Philip Island 125 Support Races - Short report

[k14]

Well, where do I start, too many things to talk about.

I'm totally stuffed so this will be brief. The day was sunny at first and then a bit of high cloud rolled in, this was ok. There was a decent wind blowing straight down the front straight too.

First practice didn't go the best, I had my front sprocket come off after 7 laps!! Argh, just felt the chain wrap around my leg coming into siberia and coasted to a halt off the circuit. This wasn't a major setback but I did loose 10 mins of track time. I finished the session with a 2.00.3. Pretty slow but ok I guess, it left me 34/38 starters.

We got the bike fixed and ready for the next session which was qualifying. This went a lot better. After about 10 laps the session was red flagged and I was sitting in 22nd place with a 1.57 lap. We had 7 mins remaining so went back out. I saw the 1 min board and knew this was my last lap. I did the first half of the lap really well, nicking sixth on the back straight proving a good run out of the southern loop. I got honda hairpin ok and then a better run through siberia and hayshed than previous laps. Then tipping into lukey heights (the coolest corner ever!!) I missed getting it into third gear before I tipped over. So the bike bogged on the top of the crest and I just coasted down into MG hairpin. I got a good run through the long series of left handers onto the front straight and stole a kph or two from the slipstream of a guy going a bit slower.

We got back to the pits and I was pretty happy to see myself 17th on the grid with a 1.53.4. Still slow but not too bad for only 20 laps. The wind was unsettling the bike on quite a few corners so that wasn't the most confidence inspiring.

So thats it over for the first day P17 on the grid. Semi ok, lets hope the races go better. Maybe sneak into the top 10. The weather forecast looks a bit dodgy (hail and gale force winds) so it might be a bit of a jackpot for tomorrow's race.

Highlight today, sneaking into pit lane and standing next to the bikes of stoner, pedrosa, checa, guintoli, edwards, talmacsi, lorenzo, barros, pesek and probably a few others. Man those ducati's are LOUD!!!!

Race report tomorrow night. Off to bed now (its only 8pm here, hehe).

Seeya

[James Deuce]

Freaking good work!

Get some rest and keep us as up to date as you can.

[HDTboy]

Good Shit bro, I'm Jealous. Have a ball

[sAsLEX]

Well done mate! I hope you gave the midget shit!

[R6_kid]

Thats a bloody brilliant effort for your first time at that track mate! I'm guessin they front runners have some pretty serious gear compared to what you guys are using - go the under dog! :rockon:

You're closer to the dream than I am so enjoy every second of it!

[gav]

Hey good stuff, so Philip Island is just like the Playstation game then? :whistle:

[cowpoos]

wicked shit kirk!!!

[Kickaha]

Awesome look forward to further reports :yes:

[flame]

That is fantastic K14! awsome work getting grid position 17:2thumbsup

I wish you the very bestest of best luck for your racing:woohoo:

[boostin]

That is awsome, sounds like you are having a great time.

[Ivan]

Wicked Kirk awsome for you,

Great to hear your enjoying yourself....:wari::wari::wari:

[MSTRS]

Great to hear you are doing well. Hopefully today you will find out that those decals are made of the special go-fast material....

[k14]

Well done mate! I hope you gave the midget shit!
Nah he didn't even look at me when I said hi. Not surprising. I said hi to Tomoyoshi Koyama (from the KTM 125 team) but he denied me too. The yamaha engineers that were warming up the tornados bike were good guys. I got some photos, will try work out how to get them from my phone to computer sometime.

Hey good stuff, so Philip Island is just like the Playstation game then? :whistle:
Yeah....
The first corner is scary as, sixth gear flat out doing 210ish. Also with the tailwind yesterday the front was a bit fidgety. I was being a bit of a pussy there, I think I could take it flat in sixth but I was chickening out and dropping down two gears. The next corner (southern loop) is nothing like I've ever experienced before. I never seemed to get my entry right, I wasn't using the brakes at all, just changing to third and pretty much opening the throttle on entry. The exit is really decieving, it is blind and then the track drops away and is off camber. I would always hesitate right at that moment and then a second later wonder why I was going so slow. If I got a real good run out of there I was able to just hit sixth before the back straight kink and then haul on the brakes at about the 120m mark for honda. This is a pretty straight forward hairpin just go in wide and apex late, run out towards the rumble strip, still too scared to go onto them lol. Then siberia is another one of those corners. I was braking later and later as I went faster and keeping it in second gear. Then as the southern loop I was always coming out too slow, its another blind exit as there is a slight crest. Then its hold it flat hitting fifth just as you tip into the hayshed. Then its the best corner of them all, lukey heights. Again, bigger balls required but I was braking and chopping it into third and holding a tight line. Then braking for MG hairpin at the 50m board. Tip it in again and get on the gas and into second quick smart. I can make up some time here by going through MG a bit faster and taking the first of the series of three left handers in third. But I was into third and then fourth as I hit the last corner onto the straight. Again its so open and a 125 can be held flat through all these corners. A small mistake is magnified on the long straight. Then I was just hitting sixth as I crossed the start finish line.

