Philip Island Motogp 125 Support Race

[k14]

Day 0 – Welcome to the jungle

After flying into Melbourne on Tuesday night Wednesday was the organisation day. I picked up the rental van from St Kilda first thing in the morning and headed out to the airport to pickup Adam and James. We had three things to do, get the bikes, get the race fuel and get the campervan. Sounds pretty straight forward….

We navigated our way to the bike depot using the address that the NZ freight company had given us but we thought it looked a bit strange. After enquiring inside we were informed that the company we were after had moved from this address three years ago. The guy was very helpful and printed us off a map on how to get to the actual place.

So at about 1100 we rocked up at the right address. Our bikes had safely arrived and were ready for us to unpack. It took us about an hour and a half to get the four crates unpacked and all the gear loaded into the van. It was a bit of a tight squeeze but we had a fairly large van (Ford Transit size). We headed off for our next destination at about 1230.

This is where things got interesting. Not ever being to Melbourne before or really comprehending what such a massive city it is I thought the 40km listed on the Google map directions was a quick drive. We’re not quite sure where we took a wrong turn but when we saw the sign saying 30km to Geelong we looked at the map. We then realised that for the last 20 mins we had been driving in the exact opposite direction of the actual way we were meant to have been going, oops.

So, we took the next exit off the motorway and somehow managed to turn around and head back in the opposite direction. By now it was about 1330 and we weren’t exactly sure where we were. But after twenty mins of half good navigation and half guess work we managed to find our way to the campervan place. After over an hour of fluffing around by the campervan people we managed to get it sorted and head off for the last task of the day, the race fuel collection.

This was again underestimated and after about an hour of driving in fairly heavy Melbourne traffic we found the place (way out in the back blocks). We were greeted by three very friendly and stereotypical auzzie blokes in a workshop with engine parts and bikes strewn everywhere. Could have easily been the motorcycle wreckers of some small country town of NZ.

But anyway, the days tasks were completed by just on five (right on queue for the traffic). After a feed it was off to Wonthaggi (about 30 mins south of the island) to my accommodation and ready for the next day, my first time on Philip island.

[k14]

I had a normal sleep that night. Funnily enough, I was stressing out more about the day before and whether the bikes would arrive in one piece that I didn’t have any worries about my first day on track.

Our attempt to arrive at the track before the 0700 gate opening was screwed up by some guy (yours truly) leaving his wallet behind. So in the end it wasn’t till about 0830 when we got to the track, picked up our credentials and had the van unloaded. We had a few things to do on the bike before we scrutineering and sign in sorted.

We found the Australian officials to be very laid back and helpful. All that was needed to pass was a few holes drilled and taped over in our belly pans to hold oil in case of engine failure. So all our bikes were sorted by 1130 and riders briefing was at 1200. We were up soon after at 1240 for our first 25 min practice session.

The day was not too bad, approx 18-20 degrees and a stiff but inconsistent wind blowing straight down the front straight. Meant for some good speeds off the end but would cause some issues in other corners of the track (Lukey heights and bass straight).

We gridded up and after waiting on the dummy grid we were out on track, the big moment I had been waiting for. First impressions were just how wide and open the track was. Nothing can prepare you for it, just truly awesome.

I spent the first four or so laps just going slowly and trying to find some reference points. I was trying to find someone who was about my speed to show me around the track, but I wasn’t having any takers. A few of the fast and experienced guys were passing my but they vanished in one or two corners. I came into the pits on the fifth lap just to make a small suspension adjustment and just get an idea for what my lap times were, my fastest so far was 2.00.4 which was fine by me, if I could get under 2 mins on my first session I would be very happy.

I went out for the final ten mins of the session and first flying lap was a 2.00.3 and I was gaining more and more confidence. Then in the short straight between Honda hairpin and Siberia I felt the bike rev and something hit my leg. I knew instantly what had happened, mechanical incompetence on my part. I hadn’t done the front sprocket bolt up properly and it had come off, become lodged between the frame, swingarm and gear shift selector and also snapped my brand new chain in the process, grr. So I freewheeled off track and watched the last 5 or so minutes of the session from the marshals post. At the end of the session I got the free ride on the back of the scooter by the recovery guy while the four wheeler and trailer bought my bike back to the pit lane.

