Motoracer
4th October 2005, 17:53
Practice 1 for beginers: Since I had only ridden my RS for 14 laps around Pukie before, it was wise to get as much laps in as I could before the actual race. Therefore I went in the beginers session and tried my bike out. I tried to remember how I went last time and then tried to improve in a few places. The bike was running pretty rough which was a sign that it was running a bit too rich and it was struguling to accelerate.
Qualifying: I didn't actually get to qualify because we were still playing with the different jets and we ran out of time. I wasn't worried about my grid position or anything because it was my first race on the 125 so I just wanted to start from the back and see how I compaired with the rest of the field.
I was pretty clueless about the set up but luckily Dave (previous owner of my bike), being the top bloke he is came and gave me advise about how to set it up and he arranged for me to buy a new spark plug because mine had fauled due to the mixture being too rich. Then I got to talk to Hayden Fitzerald for a few pointers which helped quite a bit because I am fully inexperienced with the 125s.
Race 1: Even getting away from the pits has usually been a mission because these 125 cc bikes have absolutly NO power below 10,000 RPM and you have to basically rape the clutch till you do about 80kmph. We went on the warm up lap then I let everyone get ahead on the starting grid since i didn't qualify. After 3 months from taking a break from racing, it was finally time to get back into it now. It was time to see how scarry it was going to be to race a 125cc and try to see just how quick these guys could go around corners. The red flag went out and the green flag was dropped. I was just looking at the Tacho and trying to get away from the line as fast as I could. As advised by Hayden I tried his technique but I sort of messed it up a bit cause I felt like the bike was hardly moving. Then I looked up and realised that the rest of the 125s were getting away pretty slowly as well. So I thought, sweet at least I am not the only one who hasn't sussed out the starts on a 125. Out of about 12-14 bikes I was starting from the back and going into Jenean, I over took the people ahead of me who were taking it fairly easily. After a bit of catching up after doing a few laps, I came against this newish black 125 who was quite a bit faster than me on the straights but I was quicker in 2 corners. We then caught up to a yellow bike that Leone Roggers was riding. The guy on the black bike got Leo going into Jenean and then got away. I then had the most fun battle with Leo. We were about the same in a couple of corners and I saw a few places where I could go faster than her so I chased her down. Going over the hill, I was right up her arse (sounds a bit rude lol) and I even experienced the slipstream effect for the first time ever past the front straight but then as soon as I got out of the slipstream, my bike was a bit slower so she got away again. I almost got her many times, then she would pull away again on the straights. Then closer to the end of the race, I thought of finally making my move since I knew exactly where she was slower and I knew exactly what to do. I let her gain some ground on me then I timed it perfectly so I could go full throttle right through castrol with out having to back off. I lined her up and yep, I had a better drive out of castrol and I over took her to get up to 6th. I knew she was just behind me going through the kink and again she past me. I knew I could catch her again on the brakes but was I close enough? Both of us were side by side playing chicken. I had the inside and I should have held my ground and pushed her wide but I again showed my biggest weakness of being too polite and nice on the race track and I backed off. So it was square one and the race was about to end. I did all I could but Leo got me with about a bikes length and I got 7th.
After that the day was called off because of heavy rain. This was a relife because I had no back ups from the slicks I was running.
It was one of the most fun races I have ever done. There were no scarry moments or anything and I wasn't freaking out of highsiding or wahtever like I used to, when I used to push my 600 hard. I was just concentrating on racing with out having to worry about my riding. Which was fun and I think for the future it will help me become a better racer by actually being able to plan my stratigies and plan my lines etc. With my 600 I used to just be in a panic rush where I used to ride hard and pretty good but I was no racer. This is just a begining for me on a 125 and I think I did OK to keep up with Leo who is an experienced racer. I can definetly see how riding a 125cc can do wonders to anyones racing and it can make you a fine tuned racer. Not only just in the riding but I have had to be so much more organised just to set up, maintain and fine tune the 2 stroke just to be able to ride it at it's optimum performance. Normally I am a slack arse but now I have gotten my shit together cause otherwise you basically can't even get out on the track if you are not organised with everything for a 2 stroke GP bike. I reckon a year of racing my 125cc and it should make me a lot better on the 600, when I go back again.
A big big thank you to the main man Mr. Bugjuice!!!!!!!!!!! :not:
He was my chosen pit bitch and wow, he was the best pit crew I have ever had!! Thank you man, you were a great help and you really did make it possible! I will be more than happy to work closely with you and make progress together in racing.
Thank you to Dave for coming along and giving me advise about how to set up the bike. Without your help, obviously we wouldn't have been able to finally get the set up right for Race 1 after having a few hickups in practice. Cheers man, I really appreciate it! :)
Thank you to Cibbychick for offering help and coming along to the race day. I know you didn't get to do much but hey, just being there means you are supporting us, which is great! :niceone:
Thank you to all my other mates who helped out as well and for supporting me. You guys rock!
