quickbuck
21st June 2011, 18:12
As soon as I finished Round 1, I had the bike back in the shed, and stripped of it’s new fairings so the Paint Shop could work their magic on them over the next 3 weeks. Lets just say Paul Martin is a perfectionist, and did a fantastic job on them.
On the Thursday afternoon prior to Round 2 I noticed my brake fluid a little low. This could mean one of two things. As I didn’t have any leaks the only other explanation was my pads were low on material. A quick check confirmed this. So a ring to AFC in Palmerston North was made, and they said they had some standard pads in there… If I wanted harder ones then they could order them in. So I went for the standard ones. After a trip to Palmerston North, and back an hour later they were in the bike.
Friday was fairing fitting day, and loading the bike. All went without a scratch to my pristine paint work.
The Forecast for the weekend was WET. As we are only allowed to race on DOT approved Road Tyres, there isn’t the hassle of what tyres to fit for the weekend. There is a concern that the track may be a little greasy…. Especially on the infrequently used track extension we are running on over the weekend.
Got up early Saturday morning to the track, and yes, it was wet. Not too much standing water and it looked to be clearing…. So it appeared we were in for a good day. With 2 Races on the programme for the day, with 2 more on Sunday it should be a fun weekend, with little stress. We were proactive and sorted a garage for the team. This means the bikes, and gear can stay at the track on Saturday night. This saves a lot of packing and unpacking.
So after Riders brief, and a few clarifications on some issues, we were up for the Practice and Qualifying Session. For those that read my last report, you may remember that I hadn’t seen the extension for 9 years…. So it was going to be a little bit of an adventure for me.
QUAL:
I went out with the intention to bed in my new pads, and not let the new paintwork touch the ground. I also had to work out some reference points for the track extension. I managed to get myself around on the wet track and after mucking up the “new” hairpin big time (forgot my brakes weren’t fully bedded in) and achieved a 2:49.768. To my pleasant surprise, this put me third on the grid! Yes Front row start. In fact the first 3 places were all ProLite 250’s. Apparently the MiniLite 250’s (4 cylinder bikes like the CBR, ZXR, FZR, GSXR) are harder to ride around the wet track… Or the riders don’t like it…. Anyhow I was well pleased to be lining up beside Blair Mason (0.2 seconds faster, and Sam Croft on Pole. One Mr Chappell (Team Mate) on his 150 was conspicuous by his absence on the timing sheet too…. You might get to hear about what happened there if he writes up a report ;-)
So, it was then a case of checking the bike over and preparing for Race 1.
After getting to the grid last after the call up, I headed out. I did a Casey Stoner, and went from the back of the pack through to the front, and a higher pace than everybody else. I fully warmed the suspension by bouncing up and down on it, and warmed the brakes by carrying out some heavy braking, along with dragging the pads. I then saw Mr Chappell head to the pits as I took my place on the grid. Darn I thought; he will be gutted!
Race 1:
Got a ripper of a start, and was 2nd into turn 1…. Then I was about 5th out of turn 1. What happened there?? Okay, fly through the esses, and stay out of trouble…. Got a real good slide on the right hander at the end of the esses, and out braked everybody apart from Sam into the hair pin. So it was Ninja 1 and 2. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t keep with Sam, and he managed to leave me behind. I got involved in a battle with Billy Billington on a RG150 and Dale Albrecht on his CBR250, and Blair Mason on his GPX250. Then this Pink Bike went around the outside of me at the “new” hair pin, with somebody wearing Team Air Force Racing Leathers with Chappy written on them…. Last time I looked he was on a black bike… What is going on I wondered…. By the time I got my head back in the game I had to let Billy, Dale and Blair go and settle for third in class. I was having a few issues with traction at times. I’m not sure where Simon Vollimer was, as he was keeping pace with me last round…. So after a best lap of 2:44.666 it was back to the pits and adjust the tyre pressure in the rear.