Mel (one of the pit crew for Team Kiwi Challenge) and I assessed the bike when I got it back from the recovery guy and it wasn’t the best of scenarios. We only had about an hour till the next session so time was of the essence. The bolt had been caught in the belly pan but the washer had been lost, so I quickly ran around the pits and managed to find a friendly auzzie bloke to lend me one for the rest of the weekend. Now the next problem was that the sprocket was very very tightly wedged into the frame (sorta like a ninja star) and was very difficult to remove.

Finally after ten or fifteen minutes of bashing and manoeuvring we managed to free it and assess the damage. The gear selector shaft was bent slightly, which could have possibly caused a small problem and my chain was stuffed. I had a spare sprocket and the old chain so I put both of them on and assembled everything hoping that the bent selector shaft wasn’t going to screw up my gear changes in the qualifying session.

The 25 minute qualifying session was upon us now and after missing some important track time in the first session I was just focused on staying out for the whole session and just getting to know the track as best as possible. It’s an extremely difficult track to come to terms with and I had never raced on anything even remotely close to it in terms of speed, undulation and width of track.

After two laps I came into the pits to get Mel to have a quick look over the gear selector shaft and front sprocket just to make sure nothing was broken etc and it all looked fine. I managed to tag onto a group of two other guys who were quite experienced here and this helped me immensely. I was slower in the corners but used my unfair power advantage down the straights to make that up difference. Looking at the time sheets, every lap I was dropping approximately 1 second a lap and managed to get down to a 1.55.6 when a red flag stopped the session.

I returned to our pit bays and put the tyre warmers back on, had a quick drink and waited to see if we would get to see out the final seven minutes of our session. Within a few minutes the track was back open (I am still unsure as to why the session was red flagged) and I was out again and managed to complete four more laps. Again I was going faster and faster with the last of my 14 qualifying laps being my fastest at 1.54.5. This left me gridded in 17th position for the all 3 of the weekend’s races.

This bought the end to the day’s events and we packed up our stuff. Made sure our bikes were all ok and headed home for an early night. I was still running on NZ time which meant waking up at 4 and in bed by 9 every night.

[k14]

We arrived at the track at around 0830, not having a race till after 1730 we had plenty of time to have a good look around the track and watch the Motogp classes do their thing. Was very cool watching the 125’s at a couple of different corners.

The weather was changeable all day, the wind however had changed direction and was now blowing from the south and the temperatures weren’t very nice either. I think the mercury was hovering around 10 degrees all day combined with intermittent showers. This made it very difficult for the GP guys but as the day went on the cloud seemed to break and there weren’t any more showers till about 1600, when the superbikes went out for their first race. We still had an hour and a half before our race so I was still confident we would get to race in the dry.

Due to the rain showers coming over during the superbike race the meeting was declared wet. This meant that if it rained during our race it wouldn’t be stopped for everyone to come in and change to wets. We lined up and waited for the second supersport race to finish. I could see the black clouds brewing in the distance and had my fingers crossed that the rain would hold off till the conclusion of our race. We first gridded up and waited for the flag to fall for our warm-up lap. I took it quite leisurely off the line and slowly doodled through the first set of turns. Quite a few guys passed me and they seemed to be going fairly fast for a warm-up lap. All of a sudden I thought to myself, “are you sure this is the warm-up lap?”

I was right, it was the warm-up lap and we all found our grid positions ready for the 6 lap race. Before long the lights went green and we were all off. I didn’t get the greatest of starts but I approximately held my grid position. Going down through the first three corners was very chaotic and then just to make it even more enjoyable I see some spits of rain on my front screen. I was a bit hesitant from this sight but kept the pace up with the rest of the field knowing that they were just a few drops and would have to be a bit more before the track conditions changed at all.

Coming through the first corner on the second lap I was approaching turn 2 and 3 and could see the heavens had opened. This was the last thing I wanted. Having a tinted visor on I could not even distinguish between the wet and dry parts of the track so just took it very very gingerly for the remaining 5 laps. At one stage I looked back and couldn’t see anyone behind, I had seen some people crash out and thought that maybe I was coming last! On the last lap I even lapped someone taking it even more cautiously than me but I wasn’t concerned about position, all I wanted to do was get back to the pits in one piece.

