k14
28th January 2008, 17:47
After the previous weekends disappointing results I was all psyched up for the second round of the Castrol New Zealand Superbike Championships at Levels Raceway, Timaru.
I had spent most of the week fixing up the bike from the previous weekends damage. Nothing too severe but had a long list of little things to straighten, re-paint, check etc.
I arrived at the track early Friday morning to a very overcast and persistent drizzle day. I managed to nab a spot in the garage so could keep dry whilst the rain fell. The first few sessions came around and seeing as the weekend was forecast to be fine and sunny, no one seemed to want to go out from any of the classes. At about 1130 I decided to go out on the wets for a few laps just to check to make sure everything was ok with the bike after the crash. The rain had pretty much abated by now but the track was still wet. I slowly circulated but just took things easy. Everything seemed ok on the bike and so I bought it in.
By now the rain had stopped and the track was starting to dry, it would be ok for slicks in an hour or so. The sun was out by 1300 and we could now go out and work on setting up the bike for the weekend. I managed to get out in two sessions and get some dry track time. I made some gearing, jetting and geometry changes between the sessions and managed to find something I was semi happy with. Having an onboard laptimer is so helpful and by the end of the day I managed to get down to a high 1.12 lap which I was happy with. I knew that when I put the better tyres on I would be able to gain a bit more time in qualifying the next morning.
I arrived at the track just before 0800 Saturday morning and changed my tyres to some newer ones. I also made some small adjustments to the jetting to compensate for the cooler conditions of the morning. We were up after the sidecars for our first 15 minute qualifying session. I went out to try put in a few quick laps at the start of the session but could instantly tell that my bike was running way too rich. I was also in quite a bit of traffic that was difficult to get past. I held back and on my fourth lap did a 1.12.7. I made the decision to come into the pits and change my main jet to try get a better performing bike. Looking at the timing sheets it took me just over 6 minutes to do this and I only managed to get one more flying lap, a 1.13.4 and thus my first time stood. This put me 8th fastest out of the 15 125’s on the grid. I wasn’t very happy with this, but knew I could go faster next session.
I made another couple of tweaks before the second qualifying session and was ready to go out and go fast from the beginning. I did a couple of sighting laps and ensured I had some clear track so I could go around unimpeded. I put in a good lap, and managed to put down at time of 1.11.6. I was pretty happy with this and knew it would be good enough for 4th or 5th. That time turned out to be the third fastest for the session but seeing as both of the sessions were combined it left me 5th on the grid. Slightly disappointing that I wasn’t on the front row but 5th is still a good result.
We had out first race mid afternoon and I was happy with the bikes performance during qualifying so didn’t make any changes. I got a good start and was fourth across the line on the first lap. I had put on a brand new rear tyre for this race and on the second lap the rear stepped out three times at max lean and that gave me a bit of fright. I started to slow down out of the corners due to not having the confidence to open the throttle hard. I slowly drifted backwards. My lap times were terrible, some 1.14’s which was over two seconds slower than my qualifying time. By lap 5 (of a 9 lap race) I had drifted back to 10th position, with not much chance of catching anyone in front.
However on the final two laps, two guys crashed out. This promoted me to 8th in the final standings. This was a pretty disappointing result but I did finish the race which is the most important factor in the overall scheme of things. After last weekend I do not want to have another crash in the near future and was still getting my confidence back. I knew I could improve in the two races on Sunday so was happy knowing that.
Sunday dawned another beautiful and sunny day. After the previous days race I knew I had to get my race face on and get into the right frame of mind. I got a really good start to the race and was 3rd onto the back straight. I got good drive and managed to slipstream past Adam and Gregor to take the lead into the fast 4th gear left hander and into the complex. I kept the lead for the next two laps and was demoted back to 3rd on lap 3 by Cameron Jones and Adam Chambers. I slipstreamed past Adam on the back straight on the fourth lap and was sitting in 2nd position going into the hairpin. All of a sudden I felt a hit from behind and got nearly run off the track. Adam had tried to pull off a risky passing manoeuvre and totally stuffed it up, hitting my quite hard in the process.
