nicko
28th August 2006, 17:53
NICK ODERMATT RACING
#80 TRIUMPH DAYTONA 675 TRIPLE
Victoria Club Winter Series - Round 4 - 19 Aug 06
This meeting marked a number of firsts for me, having only ever raced Suzuki GSXR's the Triumph is a different beast, 3 cylinders at 225cc a pop versus the GSXR 600 with 4 x 150cc results in a torquey motor that pulls strong out of the corners. I only got the bike a couple of weeks before the meeting and as I'm finding out, parts for this bike are pretty scarce at this stage. I managed one road ride on the bike and got a few kms on it, the 675 is a fantastic road bike, it’s very easy to get on with and is at home in the twisties. I won't go into it as a road bike too much, all I'll say is that most of the reports in the bike mags are right, Triumph has come a long way since the 600 & 650 Daytona, the 675 is like a greyhound on a fox hunt and makes the original TT600 look like one of the queen’s corgis.
I found some race fairings in Australia and thanks to the guys at SDV shipping they were in the country on the Monday the week of the meeting. By Wednesday night I had the bike ready to go, lights and indicators off, race fairings on, sump plug lock-wired, glycol removed from the radiator, race numbers crafted from electrical tape - sorted. The race fairings and adding a ring of preload on the front forks were literally the only changes made to the bike from stock before hitting the track so was eager to see how it would perform as a stocker.
Race day and out for a scrub in session, I had put on a set of Bridgestone 002's that Karl Morgan had done a round at Eastern Creek on. The tyres looked like they'd done a bit of work but I was interested to see how they'd perform. Scrub in was good fun, I was pretty relaxed about the meet & wanted to use it as a day to get familiar with the bike.
Qualifying for F2 came up next, I made no changes to the bike and went out and qualified 7th with a 1.16.9.
Again no changes and F1 qualifying came in 9th with a 1.15.4.
First race was F2, a 6 lapper, this would be the first chance to see how the bike went against other 600's. I had a good dice with Geoff Booth on a GSXR, Geoff was getting better drive out of Higgins but the 675 was holding it's own through the infield section, the brakes are awesome for stock, braided lines are standard on this bike. This race my best laptime was 1.14.4 and I finished as I qualified in 7th.
F1 for the next race, the 675 is geared quite tall and was easy to get off the line, I got a great start into 4th place but got picked off over the 6 laps and finished up in 8th with a best time of 1.14.9.
2 more races to go and these were going to be 18 lappers, after a red-flag on lap 1 of the F2 race our race got reduced to 15 laps. I was starting to feel comfortable on the bike, the stock suspension is awesome but started to fade a little towards the end of this race, other than that the bike was awesome over the 45kms of this race. Another GSXR was giving me grief, that of Mark Hay but this time I finished in front in 6th place. I got my best time of the day in this race with a 1.14.2.
Last race was F1, another 15 lapper and another good start, This race I had put in an Ohlins rear shock that Robert Taylor had at the track. There were a few spots of rain at times during the race but nothing too major. I had a good tussle with Daryl Smith on an R1, we changed position a few times and he got me down the back straight then while gassing out of the last corner Daryl had a huge slide coming out and ended up on the grass but thankfully kept it upright. This gave me a clear run to the line in 7th place with a 1.14.5 as my best lap. The Ohlins is a great unit and gave me a bit more confidence in some of the faster corners.
As far as first meetings go I’m well pleased, my best on the old GSXR was a 1.12.0 so to be within 2 seconds on a stock bike the first time on old tyres is encouraging. The Bridgestone’s are great tyres, as yet I’m unsure what brand I’ll be running but these are great rubber. The bike is amazing standard but I’m looking forward to getting some race bits on it, the shopping list is pretty long at this stage but I’ve got a few months to set it all up before the nationals.
