Sully60
29th October 2007, 20:39
The fifth and penultimate round of the SCS series was one I have been really hanging out for. After the semi-disaster running the new “big bore” 142 twin for it’s shakedown run only to run a cam bearing at round four I was keen to see what I could achieve after getting the fuelling sorted and things all ship shape like.
I had an eighteen point advantage over Saxet going into this round and mathematically not nearly enough to just finish in front of him, I needed to put as many people between us on the track so the hammer would be down from the get go.
The day dawned a little cloudy with a few spots of rain (which I don’t mind at all) but quickly cleared into a beautiful spring day with a gentle southerly just adding a wee nip to the air. Perfect conditions! The Slipway on a day like Sunday are like nothing else, the black top surface is still very smooth with huge levels of grip and although the options for track layout are relatively limited we can alter the track enough to keep things more interesting (As LBTW found out very early on, whoops).
I collected Slingshot and his cool little RZ/GP hybrid 2-smoker and we set off on the long journey from Woodridge to Brooklyn phew.
Anyway since I had the fuelling sorted on the dyno, Ledsled starts, idles and runs pretty well, there was not much to do other to unload, check the tyre pressures, sign on and give Bayden shit at the riders briefing. Once practice got underway and I got rolling I got caught out by the new track layout, Doh! The chicane before the top corner was a lot different to ride around than it was to setup. I rock up there at normal first lap speed and it looks like someone just put a wall of tyres where the track was wide open! Quickly stand it up and put the thing on its nose. Make the turn okay but should have known better, like I said I helped set that corner up.
After the heart rate returned to racing pace and everything was warmed up it was time to see what this puppy could do. The carburetion is now pretty much spot on, I found I could just open the throttle wide from quite low revs and the motor just pulls cleanly and strongly. After a couple of little dices in the first practice session I was confident with the pace I had only Fi5hy had any real clear advantage so I was concentrating on the places he was faster and by the end of the session had found some good speed.
Being a Bucket race meeting we don’t have the luxury of timed practice session or qualifying so the grid is just first up best dressed though the grid is wide enough that getting on the front row for the first points race is not a problem. Quentin drops the flag cleanly and gets the race underway. Despite my best efforts getting of the line the clutch isn’t up to all the new found torque and slips enough off the line to put me back into fifth heading into the first corner. My selection of the inside line and the usual first turn bobbling means I manage to exit the first turn in third behind Fi5hy and Bayden.
I put my head down and started to work out where I could get past Bayden as Fi5hy was fast in practice and with clear track would be extremely hard to catch. Unfortunately for me Bayden was as quick as me when it counted and although I could follow him getting past was another proposition. We held these positions until lap 13 when we started to catch some back markers and Bayden made the fatal error of giving one the inside line going into the top corner. I didn’t hesitate to take this opportunity so I got in on the narrow line and parked it in the middle of the turn and gassed it up hard. Yeaahh! 2nd place but the race wasn’t over, Bayden's a seasoned campaigner (read: Wyly old bastard) so I couldn’t let up the pace.
We entered the bottom turn to get the white flag so I made sure I was carrying lots of corner speed and driving as early as I could off the turns during the last lap I made it around the final lap still in second but didn’t get the chequered flag, What the!
Not wanting to relinquish my place I raced another full lap (as did Fi5hy). This last lap was a little more circumspect as I could no longer hear Bayden behind me (he actually saw the chequered) so the huge low speed front end slide into partial highside I had in the bottom corner on this lap meant I got real close to crashing on the slow down lap – not a good look.
Second in the first race was a good result as Saxet only made it to fourth so I achieved the goal of getting a few more points advantage. The bike was performing well but I was a little worried about the clutch but there’s not a lot I could do to fix that in time for the next points race. So I wondered out to the track and took some photos. It was such a nice day and the light was really good which made for excellent conditions for taking photos and I managed to get a few good close ups.
The second round of racing at these meetings is always held in reverse direction so after a good long practice session this time going anti clockwise we got the second points race underway. The flag drop this time was a bit too drawn out and a good number of riders false started. Lined up again flag drops and the race is underway, again I lose drive through the clutch am able to make it though turn one in third. This time I though I’d have Bayden’s measure as I managed to beat him going this way at the last round. Wrong! The man just brakes late on the inside line (my line dammit) and parks it mid turn. Good stuff, the battle is on! I try smoothing things out and calming down a wee bit, if I learnt anything from the first race it was to be patient. I wasn’t going to catch Fi5hy in the first race so I just hung with Bayden and let him do the rest. Things were looking the same in this race and I could see Richard on the Vespa was in front of Saxet so I didn’t have to be silly (no more than normal, anyway).
