White trash
17th June 2007, 13:34
Well it was with mixed emotions Riff raff and I headed south for Round II of the VMCC, Actrix winter series. Feeling especially bad for the lack of mentoring, setup and personality of having Shaun with us, but also bouyant at the unbelievable amount of support we've received from KBers and the motorcycling industry. The plan was to do our best and try and have some fun, this possibly being my last meeting for a while.
We arrived at the track Friday for testing, with the Moto Dynamix GSXR looking a little worse for wear after my hamfistedness at Taupo last month. We quickly met up with Billy who'd done such a fantastic job on the fairings, they looked brand new, not repaired. I quickly fitted those and headed out for some refamiliarisation of "Minefeild", having not ridden there for some years. Yep, it's just as bumpy and pitted as I remember and surprisingly technical. I wobbled 'round for a session, getting the feel of the track and bike again, trying to gain some confidence in the front end. After the righthand footpeg fell off, I pulled in for a bit of a service and a rethink. In the second session, I had a MASSIVE front end slide through "Splash" (soon to be renamed Odermatt), managing to save it on my knee and pulled again to change the four meeting old front slick for one kindly donated by Poos Team Racing. Using mine and Deaths limited setup knowledge, we made a small change to the front end to try and remove a little "bouncing". That combined with the new/used front tyre helped me lower my lap timesand gain some more confidence, the next session seeing me climbing all over the back of Daniel Ormsbys R1. Rear grip was a little lacking but that tyre was pretty sagged too and we had a spare for race day so I wasn't feeling too bad.
Race day
Supersport qualifying I wasn't happy with myself, really not stringing a good lap together and going markedly slower than practice the day before. Every lap the pit board showed quicker laps but I was getting a bit more comfortable just as the chequered came out, finishing qualifying. Feeling a little pissed off, I checked my times and found myself fourth behind Nick Cole, Jay and Nicko. Still on the front row so nothing to be sneezed at. Superbike qualifying I felt a little better but never managing to get a clean lap due to getting stuck behind Phil Duxbury on his GSXR Rocketship. Seeing Nicko picking his bike up out of the mud made me grin as I was sure it'd move me an extra spot up the grid. WRONG! The prick qualified on pole, with me lying back in 7th, only one spot ahead of Poos. Dammit!
Supersport Race one, I got my traditional demon start and was leading the field into turn one. Being the "once bitten, twice shy" sort of guy I am, I pussied out under braking and Nicko took maximum advantage, carving me up like the newbie I am. Jay came tearing past in hot pusuit of Nicko and I tried to settle into a rythym and string together a lap to keep up. Nick Cole came past but I could stay with him without too much trouble andwas fairly comfortable. I was having alot of trouble with grip from the rear and turn in, due to running a smaller rear tyre than what I'm used to but I was learning to "Square the turns off" better and was getting good speed onto the front straight. When Jay crashed in the hairpin, I shut off a little much, allowing Nick to get a little gap that I couldn't manage to close. Finished 3rd, my first podium :D
Superbike Race one, I was caught napping on the line, plain and simple. Shit start, and it took me a couple of laps to pick my way through slower traffic and I paid the price heavily, finishing ninth, one place behind Poos, who had been on fire early in the race, a loose handlebar slowing him towards the end. Poor bastard. I was absolutely sick at myself for botching the race and vowed not to make the same mistake.
SS Race two saw a better start again, but Nicko and Jay got through fairly quick, as did Chris who was superbly on form. While hanging onto the back of Chris, some nutter came fishtailing through us, all out of shape. My fist experience of racing with Craig Gollop was an eye opener to say the least. His bike is an absolute jet on the straights and the turns look a little out of control. He managed to bash his way past Nicko but being the wyly racer Nick is, he simply stuffed it past Craig on the last lap at the sweeper. Chris bet me to the line so I finished fifth on the track but unbeknown to me (or Chris) he'd passed me under a yellow on lap two and had a ten second penalty imposed, promoting me to fourth.
Superbike Race two, and eager not to repeat my previous cockup, I nailed the start, trailing only Peter Tanner for the first lap. Daniel Ornsby came past down the front straight on lap two, with Jay and Nicko both giving me a learning in braking along with young Rhys Holmes on the ZX10. I managed to hold off Neil Martin for the remainder, finishing sixth.
