Hoon
21st November 2004, 10:35
Well LooseBruce and I carried on down to the Manfeild Track day on Fri (19th Nov) after our Fred Merkel coaching the day before.
It was my first visit to Manfeild. I've heard lots of stories about what a goat track the surface is but it wasn't anywhere near as bad and similar to Puke and Taupo. It was a beautiful day and there were about 20+ bikes and only 10 cars!!! It was bikes/cars/bikes/cars all day which meant we only had a chance to catch our breath before we were back out again (we had done 4 sessions by 12pm!!). If that wasn't enough they also made the last session (I gave up counting after 8) a 40 min endurance session!
All the big guns were out too - Brian Bernard, Karl Morgan, Jared Love, Carey Brier, Glenn Williams, Shaun Harris were the ones I recognized but there was bound to be others judging by the big trailers and shiny new race bikes around.
Manfeild is very different to Pukekohe and Taupo in terms of layout. I found my riding technique lacking in a few areas due to lack of exposure to the type of turns Manfeild has. Lots of fast straights with hard braking at the end before tipping into long sweeping corners - great stuff. My brakes also got a good workout with 5 braking points per lap (as opposed to Pukes 1 per lap). But a lot of nice banked turns with exits that open into long straights.
LooseBruce has some good onboard footage so I'll put that up too once I get it sorted.
However the rough surface killed what was left of my rear tyre so I'm on the lookout for a new set (Supercorsas or Pilot Race slicks 120/60/17 160/60/17) if anyone knows of any good deals!!
It was my first visit to Manfeild. I've heard lots of stories about what a goat track the surface is but it wasn't anywhere near as bad and similar to Puke and Taupo. It was a beautiful day and there were about 20+ bikes and only 10 cars!!! It was bikes/cars/bikes/cars all day which meant we only had a chance to catch our breath before we were back out again (we had done 4 sessions by 12pm!!). If that wasn't enough they also made the last session (I gave up counting after 8) a 40 min endurance session!
All the big guns were out too - Brian Bernard, Karl Morgan, Jared Love, Carey Brier, Glenn Williams, Shaun Harris were the ones I recognized but there was bound to be others judging by the big trailers and shiny new race bikes around.
Manfeild is very different to Pukekohe and Taupo in terms of layout. I found my riding technique lacking in a few areas due to lack of exposure to the type of turns Manfeild has. Lots of fast straights with hard braking at the end before tipping into long sweeping corners - great stuff. My brakes also got a good workout with 5 braking points per lap (as opposed to Pukes 1 per lap). But a lot of nice banked turns with exits that open into long straights.
LooseBruce has some good onboard footage so I'll put that up too once I get it sorted.
However the rough surface killed what was left of my rear tyre so I'm on the lookout for a new set (Supercorsas or Pilot Race slicks 120/60/17 160/60/17) if anyone knows of any good deals!!