Looks like it may be wet this afternoon. But weather is very changable at the moment.

Will update with today's results tonight.

[k14]

Great to hear you are doing well. Hopefully today you will find out that those decals are made of the special go-fast material....
Yeah those decals are worth at least 5kph down the front straight :Punk:

[Ivan]

Hey hows the toehr kiwi boys getting on cant find any results, give adam sam and James my luck too

[Rashika]

I was wondering when one of you lot would pipe up... on ya K14!
I can almost imagine being there... almost ;)

gets some pics up if ya can

[sAsLEX]

Hey hows the toehr kiwi boys getting on cant find any results, give adam sam and James my luck too


K14says:
sam got taken out yesterday
K14 says:
by a guy that was really pissed off
K14 says:
it was in siberia
K14 says:
and the guy passed sam around the outside
K14 says:
then cut across infront and clipped his front wheel

[Ivan]

Oh Gutted for sam, hope hes ok and racing again....

O well go hard today Kirk.

[Toast]

Good stuff, dude! Sounds awesome!! Hope the races are goin' all good!!

[gav]

Times can be found here!
http://www.mcnews.com.au/MotorcycleRacing2007/MotoGP/Rnd16_Australia/aussie_qualifying_125.htm

[dangerous]

Wicked Kirk awsome for you,

Great to hear your enjoying yourself....:wari::wari::wari:

hey as Kirks idle and 125 mentor, knowing that to you K14 would be a back marker... that would mean a lot to him.

K14, all the best man... go hard (dont mean at the Aussie blonds either)

[Cleve]

Excellent stuff Kirk and good for you. All the best for the big race! You are doing us all proud.

[gav]

Kirk's first race has been run.
Heres the results!
http://66.132.159.231/MotorcycleRacing2007/MotoGP/Rnd16_Australia/aussie_125_race1.htm

[k14]

Yeah it was a typical PI day today, thats for sure.

There was rain on and off all day during the motogp qualifying and practice sessions. There was also a very annoying wind blowing across the front straight from right to left. The meeting was declared wet two races before our one when a quick shower came across the track. It all looked good for our race, and everyone was on slicks, but on the first lap a light drizzle came across the circuit. Then on the second lap I came into the southern loop and could see it was completly pouring down!

So that was about it for me. Nothing too spectacular, just rode like a grandad and bought the bike home shiny side up. I ended up in 15th place which is fine by me, two places higher than I started the race. Can't complain about that. Probably the biggest issue was having a tinted visor on, not a good idea. I didn't even know it was raining till I saw the drops on my front screen.

Adam did excellent, in 4th for a few laps but dropped back to 9th by the end. The other two guys didn't finish the race, Sam had engine problems and James pulled in due to the rain.

Till tomorrow night. Seeya

[James Deuce]

Top job Kirk, well done!

[Grahameeboy]

Good one....2 places up on practice has to be encouraging.

[TonyB]

Awesome stuff Kirk! Just reading through that it sounds like the undulating nature of the track is causing you some problems- is that right? Since most NZ tracks are as flat as a billard table its hardly surprising!

Any, good luck Kirk, it really is awesome reading all this.

[Rashika]

Anyway, good luck Kirk, it really is awesome reading all this.

ditto here Kirk :scooter:

[k14]

Awesome stuff Kirk! Just reading through that it sounds like the undulating nature of the track is causing you some problems- is that right? Since most NZ tracks are as flat as a billard table its hardly surprising!

Any, good luck Kirk, it really is awesome reading all this.
Yes and no. It's hard to pinpoint it. Puke does have some undulations and blind corners but I think its more the blind corners that you can't see the exit to. You need lots of laps to know when you can get on the throttle and know that you aren't going to run out of track. I had a moment going into lukey heights yesterday on the first lap. I tipped in using fourth gear and right at that moment the wind took me 2/3rd's of the way across the track. I had the momentary heart in mouth moment but just pulled it back across the track and was ok. Then the rain started and things really got interesting.

Well its forecasted to fine up a tad today so fingers crossed for a fully fine race. Hope the wind dies down a fraction too.

[pritch]

Thanks for the reports.

Enjoy the experience, you're making memories to last a lifetime :-)

Sorry to read that some of the stars are too important to acknowledge another competitor. Then again I never saw a picture of Pedrosa that looked as if he might like a chat :whistle:

[dangerous]

the wind took me 2/3rd's of the way across the track. I had the shit me dakes and suck the seat up me arse moment

The winds rather bad there at times aye, think thats why the 125- GP guys use fairings with shit loads a holes in them... something to do with beter handling???

