scorry
13th January 2010, 07:22
Well, where to start, I am going to try and keep this brief as there is a lot to say but don’t want to go on too much.
We (Dad, Chrissy and I) packed up and left home on the 16th December hoping that I had everything I would need for 4 race meetings (all of which I had never raced at before).
Manfield - 19th December
First of the meetings was Manfield, first time on the track and it was qualifying (didn’t plan that too well did I!).
I had been given a few clues as to which gearing to run, but this turned out to be far too tall and I couldn’t get any drive out of corners and was getting swamped down the straights.
My corner speed was good but since Manfield has 3 big straights I ended up qualifying 27th out of 28. I felt like having a wee cry, packing up and going home lol.
I knew what I needed to do to the bike to be faster, so we made heaps of changes and went out for race 1.
I had been given a pointer from a mate to stay on the outside into turn 1 and forget about everyone on the inside, this worked great, after turn 1 I made 5 spots and was now 22nd.
My gearing and suspension adjustments worked perfectly and I managed to get passed another 2 to finish in 20th. Much happier with how I was going but still wanted more!
Race 2, another great start seen me inside the top 20 after just 1 corner. After making some great moves under brakes I was into 17th and found myself in an awesome battle with a CRF450 which was so close as we passed each other at least twice each lap.
Coming into the last corner he was on the inside but I decided I wanted this bad so I out braked him on the outside and got a good drive but just seen him beside me as we crossed the line. I ended up 18th by 0.002, that’s pretty close!
I found out afterwards that he won the local series for the 450 class so that made me happy as this was my first time on the track, just wished I had of had a practice session before qualifying as this would have put me around mid pack to start with.
After Manfield I had a week off before Wanganui to cruise around and see some of the other Island which was good as I had never been north of Wellington.
Wanganui – 26th December
Christmas day was different, as we headed to the pits at Wanganui.
We were waiting for the pit gates to open so we could get a good spot when dad got talking to a guy who was just opening the door to the tyre shop.
After a while dad came back and said we had a mint as spot and didn’t have to wait for the main pits to open as the guy said we could pit up in his yard, which was out of the way and worked out awesome.
The nerves started early the next day as briefing was at 7.30 with the 1st timers out at 8.
I went out for practise and found some braking markers and was liking the track.
Qualifying went well and I was 20th out of more than 40.
A lot of delays later I had my first race well after lunch time, which is the norm for Wanganui apparently.
The warm up lap opened my eyes quite a bit as I hadn’t been on the track since early morning and found some of my braking markers (one was a white bin on the front straight) were now surrounded by a huge crowd, over 10,000 people!
Race 1 was going well, I was inside the top 20 when I decided I could get really aggressive on the brakes. I tried to slam it up the inside of a Honda into turn 1 but I wasn’t beside him enough for him to see me as he turned in leaving me no room.
I was hard on the brakes and quite sideways when I hit his back wheel almost high siding myself I managed to stop before hitting the bails which was good, but I lost a few spots and ended up 22nd.
Race 2, a good start and very good clean race seen me picking up some places during the race and also taking an awesome line on the 2nd last corner as the guy in front of me drifted wide I snuck in front to finish 17th.
We then packed up and headed to Taupo, which was just over 200k away but an awesome riding road took up 4 hours in the mighty camper.
Taupo – 27th & 28th December
I was really looking forward to this meeting as I had been getting faster the whole trip and I was told that Taupo had lots of corners, which suits me well.
Two practise sessions was good and I was getting some faster lines and braking later.
Qualifying put me 18th out of 35, I wasn’t real happy with this but knew I could go faster.
We could see some clouds coming in fast, so Dad and I started doing a wee rain dance as I know I am fast in the wet (coming from Dunedin we get lots of practise).
Sure enough, it started pissing down. On went the wets and I went out for race 1.
I got a great start and made up quite a few spots into turn 1 and then a couple more on the next few corners. I knew I was doing well when I could see the leaders not too far ahead.
I finished in 11th and my fastest lap was only half a second behind world champion Ivan Lazarini.
Race 2 had seen the clouds pass and it was now hot and dry.
Another good start seen more places gained into and out of turn 1 and then one more into turn 2, once again the leaders weren’t too far ahead so I pushed as hard as I could.