Had the lunch break and waited for race 2. Unfortunately one of the riders in the Clubman Class had a bit of a fall out of the Dunlop Sweeper from his Triumph 675 and managed to spill 4 litres of oil on the main straight. Apparently that’s how long it takes to grind through a side cover.
So the rest of the racing was postponed until Sunday, while a massive clean-up took place. The rain came back to help out.
After a good nights sleep, we made out way back to Manfeild. It was still wet, and the first thing we had to do was change the Slicks on Lee Bradford’s bike to Wets. Lee had just got back from Eastern Creek, in Australia the night before, and as luck would have it, only missed one race for the weekend. At riders’ brief it was explained to us, they would run the rest of Saturdays races, and then repeat Saturday’s programme. This meant it was more 5 lap races for us, as opposed to the 9 laps that were programmed.
So it was off to prepare for the 2 lap scrub session. The session went well, and I explored other parts of the track to see if they could be used for overtaking….. This was helped by everybody else using the drying “ideal line”, and riding quite cautiously.
After checking over the bike, and making a pit stop for myself, I came back in into the garage to find some decorations all over my bike! My Team Mates had idle hands and some very girly stickers appeared….. Rather than make a fuss I just smiled and put up with it. Before long the call up for race 2 came around. I headed out onto the track, and warmed up myself and the bike. This time there was a definite dry line all the way around the track. Upon lining up I noticed Sam was a little further forward on the grid than the line of dots we were supposed to line up on in accordance with what was said at riders brief. He was clear by at least 2 bike lengths! After some animated discussion between me and the girls on the grid, and confirmation with race control, it appears the person on pole is allowed to form up on the #1 slot for Cars….. Needless to say, I am a bit of a stickler for the rules, and follow briefs to the letter. There never was an “Except” in the brief, but Sam was in the right place…. I was a little wound up, let’s say…
Race 2:
Lights come on one by one, and all 5 go out. I had the revs sitting at 11000 and dumped the clutch onto the flywheel…. The Ninja takes off like a bullet! I was keeping up with Sam, and fired it into turn 1 very quickly… and came out on Sam’s tail. I followed him through the esses, and he managed to pull away on Denny Hulme straight. I settled down to a much higher pace than in the wet, and was really enjoying the track. I was essentially riding by myself, as Sam had disappeared into the distance. Then after a couple of laps I had this GPX run up the inside of me at the hair pin. Apparently I had a Troy Corser moment…. i.e. a mid race snooze. So I stuck to Blair’s tail for a bit, and wanted to see who had the most drive out of the Dunlop sweeper. Apparently we were about even, and I didn’t get enough drive to beat him to the line….. Sort of makes sense since his older GPX makes more power on paper than the late model Ninjas. So I followed Blair all lap, knowing I had a bit of pace. It became apparent he had really got the line into the new hair pin sorted. I followed him through the big left hand sweeper (Called the Hardy I-Plex in the old days, not sure if it still is), and short shifted to 6th, and wound on the power on the exit. This meant the bike run a little wider when entering back onto the old track, onto the wet tarmac. I was carrying about 20km/hr over Blair, and it all paid off so I fired the bike into the Dunlop Sweeper, and touched the brakes a little to put some weight on the front, turned the bike on its peg and made a Bee line to the line. I beat Blair by 0.15 seconds. What a race! Best lap time was 2:37.799 on the last lap.
It was then back to the pits, put in some fuel…. For bike and body, and prepare for Race 3. I was happy with the bike, and really happy with the traction I was getting, so didn’t touch a thing. As we were about to race, the F2 class got Red Flagged due to a sudden downpour. There goes our chance to get a run on a completely dry track!
I warmed up the bike in the usual manner, and lined up for the start.
