nicko
9th May 2005, 13:10
Hi guys,
Thanks for the messages of support. Overall race result was a bit dissapointing being in 12th but weekend was awesome, here's a report to let you know how we got on.
We couldn't make it out to practice on the Friday so Saturday I had to try and get on the pace early. We had 2 x 10min practices and 1 x 30min qualifying session between the 2 or us (Ross King & Me). Ross had the first practice session and noticed the rear end wasn't handling too well so with a quick chat to Robert Taylor from Ohlins and a dial on the rear shock we made a change for my 10min practice. It was Ross's first time on my bike and he was clocking in 1.06's first practice so a fairly good start.
My turn for the practice, we were on some fairly well worn Metzeler Racetechs that I had left over from the nationals, I headed out and man what a difference the rear shock change made to the bike. It was the first time I'd ever felt really comfortable on this machine and able to push hard in the corners. I got my head down and passed a few of the other riders and on my 5th lap out I broke my personal best with a 1.01.291. Minta!
Next was the actual qualifying session, I had the first ten laps to try and set a good time and broke my PB again and layed down a 1.01.124. I headed in and gave the last 20 laps to Ross to try and get some time on the bike.
My time qualified us 6th which meant I got into the Top 6 Superpole Shootout. It was an awesome buzz and a bit daunting being first up, it was unreal to just have the whole track to yourself and knowing there are 5 other riders who'll gain grid positions for every mistake you make. I managed a 1.01.257 on my hot lap which I was pretty happy with and this got me up a couple of places ahead of Hepburn & McAdam to be 4th on the grid. This was probably the highlight of the weekend and we got some awesome coverage for the team on Sky!
Race day, Sunday morning was raining and Ross did the two 10 min scrub in sessions to get some more time on the bike. If it was going to be a wet race Ross would do the 1st and 3rd ride and I'd do the 2nd, if it was dry I'd do the 1st & 3rd and Ross would do the 2nd. As it turned out the rain cleared off for the start although the track was still damp in places & I jumped on board for the start. The Le-Mans start was fun and looking at the www.mylaps.com runsheet for the event I was 9th overall and 3rd 600cc bike over the line after the first lap (31 bikes in the field - 16 x 600's and 15 x 1000's). The first 10 laps were mental and I was trying pretty hard to stay with the front bunch, I got into the lead of the 600's a few times swapping places with Shirriffs and Hepburn. After 25 Laps I was getting into a good rhythm in 7th overall and 4th 600, after 44 laps (due to other riders coming in to refuel) I was 4th overall and 2nd 600 behind Derek McAdam. On the 45th lap I came in with an empty tank for a rider swap and refuel.
Ross headed out for his session and while out there was an accident over the hill which caused about 10 laps or so to be under pace car. We opted for him to stay out otherwise we might have had to add another stop in later on for refuelling. Pace car back in and it started to rain in his last few laps out. Ross came in on lap 93 which meant I had a 26 lap sprint to the finish...
We were in 13th place overall and 9th in the 600s when I went out, the track was fairly wet on the front half and dry on the back. I got on with it keen to pick up some places, 2nd lap round coming out of the hairpin and whack, the chain jumped off the sprocket. Absolutely gutted. I coasted off the track and had to run the bike all the way down to our pit yelling at the team that the chain had come off. Luckily it hadn't broken but unfortunately it had jumped off the front sprocket which meant we had to take the casing off the front as well as taking the rear wheel out. Paul Pavlovitch gave me an interview about it for TV and as I saw in the replay last night they called me Karl Morgan - good one!
After what seemed like forever we got it back together and I headed back out now 19th overall and 12th in the 600's. 11 laps out till finish & I picked up another place but passed one of the slow riders under a yellow so got deducted 20 seconds to put me back down and finished in 12th place for the 600's.
It was dissapointing to have our result decided by a breakdown but that's endurance racing I guess. I'm still really pleased with how the weekend went, I had heaps of fun, learnt heaps, broke my PB and got on TV. And hey, at least we finished in 1 piece and with the bike still looking mint! I'm definitely keen to do it next year and if anyone else gets a chance it's a buzz unlike any other racing we do.
Thanks to Ross for being an awesome teammate, even though he's only 19 he knows heaps about bikes and I've learnt a whole bunch from doing this event with him - cheers man.
Thanks to everyone for your support and in particular my sponsors, without whom I wouldn't have been able to give it a shot:
SDV International Logistics, Fredco Motors, Atomic, Holeshot, Wairau Paint Centre, Metzeler, Vesrah, FFM, 'V Black', XJ/Frosty Lapboards Inc, 2Smoker K4 Spares Ltd
Also thanks to Vince Sharpe & Kristin Hawthorne from Tracktime for putting together such a fantastic event - well done!