I ended up having an awesome battle with an Aussie on an Aprillia 550, he would pass me down the front straight but I could get him back under brakes. I managed to pull out a gap into the last corner and got a great drive to hold him off and finish 12th.
I really liked this track and was stoked with my results, I even won a prize for furtherest travelled within NZ.
With the North Island racing finished I was looking forward to heading south and racing the local boys to see if I had got faster.
Nelson – 2nd January
Back to the mainland seen the great weather pass and it was raining turning to drizzling for the first practice. Found out another famous champ was going to be racing with me, Josh Coppins, even though it was his first time on a motard and first time at Nelson everyone knew he would be fast.
Race 1 was hectic as the warm up lap was qualifying and I made managed to get the second row as it started to dry out.
I got a good start and was in 7th into the 1st corner, which is over 90 degrees and it’s a 300m drag race to get to it. I managed to gain a spot into turn 2 but got really loose coming out of it as I was on wets and it was really drying out.
I was pushing hard to catch 6th place and was getting really sideways out of the corners but I wasn’t letting it get to me too much and I managed to pass him on the last corner of the last lap. My tyre was really hot when I got back into pits and looking pretty average.
I decided to change back to slicks and then headed out for race 2.
Another reasonably good start put me in 7th into turn 1 again.
The pace was really fast in the dry and it was hard work keeping up with the guy in front.
I lost a wee bit of ground during the next lap but picked up the pace with 2 laps to go.
White flag came out and I was right behind him into turn 1, I decided I would not use my braking marker and see where he braked, turns out he came in way too hot and therefore so did I. He was fully sideways and inches away from hitting the bails, I thought I was going to plough into him but I managed to pull it up and slid up the inside to take 6th.
Last race of the trip and possibly a good thing as I got the worst start ever and was back to about 12th, I struggled my way past one rider but only got to 11th.
The trip was an awesome experience and has helped my riding improve by racing against much faster competition, was awesome to now say I have raced with world supermotard champions Ivan Lazarini and Davide Gozzini and also New Zealand motor cross legend Josh Coppins.
A huge thanks to Dad and Chrissy, all your help and support has been awesome.
Thank you to Otago Motorcycle Club, BRONZ Otago, MCR, Metzeler and all my supporters for cheering me on.
I have just made a 7 year upgrade to a new bike so keep an eye out for me this year!
We (Dad, Chrissy and I) packed up and left home on the 16th December hoping that I had everything I would need for 4 race meetings (all of which I had never raced at before).
Manfield - 19th December
First of the meetings was Manfield, first time on the track and it was qualifying (didn’t plan that too well did I!).
I had been given a few clues as to which gearing to run, but this turned out to be far too tall and I couldn’t get any drive out of corners and was getting swamped down the straights.
My corner speed was good but since Manfield has 3 big straights I ended up qualifying 27th out of 28. I felt like having a wee cry, packing up and going home lol.
I knew what I needed to do to the bike to be faster, so we made heaps of changes and went out for race 1.
I had been given a pointer from a mate to stay on the outside into turn 1 and forget about everyone on the inside, this worked great, after turn 1 I made 5 spots and was now 22nd.
My gearing and suspension adjustments worked perfectly and I managed to get passed another 2 to finish in 20th. Much happier with how I was going but still wanted more!
Race 2, another great start seen me inside the top 20 after just 1 corner. After making some great moves under brakes I was into 17th and found myself in an awesome battle with a CRF450 which was so close as we passed each other at least twice each lap.
Coming into the last corner he was on the inside but I decided I wanted this bad so I out braked him on the outside and got a good drive but just seen him beside me as we crossed the line. I ended up 18th by 0.002, that’s pretty close!
I found out afterwards that he won the local series for the 450 class so that made me happy as this was my first time on the track, just wished I had of had a practice session before qualifying as this would have put me around mid pack to start with.
After Manfield I had a week off before Wanganui to cruise around and see some of the other Island which was good as I had never been north of Wellington.
Wanganui – 26th December
Christmas day was different, as we headed to the pits at Wanganui.
We were waiting for the pit gates to open so we could get a good spot when dad got talking to a guy who was just opening the door to the tyre shop.
After a while dad came back and said we had a mint as spot and didn’t have to wait for the main pits to open as the guy said we could pit up in his yard, which was out of the way and worked out awesome.
The nerves started early the next day as briefing was at 7.30 with the 1st timers out at 8.