SS Race three, the comedy. Two warm up laps and I was feeling pretty confident on the grid. Once again, I outdragged the entire field to turn one, Nicko once again showing me how to brake and carving me up in Triumphant style. I stayed glued to his rear wheel through the infield and watched from the best seat in the house as he fired the bike down the track in "Splash" for the second time in the day. I kept my composure and stuck my head down, appreciating the clear track and going for gold. Heading into Higgins I see a red flag and slow for a restart. Sitting on the grid and a fairly muddy 675 pulls up next to me, the jammy bastad having done no damage! Restartin I slot in behind Nicko and stay with him comfortably the whole first lap. On lap two, heading into Splash, and you guessed it, there's a gold 675 heading into the grass again. Once again a red flag's waved and they made us race the race right at the end of the day. Nicko was fairly ginger now through the infield and had a very tight, deffencive line through the hairpin. I kept almost running into him and having to shut it down. Knowng this is where I'd make my move on the last lap, I tried to hang back a bit through the infield and get better drive out onto the straight. Unfortunately I mistimed my move completely and ran straight into the back of the almost stopped Triumph. Chris had been waiting for his moment and ripped past me. I went way hot into the completely blind sweeper, squaring it off as much as possible and tried to outdrag young Smoker to the line but he managed to beat me by a front wheel. Nicko taking the win. Great fun race and awesome to see both Moto Dynamix 600s on the podium.
Superbike race three and the sun was getting really low. It was also wickedly cold, and my visor was fogging like a bitch. Got a great start again, but Rhys and Nicko came past fairly easy, as did Daniel. It was shortlived for the R1 rider however as he lost the front in Splash/Odermatt and watched from the sidelines. I stayed glued to Nicko for half a lap, sneaking through cheekily in Splash where he was obviously a little timid. I managed to get a little break but Rhys had pulled a huge gap on the rest of us and I had no hope of catching him. So I finished second , funnily enough, on my slowest lap times of the weekend.
Points wise, the weekends rsults have me placed second overall behing Nicko in Supersport and fourth behind Rhys, Nicko and Daniel in Superbike, eight points covering the for of us.
I'm going to do a little research and see if I can't make a few changes to improve my times and setup for the next meeting for sure, this is going to be an awesome series!!!
We arrived at the track Friday for testing, with the Moto Dynamix GSXR looking a little worse for wear after my hamfistedness at Taupo last month. We quickly met up with Billy who'd done such a fantastic job on the fairings, they looked brand new, not repaired. I quickly fitted those and headed out for some refamiliarisation of "Minefeild", having not ridden there for some years. Yep, it's just as bumpy and pitted as I remember and surprisingly technical. I wobbled 'round for a session, getting the feel of the track and bike again, trying to gain some confidence in the front end. After the righthand footpeg fell off, I pulled in for a bit of a service and a rethink. In the second session, I had a MASSIVE front end slide through "Splash" (soon to be renamed Odermatt), managing to save it on my knee and pulled again to change the four meeting old front slick for one kindly donated by Poos Team Racing. Using mine and Deaths limited setup knowledge, we made a small change to the front end to try and remove a little "bouncing". That combined with the new/used front tyre helped me lower my lap timesand gain some more confidence, the next session seeing me climbing all over the back of Daniel Ormsbys R1. Rear grip was a little lacking but that tyre was pretty sagged too and we had a spare for race day so I wasn't feeling too bad.
Race day
Supersport qualifying I wasn't happy with myself, really not stringing a good lap together and going markedly slower than practice the day before. Every lap the pit board showed quicker laps but I was getting a bit more comfortable just as the chequered came out, finishing qualifying. Feeling a little pissed off, I checked my times and found myself fourth behind Nick Cole, Jay and Nicko. Still on the front row so nothing to be sneezed at. Superbike qualifying I felt a little better but never managing to get a clean lap due to getting stuck behind Phil Duxbury on his GSXR Rocketship. Seeing Nicko picking his bike up out of the mud made me grin as I was sure it'd move me an extra spot up the grid. WRONG! The prick qualified on pole, with me lying back in 7th, only one spot ahead of Poos. Dammit!
