nicko
22nd February 2007, 22:20
Hi guys,
Well firstly sorry for being slack & not getting nats reports up yet! Been a pretty hectic couple of months with racing/work etc but Paeroa was such an eventful day definitely worth making the time for a report...
Thanks to Debbie & Kevin in Paeroa for the great pit spot, had done a fair bit of preparation to the bike during the week as wanted to be ready to rock as soon as practice came up, the streets usually have only limited practice time so you definitely want to make the most of the practice time. Was stoked to see from the grids (based on Wanganui points) that I was on the front row for both BEARS & F2.
Practice went well & I soon realised that I'd need to use 1st out of the hairpin otherwise I was going nowhere fast down the straight. Had to gear it taller than I would have liked but as the trumpy has a short first gear there was no way around it. First race was F2, got a good start into 4th position but after one lap the race was red flagged. Restart and slotted in behind Paul Dobbs on the black 675 and stayed in this position till the finish, bike was running a like a dog due to (as we later found out) an air hose on the fuel injection that had come off its housing.
BEARS race next and got a cracker start into the lead, held onto 1st till the 3rd lap and could hear Jared Love on the ducati right behind me into the hairpin, then next thing I know I got a bit of a love-bite and laid down the bike and slid into the bails. Cussed and threw my toys then picked up the bike and carried on (worst of the damage was a bent handlebar), was dead last out onto the straight but managed to pick my way back to 13th till the race was red flagged due to Jared crashing at fathers tavern the following lap (get well soon mate).
Robert Holden next, was on the 2nd row but got a good start into 5th position. Rob Jackson had a nasty off at the post office right in front of me, held onto 4th then Hayden Fitzgerald got past down the straight on the CBR1000 so back into 5th. Chris Seaton then crashed the Yammy at the post office as well (postal workers curse???) so back up a position and held onto 4th for the rest of the race with Carey Briar on the ZX10 breathing down my neck.
Next F2 race was a shambles as I never made it. The officials never made one call over the PA and next thing I heard was the commentators talking up the race! Was pretty dark about that one and with 6 people in my pit who also didn't hear a call we knew it hadn't been made. Cie lest vie.
Last race of the day was BEARS, due to my 13th place in the first I was starting off the 3rd row. Gave it a good nudge off the line and slotted into 2nd place by the 2nd corner behind Paul Dobbs, was only a second behind him for most of the race but I got stuck in a wheelie down the front straight on the 2nd to last lap and he managed to gap me enough that I couldn't make a move so finished up 2nd.
So an eventful day but good fun all round. My wrist is getting a lot better and wasn't much of an issue due to the short 6 lap races, also good to finally start getting some good results on the bike.
Thanks to my pit crew and great to see a heap of you guys there and thanks for the support at the track.
Thanks to my sponsors who made it possible:
FREDCO Motors (Aucklanders take your cars there for a WOF! They're on Union St in town, say you know me and they'll give you a free windscreen wiper reservoir top up)
TRIUMPH, AMPS, CASTROL, METZELER (racetechs are awesome - give me a yell if you need some 2nd handys), FFM, CORSA DISMANTLERS, SDV, WOODCRAFT, WAIKATO SANDBLASTING 0800 SANDBLAST, PROTECTA INSURANCE.
Well firstly sorry for being slack & not getting nats reports up yet! Been a pretty hectic couple of months with racing/work etc but Paeroa was such an eventful day definitely worth making the time for a report...
Thanks to Debbie & Kevin in Paeroa for the great pit spot, had done a fair bit of preparation to the bike during the week as wanted to be ready to rock as soon as practice came up, the streets usually have only limited practice time so you definitely want to make the most of the practice time. Was stoked to see from the grids (based on Wanganui points) that I was on the front row for both BEARS & F2.
Practice went well & I soon realised that I'd need to use 1st out of the hairpin otherwise I was going nowhere fast down the straight. Had to gear it taller than I would have liked but as the trumpy has a short first gear there was no way around it. First race was F2, got a good start into 4th position but after one lap the race was red flagged. Restart and slotted in behind Paul Dobbs on the black 675 and stayed in this position till the finish, bike was running a like a dog due to (as we later found out) an air hose on the fuel injection that had come off its housing.
BEARS race next and got a cracker start into the lead, held onto 1st till the 3rd lap and could hear Jared Love on the ducati right behind me into the hairpin, then next thing I know I got a bit of a love-bite and laid down the bike and slid into the bails. Cussed and threw my toys then picked up the bike and carried on (worst of the damage was a bent handlebar), was dead last out onto the straight but managed to pick my way back to 13th till the race was red flagged due to Jared crashing at fathers tavern the following lap (get well soon mate).
Robert Holden next, was on the 2nd row but got a good start into 5th position. Rob Jackson had a nasty off at the post office right in front of me, held onto 4th then Hayden Fitzgerald got past down the straight on the CBR1000 so back into 5th. Chris Seaton then crashed the Yammy at the post office as well (postal workers curse???) so back up a position and held onto 4th for the rest of the race with Carey Briar on the ZX10 breathing down my neck.
Next F2 race was a shambles as I never made it. The officials never made one call over the PA and next thing I heard was the commentators talking up the race! Was pretty dark about that one and with 6 people in my pit who also didn't hear a call we knew it hadn't been made. Cie lest vie.
Last race of the day was BEARS, due to my 13th place in the first I was starting off the 3rd row. Gave it a good nudge off the line and slotted into 2nd place by the 2nd corner behind Paul Dobbs, was only a second behind him for most of the race but I got stuck in a wheelie down the front straight on the 2nd to last lap and he managed to gap me enough that I couldn't make a move so finished up 2nd.
So an eventful day but good fun all round. My wrist is getting a lot better and wasn't much of an issue due to the short 6 lap races, also good to finally start getting some good results on the bike.
Thanks to my pit crew and great to see a heap of you guys there and thanks for the support at the track.
Thanks to my sponsors who made it possible:
FREDCO Motors (Aucklanders take your cars there for a WOF! They're on Union St in town, say you know me and they'll give you a free windscreen wiper reservoir top up)
TRIUMPH, AMPS, CASTROL, METZELER (racetechs are awesome - give me a yell if you need some 2nd handys), FFM, CORSA DISMANTLERS, SDV, WOODCRAFT, WAIKATO SANDBLASTING 0800 SANDBLAST, PROTECTA INSURANCE.