[Bykmad]

You guys are doing AWESOME. Phillip Island is THE track, and it is so different to anything here in NZ. Keep it upright, keep enjoying and make sure you go back several times, cause now youve learnt the circuit, you will only get faster.

[gav]

Heres the results from Race 2! 13th for K14, good stuff!!
http://www.mcnews.com.au/MotorcycleRacing2007/MotoGP/Rnd16_Australia/aussie_125_race2.htm

[Rashika]

on ya Kirk, good improvement! :banana:

[Joni]

Your times in the second are great Kirk, such an improvement! Well done :niceone:

[Jantar]

They are a bit slow with putting up the full results from race 3, but I believe young Kirk was 13th again. http://www.mcnews.com.au/MotorcycleRacing2007/MotoGP/Rnd16_Australia/aussie_125_race3.htm

[k14]

Yep thats right. 13th in my last two races and 14th overall for the meet. Will do a proper report over the next few days. Had a big moment on lap 3 (or was it two) running off at lukey heights. Managed to keep it upright though and join in 15th. Then kept my head down and gained two more places. Best time of 1.50.6 (only 20 seconds off stoner...)

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

[Sketchy_Racer]

Way to go dude. Now bring some of them Oz 125 Racers back so that they can bring up the level of 125 racing in NZ ;)

[Leong]

Good stuff!!! That track looks awesome to ride (on TV).

[sAsLEX]

Defiantly well done on a bike that is a few years older (01) than alot of the rest of the field!

Next year you will have to hunt down some bigger sponsorship and get an 05 for the races!

[Sketchy_Racer]

And all the Kit gear to go along with it! What sort of level of machinery do they have over there Kirk? the whole top 10 on highly modded bikes??

[Two Smoker]

Wicked stuff Kirk!!! Looks like you, James and Adam were really close too!!! Congrats on the 14th overall mate :niceone:

[dangerous]

Now bring some of them Oz 125 Racers back so that they can bring up the level of 125 racing in NZ ;)

AYE! but you guys have Ivan :apint:

[k14]

And all the Kit gear to go along with it! What sort of level of machinery do they have over there Kirk? the whole top 10 on highly modded bikes??
Well the top five were (and they were all in the 1.46 or lower bracket) but there was a guy finishing just off them doing 1.48's on a bike pretty much identical to mine. I think I could get down to 1.48's with a bit more practice and more favourable weather conditions. Getting the corner entry speed is so difficult, specially for the southern loop, siberia and lukey heights. Thats where I could easily make up half a second on each corner. Then I'd say its down to suspension setup and flash engine bits. I was hitting 13500rpm in top gear running 16/37 gearing. So thats the best part of 210, maybe even a fraction more. Only 363 days to go till next time :eek:

[Motoracer]

WOW! I didn't realise that you have made it this far with your racing.

Blood well done! :niceone:

[Clivoris]

Shit hot man and much respect to everyone that you all get there. Sounds like it was worth the effort.

[k14]

Here's a couple of pics. Full weekend report will be up in the next few days :eek:

[White trash]

Here's a couple of pics. Full weekend report will be up in the next few days :eek:
Got any wheelie pics?

[k14]

Got any wheelie pics?
Nah I'm not there to be a hooligan, I'm a sreious racer :whistle:

[White trash]

Nah I'm not there to be a hooligan, I'm a sreious racer :whistle:
Oh. Yeah.Me too, I was, ahhhh, just checking. Y'know........

[dangerous]

Got any wheelie pics?
Yeah Kirk fark ya, like this one of some gingernut being a dumbarse on a Moto Morini ... show us what ya got man or ill tell that story of a VT250, cop car and a hooligan with a sore arse.

[Ivan]

Kirk did you see the GP mono thing built by Moriwaki at all?


And congrats on your results

[sAsLEX]

. show us what ya got man or ill tell that story of a VT250, cop car and a hooligan with a sore arse.

lol I know that story!

[dangerous]

lol I know that story!

shut up man, I just recieved a death threat cos of my dumb arse post, pull ya head in and duck for cover... remember we KNOW NUFING :headbang:

[MadDuck]

Nah I'm not there to be a hooligan, I'm a sreious racer :whistle:

Hahahaha....yeah serious enough to wave at some mad arse kiwi supporters sitting at Siberia huh :niceone:

Blardy great to watch you and the boys out there taking it to the Aussies.

[k14]

Hahahaha....yeah serious enough to wave at some mad arse kiwi supporters sitting at Siberia huh :niceone:

Blardy great to watch you and the boys out there taking it to the Aussies.
Ha so I did wave at the right place. I was going really slow on the sighting lap intentionally to wave to the kiwirider guys. I was looking hard to see if I could see any kiwi flags but didn't see any. Glad you guys saw it though. Least I can do.