scracha
17th June 2007, 23:24
PREPARATION
(what preparation...I got to the race didn't I?) Maybe I'll change the oil for the next race :bye:
Two goals for this meeting.
1) Don't crash (especially not again in the first lap :-)
2) Maybe get my knee down.
The CBR400 had been treated to a new chain (unfortunately a smaller front sprocket hadn't arrived) and new tyres (Dunlop GPR's). Tom (VFR400) & I got down to the Manfield Motel on Thursday evening to meet up with Jas and Phil. A nice relaxing evening was had before the test day on the Friday.
TEST DAY
Basically I had fun. Since I know sod all about suspension etc I just had a quick fiddle with the tyre pressures (thanks Tom) and loosened off the new chain since the bike shop had left about 2mm of slack in it. The test day was 20 minute sessions alternating between cars and bikes. I was surprised at the serious amounts of track-time we had as there were very few off's/break downs (and when required the recovery process seemed a hell of a lot quicker than at Taupo). So much track-time that I was knackered and making mistakes by the early afternoon so decided to sit one out. I started off following Aveline on her 150cc 2-smoke as she'd previously given me "the learn" at Taupo. Perhaps I should have checked whether she'd been to Manfeild before though LOL. Whatever, she was bloody quick and even with the extra grunt on the straights I was struggling to keep up with her the first few laps.
Phil "toaster" followed me for a couple of laps and gave excellent advice. NOT using the rear brake at all stopped the back end going sideways (gyroscopic effect). My main problem was that I wasn't hanging off the bike. A hilarious session in the pits/stables ensued with Phil holding the bike up and various people trying to explain how I should be leaning. It helped a little as I was able to counter-steer more and prevent the bike running quite so wide out of corners, still couldn't figure out how to get my bloody feet out of the way though. Maybe all the roundabouts back in the UK helped as I'm a lot happier with right handers. The last session of the day was wet and the sun was low, that said I was surprised there was only a couple of other bikes out on the track. Quite frankly I was having a ball and experimenting with hard braking in the wet. The track still felt grippy. Tom seemed ridiculously quick compared to me. I was glad he was racing in F3.
RACE DAY QUALIFYING
Blimey the VMCC were organised. From arriving to signing in and then scrub session seemed to go by in a blur. During qualifying I was determined not to push the limits whatsoever so braking was done nice n' early and I didn't pin the throttle on some of the corner exits. I hadn't taken any lap times during the test day so I had no benchmark. 20th on the grid at 1m29.7s, just behind Nicksta's tweety pie VFR400.
During F3 qualifying Tom managed his objective of getting his elbow down.
Unfortunately the rest of the bike went with him so after some hurried repairs by Jaz and Avelines pit bitches he was also entered into Clubmans B.
RACE 1
The nerves kicked in. 3 trips to the big later and I was on the dummy grid (and unable to skip to the loo again). Green flag down, off we go. After a good launch I was hindered by a bigger bike which blatted past me, swooped in front of my bike and then started braking waaaaaaaay too early. I watched Nicksta (whom I'd passed off the line) ploughing into the first corner with an amazing amount of agression. I tried going round the outside of everyone (it had worked in Taupo) but hadn't counted on there being serious amounts of dust/rubber on the outside). My bad habit of using the back brake crept in on the first few laps and I was mentally shouting at myself inside my lid. The hanging off thing went completely out of the window too. By lap 2 I'd settled down a little. Followed Nicksta's tweety pie for a couple of laps before Tom caught up (from the back of the grid!) with me and we had a ding dong for 2 laps whilst being stuck behind a Gixer 600. Tom found a fair turn of speed on the final lap and passed the both of us. A Hyosung 650 somehow got between us too. Midway through the last lap the gap ahead was so big I glanced over my shoulder, nobody behind me. "Oh hell, I'm last" I thought so I eased off a little. Turns out there was over 25s to the next bike. Fastest lap 1m27.7 so I'd gained 2 seconds. Nicksta 2nd, Tom 3rd, Moi 5th.
RACE 2
Another cracking start. Hung off the bike a lot more and for once didn't just sit watch lots of bikes go past me. In hindsight I shouldn't have just let the bigger bikes clear off instead of slowing each other down (as most were in Clubmans A). Nicksta was nowhere to be seen (phew). Tom caught up by lap 3 and this time a serious match was on :-). After swapping places a couple of times he passed on the sweeper into the first left hander and kept off the grass by the skin of his teeth. Lap 5 had me coming up fast in the final turn before the main straight and I was right on his rear wheel. This time I had the tow so his bike didn't get away from me. I went under him into turn one but I missed one of the downshifts so was still in fourth on th exit. DOH!. Tom was obiously in the wrong gear too (probably didn't expect the pass there) but managed to hook 3rd quicker than I. He was offski. Again, nobody close behind so I eased off again. Fastest lap 1m26.2s (another second gained). Tom 2nd, me 3rd, Nicksta 5th.
RACE 3.