Thanks to my sponsors and those who helped me get to the first meeting:
FREDCO MOTORS, AMPs, TRIUMPH NZ, PROTECTA INSURANCE, SDV
#80 TRIUMPH DAYTONA 675 TRIPLE
Victoria Club Winter Series - Round 4 - 19 Aug 06
This meeting marked a number of firsts for me, having only ever raced Suzuki GSXR's the Triumph is a different beast, 3 cylinders at 225cc a pop versus the GSXR 600 with 4 x 150cc results in a torquey motor that pulls strong out of the corners. I only got the bike a couple of weeks before the meeting and as I'm finding out, parts for this bike are pretty scarce at this stage. I managed one road ride on the bike and got a few kms on it, the 675 is a fantastic road bike, it’s very easy to get on with and is at home in the twisties. I won't go into it as a road bike too much, all I'll say is that most of the reports in the bike mags are right, Triumph has come a long way since the 600 & 650 Daytona, the 675 is like a greyhound on a fox hunt and makes the original TT600 look like one of the queen’s corgis.
I found some race fairings in Australia and thanks to the guys at SDV shipping they were in the country on the Monday the week of the meeting. By Wednesday night I had the bike ready to go, lights and indicators off, race fairings on, sump plug lock-wired, glycol removed from the radiator, race numbers crafted from electrical tape - sorted. The race fairings and adding a ring of preload on the front forks were literally the only changes made to the bike from stock before hitting the track so was eager to see how it would perform as a stocker.
Race day and out for a scrub in session, I had put on a set of Bridgestone 002's that Karl Morgan had done a round at Eastern Creek on. The tyres looked like they'd done a bit of work but I was interested to see how they'd perform. Scrub in was good fun, I was pretty relaxed about the meet & wanted to use it as a day to get familiar with the bike.
Qualifying for F2 came up next, I made no changes to the bike and went out and qualified 7th with a 1.16.9.
Again no changes and F1 qualifying came in 9th with a 1.15.4.
First race was F2, a 6 lapper, this would be the first chance to see how the bike went against other 600's. I had a good dice with Geoff Booth on a GSXR, Geoff was getting better drive out of Higgins but the 675 was holding it's own through the infield section, the brakes are awesome for stock, braided lines are standard on this bike. This race my best laptime was 1.14.4 and I finished as I qualified in 7th.
F1 for the next race, the 675 is geared quite tall and was easy to get off the line, I got a great start into 4th place but got picked off over the 6 laps and finished up in 8th with a best time of 1.14.9.
2 more races to go and these were going to be 18 lappers, after a red-flag on lap 1 of the F2 race our race got reduced to 15 laps. I was starting to feel comfortable on the bike, the stock suspension is awesome but started to fade a little towards the end of this race, other than that the bike was awesome over the 45kms of this race. Another GSXR was giving me grief, that of Mark Hay but this time I finished in front in 6th place. I got my best time of the day in this race with a 1.14.2.
Last race was F1, another 15 lapper and another good start, This race I had put in an Ohlins rear shock that Robert Taylor had at the track. There were a few spots of rain at times during the race but nothing too major. I had a good tussle with Daryl Smith on an R1, we changed position a few times and he got me down the back straight then while gassing out of the last corner Daryl had a huge slide coming out and ended up on the grass but thankfully kept it upright. This gave me a clear run to the line in 7th place with a 1.14.5 as my best lap. The Ohlins is a great unit and gave me a bit more confidence in some of the faster corners.
As far as first meetings go I’m well pleased, my best on the old GSXR was a 1.12.0 so to be within 2 seconds on a stock bike the first time on old tyres is encouraging. The Bridgestone’s are great tyres, as yet I’m unsure what brand I’ll be running but these are great rubber. The bike is amazing standard but I’m looking forward to getting some race bits on it, the shopping list is pretty long at this stage but I’ve got a few months to set it all up before the nationals.
Thanks to my sponsors and those who helped me get to the first meeting:
FREDCO MOTORS, AMPs, TRIUMPH NZ, PROTECTA INSURANCE, SDV