quickbuck
21st February 2012, 17:36
Hi All, I was really looking forward to racing at Taupo. Last time I was there was for Round 1 of the Summer Series, and I came away with some unfinished business shell we say...
In the weeks leading up to the round I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the practice day on the Saturday. On Friday afternoon I got word of both my uncle Brian, and promising racer Cam Jones passing away. So I decided to get organised to head up to Taupo at 5:30 am for the track day on Track 4. This would give me a productive distraction.
Track 4 of Taupo is basically the A1 GP Track (Track 1) with an extra right/ Left Flip Flop thrown in after Turn 8, which is part of the hair-pin on the old 1.4k circuit the Taupo track used to be.
So after arriving at exactly 0800, I set about getting myself registered for the track day that followed. I had borrowed a GPS Lap Timer off Neil Chappell to assist me throughout the day. This tool proved invaluable, as I could work on one corner at a time, and check out which was the fastest route to take…. I managed to get myself down to a 2:06. I figured the extra little bit was worth about 6 seconds, so figured the time set would put me in a good start position for the next day (Race Day).
After a good nights sleep at the track, I got up and ensured I had a good breakfast. I am not falling into that trap again (The one where I try to qualify on an empty stomach!). Vince Burrell (from Burrell signs), and racer, handed out some “#26 Cam” Stickers so we could ride in memory of Cam Jones (26 being his race number).
At riders brief we hear that the event had changed to Track 1, due to some safety concerns….. On the 250 I could go into the “flip/flop” about 70km/hr (Okay, as I had the GPS, it was exactly 69.8 km/hr) and put the bike onto my right knee, and than pick it up and throw it onto my left without too much drama. Then I would accelerate and take the right hander absolute pinned in about 4th gear over the little bump and white paint that marks track 1…. This was fine for a 28Hp 250, but if you imagine adding 100+ Hp to that, and the little bump turns into something nasty, and the white paint… Well, let’s just say for the sake of keeping the sport safe, the decision was made to use Track 1 for race day and the National round in the next meeting.
Qualifying:
I had the bike fuelled and ready to go. The only thing I had to remind myself to do was stay calm, and put in a good time in the 5 laps we had. I managed a 2:01.855 on my very first flying lap, which was faster than my 2:02.668 that I set in the 1 Hour enduro back in November. I continued to pick up the pace, and pretty soon I was below the magic 2 minute mark! I finished up qualifying 5th on the grid (1st ProLite) with a 1:59.449. I was very pleased with that to say the least. I was on the second row, and right behind the very fast Sarah Elliot on her CBR250. I knew I was in for a good day.
Race 1:
After finding my grid position I waited for the lights to come on… it seemed like an eternity. After they went out, I had the 250 singing at 13000 RPM and feed in the clutch. We were off. I got a great start. I kept up with Sarah Elliot (#3) and Billy Billington (#2), and Tyler Lincoln on his KR150 (#117). 4th place qualifier, Rogan Chandler (#34) on his RG150 was hunting me down. He soon got passed, and left me behind. I wasn’t in a race with these Mini Lite, or Street Stock bikes, so I left them to it. I was soon in a full on battle with Zane Burrell (103) on his RG150 (Son of Vince) , and diced with him for the rest of the race, for a bit of fun. I managed to out brake him into the last chicane, and crossed the line ahead of him, with a best lap of a 1:57.695. I was wrapped with the class win, and equally wrapped with smashing my PB by almost 5 seconds!!!!
I viewed the data on the Lap timer, fuelled the bike, and sat down for a well deserved Pizza for lunch. As I had beaten Conner London on his ProLite Hyosung GT250R by over 20 seconds, I thought I could afford to. To be fair, he did do a 2:01.155 in the race, so wasn’t that far off the pace…. I would have been happy with that time 3 months ago….
Race 2:
The bike was a little heavier due to the 3 litres of fuel I had put into it, however I was confident that if I put in 5 consistent laps I could get another class win. The start of the race was very similar to the previous race, and I settled down to a battle with Zane Burrell again… however this time Zane tried to do the same out braking manoeuvre that I did on him. This almost ended in disaster for the pair of us. He managed to get the bike all out of shape in the 2nd to last corner, and then fire himself across the grass and rejoin the track on the pit straight almost collecting me as I went past…. He was really on the pace up until that point with a 1:56.787, but pitted for a change of underwear apparently. I continued to put in my consistent laps, wit hall flying laps being within 0.735 seconds of each other, and a fastest of 1:58.804. I was really happy to pick up another 25 championship points. Rob Bloomer (#20) picked up second place on his GT250R, and Conner got a DNF for some reason.
