squirt tactics. After trying everything I settled on hanging back a bit before the last corner, then belting through it as hard as I could and using momentum to carry me past. The only issue was getting the timing just right, and I managed to get it right on the last corner of the last lap twice.
The Hyper Motard/Monster 696 were much the same as the Buell- too much power for me to make a pass stick.
I eventually hardened up and got used to the back end sliding under power. I loved hearing my front tyre chirp and protest under heavy braking, but had to try to remember not to brake heavily while leant over while desperately trying to make up ground on a more powerful bike (I’ve lost the front doing this a few times now).
One thing that has frustrated me in past years is not being able to get my knee down at a street circuit. Finally sorted that one this year, and as always it happened when I wasn’t thinking about it…gave me a fright and I nearly ended up in the haybales! lol T1 has always given me issues- its bloody tight with a very narrow exit. So I was stoked when I got the knee down a few times there as well! Hopefully there will be some photographic evidence…
The day ended for me with a close battle in the final BEARS race with at least 3 other bikes. A guy with a camera at T1 was applauding us and giving the big thumbs up at the end of the race, so it must’ve looked all right from his perspective. Then came the unique elation you get when you realize that you have completed an event like this with zero problems. It’s a great feeling.
MrsB and I then spent half an hour or so helping dismantle the track- I’d promised Andy Watson that I would do a bit, but didn’t count on my lovely wife doing it as well. We didn’t go to the prize giving dinner, because we had to go and rescue my parents from our kids.
All in all a bloody mint day. The organization was superb, and without a doubt I have never attended a street race that ran this smoothly. They managed to cope with heavy rain early on, numerous crashes (one that needed the ambo), a bit of fisticuffs at the end of one race, and classics leaving an oil slick around 3 or 4 turns TWICE, and yet still managed three full rounds of racing including at least 1 restart, and a 10 lap King of The Port feature race, and the whole day ended on time. Pretty bloody impressive I reckon. A BIG thanks to every one involved with making this event happen….now you get about 2 weeks off before you have to start all over again for 2011…