Race 3:
As the lights came on I was really keen to get another awesome start. Then just before the last light went out, I let the clutch bite…. The bike bobbled, as I immediately pulled it back in… DARN. Did they see that? Of course they did, pretty obvious on the front row! So I took off when I should have, absolutely angry with myself for making such a mistake. I decided there and then as I was about to receive a 20 second penalty, I might as well try and beat my competition by over 20 seconds. I diced with Dale A all race, trying not to hold each other up. The track was a little wet, so had to take some care about it too…. Come the last time off the I-Plex, I pulled the same trick on Dale, as I did to Blair the race before and crossed the line ahead of him. I cross the line second in class, and managed to get a 19.85 second lead over Simon Vollimer in third place… So Simon took 2nd off me due to the penalty. Apparently Blair M was having fogging issues in his visor, and had to ride with it open for most of the race.
So back to the pits, and fuel the bike for race 4. I was really happy with everything, except my little mistake.
Race 4:
The track was still quite wet, and my goal was to finish… hopefully ahead of Blair. I will leave chasing down Sam Croft until another weekend. He is riding very well indeed. So line up, and notice Blair has his Dark Visor on…. It became apparent that this one didn’t fog. I got a reasonable start, and settled into the race. As the track was still wet, I started to get a few slides going. So I thought it would be best if I just rode to the finish, and keep the bike in one piece for the next round. Blair was really hungry for points, so I just let him go. I managed to pass Neil, as apparently his bike was not running very well. Once the chequered flag came out I was third in class with a best lap of 2:44.454.
So over all it was a great weekends racing. Most probably the last time ever I get to race on the long track. A real shame we didn’t get a totally dry race, but it is the Winter Series after all…
I managed to pick up 82 points in the weekend, and that put me second equal with Blair. I am sitting 3rd in the championship with 132 points, 18 Points off the lead.
The goal for next round is to see if I can obtain second place in the championship.
Next Round: July 16th.
Thanks to:
Paul Martin at the Ohakea Paint Shop – Many awesome comments about the paint work.
Dunlop – For a sticky Road tyre, they are not too bad in the wet…
Celtic Leathers – Thankfully I never tested them fully by sliding down the track.
racefairings.co.nz
And a HUGE thanks to Skunk, and the rest of the Vic Club Team, for a well run weekend.
Aaron
(Team Air Force Racing #42)
On the Thursday afternoon prior to Round 2 I noticed my brake fluid a little low. This could mean one of two things. As I didn’t have any leaks the only other explanation was my pads were low on material. A quick check confirmed this. So a ring to AFC in Palmerston North was made, and they said they had some standard pads in there… If I wanted harder ones then they could order them in. So I went for the standard ones. After a trip to Palmerston North, and back an hour later they were in the bike.
Friday was fairing fitting day, and loading the bike. All went without a scratch to my pristine paint work.
The Forecast for the weekend was WET. As we are only allowed to race on DOT approved Road Tyres, there isn’t the hassle of what tyres to fit for the weekend. There is a concern that the track may be a little greasy…. Especially on the infrequently used track extension we are running on over the weekend.
Got up early Saturday morning to the track, and yes, it was wet. Not too much standing water and it looked to be clearing…. So it appeared we were in for a good day. With 2 Races on the programme for the day, with 2 more on Sunday it should be a fun weekend, with little stress. We were proactive and sorted a garage for the team. This means the bikes, and gear can stay at the track on Saturday night. This saves a lot of packing and unpacking.
So after Riders brief, and a few clarifications on some issues, we were up for the Practice and Qualifying Session. For those that read my last report, you may remember that I hadn’t seen the extension for 9 years…. So it was going to be a little bit of an adventure for me.
QUAL:
I went out with the intention to bed in my new pads, and not let the new paintwork touch the ground. I also had to work out some reference points for the track extension. I managed to get myself around on the wet track and after mucking up the “new” hairpin big time (forgot my brakes weren’t fully bedded in) and achieved a 2:49.768. To my pleasant surprise, this put me third on the grid! Yes Front row start. In fact the first 3 places were all ProLite 250’s. Apparently the MiniLite 250’s (4 cylinder bikes like the CBR, ZXR, FZR, GSXR) are harder to ride around the wet track… Or the riders don’t like it…. Anyhow I was well pleased to be lining up beside Blair Mason (0.2 seconds faster, and Sam Croft on Pole. One Mr Chappell (Team Mate) on his 150 was conspicuous by his absence on the timing sheet too…. You might get to hear about what happened there if he writes up a report ;-)
So, it was then a case of checking the bike over and preparing for Race 1.
