Georgio
25th May 2005, 16:54
:wavey:
Ding Ding - ROUND TWO
Saturday the 21st of May had a dismal looking weather forecast. It appeared that the second race on the Victoria Motorcycle club winter series calendar would be wet and wintery. The temperature was not too cold; the unseasonable humidity had been bringing days of fog to Wellington, making the airport a part-time facility for the brave.
Team Just racing managed to get on the road about 15 minutes late at 05:45 for the two and a quarter hour drive to Fielding and the Manfield race track. I am pleased to advise that I didn’t forget or break anything this time. The journeys to and from the track were uneventful, unless you count McDonalds for breakfast. They never offered to super size my Bacon and Egg McMuffin and did add the cold water to my black coffee so I am still a survivor of Ronald’s cooking.
After checking the tyre pressures, chain adjustment, brake fluid and pads, topping the oil reservoir and adding the required dose of high octane to the tank it was time to sign the riders’ waiver and collect my transponder for the day.
The riders’ briefing was short and sweet, with thanks going to the series sponsors, a caution to the riders about standing water on the track, and a warning that a line of cement had been added to the sweeper where oil had been spilt. The race format for each class on the day would be a practice and three races of six laps in a clock wise direction on the short track.
Most of my personal pre-race preparation is done in the pub, I mean swimming pool and I like to exercise the mental agility with racing games on the Playstation. I almost hate to admit it but I have found that my best lap times are often my first lap of the track (Sometimes it can take 10 laps on the PS2 to better the lap 1 ghost in time trial mode). I wouldn’t be surprised if this proves the same for me on the track. The more effort I make to go quicker, the slower I go. The difference is obviously all mental. Yes, I am.
After round one I made a mental note to work on my starts as I lost a few positions coming into the first turn through being a bit too polite. Merge my ass, charge in and everyone else lookout!
The practice begins from the dummy grid at the pit exit. After ten minutes of “warm-up” the chequered flag comes out and the officials allocate you with your starting grid position for the remainder of the day. I was pleased to qualify fifth, the same qualifying and start position I’d had in round one. The downside is this grid position has the slow entry into turn one, unless you are good at handlebar wrestling.
The excitement in qualifying was losing two track positions. Not the ideal in a race but not so bad in practice. I was still grinning and yahooing from surviving the second gear wheel-spin out of the hairpin. I managed to close the throttle enough to correct what felt like under-steer as the bike was moving laterally towards the painted white sideline of the track. I was upright and pointing in the correct direction when I crossed the painted line. The focus then shifted to controlling the wheel spin as I chose a line to exit the grass and get back onto the track.
The grid was wet for race one. I didn’t practice any starts in the month that separated round two from the opening round, despite personally criticising my round one performance off the start line. On the grid I manage my anxiety with a casual attitude and try to stay relaxed. I turn and watch the grid fill rather than try to interpret the expressions of the officials.
When the green flag dropped I was good to go and short shifting into second allowed me to manage the wheel-spin enough to get past the number one qualifier directly in front of my grid position. I didn’t get out of the first turn in the position I started from, losing two or three places because of the manners instilled in me. I’M POLITE. ALRIGHT? (Is having good manners a better excuse than an acute sense of survival?) I clawed my way back to finish sixth in the field of thirteen.
The second race start was not as exciting, except the first turn where the guys on the outside of the grid turn in on you with a better corner entry and more speed. It would be easier with ‘blinkers’ to hide a bit more of my peripheral vision. After successfully negotiating the opening turns I started to wind up the pace. I managed to get in front of Sparky Bills on his Ducati 900 SS. (He works at the parts counter at my local bike shop). That move alone was worth a hell of a lot of street cred. (I am now officially a legend in my own mind). To raise the levels of excitement further I managed to spin the rear in third at about 9000 rpm so nearly a 100 mph loss of traction. Changing into fourth turned the wheel-spin into a bit of a tank slapper but keeping the throttle wide open seems to cure that too. I could hear the big Duke snapping at my ankles the whole time, I guess it was too good to be true because the last turn on the last lap… you can probably guess the rest.
Sparky Bills had had a great race too, as he got by me on the last lap. He was trying to shake my hand as I punched him in the arm and told him “Don’t do that again!”
The last race of the day was a nine lapper as the race schedule had run smoothly without hiccups, and it looked like we had time to spare. All I do on the day between races is top up the fuel, check brakes, fluid and oil levels, and reset the tyre pressures. Too easy? I put extra gas in the tank and made my worst start for the meeting. The bike never bogged down, It’s just a lot of riders got into turn one better than me? I started to reel them back in and caught Sparky Bills the Ducati rider. I’m getting more confident on the RG500 now. The brakes are excellent. I know I can leave my braking until after the four-stroke riders are on them. I’m pleased with my tyre choice too, as the Michelin Pilot Powers allowed the rear wheel to skip lightly across the wet pavement under hard braking.
I managed to get around Sparky Bills by taking a fast sweeping line onto the front straight and keeping the RG in the zone until I was desperately on the brakes to scrub off some speed.
The last race was my worst result as far as points goes, but the best in that I finished in front of Sparky Bills on the Ducati, and managed to lap the last place rider too. I guess lapping the last placed rider is not much to write home about, but it’s a milestone for me as the first race where I lapped a fellow competitor. I qualified fifth, finished sixth in race one, fifth in race two and seventh in race three. I managed to keep my fourth position overall in the Clubmans class points.
