SWERVE
17th April 2010, 16:01
Ants has been "chomping at the bit" to get back on track since the endurance race and not having ridden the 150 for ages.
I have never seen him so focused "for anything" than he was in the week leading to the first championship race of 2010. With 2 bikes to ride RG150/SV650 and two champs Sportzfotoz Cup/South Island Cup it was a busy day.
He did practice on the SV. Looked steady and smooth certainly on a reasonable pace but as no timing data available to the afternoon was had to say. He was definately fast on the RG even without timing to prove.
So it was "first up-best dressed" for grid positions (Bah) and Ants is not the qiuckest to the startline!. However first F3/pro-twin race saw him on row 3! But alongside J. Hoogie so it would be a good guage.............. oh it was......... James gave Ants a lesson on how to launch a SV650.....think he was at T1 while Ants was thinking about starting (timing showed a 10sec advantage on 1st lap alone).
But Ants recovered and put his head down passing a few and finishing 5th overall and 2nd protwin.
Race 2 saw him on row 3 again and James up the front. Ants got caught in the 1st lap bunching and was well down the field........again rode hard and ended up 7th overal and 3rd protwin.
Race 3 saw him get on row 2 and a better start J.Hoogie/Kirk P/ A Hoogie made a break in the first 2 laps but Ants really pushed himself and with Alistar falling came home 3rd overall and again 2nd protwin. Lap times improved from mid 1:15,s to mid 13,s during the day and he was almost matching James for lap pace in race 3.
He admitted that his starts had let him down , but also admitted he wasn,t really pushing it either.......tyres prove he is getting on the gas ok but not even beginning to work the front end yet......guess he will have to find out what a decent (CKT) front end is capable of when he is ready.
Streetstock.
Race one saw Ants alongside his natonal comrades Seth Deveruax (on the Krr150) & Jake Lewis(Aprillia RS125) on the front row. The master of starts Seth got the jump for the first lap but Ants took him on Lap 2 at T1 and never looked back. He took the win and was riding at the same pace as he was at the Nats.
Race 2. This time Ants got the jump and lead from flag to flag......... But the biggest surprise was he set a new Streetstock Lap Record on the last lap with a 1:17.653 beating Johnny Smalls current record by 6/100ths. He/we were stoked.
Race 3. Seth / Jake & Ants had decided to even things up a bit by starting at the back of the streetstock grid. Although i ageed with there motives i expressed my concerns about them passing alot of slower guys very quickly.........they assured me that they would give slower riders a wide berth. They did. Although by the end of lap 1 they were back in position 1/2/3 again!!!. Ants took win number 3. This is no reflection on anyof the other riders....its just that these 3 young guys are just riding superbly well at the moment........... mention must go to Matt Hoogie & Blake henwood-sparks who are both very fast and consistant. Another one to watch is Leigh Hampton she fell in training but that girl has got potential..........what is it with that family (good genes).
So with Ants on such a "high" we need to go racing again soon..........but alas no racing down here until July at Levels. So with much help from our sponsors and many others we will be attending rounds 1 & 2 of the VMCC Winter Series at Manfield. We will be entering Ants in both the Streetstock & Pro-Twin classes to maximise the track time. Ants really enjoyed Manfield last sept and is really looking forward to getting back there next month. Sounds like the streetstock lads & lasses from the north are all fired up and the pro-twin field is growing so roll on May 15th.
I have never seen him so focused "for anything" than he was in the week leading to the first championship race of 2010. With 2 bikes to ride RG150/SV650 and two champs Sportzfotoz Cup/South Island Cup it was a busy day.
He did practice on the SV. Looked steady and smooth certainly on a reasonable pace but as no timing data available to the afternoon was had to say. He was definately fast on the RG even without timing to prove.
So it was "first up-best dressed" for grid positions (Bah) and Ants is not the qiuckest to the startline!. However first F3/pro-twin race saw him on row 3! But alongside J. Hoogie so it would be a good guage.............. oh it was......... James gave Ants a lesson on how to launch a SV650.....think he was at T1 while Ants was thinking about starting (timing showed a 10sec advantage on 1st lap alone).
But Ants recovered and put his head down passing a few and finishing 5th overall and 2nd protwin.
Race 2 saw him on row 3 again and James up the front. Ants got caught in the 1st lap bunching and was well down the field........again rode hard and ended up 7th overal and 3rd protwin.
Race 3 saw him get on row 2 and a better start J.Hoogie/Kirk P/ A Hoogie made a break in the first 2 laps but Ants really pushed himself and with Alistar falling came home 3rd overall and again 2nd protwin. Lap times improved from mid 1:15,s to mid 13,s during the day and he was almost matching James for lap pace in race 3.
He admitted that his starts had let him down , but also admitted he wasn,t really pushing it either.......tyres prove he is getting on the gas ok but not even beginning to work the front end yet......guess he will have to find out what a decent (CKT) front end is capable of when he is ready.
Streetstock.
Race one saw Ants alongside his natonal comrades Seth Deveruax (on the Krr150) & Jake Lewis(Aprillia RS125) on the front row. The master of starts Seth got the jump for the first lap but Ants took him on Lap 2 at T1 and never looked back. He took the win and was riding at the same pace as he was at the Nats.
Race 2. This time Ants got the jump and lead from flag to flag......... But the biggest surprise was he set a new Streetstock Lap Record on the last lap with a 1:17.653 beating Johnny Smalls current record by 6/100ths. He/we were stoked.
Race 3. Seth / Jake & Ants had decided to even things up a bit by starting at the back of the streetstock grid. Although i ageed with there motives i expressed my concerns about them passing alot of slower guys very quickly.........they assured me that they would give slower riders a wide berth. They did. Although by the end of lap 1 they were back in position 1/2/3 again!!!. Ants took win number 3. This is no reflection on anyof the other riders....its just that these 3 young guys are just riding superbly well at the moment........... mention must go to Matt Hoogie & Blake henwood-sparks who are both very fast and consistant. Another one to watch is Leigh Hampton she fell in training but that girl has got potential..........what is it with that family (good genes).
So with Ants on such a "high" we need to go racing again soon..........but alas no racing down here until July at Levels. So with much help from our sponsors and many others we will be attending rounds 1 & 2 of the VMCC Winter Series at Manfield. We will be entering Ants in both the Streetstock & Pro-Twin classes to maximise the track time. Ants really enjoyed Manfield last sept and is really looking forward to getting back there next month. Sounds like the streetstock lads & lasses from the north are all fired up and the pro-twin field is growing so roll on May 15th.