Two Smoker
17th January 2006, 17:51
Hey everyone,
Once again with a last minute effort i managed to get down to taupo for PMCC round 2. I entered in both F3 and F2/F1. The track was alot different with the sweeper (turn 6) being brough 40 meters back for the new track. Went out for practice in F2 and was feeling comfortable. The sweeper was still slippery with slides from both the front and back a few times.
Next was practice for F3. I went out infront, and was going quick from the start. I wanted to push my limits a bit harder from the last practice. Lap one, exited turn 2 (hairpin) hard and didnt move accross to the left of the track to set up for turn 3. I entered turn 3 WAY too fast for the line i had taken, i tried to lean the bike over to make the corner but rolled off the front tyre to lowside at about 130-140kmh. WOW my first crash in 13 months!!! (not too bad for someone that used to crash every 2 months) and my first crash on the ZXR400.... Once i stopped sliding i quickly picked up the bike and got it out of the way just incase someone else crashed. then did a quick check of the bike (fairings, clip-on, brake lever and exhaust ripped apart) then did a quick check of myself. Got towed to the pits, and set about fixing the bike with Chloe and my trusty mechanic Milky.
My ankle was feeling a bit sore, but in general i came off pretty good... I was absolutely stoked with all the people that came over and asked if i was ok and what parts i needed. Luckily we had Milky's ZXR400 as a spare parts bike, so had everything we needed.
In the end we got it fixed in about 1.5 hours (including taking off the whole exhaust system and drilling out the rivets and putting it back together, cheers for the rivet gun Garry :niceone: ) I suited up, and we got the bike scrutineered just as the F3 feild went out on its warm-up lap. Just managed to get out (didnt do the warm up lap) and got on the front row. Because i had dead cold tyres, i had to take it easy in the first lap to get used to the bike and warm the tyres up. I settled into 5th place, and was just riding at a relaxed comfortable pace. At this pace i started to pick off the people infront of me until i was in second by the start of the 5th lap. I then got the Ducati 750 at turn six, to take the white flag in first place, and then the chequered flag in first as well... ABSOLUTELY STOKED!!!! Went from a crash to first!!!
F2 races went pretty well with me settling into 8th in the first race and 7th in the secod race just tagging onto the back of the fast F2 and F1 guys. My lap times were now down into the low 43's with out pushing the bike or myself too hard.
The next two F3 races I would get annialated in the starts by the SV's and ducati's. I would then take first place by about lap 2-3 and stay in first to win by about 2-300 metres over 2nd place. I got into 42's with a definate 42.8. But once again i wasn't pushing my braking, so there is still room to scrub off more time and get into the mid to low 42's...
By the last race, it hurt to do every gear change, and after that race i couldnt even walk on my left ankle. I then went to the A & E on monday, which confirmed a badly sprained ankle, and x-rays revealed (luckily) no broken bones. Have 3 days off work and there is a definate improvement today, so should be back on a bike this week, and back on the track for the 27th (track day at Puke)
Huge thanks to Chloe, Milky (mechanic), Trev and Colemans Suzuki. Also to all those that offered a hand or parts when I crashed :niceone:
Hopefully will see you guys at Paeroa :niceone:
Cheers, Chris
Once again with a last minute effort i managed to get down to taupo for PMCC round 2. I entered in both F3 and F2/F1. The track was alot different with the sweeper (turn 6) being brough 40 meters back for the new track. Went out for practice in F2 and was feeling comfortable. The sweeper was still slippery with slides from both the front and back a few times.
Next was practice for F3. I went out infront, and was going quick from the start. I wanted to push my limits a bit harder from the last practice. Lap one, exited turn 2 (hairpin) hard and didnt move accross to the left of the track to set up for turn 3. I entered turn 3 WAY too fast for the line i had taken, i tried to lean the bike over to make the corner but rolled off the front tyre to lowside at about 130-140kmh. WOW my first crash in 13 months!!! (not too bad for someone that used to crash every 2 months) and my first crash on the ZXR400.... Once i stopped sliding i quickly picked up the bike and got it out of the way just incase someone else crashed. then did a quick check of the bike (fairings, clip-on, brake lever and exhaust ripped apart) then did a quick check of myself. Got towed to the pits, and set about fixing the bike with Chloe and my trusty mechanic Milky.
My ankle was feeling a bit sore, but in general i came off pretty good... I was absolutely stoked with all the people that came over and asked if i was ok and what parts i needed. Luckily we had Milky's ZXR400 as a spare parts bike, so had everything we needed.
In the end we got it fixed in about 1.5 hours (including taking off the whole exhaust system and drilling out the rivets and putting it back together, cheers for the rivet gun Garry :niceone: ) I suited up, and we got the bike scrutineered just as the F3 feild went out on its warm-up lap. Just managed to get out (didnt do the warm up lap) and got on the front row. Because i had dead cold tyres, i had to take it easy in the first lap to get used to the bike and warm the tyres up. I settled into 5th place, and was just riding at a relaxed comfortable pace. At this pace i started to pick off the people infront of me until i was in second by the start of the 5th lap. I then got the Ducati 750 at turn six, to take the white flag in first place, and then the chequered flag in first as well... ABSOLUTELY STOKED!!!! Went from a crash to first!!!
F2 races went pretty well with me settling into 8th in the first race and 7th in the secod race just tagging onto the back of the fast F2 and F1 guys. My lap times were now down into the low 43's with out pushing the bike or myself too hard.
The next two F3 races I would get annialated in the starts by the SV's and ducati's. I would then take first place by about lap 2-3 and stay in first to win by about 2-300 metres over 2nd place. I got into 42's with a definate 42.8. But once again i wasn't pushing my braking, so there is still room to scrub off more time and get into the mid to low 42's...
By the last race, it hurt to do every gear change, and after that race i couldnt even walk on my left ankle. I then went to the A & E on monday, which confirmed a badly sprained ankle, and x-rays revealed (luckily) no broken bones. Have 3 days off work and there is a definate improvement today, so should be back on a bike this week, and back on the track for the 27th (track day at Puke)
Huge thanks to Chloe, Milky (mechanic), Trev and Colemans Suzuki. Also to all those that offered a hand or parts when I crashed :niceone:
Hopefully will see you guys at Paeroa :niceone:
Cheers, Chris