Shortened to 4 laps (dying sunlight I guess). The rain started whilst we were sat on the dummy grid for about ten minutes. I'm sure I wasn't the only rider with a sinking feeling of dejavu (the last round's "Clubmans lambs to the slaughter" came to mind). We hadn't all lined up on the grid yet but the green flag went down so I beneffited from a rolling start. The damp surface put a lot of riders into commuter mode so lots of bigger bikes were passed. At least they were brave enough to go out, half the grid must have peeled off to the pits after the warmup lap. Don't think I would have fancied riding a bigger bike in the conditions. Nicksta got a great start and there can't have been a half second between us for the whole race. What ensued was the most fun I've had on a bike for years with a ZX6 and RSV1000 blatting past us on the straights and then Nicksta and I going round them through the corners (usually on different sides). Final lap going into turn 1 and Nicksta outbraked me fair and square. Clear track in-front of her and she was offski. Yet again, I eased off as nobody was behind me. Fastest lap 1m32.3s (damp track). Nicksta 1st, Moi 2nd, Tom 3rd.
RESULTS
Overall Nicksta got 1st, Tom got 2nd and I got 3rd. Result!
Seriously impressed with the Dunlop's but it's hard for me to compare as the last set were completely knackered. They've given me a lot more confidence which is the main thing. I really enjoyed the whole weekend and found the track a lot more fun/challenging than Taupo. I didn't have ANY slides or OMG moments over the two days (barring someone leaving their exhaust on the straight) so probably should have pushed a little harder in the final race. Seemed to be able to concentrate better and made less mistakes too. Found it very strange my fastest laps were all on the final laps as I was easing off on all of them. I'm having real trouble moving around on the CBR as it's so small. Will try and get new pegs made-up for the next race to see if that helps. My newish boots are all but destroyed (thanks to everyone for the metal/stones/gaffer tape repairs) so I'll have to figure out a solution to that problem. Much thanks to Jas' parents for letting Tom and I crash at their place on Saturday night.
NEXT ROUND
1) Lower the gearing (wasn't anyway near hooking 6th)
2) Get new boots with titanium toe sliders.
3) Try and hang off the bleedin bike properly.
4) Lose some weight (me, and maybe junk something off the bike).
5) Maybe get my knee down.
Seems that Tom & Nicksta's doing Clubmans for the rest of the series so the (gay) Honda 400 grudge match is on. My money's on Nicksta at the moment as I reckon that although Tom's faster he'll bin it again (sorry Tom :-) ). What a cracking weekend.
(what preparation...I got to the race didn't I?) Maybe I'll change the oil for the next race :bye:
Two goals for this meeting.
1) Don't crash (especially not again in the first lap :-)
2) Maybe get my knee down.
The CBR400 had been treated to a new chain (unfortunately a smaller front sprocket hadn't arrived) and new tyres (Dunlop GPR's). Tom (VFR400) & I got down to the Manfield Motel on Thursday evening to meet up with Jas and Phil. A nice relaxing evening was had before the test day on the Friday.
TEST DAY
Basically I had fun. Since I know sod all about suspension etc I just had a quick fiddle with the tyre pressures (thanks Tom) and loosened off the new chain since the bike shop had left about 2mm of slack in it. The test day was 20 minute sessions alternating between cars and bikes. I was surprised at the serious amounts of track-time we had as there were very few off's/break downs (and when required the recovery process seemed a hell of a lot quicker than at Taupo). So much track-time that I was knackered and making mistakes by the early afternoon so decided to sit one out. I started off following Aveline on her 150cc 2-smoke as she'd previously given me "the learn" at Taupo. Perhaps I should have checked whether she'd been to Manfeild before though LOL. Whatever, she was bloody quick and even with the extra grunt on the straights I was struggling to keep up with her the first few laps.
Phil "toaster" followed me for a couple of laps and gave excellent advice. NOT using the rear brake at all stopped the back end going sideways (gyroscopic effect). My main problem was that I wasn't hanging off the bike. A hilarious session in the pits/stables ensued with Phil holding the bike up and various people trying to explain how I should be leaning. It helped a little as I was able to counter-steer more and prevent the bike running quite so wide out of corners, still couldn't figure out how to get my bloody feet out of the way though. Maybe all the roundabouts back in the UK helped as I'm a lot happier with right handers. The last session of the day was wet and the sun was low, that said I was surprised there was only a couple of other bikes out on the track. Quite frankly I was having a ball and experimenting with hard braking in the wet. The track still felt grippy. Tom seemed ridiculously quick compared to me. I was glad he was racing in F3.
RACE DAY QUALIFYING
Blimey the VMCC were organised. From arriving to signing in and then scrub session seemed to go by in a blur. During qualifying I was determined not to push the limits whatsoever so braking was done nice n' early and I didn't pin the throttle on some of the corner exits. I hadn't taken any lap times during the test day so I had no benchmark. 20th on the grid at 1m29.7s, just behind Nicksta's tweety pie VFR400.