After getting to the grid last after the call up, I headed out. I did a Casey Stoner, and went from the back of the pack through to the front, and a higher pace than everybody else. I fully warmed the suspension by bouncing up and down on it, and warmed the brakes by carrying out some heavy braking, along with dragging the pads. I then saw Mr Chappell head to the pits as I took my place on the grid. Darn I thought; he will be gutted!
Race 1:
Got a ripper of a start, and was 2nd into turn 1…. Then I was about 5th out of turn 1. What happened there?? Okay, fly through the esses, and stay out of trouble…. Got a real good slide on the right hander at the end of the esses, and out braked everybody apart from Sam into the hair pin. So it was Ninja 1 and 2. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t keep with Sam, and he managed to leave me behind. I got involved in a battle with Billy Billington on a RG150 and Dale Albrecht on his CBR250, and Blair Mason on his GPX250. Then this Pink Bike went around the outside of me at the “new” hair pin, with somebody wearing Team Air Force Racing Leathers with Chappy written on them…. Last time I looked he was on a black bike… What is going on I wondered…. By the time I got my head back in the game I had to let Billy, Dale and Blair go and settle for third in class. I was having a few issues with traction at times. I’m not sure where Simon Vollimer was, as he was keeping pace with me last round…. So after a best lap of 2:44.666 it was back to the pits and adjust the tyre pressure in the rear.
Had the lunch break and waited for race 2. Unfortunately one of the riders in the Clubman Class had a bit of a fall out of the Dunlop Sweeper from his Triumph 675 and managed to spill 4 litres of oil on the main straight. Apparently that’s how long it takes to grind through a side cover.
So the rest of the racing was postponed until Sunday, while a massive clean-up took place. The rain came back to help out.
After a good nights sleep, we made out way back to Manfeild. It was still wet, and the first thing we had to do was change the Slicks on Lee Bradford’s bike to Wets. Lee had just got back from Eastern Creek, in Australia the night before, and as luck would have it, only missed one race for the weekend. At riders’ brief it was explained to us, they would run the rest of Saturdays races, and then repeat Saturday’s programme. This meant it was more 5 lap races for us, as opposed to the 9 laps that were programmed.
So it was off to prepare for the 2 lap scrub session. The session went well, and I explored other parts of the track to see if they could be used for overtaking….. This was helped by everybody else using the drying “ideal line”, and riding quite cautiously.