Supersport Race one, I got my traditional demon start and was leading the field into turn one. Being the "once bitten, twice shy" sort of guy I am, I pussied out under braking and Nicko took maximum advantage, carving me up like the newbie I am. Jay came tearing past in hot pusuit of Nicko and I tried to settle into a rythym and string together a lap to keep up. Nick Cole came past but I could stay with him without too much trouble andwas fairly comfortable. I was having alot of trouble with grip from the rear and turn in, due to running a smaller rear tyre than what I'm used to but I was learning to "Square the turns off" better and was getting good speed onto the front straight. When Jay crashed in the hairpin, I shut off a little much, allowing Nick to get a little gap that I couldn't manage to close. Finished 3rd, my first podium :D
Superbike Race one, I was caught napping on the line, plain and simple. Shit start, and it took me a couple of laps to pick my way through slower traffic and I paid the price heavily, finishing ninth, one place behind Poos, who had been on fire early in the race, a loose handlebar slowing him towards the end. Poor bastard. I was absolutely sick at myself for botching the race and vowed not to make the same mistake.
SS Race two saw a better start again, but Nicko and Jay got through fairly quick, as did Chris who was superbly on form. While hanging onto the back of Chris, some nutter came fishtailing through us, all out of shape. My fist experience of racing with Craig Gollop was an eye opener to say the least. His bike is an absolute jet on the straights and the turns look a little out of control. He managed to bash his way past Nicko but being the wyly racer Nick is, he simply stuffed it past Craig on the last lap at the sweeper. Chris bet me to the line so I finished fifth on the track but unbeknown to me (or Chris) he'd passed me under a yellow on lap two and had a ten second penalty imposed, promoting me to fourth.
Superbike Race two, and eager not to repeat my previous cockup, I nailed the start, trailing only Peter Tanner for the first lap. Daniel Ornsby came past down the front straight on lap two, with Jay and Nicko both giving me a learning in braking along with young Rhys Holmes on the ZX10. I managed to hold off Neil Martin for the remainder, finishing sixth.
SS Race three, the comedy. Two warm up laps and I was feeling pretty confident on the grid. Once again, I outdragged the entire field to turn one, Nicko once again showing me how to brake and carving me up in Triumphant style. I stayed glued to his rear wheel through the infield and watched from the best seat in the house as he fired the bike down the track in "Splash" for the second time in the day. I kept my composure and stuck my head down, appreciating the clear track and going for gold. Heading into Higgins I see a red flag and slow for a restart. Sitting on the grid and a fairly muddy 675 pulls up next to me, the jammy bastad having done no damage! Restartin I slot in behind Nicko and stay with him comfortably the whole first lap. On lap two, heading into Splash, and you guessed it, there's a gold 675 heading into the grass again. Once again a red flag's waved and they made us race the race right at the end of the day. Nicko was fairly ginger now through the infield and had a very tight, deffencive line through the hairpin. I kept almost running into him and having to shut it down. Knowng this is where I'd make my move on the last lap, I tried to hang back a bit through the infield and get better drive out onto the straight. Unfortunately I mistimed my move completely and ran straight into the back of the almost stopped Triumph. Chris had been waiting for his moment and ripped past me. I went way hot into the completely blind sweeper, squaring it off as much as possible and tried to outdrag young Smoker to the line but he managed to beat me by a front wheel. Nicko taking the win. Great fun race and awesome to see both Moto Dynamix 600s on the podium.
Superbike race three and the sun was getting really low. It was also wickedly cold, and my visor was fogging like a bitch. Got a great start again, but Rhys and Nicko came past fairly easy, as did Daniel. It was shortlived for the R1 rider however as he lost the front in Splash/Odermatt and watched from the sidelines. I stayed glued to Nicko for half a lap, sneaking through cheekily in Splash where he was obviously a little timid. I managed to get a little break but Rhys had pulled a huge gap on the rest of us and I had no hope of catching him. So I finished second , funnily enough, on my slowest lap times of the weekend.
Points wise, the weekends rsults have me placed second overall behing Nicko in Supersport and fourth behind Rhys, Nicko and Daniel in Superbike, eight points covering the for of us.
I'm going to do a little research and see if I can't make a few changes to improve my times and setup for the next meeting for sure, this is going to be an awesome series!!!