Ding Ding - ROUND TWO
Saturday the 21st of May had a dismal looking weather forecast. It appeared that the second race on the Victoria Motorcycle club winter series calendar would be wet and wintery. The temperature was not too cold; the unseasonable humidity had been bringing days of fog to Wellington, making the airport a part-time facility for the brave.
Team Just racing managed to get on the road about 15 minutes late at 05:45 for the two and a quarter hour drive to Fielding and the Manfield race track. I am pleased to advise that I didn’t forget or break anything this time. The journeys to and from the track were uneventful, unless you count McDonalds for breakfast. They never offered to super size my Bacon and Egg McMuffin and did add the cold water to my black coffee so I am still a survivor of Ronald’s cooking.
After checking the tyre pressures, chain adjustment, brake fluid and pads, topping the oil reservoir and adding the required dose of high octane to the tank it was time to sign the riders’ waiver and collect my transponder for the day.
The riders’ briefing was short and sweet, with thanks going to the series sponsors, a caution to the riders about standing water on the track, and a warning that a line of cement had been added to the sweeper where oil had been spilt. The race format for each class on the day would be a practice and three races of six laps in a clock wise direction on the short track.
Most of my personal pre-race preparation is done in the pub, I mean swimming pool and I like to exercise the mental agility with racing games on the Playstation. I almost hate to admit it but I have found that my best lap times are often my first lap of the track (Sometimes it can take 10 laps on the PS2 to better the lap 1 ghost in time trial mode). I wouldn’t be surprised if this proves the same for me on the track. The more effort I make to go quicker, the slower I go. The difference is obviously all mental. Yes, I am.
After round one I made a mental note to work on my starts as I lost a few positions coming into the first turn through being a bit too polite. Merge my ass, charge in and everyone else lookout!
The practice begins from the dummy grid at the pit exit. After ten minutes of “warm-up” the chequered flag comes out and the officials allocate you with your starting grid position for the remainder of the day. I was pleased to qualify fifth, the same qualifying and start position I’d had in round one. The downside is this grid position has the slow entry into turn one, unless you are good at handlebar wrestling.
The excitement in qualifying was losing two track positions. Not the ideal in a race but not so bad in practice. I was still grinning and yahooing from surviving the second gear wheel-spin out of the hairpin. I managed to close the throttle enough to correct what felt like under-steer as the bike was moving laterally towards the painted white sideline of the track. I was upright and pointing in the correct direction when I crossed the painted line. The focus then shifted to controlling the wheel spin as I chose a line to exit the grass and get back onto the track.
The grid was wet for race one. I didn’t practice any starts in the month that separated round two from the opening round, despite personally criticising my round one performance off the start line. On the grid I manage my anxiety with a casual attitude and try to stay relaxed. I turn and watch the grid fill rather than try to interpret the expressions of the officials.
When the green flag dropped I was good to go and short shifting into second allowed me to manage the wheel-spin enough to get past the number one qualifier directly in front of my grid position. I didn’t get out of the first turn in the position I started from, losing two or three places because of the manners instilled in me. I’M POLITE. ALRIGHT? (Is having good manners a better excuse than an acute sense of survival?) I clawed my way back to finish sixth in the field of thirteen.
The second race start was not as exciting, except the first turn where the guys on the outside of the grid turn in on you with a better corner entry and more speed. It would be easier with ‘blinkers’ to hide a bit more of my peripheral vision. After successfully negotiating the opening turns I started to wind up the pace. I managed to get in front of Sparky Bills on his Ducati 900 SS. (He works at the parts counter at my local bike shop). That move alone was worth a hell of a lot of street cred. (I am now officially a legend in my own mind). To raise the levels of excitement further I managed to spin the rear in third at about 9000 rpm so nearly a 100 mph loss of traction. Changing into fourth turned the wheel-spin into a bit of a tank slapper but keeping the throttle wide open seems to cure that too. I could hear the big Duke snapping at my ankles the whole time, I guess it was too good to be true because the last turn on the last lap… you can probably guess the rest.
Sparky Bills had had a great race too, as he got by me on the last lap. He was trying to shake my hand as I punched him in the arm and told him “Don’t do that again!”
The last race of the day was a nine lapper as the race schedule had run smoothly without hiccups, and it looked like we had time to spare. All I do on the day between races is top up the fuel, check brakes, fluid and oil levels, and reset the tyre pressures. Too easy? I put extra gas in the tank and made my worst start for the meeting. The bike never bogged down, It’s just a lot of riders got into turn one better than me? I started to reel them back in and caught Sparky Bills the Ducati rider. I’m getting more confident on the RG500 now. The brakes are excellent. I know I can leave my braking until after the four-stroke riders are on them. I’m pleased with my tyre choice too, as the Michelin Pilot Powers allowed the rear wheel to skip lightly across the wet pavement under hard braking.
I managed to get around Sparky Bills by taking a fast sweeping line onto the front straight and keeping the RG in the zone until I was desperately on the brakes to scrub off some speed.
The last race was my worst result as far as points goes, but the best in that I finished in front of Sparky Bills on the Ducati, and managed to lap the last place rider too. I guess lapping the last placed rider is not much to write home about, but it’s a milestone for me as the first race where I lapped a fellow competitor. I qualified fifth, finished sixth in race one, fifth in race two and seventh in race three. I managed to keep my fourth position overall in the Clubmans class points.