Race 3:
Even though I only used about 1.5 litres of fuel I decided to put in another 2.5 litres, as the third race for the day was scheduled to be 7 laps. This would mean 17 minutes of running for the bike, plus a little in reserve for a red flag situation. Just as I had finished refuelling the bike an announcement was made that the race was reduced to 5 laps. Oh well, I just needed to go out there and be consistent.
Race three started off pretty much the same as the rest, apart from David Dadson on his CBR250 Minilite (#58) managed to find some pace and get past me. I just settled into a rhythm, and rode smoothly. I finished the race ahead of Zane Burrell, and managed a fastest lap of 1:59.308. The best bit was all my laps were 1:59.3’s, apart from the last one where I made a minor mistake in the last corner which cost me just over a second.
So, 3 starts and 3 wins, and another round win. That means 75 points toward my championship. Rob Bloomer got 2nd for the day, and Conner London managed 3rd. So now I have 212 points in total. With 2 rounds to go and 150 points on offer I can’t rest easy yet…...
The next round is on March 24th and 25th at Taupo on Track 1. It is also a National round, so all the big names will be there, Seth Devereux (Current NZ#1), Sam Croft (VMCC #1), Aaron Hassen (Fast little brother of Jaden), and Dan Metham (from Ninja 250R Cup fame), Sarah Elliot (NZ#3) Simon Vollmer (NZ#4) and more. ProLites have a race of their own, so there will be up to 20 bikes with equal power dicing it out. I am really looking forward to it.
Thanks go to:
ProRider: The track time, and tips I pick up are invaluable.
Dunlop: The new tyres are still working very well
Neil Chappell: For the GPS Lap Timer + Transponder
Celtic Leathers: Still look great.
RNZAF: The paint work is still shiny
Race Fairings: The best replica Ninja 250R fairings out there.
My partner Coral for all the support on the home front.
In memory of Cam Jones, and Brian Greer. May they rest in peace.
In the weeks leading up to the round I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the practice day on the Saturday. On Friday afternoon I got word of both my uncle Brian, and promising racer Cam Jones passing away. So I decided to get organised to head up to Taupo at 5:30 am for the track day on Track 4. This would give me a productive distraction.
Track 4 of Taupo is basically the A1 GP Track (Track 1) with an extra right/ Left Flip Flop thrown in after Turn 8, which is part of the hair-pin on the old 1.4k circuit the Taupo track used to be.
So after arriving at exactly 0800, I set about getting myself registered for the track day that followed. I had borrowed a GPS Lap Timer off Neil Chappell to assist me throughout the day. This tool proved invaluable, as I could work on one corner at a time, and check out which was the fastest route to take…. I managed to get myself down to a 2:06. I figured the extra little bit was worth about 6 seconds, so figured the time set would put me in a good start position for the next day (Race Day).
After a good nights sleep at the track, I got up and ensured I had a good breakfast. I am not falling into that trap again (The one where I try to qualify on an empty stomach!). Vince Burrell (from Burrell signs), and racer, handed out some “#26 Cam” Stickers so we could ride in memory of Cam Jones (26 being his race number).
At riders brief we hear that the event had changed to Track 1, due to some safety concerns….. On the 250 I could go into the “flip/flop” about 70km/hr (Okay, as I had the GPS, it was exactly 69.8 km/hr) and put the bike onto my right knee, and than pick it up and throw it onto my left without too much drama. Then I would accelerate and take the right hander absolute pinned in about 4th gear over the little bump and white paint that marks track 1…. This was fine for a 28Hp 250, but if you imagine adding 100+ Hp to that, and the little bump turns into something nasty, and the white paint… Well, let’s just say for the sake of keeping the sport safe, the decision was made to use Track 1 for race day and the National round in the next meeting.
