Motoracer
22nd May 2005, 15:45
Qualifying for F2: I was out in half damp and half dry conditions with the brakepads that needed running in. Once I ran the brake pads in, the fuel ran out. Crap. So I qualified right at the back of the field with a 1.30.
Qualifying for F1: I remembered to put the fuel in and went out with the run in brake pads, all set to go. Conditions were still slightly damp so I came home with a 1:20s lap time which set me to the middle of the grid. A couple of guys up front weren't too far ahead so I thought once I found my groove and with trying a bit harder, i might do a bit better during the race. Sweet.
Race 1 for F2: As always I took off the line after the green flag dropped and got ahead of people around me (I should have probably been a drag racer). I got past a few more people in turn one then went around to hold on to the back of Deane Labrum's tail who can put down a couple of seconds quicker lap time than me. I thought sweet, I just need to follow this man for a bit and I might get my lap times down. I almost did 2 laps while holding the distance behind Labrum but then coming out of the final sweeper I selected a gear too high and lost one position to Barry New on the R6. After that I got ahead of him by out braking him (note: I was out braking someone!! Usually I am hauling on the brakes to slow down like a train with the worn brake pads but this time I was braking good!) Then because of a few mistakes of mine he was still up front. I knew I could get him at least before the chequred flag so I was a bit silly and used to much throttle and not enough brains and almost had a big high side comming out of the hair pin. That sent the bike into a wobble which I am now fully used and I casually let it come back into control but I had to run off wide onto grass for that. I desperatly tried to get back onto the track, then I spun up the rear wheel and almost lost it again on the grass. Just as I got on the track again, I saw Stephen Lys and Derek Hill shoot past me. CRAP! Oh well, there isn't much I could do now, so I went around the track as quick as possible and came home with 12th out of 22 when I could have atleast come in the top 10.
Race 1 for Superbikes:
I felt like I was riding like an idot loon and I knew I should calm down cause the track was looking a bit iffy with the damp patches. If I wasn't going to be smooth I knew I was going to arse off as I already had one near high side in race one along with the front letting go once around the left hander after the esses. I can't really remember much but I do remember trying to ride well before I got passed on turn one on the 3rd or 4th lap after we got a bit of a light drissel. That really frustrated me and I got back to riding a bit too hard, then as the left hander came I usually go down from 4th to 3rd to power out of there but accidentally the gear went to 2nd instead of 3rd. The revs rose up high and the bike started sliding uncontrolably. I thought I had a slight window of oppertunity to get it back during a very short wobble but this time my luck had run out. I remember sliding on my front for a bit then I thought I could get up but then I realised that I was still sliding. So I waited till I slid all the way off the track on my arse, then I got up after comming to a hault. I got back up straight away and walked over to my sad looking bike. Shit... I killed the ignition and got up to the tire walls to safety just in case someone else might come of at the same area. The rain increased and I saw at least 2 other riders having a close call on the same left hander but luckily they managed to stay on the bike.
After the bike was brought back into the pits, here's the damage report so far:
- Broken but repairable fairings - front, both sides, tail.
- Shattered fairing blade.
- Bent exaust pipe but should be fixable with out any worries.
- Right hand side clip on had a clean break.
- Right hand side rear set bent.
- Right hand side brake lever snaped.
- Left hand side crash knob mount bent which then ripped a part of the frame (Fixable still by some specialists).
All the damage should probably cost me under 1 K to fix if I do a cheap job.
Then I got unlucky or in reality (where there is no such thing as luck), I made another stupid mistake once again by leaving the tire warmers on, in the rush to get out on the track and toasted the tire warmers (more expenses).
So I would say, i had another dissapointing round for the VMCC championship. I think with all these DNFs and me not being sorted for round 1, my hopes of doing well in the championship is not looking too well.
I know I can be a lot better than this in F2 and F1 but I am thinking of other options right now. Mainly because of the money factor.
Here are some that I came up with and will most probably go ahead with (one of them).
Option 1 - Fix the bike all up then sell it. Get a 125GP bike and become a proper racer by learning the basics and build a solid base for me to build up on as I have more finances in the future. I will really miss the power of a 600 as I really do enjoy ringing the nuts off it and I reckon bike handeling wise I could probably go to a 1000 right now but I would be even a slower racer most probably because I haven't learnt some of the race craft or track skills which I need to learn first.
Option 2 - Fix the bike all up then sell it. Get a F3 bike. This would be very fun as all the KB racers are in this class and I can see myself having good compition with them and it'll probably be cheaper than racing my 600.
Option 3 - Fix the bike all up and continue to race in F2/F1 and hope to improve the expensive way. However if I do this and have one more crash again in the near future or some other costly disaster, I would have to pack my bags up for a very long time.
At this moment I am really keen on option 1 and getting into 125GPs as the pros have sujested that that's probably the way to go. And if I become a good 125 racer, I will probably move on to become a good 600 or 1000cc racer when I go for the upgrade again. I will have a proper 125 set up with spare rims with wets and drys etc etc if I give it a go so I hope to do fairly OK in that class.
We will see as time passes by and what happens next.
A big huge thanks to the man Hooks for staying up late yet again for us to come into his lovely home and stay the night. Then he cooked us some great breakfast before sending us to the track. A big huge thanks to you man!!! :)
Cheers TS/TS's GF for comming along for the company and sharing travel costs.
