Toast
15th October 2007, 15:40
Well there's not nearly enough race reports to keep me entertained for a Monday, so I'll write one:
Taupo, VMCC Round 6
Turned up to a track I've had no love from in the past. I enjoy all of the twisty stuff, but have always struggled to hustle a bike around there compared to other tracks.
I was super keen to get out there though, because I had a feeling that the suspension changes I made last round (mainly raising the forks 5mm through the clamps) at Manfeild would help me keep it tight around the Taupo infield. Plus, I'd been on the bike the weekend before at Puke for the AMCC training day, which I was sure would put me in a better position to ride reasonably from the off, instead of taking the whole day to get in to it.
Supersport Qualifying:
Felt really dodge! Front end was slamming away, especially through the big sweeper (just before the A1 corner). Not too comfortable, but came out of it 15th/32 so I guess that a lot of others were finding it a bit uncomfortable too. Time was a 1:45.2 which I wasn't stoked with but I always qualify a bit averagely.
Superbike Qualifying:
Decided to back the front pre-load off by 1 bar. This had the effect of making the bike see-saw a bit through certain corners, and generally felt a bit unstable. Time was improved though, with a 1:42.2, getting me 18th/35 on the grid.
Supersport Race 1:
Got a typically good start, stealing a stack of positions by the first corner. I think I was in 8th or 9th at this stage. Held my position for a the first lap, but then made a big mistake in turn 2 on the second lap when changing from 2nd to 3rd, giving it too much gas and entering the corner way too hot. Ran a mile wide and let BJ on the R6 through. Made another mistake shortly after to let another through. Gav came past me on the antifoul blue GSXR at one stage, but I held him off on the straight out of the A1 corner and managed to stay ahead from there on. Chased hard in the last couple of laps but finished a second behind BJ. Ended up with 10th in the race (since Chris took a dive, twice) and a best time of 1:41.5. I really enjoyed the race, but felt with a bit more consistency and heaps more balls in to the A1 corner and on to the front straight that I could drop below 1:40, so that was my new goal for the day.
Superbike Race 2:
Another decent start saw me about 10th, with Jimmy just in front of me. I decided to just cruise and settle for a bit until I saw Eddiie on my inside so cranked it and gassed it to hold him off. I've ridden at Taupo with Ed at a Taupo trackday before and expected to be owned within seconds again, but the new bike setup was clearly helping and he still wasn't in front by the sweeper at the start of the back straight. I came out of that reasonably and was certain that he'd pass me at 300kmh on Godzilla, but he must've been tussling with someone behind me because he didn't. Made a couple of mistakes on lap 2, and felt him getting closer. Took the sweeper terribly and he boosted past me, big time. Damn that thing is impressive down the back straight. I thought about pulling a demon late braking move and trying to foul up his entry to front straight, but realised that although I probably could, it was a dumb idea and too risky. Got passed by a few more, including Drew on the last lap and wound up 14th/35, which I was pretty stoked with. Best time of 1:41.5 again, which was disappointing but it was tonnes of fun.
Supersport Race 2:
Expected big things of myself and got a really good start again. Was in 8th I think on the small straight approaching the sweeper, and got really good drive out of the A1 corner. I realised that it was indeed really good drive out of the A1 corner when I topped out 5th gear at the right hand kink and then got on the brakes a bit feebly (brake lever was hitting throttle cables and hand is still a bit weak from my crash at Manfeild a couple of months back). Tried to scrub off speed while leaning but wasn't placing enough trust in the front tyre (this Bridgestone 002 Type 4 front is awesome and has grip well above what my present abilities can exploit). I went on to the grass and through the gravel, cussing at myself, and slowly brought it back around to face the track. I was greeted with the sight of 20 candy coloured mostly Jap race bikes bearing down on the corner. I rejoined in 20-something and almost decided to start practicing wheelies. Decided to have a proper go at passing people and had some fun battles doing that. I was especially pleased with the pass around the outside of turn 4, nana around the tight turn 5 and then block the inside re-pass on turn 6. Really good, close stuff. Finished 14th with a 1:42.1. Actually reasonably happy with the lap time considering the amount of traffic.
Superbike Race 2:
Got an uncharacteristically bad start. Didn't even manage to stuff it up arch-nemesis Ed at the first corner and cut him off as many times as possible over the course of the race. Oh well. Had an enjoyable dice with number 45 (Kevin Brookes) and and I think number 500 (Phil Derby if that's correct). The 500 bike was a Gixxer thou', and it was the typical 600 vs. 1000 battle of up his arse in the corners and then get a physics lesson in return come the straight. I shoulda had more balls and taken my chances to go inside him a few times, but didn't. The race was good fun but my hand was really starting to suffer, and I outbraked myself almost every lap entering the sweeper at the far end of the track. Only got a 1:41.3. My best of the day, but short of my goal of sub-40s. Still, I'll have the Kiwitrackdays November 1st day to sort that little demon out (after sorting out the brake lever hitting throttle cables thing and getting my rear shock rebuilt).
Another awesomely fun weekend of racing. I still can't get over how fun this game is, and look forward to more of it in the future. May do some AMCC stuff if I can scam some coin for new tyres, or PMCC rounds if they actually have them.
Huge thanks to VMCC for the race and the series!! All of you volunteers who gave your time to organise and run it are legends!
Thanks to my Mum and Dad for always coming to support and help with accomodation, even though they kinda hated bikes before realising it was impossible to keep me away from them.
Thanks to Glenn, Leong, Gah, Brandon, Marc and Nick for being good pit buddies at the meet
And thanks to everyone else who's helped make this series such a cool experience for me.