I went out for practise and found some braking markers and was liking the track.
Qualifying went well and I was 20th out of more than 40.
A lot of delays later I had my first race well after lunch time, which is the norm for Wanganui apparently.
The warm up lap opened my eyes quite a bit as I hadn’t been on the track since early morning and found some of my braking markers (one was a white bin on the front straight) were now surrounded by a huge crowd, over 10,000 people!
Race 1 was going well, I was inside the top 20 when I decided I could get really aggressive on the brakes. I tried to slam it up the inside of a Honda into turn 1 but I wasn’t beside him enough for him to see me as he turned in leaving me no room.
I was hard on the brakes and quite sideways when I hit his back wheel almost high siding myself I managed to stop before hitting the bails which was good, but I lost a few spots and ended up 22nd.
Race 2, a good start and very good clean race seen me picking up some places during the race and also taking an awesome line on the 2nd last corner as the guy in front of me drifted wide I snuck in front to finish 17th.
We then packed up and headed to Taupo, which was just over 200k away but an awesome riding road took up 4 hours in the mighty camper.
Taupo – 27th & 28th December
I was really looking forward to this meeting as I had been getting faster the whole trip and I was told that Taupo had lots of corners, which suits me well.
Two practise sessions was good and I was getting some faster lines and braking later.
Qualifying put me 18th out of 35, I wasn’t real happy with this but knew I could go faster.
We could see some clouds coming in fast, so Dad and I started doing a wee rain dance as I know I am fast in the wet (coming from Dunedin we get lots of practise).
Sure enough, it started pissing down. On went the wets and I went out for race 1.
I got a great start and made up quite a few spots into turn 1 and then a couple more on the next few corners. I knew I was doing well when I could see the leaders not too far ahead.
I finished in 11th and my fastest lap was only half a second behind world champion Ivan Lazarini.
Race 2 had seen the clouds pass and it was now hot and dry.
Another good start seen more places gained into and out of turn 1 and then one more into turn 2, once again the leaders weren’t too far ahead so I pushed as hard as I could.
I ended up having an awesome battle with an Aussie on an Aprillia 550, he would pass me down the front straight but I could get him back under brakes. I managed to pull out a gap into the last corner and got a great drive to hold him off and finish 12th.
I really liked this track and was stoked with my results, I even won a prize for furtherest travelled within NZ.
With the North Island racing finished I was looking forward to heading south and racing the local boys to see if I had got faster.
Nelson – 2nd January
Back to the mainland seen the great weather pass and it was raining turning to drizzling for the first practice. Found out another famous champ was going to be racing with me, Josh Coppins, even though it was his first time on a motard and first time at Nelson everyone knew he would be fast.
Race 1 was hectic as the warm up lap was qualifying and I made managed to get the second row as it started to dry out.
I got a good start and was in 7th into the 1st corner, which is over 90 degrees and it’s a 300m drag race to get to it. I managed to gain a spot into turn 2 but got really loose coming out of it as I was on wets and it was really drying out.
I was pushing hard to catch 6th place and was getting really sideways out of the corners but I wasn’t letting it get to me too much and I managed to pass him on the last corner of the last lap. My tyre was really hot when I got back into pits and looking pretty average.
I decided to change back to slicks and then headed out for race 2.
Another reasonably good start put me in 7th into turn 1 again.
The pace was really fast in the dry and it was hard work keeping up with the guy in front.
I lost a wee bit of ground during the next lap but picked up the pace with 2 laps to go.
White flag came out and I was right behind him into turn 1, I decided I would not use my braking marker and see where he braked, turns out he came in way too hot and therefore so did I. He was fully sideways and inches away from hitting the bails, I thought I was going to plough into him but I managed to pull it up and slid up the inside to take 6th.
Last race of the trip and possibly a good thing as I got the worst start ever and was back to about 12th, I struggled my way past one rider but only got to 11th.
The trip was an awesome experience and has helped my riding improve by racing against much faster competition, was awesome to now say I have raced with world supermotard champions Ivan Lazarini and Davide Gozzini and also New Zealand motor cross legend Josh Coppins.
A huge thanks to Dad and Chrissy, all your help and support has been awesome.
Thank you to Otago Motorcycle Club, BRONZ Otago, MCR, Metzeler and all my supporters for cheering me on.
I have just made a 7 year upgrade to a new bike so keep an eye out for me this year!