I managed to just keep the bike on the track but lost 3 or 4 positions. Then early next lap, coming onto the back straight my bike just died. I wasn’t sure what happened. I came to a stand still and got off the bike to find the problem. I quickly found that one of the battery leads had come loose after the contact by Adam and fallen off the terminal 5 corners later. By now I had lost nearly a minute and was well behind even the rider in 13th position. I pushed relatively hard but with only 5 laps of the race remaining I wasn’t able to reel in anyone in front. So I had finished dead last out of the field of 14 riders.
The disappointing results had continued. I was pretty disgusted with the way in which Adam had just run right into the back of me. But soon calmed down and went and had an amicable chat to him. He wasn’t very apologetic but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes. Consequently he finished in 2nd place.
So with just one race of the weekend remaining I was determined to salvage something from the meet. Again we lined up and I got another good start, from 5th on the grid to 3rd onto the back straight again. I moved into 2nd position and sat in behind Gregor Stevens for the next two laps. I was passed by Cameron Jones on the 3rd lap and was just focussed on keeping my lines tidy and not making any mistakes. I held onto 3rd position for the next five laps and was feeling quite confident that I could hold onto it. I didn’t dare look back because I knew there would be a large contingent ready to pounce should I make one mistake.
Coming onto the back straight on the 7th lap I had the rear step out. The track was very hot and the tyres were starting to show signs of overheating. I had to roll off the throttle and this let Tim McArthur past. I tried to keep up with him but again the rear was sliding out of the decreasing radius sweeper before the hairpin and I wasn’t confident enough to try push harder. I kept pushing for the next two laps and was still holding onto 4th. On lap 10 again I had a slide out of the sweeper leading upto the hairpin and it left me wide on the entry. Adam Chambers slipped up beside my under brakes and pulled off a clean overtaking manoeuvre (he was obviously being very cautious after being warned by officials regarding the previous race incident). This left me in 5th place with what ended up with one lap remaining. Somehow the officials had miscounted the laps and turned the 10 lap race into an 11 lap affair. I wasn’t to know till after the race but was a bit worrying none the less.
So I finished the weekend on a good note with a solid 5th placing. This left me 8th overall for the weekend and 10th in the championship standings. An improvement over Ruapuna but still far from where I know I am capable of being. Lets hope Teretonga goes better.
Thanks again to Steve Ward for all the great behind the scenes work he does with the 125GP class. Also to my sponsors www.motorbikeparts.co.nz and www.visordown.co.nz check them out.
I had spent most of the week fixing up the bike from the previous weekends damage. Nothing too severe but had a long list of little things to straighten, re-paint, check etc.
I arrived at the track early Friday morning to a very overcast and persistent drizzle day. I managed to nab a spot in the garage so could keep dry whilst the rain fell. The first few sessions came around and seeing as the weekend was forecast to be fine and sunny, no one seemed to want to go out from any of the classes. At about 1130 I decided to go out on the wets for a few laps just to check to make sure everything was ok with the bike after the crash. The rain had pretty much abated by now but the track was still wet. I slowly circulated but just took things easy. Everything seemed ok on the bike and so I bought it in.
By now the rain had stopped and the track was starting to dry, it would be ok for slicks in an hour or so. The sun was out by 1300 and we could now go out and work on setting up the bike for the weekend. I managed to get out in two sessions and get some dry track time. I made some gearing, jetting and geometry changes between the sessions and managed to find something I was semi happy with. Having an onboard laptimer is so helpful and by the end of the day I managed to get down to a high 1.12 lap which I was happy with. I knew that when I put the better tyres on I would be able to gain a bit more time in qualifying the next morning.
I arrived at the track just before 0800 Saturday morning and changed my tyres to some newer ones. I also made some small adjustments to the jetting to compensate for the cooler conditions of the morning. We were up after the sidecars for our first 15 minute qualifying session. I went out to try put in a few quick laps at the start of the session but could instantly tell that my bike was running way too rich. I was also in quite a bit of traffic that was difficult to get past. I held back and on my fourth lap did a 1.12.7. I made the decision to come into the pits and change my main jet to try get a better performing bike. Looking at the timing sheets it took me just over 6 minutes to do this and I only managed to get one more flying lap, a 1.13.4 and thus my first time stood. This put me 8th fastest out of the 15 125’s on the grid. I wasn’t very happy with this, but knew I could go faster next session.