Taupo, VMCC Round 6
Turned up to a track I've had no love from in the past. I enjoy all of the twisty stuff, but have always struggled to hustle a bike around there compared to other tracks.
I was super keen to get out there though, because I had a feeling that the suspension changes I made last round (mainly raising the forks 5mm through the clamps) at Manfeild would help me keep it tight around the Taupo infield. Plus, I'd been on the bike the weekend before at Puke for the AMCC training day, which I was sure would put me in a better position to ride reasonably from the off, instead of taking the whole day to get in to it.
Supersport Qualifying:
Felt really dodge! Front end was slamming away, especially through the big sweeper (just before the A1 corner). Not too comfortable, but came out of it 15th/32 so I guess that a lot of others were finding it a bit uncomfortable too. Time was a 1:45.2 which I wasn't stoked with but I always qualify a bit averagely.
Superbike Qualifying:
Decided to back the front pre-load off by 1 bar. This had the effect of making the bike see-saw a bit through certain corners, and generally felt a bit unstable. Time was improved though, with a 1:42.2, getting me 18th/35 on the grid.
Supersport Race 1:
Got a typically good start, stealing a stack of positions by the first corner. I think I was in 8th or 9th at this stage. Held my position for a the first lap, but then made a big mistake in turn 2 on the second lap when changing from 2nd to 3rd, giving it too much gas and entering the corner way too hot. Ran a mile wide and let BJ on the R6 through. Made another mistake shortly after to let another through. Gav came past me on the antifoul blue GSXR at one stage, but I held him off on the straight out of the A1 corner and managed to stay ahead from there on. Chased hard in the last couple of laps but finished a second behind BJ. Ended up with 10th in the race (since Chris took a dive, twice) and a best time of 1:41.5. I really enjoyed the race, but felt with a bit more consistency and heaps more balls in to the A1 corner and on to the front straight that I could drop below 1:40, so that was my new goal for the day.
Superbike Race 2:
Another decent start saw me about 10th, with Jimmy just in front of me. I decided to just cruise and settle for a bit until I saw Eddiie on my inside so cranked it and gassed it to hold him off. I've ridden at Taupo with Ed at a Taupo trackday before and expected to be owned within seconds again, but the new bike setup was clearly helping and he still wasn't in front by the sweeper at the start of the back straight. I came out of that reasonably and was certain that he'd pass me at 300kmh on Godzilla, but he must've been tussling with someone behind me because he didn't. Made a couple of mistakes on lap 2, and felt him getting closer. Took the sweeper terribly and he boosted past me, big time. Damn that thing is impressive down the back straight. I thought about pulling a demon late braking move and trying to foul up his entry to front straight, but realised that although I probably could, it was a dumb idea and too risky. Got passed by a few more, including Drew on the last lap and wound up 14th/35, which I was pretty stoked with. Best time of 1:41.5 again, which was disappointing but it was tonnes of fun.
Supersport Race 2:
Expected big things of myself and got a really good start again. Was in 8th I think on the small straight approaching the sweeper, and got really good drive out of the A1 corner. I realised that it was indeed really good drive out of the A1 corner when I topped out 5th gear at the right hand kink and then got on the brakes a bit feebly (brake lever was hitting throttle cables and hand is still a bit weak from my crash at Manfeild a couple of months back). Tried to scrub off speed while leaning but wasn't placing enough trust in the front tyre (this Bridgestone 002 Type 4 front is awesome and has grip well above what my present abilities can exploit). I went on to the grass and through the gravel, cussing at myself, and slowly brought it back around to face the track. I was greeted with the sight of 20 candy coloured mostly Jap race bikes bearing down on the corner. I rejoined in 20-something and almost decided to start practicing wheelies. Decided to have a proper go at passing people and had some fun battles doing that. I was especially pleased with the pass around the outside of turn 4, nana around the tight turn 5 and then block the inside re-pass on turn 6. Really good, close stuff. Finished 14th with a 1:42.1. Actually reasonably happy with the lap time considering the amount of traffic.
Superbike Race 2:
Got an uncharacteristically bad start. Didn't even manage to stuff it up arch-nemesis Ed at the first corner and cut him off as many times as possible over the course of the race. Oh well. Had an enjoyable dice with number 45 (Kevin Brookes) and and I think number 500 (Phil Derby if that's correct). The 500 bike was a Gixxer thou', and it was the typical 600 vs. 1000 battle of up his arse in the corners and then get a physics lesson in return come the straight. I shoulda had more balls and taken my chances to go inside him a few times, but didn't. The race was good fun but my hand was really starting to suffer, and I outbraked myself almost every lap entering the sweeper at the far end of the track. Only got a 1:41.3. My best of the day, but short of my goal of sub-40s. Still, I'll have the Kiwitrackdays November 1st day to sort that little demon out (after sorting out the brake lever hitting throttle cables thing and getting my rear shock rebuilt).
Another awesomely fun weekend of racing. I still can't get over how fun this game is, and look forward to more of it in the future. May do some AMCC stuff if I can scam some coin for new tyres, or PMCC rounds if they actually have them.
Huge thanks to VMCC for the race and the series!! All of you volunteers who gave your time to organise and run it are legends!
Thanks to my Mum and Dad for always coming to support and help with accomodation, even though they kinda hated bikes before realising it was impossible to keep me away from them.
Thanks to Glenn, Leong, Gah, Brandon, Marc and Nick for being good pit buddies at the meet
And thanks to everyone else who's helped make this series such a cool experience for me.