So after some very cautious laps I crossed the line for the chequered flag and was very happy find that I finished up in 15th position. Out of the total field of 40 bikes only 22 finished the race. Also my standing lap of a 2.12 was my fastest of the race, which just shows how cautious I was after I saw the rain. It was a big error wearing a tinted visor and I will learn from that but I don’t think it effected my final placing in the end. I was about 15 seconds in front of and behind the people around me so was definitely out on my own that race. So the first day of competition had drawn to a close, it was a very cautious but solid start to the weekend, something to build on.

[k14]

Saturday dawned a nicer day, not by much, but an improvement. The persistent southerly breeze was still keeping temperatures down towards single figures and by midday any signs of precipitation had vanished. Fingers were crossed that it would stay away for the remainder of the weekend.

Again we were last in the program which mean even later than the previous day, 1752 according to the programme. So again I took the opportunity to watch some of the Motogp classes practice (including Motogp from the roof of the pit boxes). It was a spectacular site.

Well after all the waiting around our race was upon us. It was indeed fine but in fading light and this time I didn’t make the mistake I had on the previous and put my clear visor on. We waited on the dummy grid and completed the sighting and warm-up laps we awaited with revving engines the lights to turn green.

Out they went and I got a pretty good start. That first corner is something I haven’t experienced before. In theory it should be taken flat out from a standing start on a 125 but that was easier said than done. I tried for the outside line but many others were there before me, nevertheless I managed to go around the outside of a few guys.

After the first lap I was sitting in 15th position and there were a small group in front of me, one of which was my team mate Adam. I kept right behind them on the second lap waiting for an opportunity to pass. Coming onto the front straight after the fourth gear turn 12, Adam ran a bit wide and all I saw was a big cloud of dust. That must have been a bit scary, but that was all I needed to snatch 14th position and 13th was in my grasp.

I was again promoted a position when another guy ran off the track coming into the first turn, I didn’t pay too much attention to him but he did pretty well to stay on as far as I’m concerned. The next two laps went without incident, was just focussed on getting good runs onto the front and back straight to ensure that Adam (who was now in close proximity) didn’t get into my slipstream.

On the 5th lap I was coming down into MG hairpin after lukey heights and all of a sudden I felt something hit my backside as I was leaned right over. I took a quick look over my shoulder as I tipped into the next left hander and I could see Adam and another guy had run wide. Bit too late on the brakes I think, never mind, it didn’t end in tears.

This gave me the buffer I was looking for and I just focussed on the final lap. I ensured I didn’t make any errors and crossed the line in 13th place. This was a good result and I was pretty happy about it. My fastest time this race was a 1.51.9 so nearly 2 seconds up on my qualifying time and I was improving again with every lap.

When we came into the pits the close encounter was very plain to see. There was a big black tyre mark right down the right side of my tail piece under my race numbers and a small one of the back of my leathers. Gotta love close 125 racing. As per the previous day, that was the final act of the day and we all went home happy after a good result.

[k14]

Race day for the Motogp classes was upon us and this meant it was also time for our last race of the weekend. We had the prime slot just after the Motogp warm-up before at 1020. The weather had also finally come to the party. The sun was shining and the breeze had died down, but was still evident. The track temperature would also be the warmest it had been all weekend, nearly 20 degrees! This was also a longer race by 2 laps (total of 8) so would be a great chance to improve on the first two races.

The five minute call came and we all gridded up in the pits ready to be let go for our sighting lap. After a few minutes of waiting around we were instructed to go back to our pits because Pedrosa had skilfully managed to loop his bike practicing a start after their session and spilt petrol on the track. So back to our pit garages we went and put our tyre warmers back on, this is never good for the nerves.

So just as we got everything back on the bike we were called up again and were out on the track for our sighting lap. I had promised the Kiwirider crew that we met up with the night before to give them a wave at Siberia. I hope they saw me, cause I was looking hard for them but wasn’t able to see them.

Again I got another good start and this time managed to latch onto a group of about 4 or 5 riders and was sitting in 14th after the first lap. Looking at the time sheets this was 2 seconds faster than the first lap from my previous race which was a good improvement and an area I was looking to build upon. Thought it was still 6 seconds away from the first place guys standing laps, long way to go there.

