CHOPPA
6th April 2008, 14:24
Finally I had my new bike all together, I did a track day at Taupo on Friday to get the feel for the new bike then it was off to pukekohe sat morning with another couple of my mates that have defected from the dirt side!
I managed to qualify 4<SUP>th</SUP> for both formula Auckland and F2 so front row starts all day was a bonus, new bike felt great and it seemed to be fast enough to run with the fast guys.
Formula Auckland
1<SUP>st</SUP> Race, My new bike has much better gear ratios so getting off the line is much easier! I came through to 3<SUP>rd</SUP> behind David and Neil, my intentions were to stick with these guys for a while but as soon as we got to the back straight that idea evaporated with Clee also passing me I was left to lead the rest of the 600 riders and set my own pace. The bike was handling good and after a bit of a battle with nick Cole ending on the last lap when he ran out of gas I lead home all the 600s and finished 4<SUP>th</SUP>
2<SUP>nd</SUP> Race, My bike rocketed off the start again this time 2<SUP>nd</SUP> around the corner then same old story down the back straight I was down to 4<SUP>th</SUP> a couple of laps later Cole and Morgan slipped pass, I followed these guys to see where I was loosing time and the major place was over ford mountain I just couldn’t get the power down without my bike bucking around it was weird! So I followed them home to finish the race in 6<SUP>th</SUP>…
3<SUP>rd</SUP> Race, This was only the third race of this class but actually my 5<SUP>th</SUP> race and by this time my bike had been getting progressively worse throughout the day with the wallowing on the fast corners we had played around with suspension all day but it turned out I had a slow leak in my rear tyre so It was half flat! any ways the race turned out much the same as the others with me coming 5<SUP>th</SUP>
<SUP>
</SUP>Formula 2
1<SUP>st</SUP> Race, We made some rear adjustments to stop the bike wallowing but whatever we did made it worse cause the prob was actually the deflating tyre as above but I did get another good start then I slotted in behind Cole and Morgan to finish 3<SUP>rd</SUP>
<SUP>
</SUP>2<SUP>nd</SUP> Race, By this time we were back to the old setup and the bike had become really difficult to ride! I came out of the start second behind Morgan, I was right on him trying to push as hard as possible but I couldn’t turn the bike in over ford lost a lot of drive then nick o and Paul brown shot the gap, I was determined to get back to at least 3<SUP>rd</SUP> so I started concentrating less on the bike and started to push again. It was tight but I managed to get Paul under brakes on the hairpin and I rode the rest of the race out to finish 3<SUP>rd</SUP>.
3<SUP>rd</SUP> Race, I was scratching my head about this mysterious problem then I finally checked my tyre pressure and there it was a half flat tyre! Pumped it up and went into the final race with the confidence I could win finally!
I got away to not a bad start Morgan and I were bar to bar for about half a lap, I managed to come out on top of that little dual, my bike was feeling great with the extra air in the tyre and I was able to push but there was no shaking Morgan who slipped up the inside of turn 1 around mid race after I made the slightest error in lines a few corners before hand screwing up my drive. I stayed on him looking for a gap right to the line but he was braking hard and riding smooth so again he took the win but I came an extremely close second…yeah I know, doesn’t matter how close haha
It was a great day for me again learning heaps and loving my new bike! A bit more practice and I think I might be able to win a race one of these days! On the other hand I am leading the points series now so that’s something to go away with J
Thanks to
Speed-tech
Brett Roberts Mechanical, Gavin HDT boy
For all helping me get my bike together..
I managed to qualify 4<SUP>th</SUP> for both formula Auckland and F2 so front row starts all day was a bonus, new bike felt great and it seemed to be fast enough to run with the fast guys.
Formula Auckland
1<SUP>st</SUP> Race, My new bike has much better gear ratios so getting off the line is much easier! I came through to 3<SUP>rd</SUP> behind David and Neil, my intentions were to stick with these guys for a while but as soon as we got to the back straight that idea evaporated with Clee also passing me I was left to lead the rest of the 600 riders and set my own pace. The bike was handling good and after a bit of a battle with nick Cole ending on the last lap when he ran out of gas I lead home all the 600s and finished 4<SUP>th</SUP>
2<SUP>nd</SUP> Race, My bike rocketed off the start again this time 2<SUP>nd</SUP> around the corner then same old story down the back straight I was down to 4<SUP>th</SUP> a couple of laps later Cole and Morgan slipped pass, I followed these guys to see where I was loosing time and the major place was over ford mountain I just couldn’t get the power down without my bike bucking around it was weird! So I followed them home to finish the race in 6<SUP>th</SUP>…
3<SUP>rd</SUP> Race, This was only the third race of this class but actually my 5<SUP>th</SUP> race and by this time my bike had been getting progressively worse throughout the day with the wallowing on the fast corners we had played around with suspension all day but it turned out I had a slow leak in my rear tyre so It was half flat! any ways the race turned out much the same as the others with me coming 5<SUP>th</SUP>
<SUP>
</SUP>Formula 2
1<SUP>st</SUP> Race, We made some rear adjustments to stop the bike wallowing but whatever we did made it worse cause the prob was actually the deflating tyre as above but I did get another good start then I slotted in behind Cole and Morgan to finish 3<SUP>rd</SUP>
<SUP>
</SUP>2<SUP>nd</SUP> Race, By this time we were back to the old setup and the bike had become really difficult to ride! I came out of the start second behind Morgan, I was right on him trying to push as hard as possible but I couldn’t turn the bike in over ford lost a lot of drive then nick o and Paul brown shot the gap, I was determined to get back to at least 3<SUP>rd</SUP> so I started concentrating less on the bike and started to push again. It was tight but I managed to get Paul under brakes on the hairpin and I rode the rest of the race out to finish 3<SUP>rd</SUP>.
3<SUP>rd</SUP> Race, I was scratching my head about this mysterious problem then I finally checked my tyre pressure and there it was a half flat tyre! Pumped it up and went into the final race with the confidence I could win finally!
I got away to not a bad start Morgan and I were bar to bar for about half a lap, I managed to come out on top of that little dual, my bike was feeling great with the extra air in the tyre and I was able to push but there was no shaking Morgan who slipped up the inside of turn 1 around mid race after I made the slightest error in lines a few corners before hand screwing up my drive. I stayed on him looking for a gap right to the line but he was braking hard and riding smooth so again he took the win but I came an extremely close second…yeah I know, doesn’t matter how close haha
It was a great day for me again learning heaps and loving my new bike! A bit more practice and I think I might be able to win a race one of these days! On the other hand I am leading the points series now so that’s something to go away with J
Thanks to
Speed-tech
Brett Roberts Mechanical, Gavin HDT boy
For all helping me get my bike together..