Kickaha
17th July 2011, 11:28
King of Levels rd1 back on the side
It was the first time back racing on the sidecar since I went off the side back in February at the national round here and broke my arm (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/134129-Owes-beer-Nationals-Rd-1)
In the months leading up to this event my fitness and diet regime consisted of watching TV playing on the computer and eating all the junk food I could find so I was fully fit and ready to go:sick:
Levels means an early start so I dragging myself out of bed about 5am and having a bite to eat before heading off to Dave’s where the mighty turbo charged, intercooled slash cut equipped Transit was loaded and ready to go:woohoo:
Arriving at Levels we were pleasantly surprised to find it relatively warm compared to the previous day at Ruapuna where we’d endured bitterly cold wind on the practice day :cold:
We got unloaded and got set up, meanwhile we’d been taking bets on whether the Macefield brothers would actually show up after having a three year break but not long after we’d got there they were pulling into the pits after having a stop on the way to secure the sidecar a bit better after trying to drop it off the side of the trailer on the way down:facepalm:
Now for those of you who haven’t met these two clowns (affectionately known as Pig and Goober) rude and abusive is a bit of an understatement in describing them but also very entertaining
All the formalities dealt with and we rock on up for first practice
I’m having a problem on the left to right changes with my timing but things are starting to feel a bit better after a few laps and we’re slowly increasing speed we pull back into the pits for a quick chat then head out behind the Justin/Grant combo on the Windle, they pull back in after a lap with gear change problems and we come in a lap later
I’m pretty well fucked after a few easy laps but we’re not planning on pushing too hard so it should be sweet for the day
Goober is having a whinge about not being able to feel the brakes and gets told to “harden the fuck up”:argue:
Race 1
Alex/Kai on the Agip bike jump the start by about 5 minutes smoking the rear as they go past us and are just about at turn 1 before the rest of us launch
For a 68 year old pensioner he doesn’t ride half bad, it’s the first time on this track for Kai and he has a couple of moments which end up with him wearing out the toes on his boots
3 laps in and we pull past him down the straight as Graeme/Colin have caught up as well and we want to pull a gap on them, they both stick with us for a couple of corners and then we ride away from him for the win
We check the fuel and are good to go, Goober/Pig are doing a few more adjustments and Goober is complaining about a lack of brakes which turns out to be a leaking fitting on the front master cylinder which is soon sorted
Race 2
We’re not doing the full hard out launch and Graeme/Colin beat us into Turn 1, we’re hard out trying not to run into the back on them through the corners although he has a reasonable turn of speed down the straight, we chase them for a few laps dropping back and closing up, with a couple of laps to go they run wide onto the back straight so we motor on past and wick it up a bit
Within the next couple of laps we’ve pulled a huge gap and take another easy win
The Windle boys have dropped to doing a 1.22 which is the best they’ve done but are still getting smoked by the pensioner/Kai combination:lol:
Goober has had enough for the day because he’s a fucking softcock and is spending all his time bitching about the seating position, the brake lever, the war in Afghanistan and anything else he can think of
Race 3
Carbon copy of Race 2, we’re running about 3-4 seconds off our Nationals pace which suits my fitness level spot on and as we’ve slowly increased the speed it’s all started getting a bit easier the changeovers are feeling better although I’m still struggling a bit with the crossover to the right exiting the Chicane where I fell off last time
All in all a pretty good day and good to see the Pig/Goober combo back on track albeit briefly, they came away with a good few things to change to make it better for the next round so hopefully they can pick up the pace from slower than a dead snail to keeping up with the pensioner
It was the first time back racing on the sidecar since I went off the side back in February at the national round here and broke my arm (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/134129-Owes-beer-Nationals-Rd-1)
In the months leading up to this event my fitness and diet regime consisted of watching TV playing on the computer and eating all the junk food I could find so I was fully fit and ready to go:sick:
Levels means an early start so I dragging myself out of bed about 5am and having a bite to eat before heading off to Dave’s where the mighty turbo charged, intercooled slash cut equipped Transit was loaded and ready to go:woohoo:
Arriving at Levels we were pleasantly surprised to find it relatively warm compared to the previous day at Ruapuna where we’d endured bitterly cold wind on the practice day :cold:
We got unloaded and got set up, meanwhile we’d been taking bets on whether the Macefield brothers would actually show up after having a three year break but not long after we’d got there they were pulling into the pits after having a stop on the way to secure the sidecar a bit better after trying to drop it off the side of the trailer on the way down:facepalm:
Now for those of you who haven’t met these two clowns (affectionately known as Pig and Goober) rude and abusive is a bit of an understatement in describing them but also very entertaining
All the formalities dealt with and we rock on up for first practice
I’m having a problem on the left to right changes with my timing but things are starting to feel a bit better after a few laps and we’re slowly increasing speed we pull back into the pits for a quick chat then head out behind the Justin/Grant combo on the Windle, they pull back in after a lap with gear change problems and we come in a lap later
I’m pretty well fucked after a few easy laps but we’re not planning on pushing too hard so it should be sweet for the day
Goober is having a whinge about not being able to feel the brakes and gets told to “harden the fuck up”:argue:
Race 1
Alex/Kai on the Agip bike jump the start by about 5 minutes smoking the rear as they go past us and are just about at turn 1 before the rest of us launch
For a 68 year old pensioner he doesn’t ride half bad, it’s the first time on this track for Kai and he has a couple of moments which end up with him wearing out the toes on his boots
3 laps in and we pull past him down the straight as Graeme/Colin have caught up as well and we want to pull a gap on them, they both stick with us for a couple of corners and then we ride away from him for the win
We check the fuel and are good to go, Goober/Pig are doing a few more adjustments and Goober is complaining about a lack of brakes which turns out to be a leaking fitting on the front master cylinder which is soon sorted
Race 2
We’re not doing the full hard out launch and Graeme/Colin beat us into Turn 1, we’re hard out trying not to run into the back on them through the corners although he has a reasonable turn of speed down the straight, we chase them for a few laps dropping back and closing up, with a couple of laps to go they run wide onto the back straight so we motor on past and wick it up a bit
Within the next couple of laps we’ve pulled a huge gap and take another easy win
The Windle boys have dropped to doing a 1.22 which is the best they’ve done but are still getting smoked by the pensioner/Kai combination:lol:
Goober has had enough for the day because he’s a fucking softcock and is spending all his time bitching about the seating position, the brake lever, the war in Afghanistan and anything else he can think of
Race 3
Carbon copy of Race 2, we’re running about 3-4 seconds off our Nationals pace which suits my fitness level spot on and as we’ve slowly increased the speed it’s all started getting a bit easier the changeovers are feeling better although I’m still struggling a bit with the crossover to the right exiting the Chicane where I fell off last time
All in all a pretty good day and good to see the Pig/Goober combo back on track albeit briefly, they came away with a good few things to change to make it better for the next round so hopefully they can pick up the pace from slower than a dead snail to keeping up with the pensioner