Thanks for the messages of support. Overall race result was a bit dissapointing being in 12th but weekend was awesome, here's a report to let you know how we got on.
We couldn't make it out to practice on the Friday so Saturday I had to try and get on the pace early. We had 2 x 10min practices and 1 x 30min qualifying session between the 2 or us (Ross King & Me). Ross had the first practice session and noticed the rear end wasn't handling too well so with a quick chat to Robert Taylor from Ohlins and a dial on the rear shock we made a change for my 10min practice. It was Ross's first time on my bike and he was clocking in 1.06's first practice so a fairly good start.
My turn for the practice, we were on some fairly well worn Metzeler Racetechs that I had left over from the nationals, I headed out and man what a difference the rear shock change made to the bike. It was the first time I'd ever felt really comfortable on this machine and able to push hard in the corners. I got my head down and passed a few of the other riders and on my 5th lap out I broke my personal best with a 1.01.291. Minta!
Next was the actual qualifying session, I had the first ten laps to try and set a good time and broke my PB again and layed down a 1.01.124. I headed in and gave the last 20 laps to Ross to try and get some time on the bike.
My time qualified us 6th which meant I got into the Top 6 Superpole Shootout. It was an awesome buzz and a bit daunting being first up, it was unreal to just have the whole track to yourself and knowing there are 5 other riders who'll gain grid positions for every mistake you make. I managed a 1.01.257 on my hot lap which I was pretty happy with and this got me up a couple of places ahead of Hepburn & McAdam to be 4th on the grid. This was probably the highlight of the weekend and we got some awesome coverage for the team on Sky!
Race day, Sunday morning was raining and Ross did the two 10 min scrub in sessions to get some more time on the bike. If it was going to be a wet race Ross would do the 1st and 3rd ride and I'd do the 2nd, if it was dry I'd do the 1st & 3rd and Ross would do the 2nd. As it turned out the rain cleared off for the start although the track was still damp in places & I jumped on board for the start. The Le-Mans start was fun and looking at the www.mylaps.com runsheet for the event I was 9th overall and 3rd 600cc bike over the line after the first lap (31 bikes in the field - 16 x 600's and 15 x 1000's). The first 10 laps were mental and I was trying pretty hard to stay with the front bunch, I got into the lead of the 600's a few times swapping places with Shirriffs and Hepburn. After 25 Laps I was getting into a good rhythm in 7th overall and 4th 600, after 44 laps (due to other riders coming in to refuel) I was 4th overall and 2nd 600 behind Derek McAdam. On the 45th lap I came in with an empty tank for a rider swap and refuel.
Ross headed out for his session and while out there was an accident over the hill which caused about 10 laps or so to be under pace car. We opted for him to stay out otherwise we might have had to add another stop in later on for refuelling. Pace car back in and it started to rain in his last few laps out. Ross came in on lap 93 which meant I had a 26 lap sprint to the finish...
We were in 13th place overall and 9th in the 600s when I went out, the track was fairly wet on the front half and dry on the back. I got on with it keen to pick up some places, 2nd lap round coming out of the hairpin and whack, the chain jumped off the sprocket. Absolutely gutted. I coasted off the track and had to run the bike all the way down to our pit yelling at the team that the chain had come off. Luckily it hadn't broken but unfortunately it had jumped off the front sprocket which meant we had to take the casing off the front as well as taking the rear wheel out. Paul Pavlovitch gave me an interview about it for TV and as I saw in the replay last night they called me Karl Morgan - good one!
After what seemed like forever we got it back together and I headed back out now 19th overall and 12th in the 600's. 11 laps out till finish & I picked up another place but passed one of the slow riders under a yellow so got deducted 20 seconds to put me back down and finished in 12th place for the 600's.
It was dissapointing to have our result decided by a breakdown but that's endurance racing I guess. I'm still really pleased with how the weekend went, I had heaps of fun, learnt heaps, broke my PB and got on TV. And hey, at least we finished in 1 piece and with the bike still looking mint! I'm definitely keen to do it next year and if anyone else gets a chance it's a buzz unlike any other racing we do.
Thanks to Ross for being an awesome teammate, even though he's only 19 he knows heaps about bikes and I've learnt a whole bunch from doing this event with him - cheers man.
Thanks to everyone for your support and in particular my sponsors, without whom I wouldn't have been able to give it a shot:
SDV International Logistics, Fredco Motors, Atomic, Holeshot, Wairau Paint Centre, Metzeler, Vesrah, FFM, 'V Black', XJ/Frosty Lapboards Inc, 2Smoker K4 Spares Ltd
Also thanks to Vince Sharpe & Kristin Hawthorne from Tracktime for putting together such a fantastic event - well done!