Can't wait for round 2!
Qualifying: I didn't actually get to qualify because we were still playing with the different jets and we ran out of time. I wasn't worried about my grid position or anything because it was my first race on the 125 so I just wanted to start from the back and see how I compaired with the rest of the field.
I was pretty clueless about the set up but luckily Dave (previous owner of my bike), being the top bloke he is came and gave me advise about how to set it up and he arranged for me to buy a new spark plug because mine had fauled due to the mixture being too rich. Then I got to talk to Hayden Fitzerald for a few pointers which helped quite a bit because I am fully inexperienced with the 125s.
Race 1: Even getting away from the pits has usually been a mission because these 125 cc bikes have absolutly NO power below 10,000 RPM and you have to basically rape the clutch till you do about 80kmph. We went on the warm up lap then I let everyone get ahead on the starting grid since i didn't qualify. After 3 months from taking a break from racing, it was finally time to get back into it now. It was time to see how scarry it was going to be to race a 125cc and try to see just how quick these guys could go around corners. The red flag went out and the green flag was dropped. I was just looking at the Tacho and trying to get away from the line as fast as I could. As advised by Hayden I tried his technique but I sort of messed it up a bit cause I felt like the bike was hardly moving. Then I looked up and realised that the rest of the 125s were getting away pretty slowly as well. So I thought, sweet at least I am not the only one who hasn't sussed out the starts on a 125. Out of about 12-14 bikes I was starting from the back and going into Jenean, I over took the people ahead of me who were taking it fairly easily. After a bit of catching up after doing a few laps, I came against this newish black 125 who was quite a bit faster than me on the straights but I was quicker in 2 corners. We then caught up to a yellow bike that Leone Roggers was riding. The guy on the black bike got Leo going into Jenean and then got away. I then had the most fun battle with Leo. We were about the same in a couple of corners and I saw a few places where I could go faster than her so I chased her down. Going over the hill, I was right up her arse (sounds a bit rude lol) and I even experienced the slipstream effect for the first time ever past the front straight but then as soon as I got out of the slipstream, my bike was a bit slower so she got away again. I almost got her many times, then she would pull away again on the straights. Then closer to the end of the race, I thought of finally making my move since I knew exactly where she was slower and I knew exactly what to do. I let her gain some ground on me then I timed it perfectly so I could go full throttle right through castrol with out having to back off. I lined her up and yep, I had a better drive out of castrol and I over took her to get up to 6th. I knew she was just behind me going through the kink and again she past me. I knew I could catch her again on the brakes but was I close enough? Both of us were side by side playing chicken. I had the inside and I should have held my ground and pushed her wide but I again showed my biggest weakness of being too polite and nice on the race track and I backed off. So it was square one and the race was about to end. I did all I could but Leo got me with about a bikes length and I got 7th.
After that the day was called off because of heavy rain. This was a relife because I had no back ups from the slicks I was running.
It was one of the most fun races I have ever done. There were no scarry moments or anything and I wasn't freaking out of highsiding or wahtever like I used to, when I used to push my 600 hard. I was just concentrating on racing with out having to worry about my riding. Which was fun and I think for the future it will help me become a better racer by actually being able to plan my stratigies and plan my lines etc. With my 600 I used to just be in a panic rush where I used to ride hard and pretty good but I was no racer. This is just a begining for me on a 125 and I think I did OK to keep up with Leo who is an experienced racer. I can definetly see how riding a 125cc can do wonders to anyones racing and it can make you a fine tuned racer. Not only just in the riding but I have had to be so much more organised just to set up, maintain and fine tune the 2 stroke just to be able to ride it at it's optimum performance. Normally I am a slack arse but now I have gotten my shit together cause otherwise you basically can't even get out on the track if you are not organised with everything for a 2 stroke GP bike. I reckon a year of racing my 125cc and it should make me a lot better on the 600, when I go back again.
A big big thank you to the main man Mr. Bugjuice!!!!!!!!!!! :not:
He was my chosen pit bitch and wow, he was the best pit crew I have ever had!! Thank you man, you were a great help and you really did make it possible! I will be more than happy to work closely with you and make progress together in racing.
Thank you to Dave for coming along and giving me advise about how to set up the bike. Without your help, obviously we wouldn't have been able to finally get the set up right for Race 1 after having a few hickups in practice. Cheers man, I really appreciate it! :)
Thank you to Cibbychick for offering help and coming along to the race day. I know you didn't get to do much but hey, just being there means you are supporting us, which is great! :niceone:
Thank you to all my other mates who helped out as well and for supporting me. You guys rock!
Can't wait for round 2!