SWERVE
17th September 2012, 20:19
Bailie was keen to get back to Levels as he had ironed out a few issues and Levels is not his favorite circuit.... he was hoping to improve on this track.
Qualifying went well and saw him on the front row in 4th..... alongside the mighty RGs of Hudson/Henwood-Sparks & Ross. Levels is a circuit which definately favours the 150 2 strokes.
Race 1
Head down ready to get a holeshot...then...buggar.. launched in 2nd gear. A lesson learnt on startline routine. But he put his head down and started the long haul to the other 250s (never gonna catch the 150s now) Another lap and it might have been a different story as he had dispatched Brent Garven and was hunting down Alex Bower & Richard Willets at an alarming rate. Posting a best lap of 1:19.8 which means he is the second fastest person round Levels on a 250 (Grant Ramage has done a 1:19.1) But lapping quicker than Sam Croft & Seth Devereux were at Nats last year. So a 6th overall and 3rd 250.
Race 2
A better start and he desperately tried to hang onto the back of the lead trio of RGs. But their pace was hot ...so hot that Cameron Hudson smashed the 1:17.6 lap record (held by my son Anthony ) with a blistering 1:16.8. Bailie had a good lead on the following riders and finished 4th overall and 1st 250.
Race 3
The rain had threatened all day and finally came in the 125/F3 race and by the time our race was up it was very wet. With the Streetstockers/F4 able to run wets it wasnt a race for 250s. Although Blake Henwood-sparks managed 3rd on full slicks! Bailie was in 2nd on the first lap but was slowly caught by a few riders on lap 2...... lap 3 saw him touch the white line on inside of T4 and end his day lying on the grass. He did remount to finish the race.
So a great result with the 1:19 lap (come out to play Grant:)) Lessons on gear selection/startline routine and avoiding white lines in the wet
Bike is only lightly damaged (all repaired and ready for Ruapuna this week) Alex,s video shows that he has good straight line speed but highlights some small issues elsewhere (thanks Alex) So we will work on those this weekend and will try to win races too.
Big well done to Cameron Hudson on the lap record....... he also gave his old man a hurry up in Superbike despite being on a 15 yr old honda. Cant wait to see him on his R6 soon.
Good to see some close racing amoung the 250 proddies....... come on guys if you know anyone who is thinking about racing these get them out there.... if we can get 12 or more regualary we will get our own race.
Good luck to Tyler Lincoln at red Bull Rookies
And congrats to Scout Fletcher for getting into the 11s on the 125... some agressive passing too on those pesky 650s... Go Girl.
Qualifying went well and saw him on the front row in 4th..... alongside the mighty RGs of Hudson/Henwood-Sparks & Ross. Levels is a circuit which definately favours the 150 2 strokes.
Race 1
Head down ready to get a holeshot...then...buggar.. launched in 2nd gear. A lesson learnt on startline routine. But he put his head down and started the long haul to the other 250s (never gonna catch the 150s now) Another lap and it might have been a different story as he had dispatched Brent Garven and was hunting down Alex Bower & Richard Willets at an alarming rate. Posting a best lap of 1:19.8 which means he is the second fastest person round Levels on a 250 (Grant Ramage has done a 1:19.1) But lapping quicker than Sam Croft & Seth Devereux were at Nats last year. So a 6th overall and 3rd 250.
Race 2
A better start and he desperately tried to hang onto the back of the lead trio of RGs. But their pace was hot ...so hot that Cameron Hudson smashed the 1:17.6 lap record (held by my son Anthony ) with a blistering 1:16.8. Bailie had a good lead on the following riders and finished 4th overall and 1st 250.
Race 3
The rain had threatened all day and finally came in the 125/F3 race and by the time our race was up it was very wet. With the Streetstockers/F4 able to run wets it wasnt a race for 250s. Although Blake Henwood-sparks managed 3rd on full slicks! Bailie was in 2nd on the first lap but was slowly caught by a few riders on lap 2...... lap 3 saw him touch the white line on inside of T4 and end his day lying on the grass. He did remount to finish the race.
So a great result with the 1:19 lap (come out to play Grant:)) Lessons on gear selection/startline routine and avoiding white lines in the wet
Bike is only lightly damaged (all repaired and ready for Ruapuna this week) Alex,s video shows that he has good straight line speed but highlights some small issues elsewhere (thanks Alex) So we will work on those this weekend and will try to win races too.
Big well done to Cameron Hudson on the lap record....... he also gave his old man a hurry up in Superbike despite being on a 15 yr old honda. Cant wait to see him on his R6 soon.
Good to see some close racing amoung the 250 proddies....... come on guys if you know anyone who is thinking about racing these get them out there.... if we can get 12 or more regualary we will get our own race.
Good luck to Tyler Lincoln at red Bull Rookies
And congrats to Scout Fletcher for getting into the 11s on the 125... some agressive passing too on those pesky 650s... Go Girl.