t3mp0r4ry nzr
4th April 2007, 22:04
a quick debrief of my 2nd time racing.
Really struggled with this circuit as I hadnt visited it before and the 10 minute practice for street stock and short red flagged f3 practice where just not enough for this inexperienced rider to learn to ride it quickly. It scared me to be honest. Ive ridden manfield a few times and feel at home on the fast banked turns and flat track. Now Taupo is a completely different beast! The FLAT turns had me puzzled and few downhill runs into turns gave me the shits as its all too easy to carry more speed than you may have anticipated. The tight infield turn was deceptive and could be taken faster than you think and the final sweeper was opening and had a wide exit contary to the previous two turns. Add in the blind crest and the dodgy tyre wall in the middle of the track, it was fair to say that I rode like a muppet all day as I struggled to come to terms with the track.
In race 1 and 2 I had very average starts and promptly got stuck behind traffic from the classics. aggressive passing was required to get past them on in the infield, something that i wasnt comfortable with little track knowledge. credit to the other guys for getting through the traffic. i could only watch as the 3 in front sailed off into the distance. once through, I only had a few laps remaining to pull some time back, coming home 4th in race 1 and just pipped for 4th on the line in race 2 by an RG of all things as I basically sat up on the last lap. I missed race 3 as I had an awesome dinner wating for me at the end of a 3 hour drive home, an offer that I just couldnt pass up so I packed up and raced home!
Things to improve on next time:
1-more track time, especially at taupo
2-dont get horrendiously drunk the night before and go out clubbing
3-ditch the CYROX piece of shit rear tyre for a proper rubber hoop. couldnt get any drive from turn 1 without fear of being flicked off.
4- replace broken throttle tube so throttle can be used smoothly.smooth is good!!
5-ride bike after making setup changes and preferabley before you race it!
6-get sam smith on their asses!! get underneath the bastards and bump them out of the way. get aggressive!
All in all i learnt alot, especially how not to ride! looking forward to Vic series at manfield. will have to get in a track day before the opening round held at taupo tho!
BTW, anyone have pics of a muppet piloting a cbr with 82 plastered over it??
Really struggled with this circuit as I hadnt visited it before and the 10 minute practice for street stock and short red flagged f3 practice where just not enough for this inexperienced rider to learn to ride it quickly. It scared me to be honest. Ive ridden manfield a few times and feel at home on the fast banked turns and flat track. Now Taupo is a completely different beast! The FLAT turns had me puzzled and few downhill runs into turns gave me the shits as its all too easy to carry more speed than you may have anticipated. The tight infield turn was deceptive and could be taken faster than you think and the final sweeper was opening and had a wide exit contary to the previous two turns. Add in the blind crest and the dodgy tyre wall in the middle of the track, it was fair to say that I rode like a muppet all day as I struggled to come to terms with the track.
In race 1 and 2 I had very average starts and promptly got stuck behind traffic from the classics. aggressive passing was required to get past them on in the infield, something that i wasnt comfortable with little track knowledge. credit to the other guys for getting through the traffic. i could only watch as the 3 in front sailed off into the distance. once through, I only had a few laps remaining to pull some time back, coming home 4th in race 1 and just pipped for 4th on the line in race 2 by an RG of all things as I basically sat up on the last lap. I missed race 3 as I had an awesome dinner wating for me at the end of a 3 hour drive home, an offer that I just couldnt pass up so I packed up and raced home!
Things to improve on next time:
1-more track time, especially at taupo
2-dont get horrendiously drunk the night before and go out clubbing
3-ditch the CYROX piece of shit rear tyre for a proper rubber hoop. couldnt get any drive from turn 1 without fear of being flicked off.
4- replace broken throttle tube so throttle can be used smoothly.smooth is good!!
5-ride bike after making setup changes and preferabley before you race it!
6-get sam smith on their asses!! get underneath the bastards and bump them out of the way. get aggressive!
All in all i learnt alot, especially how not to ride! looking forward to Vic series at manfield. will have to get in a track day before the opening round held at taupo tho!
BTW, anyone have pics of a muppet piloting a cbr with 82 plastered over it??