After checking over the bike, and making a pit stop for myself, I came back in into the garage to find some decorations all over my bike! My Team Mates had idle hands and some very girly stickers appeared….. Rather than make a fuss I just smiled and put up with it. Before long the call up for race 2 came around. I headed out onto the track, and warmed up myself and the bike. This time there was a definite dry line all the way around the track. Upon lining up I noticed Sam was a little further forward on the grid than the line of dots we were supposed to line up on in accordance with what was said at riders brief. He was clear by at least 2 bike lengths! After some animated discussion between me and the girls on the grid, and confirmation with race control, it appears the person on pole is allowed to form up on the #1 slot for Cars….. Needless to say, I am a bit of a stickler for the rules, and follow briefs to the letter. There never was an “Except” in the brief, but Sam was in the right place…. I was a little wound up, let’s say…
Race 2:
Lights come on one by one, and all 5 go out. I had the revs sitting at 11000 and dumped the clutch onto the flywheel…. The Ninja takes off like a bullet! I was keeping up with Sam, and fired it into turn 1 very quickly… and came out on Sam’s tail. I followed him through the esses, and he managed to pull away on Denny Hulme straight. I settled down to a much higher pace than in the wet, and was really enjoying the track. I was essentially riding by myself, as Sam had disappeared into the distance. Then after a couple of laps I had this GPX run up the inside of me at the hair pin. Apparently I had a Troy Corser moment…. i.e. a mid race snooze. So I stuck to Blair’s tail for a bit, and wanted to see who had the most drive out of the Dunlop sweeper. Apparently we were about even, and I didn’t get enough drive to beat him to the line….. Sort of makes sense since his older GPX makes more power on paper than the late model Ninjas. So I followed Blair all lap, knowing I had a bit of pace. It became apparent he had really got the line into the new hair pin sorted. I followed him through the big left hand sweeper (Called the Hardy I-Plex in the old days, not sure if it still is), and short shifted to 6th, and wound on the power on the exit. This meant the bike run a little wider when entering back onto the old track, onto the wet tarmac. I was carrying about 20km/hr over Blair, and it all paid off so I fired the bike into the Dunlop Sweeper, and touched the brakes a little to put some weight on the front, turned the bike on its peg and made a Bee line to the line. I beat Blair by 0.15 seconds. What a race! Best lap time was 2:37.799 on the last lap.
It was then back to the pits, put in some fuel…. For bike and body, and prepare for Race 3. I was happy with the bike, and really happy with the traction I was getting, so didn’t touch a thing. As we were about to race, the F2 class got Red Flagged due to a sudden downpour. There goes our chance to get a run on a completely dry track!
I warmed up the bike in the usual manner, and lined up for the start.
Race 3:
As the lights came on I was really keen to get another awesome start. Then just before the last light went out, I let the clutch bite…. The bike bobbled, as I immediately pulled it back in… DARN. Did they see that? Of course they did, pretty obvious on the front row! So I took off when I should have, absolutely angry with myself for making such a mistake. I decided there and then as I was about to receive a 20 second penalty, I might as well try and beat my competition by over 20 seconds. I diced with Dale A all race, trying not to hold each other up. The track was a little wet, so had to take some care about it too…. Come the last time off the I-Plex, I pulled the same trick on Dale, as I did to Blair the race before and crossed the line ahead of him. I cross the line second in class, and managed to get a 19.85 second lead over Simon Vollimer in third place… So Simon took 2nd off me due to the penalty. Apparently Blair M was having fogging issues in his visor, and had to ride with it open for most of the race.
So back to the pits, and fuel the bike for race 4. I was really happy with everything, except my little mistake.
Race 4:
The track was still quite wet, and my goal was to finish… hopefully ahead of Blair. I will leave chasing down Sam Croft until another weekend. He is riding very well indeed. So line up, and notice Blair has his Dark Visor on…. It became apparent that this one didn’t fog. I got a reasonable start, and settled into the race. As the track was still wet, I started to get a few slides going. So I thought it would be best if I just rode to the finish, and keep the bike in one piece for the next round. Blair was really hungry for points, so I just let him go. I managed to pass Neil, as apparently his bike was not running very well. Once the chequered flag came out I was third in class with a best lap of 2:44.454.
So over all it was a great weekends racing. Most probably the last time ever I get to race on the long track. A real shame we didn’t get a totally dry race, but it is the Winter Series after all…
I managed to pick up 82 points in the weekend, and that put me second equal with Blair. I am sitting 3rd in the championship with 132 points, 18 Points off the lead.
The goal for next round is to see if I can obtain second place in the championship.
Next Round: July 16th.
Thanks to:
Paul Martin at the Ohakea Paint Shop – Many awesome comments about the paint work.
Dunlop – For a sticky Road tyre, they are not too bad in the wet…
Celtic Leathers – Thankfully I never tested them fully by sliding down the track.
racefairings.co.nz
And a HUGE thanks to Skunk, and the rest of the Vic Club Team, for a well run weekend.
Aaron
(Team Air Force Racing #42)