Shaun P
8th October 2008, 15:32
Great Weekend, love the sound of those gp bikes and man they pedal those 125's and 250's quick!
Thursday Practice/Qualifying
First shoot out was in good conditions so it was good to get there, came in made some adjustments and back out for qualifying. Didnt really improve my time as had bad visor probs and had to keep cracking it open, also there was alot of lap traffic with 45 starters so didnt really get a clear run even though I tried to back off and make a space, finished up with a 1.41.8 in 27th place which put me on the 7th row.
Friday Race 1 6 Laps @ 5pm
The GP bikes had a good morning session in the dry which was great to see but the weather really turned by midday and was very wet by our race!
Starting under lights there was a huge mist cloud of water into turn one and couldnt hardly see. The bike felt resonable in the warmup lap especially the front so managed to make some progress around the first few corners, there were bikes crashing all over the place so just tried to keep it smooth and stay on! Had a bit of an issue at T4 on about lap 4 and got sideways coming out then it snaped back the other way but somehow managed to stay on and finished the race in 19th with a 1.59.7.
Saturday Race 2 6 Laps @ 5.20pm
Conditions had improved for Saturday but had a bit of a cold breeze. Bit of a wheel stand off the start but kept to the game plan - inside of T1 outside of T2 and up the inside of T4 for the start, which seemed to be working quite well. Had the chance to improve some lines after Choppa pointed some things out and watching the GP bikes. Found some more pace down T1 and T3 and was catching and passing bikes, it felt heaps better on slicks in the dry! finished in 22nd place with a 1.40.9.
Sunday Race 3 8 Laps 9am
They had kindly switched to Daylight savings and rescheduled the race from 10.30am, so was quite fresh and early but a nice sunny day. Didnt feel completely comfortable and run the front wheel off into the gravel over the ripple strip coming onto the front straight, came off ok but lost some position, then someone crashed at the hairpin T4 and another bike was all over the place and cut in right in front of me so I had nowhere to go but right into the back of him, which stepped him out about a metre and we both stayed on luckily, finished up 24th with a 1.41.5.
Sunday Race 4 6 Laps 12.20pm
There was a huge amount of people building up around the circuit now for the main races in the afternoon. Start was good and kept to the same plan, felt heaps better running some better lines and catching small groups, one of the factory gsxrs must have run off has an orange tail gsxr came back past me which was good to stick with him for a while until he went past a couple and I lost a couple more places! Great way to finish up the weekend though and came in 22nd with a 1.40.7.
Thanks heaps to Mike Andrews for yre help Choppa and Nicko - great to have you guys around!! Bev and Avalon for the place to crash, my wife Felicity for letting me ride for 4 Days! and Sunbury Yamaha.
Thursday Practice/Qualifying
First shoot out was in good conditions so it was good to get there, came in made some adjustments and back out for qualifying. Didnt really improve my time as had bad visor probs and had to keep cracking it open, also there was alot of lap traffic with 45 starters so didnt really get a clear run even though I tried to back off and make a space, finished up with a 1.41.8 in 27th place which put me on the 7th row.
Friday Race 1 6 Laps @ 5pm
The GP bikes had a good morning session in the dry which was great to see but the weather really turned by midday and was very wet by our race!
Starting under lights there was a huge mist cloud of water into turn one and couldnt hardly see. The bike felt resonable in the warmup lap especially the front so managed to make some progress around the first few corners, there were bikes crashing all over the place so just tried to keep it smooth and stay on! Had a bit of an issue at T4 on about lap 4 and got sideways coming out then it snaped back the other way but somehow managed to stay on and finished the race in 19th with a 1.59.7.
Saturday Race 2 6 Laps @ 5.20pm
Conditions had improved for Saturday but had a bit of a cold breeze. Bit of a wheel stand off the start but kept to the game plan - inside of T1 outside of T2 and up the inside of T4 for the start, which seemed to be working quite well. Had the chance to improve some lines after Choppa pointed some things out and watching the GP bikes. Found some more pace down T1 and T3 and was catching and passing bikes, it felt heaps better on slicks in the dry! finished in 22nd place with a 1.40.9.
Sunday Race 3 8 Laps 9am
They had kindly switched to Daylight savings and rescheduled the race from 10.30am, so was quite fresh and early but a nice sunny day. Didnt feel completely comfortable and run the front wheel off into the gravel over the ripple strip coming onto the front straight, came off ok but lost some position, then someone crashed at the hairpin T4 and another bike was all over the place and cut in right in front of me so I had nowhere to go but right into the back of him, which stepped him out about a metre and we both stayed on luckily, finished up 24th with a 1.41.5.
Sunday Race 4 6 Laps 12.20pm
There was a huge amount of people building up around the circuit now for the main races in the afternoon. Start was good and kept to the same plan, felt heaps better running some better lines and catching small groups, one of the factory gsxrs must have run off has an orange tail gsxr came back past me which was good to stick with him for a while until he went past a couple and I lost a couple more places! Great way to finish up the weekend though and came in 22nd with a 1.40.7.
Thanks heaps to Mike Andrews for yre help Choppa and Nicko - great to have you guys around!! Bev and Avalon for the place to crash, my wife Felicity for letting me ride for 4 Days! and Sunbury Yamaha.