So the 2nd lap began and I was tussling for position with Adam and two other guys. I passed one of the guys coming into Honda hairpin and was right on Adam’s tail going through Siberia and in the lead up to Lukey heights. Just when I turned into Lukey one of the guys behind went for a pass around the outside and clipped my front fairing as he went around me. This was enough to unsettle me and I stood the bike up. I tried as best as I could to stay on the track but was eventually forced to stand it up and run off track. I went through the corner of the gravel trap and onto the grass. I had managed to go off late enough that I was pretty much parallel with the track and managed to rejoin before MG hairpin. In the process I lost 2 positions and about 6 seconds that lap but I was still on my bike and could see two guys in front (one of which was one of my other team mates James).

For the next three laps there was a big tussle between myself, James and #61. We were constantly changing positions every lap and all had parts of the track where one was faster than the others. On the 7th lap I managed to cross the start/finish line ahead of both in 13th place but was passed by James coming into the first turn. I kept right on his tail through the southern loop and had a look coming into Honda hairpin but he was very good under brakes. All race I had been getting a better run out of Siberia and down through to Lukey heights. This time I knew it would be my last chance and I pulled up along side him going through turn 8.

All weekend I had been having a small problem being able to change down before tipping into Lukey heights. If I didn’t manage to get it from 5th to 3rd the bike would just bog going up the hill and I would loose a lot of time. The same thing happened this time and I ran it quite wide on the lead up to the crest of the hill. In doing so I was told afterwards that I nearly ran James off the track (sorry mate). In doing so I created a bit of a buffer back to the two behind and managed to cross the line 1.1 seconds ahead of James.

This left me in 13th as per the race on the previous day and overall 14th for the meeting. I was also happy to see I had dropped another 1.3 seconds off my lap times and was down to 1.50.6. Just outside my goal of dipping below the 1.50 mark.

So that bought an end to the weekends racing. What a great experience, racing on the best track in the world against a massive field of some top quality racers. Also watching the GP riders up close is something just to add to the experience. Well worth it in my books, already started saving for next year.

Finally, a big big thanks to everyone who helped me get there. My sponsors www.tenderlink.com and www.motorbikeparts.co.nz. Also Steve, Mel and Jill for helping out in the pits, made life so much easier for us. Lets see how Team Kiwi Challenge can go in 2008.

[skelstar]

Awesome report! :niceone: ... sounds like quite an experience.

[Toast]

Awesome write-up!! Sounds like an incredible experience. You guys did so well for your first time at that track!!

[Matt Bleck]

great write up man

[Ivan]

Good shit Kirk,

Sounds awsome

[Keystone19]

Absolutely awesome watching what you achieved over the weekend Kirk.

Great write up.

[boostin]

Man that is a write up and a half. Good work.

[k14]

Man that is a write up and a half. Good work.
Hehe yeah I know, only 3600 words. Have to keep the sponsors happy. :banana:

[gav]

Great stuff Kirk, of course if you'd sharpened your riding skills by doing BOB you would've cracked the 1.50's no worries! :whistle:

[Rashika]

excellant writeup K... :2thumbsup

[White trash]

Jesus Kirk!! That's an epic to rival even my own ramblings. Well done and a thoroughly good read.

Enjoyed that thanks

[Grub]

We were there watching you guys for all three days and that write-up describes the atmosphere and conditions perfectly! (Those bloody marshals wouldn't let us over the bridge so we never got to say hi)

[k14]

Great stuff Kirk, of course if you'd sharpened your riding skills by doing BOB you would've cracked the 1.50's no worries! :whistle:
Yeah well thats not as stupid as it sounds. Not riding a bike for 7 weeks before hand did have a small impact. But there wasn't really a whole lot I could do about it. Next time I'll be more prepared.

We were there watching you guys for all three days and that write-up describes the atmosphere and conditions perfectly! (Those bloody marshals wouldn't let us over the bridge so we never got to say hi)
Yeah some of those marshals were nazi's. I think the overbridge was open to all and sundry at various times over the weekend so you would have had to choose the right moment. I think all Friday and at times during the Saturday they were open. Next year eh?

[TonyB]

Well done Kirk, may it be the first of many big race meetings