I made another couple of tweaks before the second qualifying session and was ready to go out and go fast from the beginning. I did a couple of sighting laps and ensured I had some clear track so I could go around unimpeded. I put in a good lap, and managed to put down at time of 1.11.6. I was pretty happy with this and knew it would be good enough for 4th or 5th. That time turned out to be the third fastest for the session but seeing as both of the sessions were combined it left me 5th on the grid. Slightly disappointing that I wasn’t on the front row but 5th is still a good result.
We had out first race mid afternoon and I was happy with the bikes performance during qualifying so didn’t make any changes. I got a good start and was fourth across the line on the first lap. I had put on a brand new rear tyre for this race and on the second lap the rear stepped out three times at max lean and that gave me a bit of fright. I started to slow down out of the corners due to not having the confidence to open the throttle hard. I slowly drifted backwards. My lap times were terrible, some 1.14’s which was over two seconds slower than my qualifying time. By lap 5 (of a 9 lap race) I had drifted back to 10th position, with not much chance of catching anyone in front.
However on the final two laps, two guys crashed out. This promoted me to 8th in the final standings. This was a pretty disappointing result but I did finish the race which is the most important factor in the overall scheme of things. After last weekend I do not want to have another crash in the near future and was still getting my confidence back. I knew I could improve in the two races on Sunday so was happy knowing that.
Sunday dawned another beautiful and sunny day. After the previous days race I knew I had to get my race face on and get into the right frame of mind. I got a really good start to the race and was 3rd onto the back straight. I got good drive and managed to slipstream past Adam and Gregor to take the lead into the fast 4th gear left hander and into the complex. I kept the lead for the next two laps and was demoted back to 3rd on lap 3 by Cameron Jones and Adam Chambers. I slipstreamed past Adam on the back straight on the fourth lap and was sitting in 2nd position going into the hairpin. All of a sudden I felt a hit from behind and got nearly run off the track. Adam had tried to pull off a risky passing manoeuvre and totally stuffed it up, hitting my quite hard in the process.
I managed to just keep the bike on the track but lost 3 or 4 positions. Then early next lap, coming onto the back straight my bike just died. I wasn’t sure what happened. I came to a stand still and got off the bike to find the problem. I quickly found that one of the battery leads had come loose after the contact by Adam and fallen off the terminal 5 corners later. By now I had lost nearly a minute and was well behind even the rider in 13th position. I pushed relatively hard but with only 5 laps of the race remaining I wasn’t able to reel in anyone in front. So I had finished dead last out of the field of 14 riders.
The disappointing results had continued. I was pretty disgusted with the way in which Adam had just run right into the back of me. But soon calmed down and went and had an amicable chat to him. He wasn’t very apologetic but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes. Consequently he finished in 2nd place.
So with just one race of the weekend remaining I was determined to salvage something from the meet. Again we lined up and I got another good start, from 5th on the grid to 3rd onto the back straight again. I moved into 2nd position and sat in behind Gregor Stevens for the next two laps. I was passed by Cameron Jones on the 3rd lap and was just focussed on keeping my lines tidy and not making any mistakes. I held onto 3rd position for the next five laps and was feeling quite confident that I could hold onto it. I didn’t dare look back because I knew there would be a large contingent ready to pounce should I make one mistake.
Coming onto the back straight on the 7th lap I had the rear step out. The track was very hot and the tyres were starting to show signs of overheating. I had to roll off the throttle and this let Tim McArthur past. I tried to keep up with him but again the rear was sliding out of the decreasing radius sweeper before the hairpin and I wasn’t confident enough to try push harder. I kept pushing for the next two laps and was still holding onto 4th. On lap 10 again I had a slide out of the sweeper leading upto the hairpin and it left me wide on the entry. Adam Chambers slipped up beside my under brakes and pulled off a clean overtaking manoeuvre (he was obviously being very cautious after being warned by officials regarding the previous race incident). This left me in 5th place with what ended up with one lap remaining. Somehow the officials had miscounted the laps and turned the 10 lap race into an 11 lap affair. I wasn’t to know till after the race but was a bit worrying none the less.
So I finished the weekend on a good note with a solid 5th placing. This left me 8th overall for the weekend and 10th in the championship standings. An improvement over Ruapuna but still far from where I know I am capable of being. Lets hope Teretonga goes better.
Thanks again to Steve Ward for all the great behind the scenes work he does with the 125GP class. Also to my sponsors www.motorbikeparts.co.nz and www.visordown.co.nz check them out.