Also thanks to Jimbo for the pics and the rest of you guys for the support!
A pic of my bike before the crash (wasn't she pretty :():
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10515
Qualifying for F1: I remembered to put the fuel in and went out with the run in brake pads, all set to go. Conditions were still slightly damp so I came home with a 1:20s lap time which set me to the middle of the grid. A couple of guys up front weren't too far ahead so I thought once I found my groove and with trying a bit harder, i might do a bit better during the race. Sweet.
Race 1 for F2: As always I took off the line after the green flag dropped and got ahead of people around me (I should have probably been a drag racer). I got past a few more people in turn one then went around to hold on to the back of Deane Labrum's tail who can put down a couple of seconds quicker lap time than me. I thought sweet, I just need to follow this man for a bit and I might get my lap times down. I almost did 2 laps while holding the distance behind Labrum but then coming out of the final sweeper I selected a gear too high and lost one position to Barry New on the R6. After that I got ahead of him by out braking him (note: I was out braking someone!! Usually I am hauling on the brakes to slow down like a train with the worn brake pads but this time I was braking good!) Then because of a few mistakes of mine he was still up front. I knew I could get him at least before the chequred flag so I was a bit silly and used to much throttle and not enough brains and almost had a big high side comming out of the hair pin. That sent the bike into a wobble which I am now fully used and I casually let it come back into control but I had to run off wide onto grass for that. I desperatly tried to get back onto the track, then I spun up the rear wheel and almost lost it again on the grass. Just as I got on the track again, I saw Stephen Lys and Derek Hill shoot past me. CRAP! Oh well, there isn't much I could do now, so I went around the track as quick as possible and came home with 12th out of 22 when I could have atleast come in the top 10.
Race 1 for Superbikes:
I felt like I was riding like an idot loon and I knew I should calm down cause the track was looking a bit iffy with the damp patches. If I wasn't going to be smooth I knew I was going to arse off as I already had one near high side in race one along with the front letting go once around the left hander after the esses. I can't really remember much but I do remember trying to ride well before I got passed on turn one on the 3rd or 4th lap after we got a bit of a light drissel. That really frustrated me and I got back to riding a bit too hard, then as the left hander came I usually go down from 4th to 3rd to power out of there but accidentally the gear went to 2nd instead of 3rd. The revs rose up high and the bike started sliding uncontrolably. I thought I had a slight window of oppertunity to get it back during a very short wobble but this time my luck had run out. I remember sliding on my front for a bit then I thought I could get up but then I realised that I was still sliding. So I waited till I slid all the way off the track on my arse, then I got up after comming to a hault. I got back up straight away and walked over to my sad looking bike. Shit... I killed the ignition and got up to the tire walls to safety just in case someone else might come of at the same area. The rain increased and I saw at least 2 other riders having a close call on the same left hander but luckily they managed to stay on the bike.
After the bike was brought back into the pits, here's the damage report so far:
- Broken but repairable fairings - front, both sides, tail.
- Shattered fairing blade.
- Bent exaust pipe but should be fixable with out any worries.
- Right hand side clip on had a clean break.
- Right hand side rear set bent.
- Right hand side brake lever snaped.
- Left hand side crash knob mount bent which then ripped a part of the frame (Fixable still by some specialists).
All the damage should probably cost me under 1 K to fix if I do a cheap job.
Then I got unlucky or in reality (where there is no such thing as luck), I made another stupid mistake once again by leaving the tire warmers on, in the rush to get out on the track and toasted the tire warmers (more expenses).
So I would say, i had another dissapointing round for the VMCC championship. I think with all these DNFs and me not being sorted for round 1, my hopes of doing well in the championship is not looking too well.
I know I can be a lot better than this in F2 and F1 but I am thinking of other options right now. Mainly because of the money factor.
Here are some that I came up with and will most probably go ahead with (one of them).
Option 1 - Fix the bike all up then sell it. Get a 125GP bike and become a proper racer by learning the basics and build a solid base for me to build up on as I have more finances in the future. I will really miss the power of a 600 as I really do enjoy ringing the nuts off it and I reckon bike handeling wise I could probably go to a 1000 right now but I would be even a slower racer most probably because I haven't learnt some of the race craft or track skills which I need to learn first.
Option 2 - Fix the bike all up then sell it. Get a F3 bike. This would be very fun as all the KB racers are in this class and I can see myself having good compition with them and it'll probably be cheaper than racing my 600.
Option 3 - Fix the bike all up and continue to race in F2/F1 and hope to improve the expensive way. However if I do this and have one more crash again in the near future or some other costly disaster, I would have to pack my bags up for a very long time.
At this moment I am really keen on option 1 and getting into 125GPs as the pros have sujested that that's probably the way to go. And if I become a good 125 racer, I will probably move on to become a good 600 or 1000cc racer when I go for the upgrade again. I will have a proper 125 set up with spare rims with wets and drys etc etc if I give it a go so I hope to do fairly OK in that class.
We will see as time passes by and what happens next.
A big huge thanks to the man Hooks for staying up late yet again for us to come into his lovely home and stay the night. Then he cooked us some great breakfast before sending us to the track. A big huge thanks to you man!!! :)
Cheers TS/TS's GF for comming along for the company and sharing travel costs.
Also thanks to Jimbo for the pics and the rest of you guys for the support!
A pic of my bike before the crash (wasn't she pretty :():
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10515