Qualifying:
I had the bike fuelled and ready to go. The only thing I had to remind myself to do was stay calm, and put in a good time in the 5 laps we had. I managed a 2:01.855 on my very first flying lap, which was faster than my 2:02.668 that I set in the 1 Hour enduro back in November. I continued to pick up the pace, and pretty soon I was below the magic 2 minute mark! I finished up qualifying 5th on the grid (1st ProLite) with a 1:59.449. I was very pleased with that to say the least. I was on the second row, and right behind the very fast Sarah Elliot on her CBR250. I knew I was in for a good day.
Race 1:
After finding my grid position I waited for the lights to come on… it seemed like an eternity. After they went out, I had the 250 singing at 13000 RPM and feed in the clutch. We were off. I got a great start. I kept up with Sarah Elliot (#3) and Billy Billington (#2), and Tyler Lincoln on his KR150 (#117). 4th place qualifier, Rogan Chandler (#34) on his RG150 was hunting me down. He soon got passed, and left me behind. I wasn’t in a race with these Mini Lite, or Street Stock bikes, so I left them to it. I was soon in a full on battle with Zane Burrell (103) on his RG150 (Son of Vince) , and diced with him for the rest of the race, for a bit of fun. I managed to out brake him into the last chicane, and crossed the line ahead of him, with a best lap of a 1:57.695. I was wrapped with the class win, and equally wrapped with smashing my PB by almost 5 seconds!!!!
I viewed the data on the Lap timer, fuelled the bike, and sat down for a well deserved Pizza for lunch. As I had beaten Conner London on his ProLite Hyosung GT250R by over 20 seconds, I thought I could afford to. To be fair, he did do a 2:01.155 in the race, so wasn’t that far off the pace…. I would have been happy with that time 3 months ago….
Race 2:
The bike was a little heavier due to the 3 litres of fuel I had put into it, however I was confident that if I put in 5 consistent laps I could get another class win. The start of the race was very similar to the previous race, and I settled down to a battle with Zane Burrell again… however this time Zane tried to do the same out braking manoeuvre that I did on him. This almost ended in disaster for the pair of us. He managed to get the bike all out of shape in the 2nd to last corner, and then fire himself across the grass and rejoin the track on the pit straight almost collecting me as I went past…. He was really on the pace up until that point with a 1:56.787, but pitted for a change of underwear apparently. I continued to put in my consistent laps, wit hall flying laps being within 0.735 seconds of each other, and a fastest of 1:58.804. I was really happy to pick up another 25 championship points. Rob Bloomer (#20) picked up second place on his GT250R, and Conner got a DNF for some reason.
Race 3:
Even though I only used about 1.5 litres of fuel I decided to put in another 2.5 litres, as the third race for the day was scheduled to be 7 laps. This would mean 17 minutes of running for the bike, plus a little in reserve for a red flag situation. Just as I had finished refuelling the bike an announcement was made that the race was reduced to 5 laps. Oh well, I just needed to go out there and be consistent.
Race three started off pretty much the same as the rest, apart from David Dadson on his CBR250 Minilite (#58) managed to find some pace and get past me. I just settled into a rhythm, and rode smoothly. I finished the race ahead of Zane Burrell, and managed a fastest lap of 1:59.308. The best bit was all my laps were 1:59.3’s, apart from the last one where I made a minor mistake in the last corner which cost me just over a second.
So, 3 starts and 3 wins, and another round win. That means 75 points toward my championship. Rob Bloomer got 2nd for the day, and Conner London managed 3rd. So now I have 212 points in total. With 2 rounds to go and 150 points on offer I can’t rest easy yet…...
The next round is on March 24th and 25th at Taupo on Track 1. It is also a National round, so all the big names will be there, Seth Devereux (Current NZ#1), Sam Croft (VMCC #1), Aaron Hassen (Fast little brother of Jaden), and Dan Metham (from Ninja 250R Cup fame), Sarah Elliot (NZ#3) Simon Vollmer (NZ#4) and more. ProLites have a race of their own, so there will be up to 20 bikes with equal power dicing it out. I am really looking forward to it.
Thanks go to:
ProRider: The track time, and tips I pick up are invaluable.
Dunlop: The new tyres are still working very well
Neil Chappell: For the GPS Lap Timer + Transponder
Celtic Leathers: Still look great.
RNZAF: The paint work is still shiny
Race Fairings: The best replica Ninja 250R fairings out there.
My partner Coral for all the support on the home front.
In memory of Cam Jones, and Brian Greer. May they rest in peace.