During F3 qualifying Tom managed his objective of getting his elbow down.
Unfortunately the rest of the bike went with him so after some hurried repairs by Jaz and Avelines pit bitches he was also entered into Clubmans B.
RACE 1
The nerves kicked in. 3 trips to the big later and I was on the dummy grid (and unable to skip to the loo again). Green flag down, off we go. After a good launch I was hindered by a bigger bike which blatted past me, swooped in front of my bike and then started braking waaaaaaaay too early. I watched Nicksta (whom I'd passed off the line) ploughing into the first corner with an amazing amount of agression. I tried going round the outside of everyone (it had worked in Taupo) but hadn't counted on there being serious amounts of dust/rubber on the outside). My bad habit of using the back brake crept in on the first few laps and I was mentally shouting at myself inside my lid. The hanging off thing went completely out of the window too. By lap 2 I'd settled down a little. Followed Nicksta's tweety pie for a couple of laps before Tom caught up (from the back of the grid!) with me and we had a ding dong for 2 laps whilst being stuck behind a Gixer 600. Tom found a fair turn of speed on the final lap and passed the both of us. A Hyosung 650 somehow got between us too. Midway through the last lap the gap ahead was so big I glanced over my shoulder, nobody behind me. "Oh hell, I'm last" I thought so I eased off a little. Turns out there was over 25s to the next bike. Fastest lap 1m27.7 so I'd gained 2 seconds. Nicksta 2nd, Tom 3rd, Moi 5th.
RACE 2
Another cracking start. Hung off the bike a lot more and for once didn't just sit watch lots of bikes go past me. In hindsight I shouldn't have just let the bigger bikes clear off instead of slowing each other down (as most were in Clubmans A). Nicksta was nowhere to be seen (phew). Tom caught up by lap 3 and this time a serious match was on :-). After swapping places a couple of times he passed on the sweeper into the first left hander and kept off the grass by the skin of his teeth. Lap 5 had me coming up fast in the final turn before the main straight and I was right on his rear wheel. This time I had the tow so his bike didn't get away from me. I went under him into turn one but I missed one of the downshifts so was still in fourth on th exit. DOH!. Tom was obiously in the wrong gear too (probably didn't expect the pass there) but managed to hook 3rd quicker than I. He was offski. Again, nobody close behind so I eased off again. Fastest lap 1m26.2s (another second gained). Tom 2nd, me 3rd, Nicksta 5th.
RACE 3.
Shortened to 4 laps (dying sunlight I guess). The rain started whilst we were sat on the dummy grid for about ten minutes. I'm sure I wasn't the only rider with a sinking feeling of dejavu (the last round's "Clubmans lambs to the slaughter" came to mind). We hadn't all lined up on the grid yet but the green flag went down so I beneffited from a rolling start. The damp surface put a lot of riders into commuter mode so lots of bigger bikes were passed. At least they were brave enough to go out, half the grid must have peeled off to the pits after the warmup lap. Don't think I would have fancied riding a bigger bike in the conditions. Nicksta got a great start and there can't have been a half second between us for the whole race. What ensued was the most fun I've had on a bike for years with a ZX6 and RSV1000 blatting past us on the straights and then Nicksta and I going round them through the corners (usually on different sides). Final lap going into turn 1 and Nicksta outbraked me fair and square. Clear track in-front of her and she was offski. Yet again, I eased off as nobody was behind me. Fastest lap 1m32.3s (damp track). Nicksta 1st, Moi 2nd, Tom 3rd.
RESULTS
Overall Nicksta got 1st, Tom got 2nd and I got 3rd. Result!
Seriously impressed with the Dunlop's but it's hard for me to compare as the last set were completely knackered. They've given me a lot more confidence which is the main thing. I really enjoyed the whole weekend and found the track a lot more fun/challenging than Taupo. I didn't have ANY slides or OMG moments over the two days (barring someone leaving their exhaust on the straight) so probably should have pushed a little harder in the final race. Seemed to be able to concentrate better and made less mistakes too. Found it very strange my fastest laps were all on the final laps as I was easing off on all of them. I'm having real trouble moving around on the CBR as it's so small. Will try and get new pegs made-up for the next race to see if that helps. My newish boots are all but destroyed (thanks to everyone for the metal/stones/gaffer tape repairs) so I'll have to figure out a solution to that problem. Much thanks to Jas' parents for letting Tom and I crash at their place on Saturday night.
NEXT ROUND
1) Lower the gearing (wasn't anyway near hooking 6th)
2) Get new boots with titanium toe sliders.
3) Try and hang off the bleedin bike properly.
4) Lose some weight (me, and maybe junk something off the bike).
5) Maybe get my knee down.
Seems that Tom & Nicksta's doing Clubmans for the rest of the series so the (gay) Honda 400 grudge match is on. My money's on Nicksta at the moment as I reckon that although Tom's faster he'll bin it again (sorry Tom :-) ). What a cracking weekend.