Tyler_94
20th June 2011, 21:17
I had been super excited for round 2 of VMCC winter series being the last time I’d get to run on the long track and 2 days racing surely meant twice the fun... well that was the plan anyway. The bus was loaded with the team by 5.40am and we hit the road. The weather wasn’t looking promising but unfortunately there wasn’t much that we could have done to change it.
Practice/qualify, Superlites were first up and this was my chance to experience wets on my rims for the first time. I found it difficult to put any trust into my tires to begin with but learnt relatively quickly that you can get quite a lot of grip out of them. I hadn’t pushed any limits to start with but qualified in 16th overall with a 2.32.913.
Race one’s plan was to knock my lap times down and push a little harder on the wet tires as it was only race 1 and I had another 3 to really get into. I had a pretty good start and I was feeling comfortable out on the wet track. I was getting a bit of sliding in the back through acceleration but everything seemed pretty controllable until lap 3 were I was nearly launched into the air exiting splash, but I corrected the bike and grabbed straight back onto the back of the pack only losing .200 of a second off my lap. I finish 10th in Superlite with rather consistent times, fastest of 2.23.976.
Race two was again very wet and I was struggling with vision from all the water the wet tires other bikes in front were flicking up. I had another good start with a little bit of wheel spin on the white lines. I pushed through turn one making my way up the pack but was left behind by the front runners on the exit. I was pushing really hard, passing the bigger bikes into and through the corners trying to hold as much speed as I could so I didn’t lose too much ground down the straights. I obviously need to get working on my fitness because lap 3 of 5 and I was already so tired from trying to hold onto the pack. I kept making the same pass around the outside each lap on the left hand sweeper going from the new track to the old but lap 4 I couldn’t see as well as I needed to and pulled out too wide, so I decide to stand the bike up when I hit the grass instead of plastering the bike and myself into the concrete wall. I lost a couple of places but I couldn’t change it so I just had to push harder on the next lap. I finished 7th with my final lap hitting 2.18.683 which I was stoked about.
Sunday scrub in was still wet but the bike was running mint, so I was looking forward to another great day with plenty more time for progress.
Unfortunately when it came around to race three the bike was coughing and losing power so I had to pull out of the race. And my last race we hadn’t found the problem directly so had the same problem which was a disappointing end to a great weekend.
Thank you HEAPS Doohan Racing for having the bike running awesome on Saturday, even though Sunday wasn’t so good. I had a great weekend and learnt loads! Hopefully we can get the bike sorted for round 3.
Also a Big Thanks to my other sponsors, Pacific Motorcycle Club, Burrell Signs, Bay Cad Services and Quality Autos.
Tyler Firn
Practice/qualify, Superlites were first up and this was my chance to experience wets on my rims for the first time. I found it difficult to put any trust into my tires to begin with but learnt relatively quickly that you can get quite a lot of grip out of them. I hadn’t pushed any limits to start with but qualified in 16th overall with a 2.32.913.
Race one’s plan was to knock my lap times down and push a little harder on the wet tires as it was only race 1 and I had another 3 to really get into. I had a pretty good start and I was feeling comfortable out on the wet track. I was getting a bit of sliding in the back through acceleration but everything seemed pretty controllable until lap 3 were I was nearly launched into the air exiting splash, but I corrected the bike and grabbed straight back onto the back of the pack only losing .200 of a second off my lap. I finish 10th in Superlite with rather consistent times, fastest of 2.23.976.
Race two was again very wet and I was struggling with vision from all the water the wet tires other bikes in front were flicking up. I had another good start with a little bit of wheel spin on the white lines. I pushed through turn one making my way up the pack but was left behind by the front runners on the exit. I was pushing really hard, passing the bigger bikes into and through the corners trying to hold as much speed as I could so I didn’t lose too much ground down the straights. I obviously need to get working on my fitness because lap 3 of 5 and I was already so tired from trying to hold onto the pack. I kept making the same pass around the outside each lap on the left hand sweeper going from the new track to the old but lap 4 I couldn’t see as well as I needed to and pulled out too wide, so I decide to stand the bike up when I hit the grass instead of plastering the bike and myself into the concrete wall. I lost a couple of places but I couldn’t change it so I just had to push harder on the next lap. I finished 7th with my final lap hitting 2.18.683 which I was stoked about.
Sunday scrub in was still wet but the bike was running mint, so I was looking forward to another great day with plenty more time for progress.
Unfortunately when it came around to race three the bike was coughing and losing power so I had to pull out of the race. And my last race we hadn’t found the problem directly so had the same problem which was a disappointing end to a great weekend.
Thank you HEAPS Doohan Racing for having the bike running awesome on Saturday, even though Sunday wasn’t so good. I had a great weekend and learnt loads! Hopefully we can get the bike sorted for round 3.
Also a Big Thanks to my other sponsors, Pacific Motorcycle Club, Burrell Signs, Bay Cad Services and Quality Autos.
Tyler Firn