At about mid race distance I noticed Bayden was gradually starting to get away, I put in a big effort but something wasn’t right. On lap six(ish) the engine misfired exiting the top corner. From there on out the misfires turned into backfires and things started to get really slow. One of the cool things about the racing at the Slipway is that you pretty much can see where everyone is on the track, this meant I could see that everyone including Saxet was catching me really fast. I had absolutely no idea how many laps there were to go so I was pretty worried about scoring any points.
Richard thundered past me on the Vespa and I new Saxet was close to him. Shit! Shit! Shit! I’m almost thinking of getting off and pushing like fucken fast. Then I hear another deep fourstroke single and the Golden finned Fi5hy fly’s past to take the chequered!
Race over, fourth place thank fuck for that, this is the only time I would ever talk about being lapped by Fish public but thirteen points is better than walking any day!
Thanks for being so fast! There you go!
I hadn't taken into account all the running the bike had done during the day, I let AJturbo and Mudboy ride around whil I was taking photos. All this riding was way more than I had ever done before using that battery and I have a total loss ignition, simple reason for the backifires was a flat battery! Doh!
Overall an awesome round of points races, the pace at the front was awesome and the track layout was probably the most technically and physically demanding we have set up at the Slipway and rewarded being committed through the essess and as always bravery on the brakes.
[BIG THANK YOU’S TO:
BAYDEN
You’re the man, for getting this entire circus up and running. And for being the biggest mobile obstacle ever created. Fast one though and man your bike is going good!
QUENTIN
For coming down all the way from Palmy to take the money, wave the flags, lap score the races and reign in errant youf’s
THE WATSONS
For having the foresight and capacity to build such a fantastic facility and allowing us to use it. Your ongoing generosity and support is a real asset to Wellington motorsports and mountain biking communities and we look forward to many more good days at the Slipway.
EVERYONE WHO TURNED UP TO GIVE IT A GO, TAKE PHOTOS AND JUST WATCH.
You know who you are!
Photos below courtesy of LBTW and Qualman1234 Thanks Cuzzies!
I had an eighteen point advantage over Saxet going into this round and mathematically not nearly enough to just finish in front of him, I needed to put as many people between us on the track so the hammer would be down from the get go.
The day dawned a little cloudy with a few spots of rain (which I don’t mind at all) but quickly cleared into a beautiful spring day with a gentle southerly just adding a wee nip to the air. Perfect conditions! The Slipway on a day like Sunday are like nothing else, the black top surface is still very smooth with huge levels of grip and although the options for track layout are relatively limited we can alter the track enough to keep things more interesting (As LBTW found out very early on, whoops).
I collected Slingshot and his cool little RZ/GP hybrid 2-smoker and we set off on the long journey from Woodridge to Brooklyn phew.
Anyway since I had the fuelling sorted on the dyno, Ledsled starts, idles and runs pretty well, there was not much to do other to unload, check the tyre pressures, sign on and give Bayden shit at the riders briefing. Once practice got underway and I got rolling I got caught out by the new track layout, Doh! The chicane before the top corner was a lot different to ride around than it was to setup. I rock up there at normal first lap speed and it looks like someone just put a wall of tyres where the track was wide open! Quickly stand it up and put the thing on its nose. Make the turn okay but should have known better, like I said I helped set that corner up.
After the heart rate returned to racing pace and everything was warmed up it was time to see what this puppy could do. The carburetion is now pretty much spot on, I found I could just open the throttle wide from quite low revs and the motor just pulls cleanly and strongly. After a couple of little dices in the first practice session I was confident with the pace I had only Fi5hy had any real clear advantage so I was concentrating on the places he was faster and by the end of the session had found some good speed.
Being a Bucket race meeting we don’t have the luxury of timed practice session or qualifying so the grid is just first up best dressed though the grid is wide enough that getting on the front row for the first points race is not a problem. Quentin drops the flag cleanly and gets the race underway. Despite my best efforts getting of the line the clutch isn’t up to all the new found torque and slips enough off the line to put me back into fifth heading into the first corner. My selection of the inside line and the usual first turn bobbling means I manage to exit the first turn in third behind Fi5hy and Bayden.
I put my head down and started to work out where I could get past Bayden as Fi5hy was fast in practice and with clear track would be extremely hard to catch. Unfortunately for me Bayden was as quick as me when it counted and although I could follow him getting past was another proposition. We held these positions until lap 13 when we started to catch some back markers and Bayden made the fatal error of giving one the inside line going into the top corner. I didn’t hesitate to take this opportunity so I got in on the narrow line and parked it in the middle of the turn and gassed it up hard. Yeaahh! 2nd place but the race wasn’t over, Bayden's a seasoned campaigner (read: Wyly old bastard) so I couldn’t let up the pace.
We entered the bottom turn to get the white flag so I made sure I was carrying lots of corner speed and driving as early as I could off the turns during the last lap I made it around the final lap still in second but didn’t get the chequered flag, What the!
Not wanting to relinquish my place I raced another full lap (as did Fi5hy). This last lap was a little more circumspect as I could no longer hear Bayden behind me (he actually saw the chequered) so the huge low speed front end slide into partial highside I had in the bottom corner on this lap meant I got real close to crashing on the slow down lap – not a good look.
Second in the first race was a good result as Saxet only made it to fourth so I achieved the goal of getting a few more points advantage. The bike was performing well but I was a little worried about the clutch but there’s not a lot I could do to fix that in time for the next points race. So I wondered out to the track and took some photos. It was such a nice day and the light was really good which made for excellent conditions for taking photos and I managed to get a few good close ups.
The second round of racing at these meetings is always held in reverse direction so after a good long practice session this time going anti clockwise we got the second points race underway. The flag drop this time was a bit too drawn out and a good number of riders false started. Lined up again flag drops and the race is underway, again I lose drive through the clutch am able to make it though turn one in third. This time I though I’d have Bayden’s measure as I managed to beat him going this way at the last round. Wrong! The man just brakes late on the inside line (my line dammit) and parks it mid turn. Good stuff, the battle is on! I try smoothing things out and calming down a wee bit, if I learnt anything from the first race it was to be patient. I wasn’t going to catch Fi5hy in the first race so I just hung with Bayden and let him do the rest. Things were looking the same in this race and I could see Richard on the Vespa was in front of Saxet so I didn’t have to be silly (no more than normal, anyway).
At about mid race distance I noticed Bayden was gradually starting to get away, I put in a big effort but something wasn’t right. On lap six(ish) the engine misfired exiting the top corner. From there on out the misfires turned into backfires and things started to get really slow. One of the cool things about the racing at the Slipway is that you pretty much can see where everyone is on the track, this meant I could see that everyone including Saxet was catching me really fast. I had absolutely no idea how many laps there were to go so I was pretty worried about scoring any points.
Richard thundered past me on the Vespa and I new Saxet was close to him. Shit! Shit! Shit! I’m almost thinking of getting off and pushing like fucken fast. Then I hear another deep fourstroke single and the Golden finned Fi5hy fly’s past to take the chequered!
Race over, fourth place thank fuck for that, this is the only time I would ever talk about being lapped by Fish public but thirteen points is better than walking any day!
Thanks for being so fast! There you go!
I hadn't taken into account all the running the bike had done during the day, I let AJturbo and Mudboy ride around whil I was taking photos. All this riding was way more than I had ever done before using that battery and I have a total loss ignition, simple reason for the backifires was a flat battery! Doh!
Overall an awesome round of points races, the pace at the front was awesome and the track layout was probably the most technically and physically demanding we have set up at the Slipway and rewarded being committed through the essess and as always bravery on the brakes.
[BIG THANK YOU’S TO:
BAYDEN
You’re the man, for getting this entire circus up and running. And for being the biggest mobile obstacle ever created. Fast one though and man your bike is going good!
QUENTIN
For coming down all the way from Palmy to take the money, wave the flags, lap score the races and reign in errant youf’s
THE WATSONS
For having the foresight and capacity to build such a fantastic facility and allowing us to use it. Your ongoing generosity and support is a real asset to Wellington motorsports and mountain biking communities and we look forward to many more good days at the Slipway.
EVERYONE WHO TURNED UP TO GIVE IT A GO, TAKE PHOTOS AND JUST WATCH.
You know who you are!
Photos below courtesy of LBTW and Qualman1234 Thanks Cuzzies!