The Cemetary Circuit - What it's like to race around?

[Mystic13]

Yep, been there, watched, seen the photo's.... but as a rider what I really want to see is comments from people who were there this year racing around the track.

What's it like, what speeds are you doing on what corners, tell me a bit about the corners and the track, the hazards, where you have to watch out etc.

I saw the riders going into turn one and it seemed suspension set-up was very different for bikes. Some riders were getting their backs absolutely hammered there. Do you end up with a sore back afterwards?

I'm assuming we all know what it's like to ride and I'm guessing the stories and views from riders will ad another dimension to my experience as a spectator of the track.

So, if you were there and riding do you mind telling us your stories of the track no matter what you rode. Heck a full track summary would be incredible.

If you weren't there and riding, can you just keep your posts to one liners (thanks or please tell us more comments seem useful) I don't really want to hear what spectators imagine it might be like.

So who out there wants to hear the stories and who has them to tell? And was turn 1 as bad as it looked?

Track Summary from the good book.

Start / Finish DML Buiklders Straight
Turn 1 = Mars Petcare Turn 1
Hookers Transport Straight
Turn 2 = Bridgestone Corner
Hirequip Straight
Turn 3 = Suzuki Crossing
Emmetts Bridge
Eurobike Esses (Near Suzuki) (I put 2 turns here)
Versatile Buildings Straight
Turn 6 = Robert Holden Corner
Wanganui Steelformers Straight
Turn 7 = Total Span Corner
Stonewood Homes Curves
Turn 8 = Vesrah Bridge
Start / Finish DML Builders Straight.

Cheers.

[Shaun]

Try the racing forum mate, some one might try to explain for ya

[Quasievil]

My effort

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=1867274#post1867274

Top speed for me was about 75 mph I think

[Mystic13]

Thanks guys, that's what i was looking for i just didn't find the thread. I'll wander over.

[Shaun]

From the mental side of it, Imagine being a mouse in one of the enclosed tube things they have test mouse running around in, BINGO that is what it is like, very intense

[jellywrestler]

The sidecars never fail to entertain and/or scare the crowds when they come out to play. In less than a minute you’ve done a lap Here’s a little bit about a lap around the legendary ‘Cemetery’…

Gridding up is one of those waiting games that does nothing but bring on the butterflies, and the last minute thoughts, and paranoia. Gas? Tyre pressures? Is the gearing sorted? Will the weather hold out? Have I paid for my ticket to the after race function? And then; the starter walks across the line. The starter signals for the riders to bring their motors up in revs ready for launch, and of course the swinger to do their last minute check over, then bang, the parties started!
The first thing that hits you is the noise, with sometimes twenty plus engines, all at redline surrounding you, and tyres screeching for traction there’s plenty of it I tell you. You get used to it and don’t even take note, as there’s work to be done. Before the chair’s in second gear the adrenaline is giving you a charge, sometimes it’s a real kick, and sometimes it’s of the brown kind, either way you’re charging…
There's work to do, trying to load as much of your weight onto the back wheel to give 300mm or so of rubber the best bite for starters. Getting the best drive as possible off the start, stopping the arse end fishtailing and risking hitting another Chair and not overcook the tyre too as these can lose their adhesion if treated the wrong way; are all on the list. While this is going on you’ve got to hang on against the forces of the forward movement. Take a look at the start grid after the sidecars have been at it, all that rubber on the road is wasted traction and this is where the swinger starts to earn their keep. While all this is happening you need to be sorting out your hand and footholds ready for the first right-hander, and also getting ready for the reversal of the take-off acceleration, braking for the corner. This parts not for the faint hearted, extra care is taken to make sure your arms and legs are as far into the bike as you dare cause there’s a fair old bit of touching can happen on the first corner…
The racing at Wanganui can be won or lost at the first corner, true its not over till the finish line but most of its sorted out here; and everybody knows it too. In short the stakes are the higher in these seven or eight seconds than any other part of the race so sometimes feathers will fly, and then, if you’re lucky, you’re through! Once you’ve made it through the first corner there’s no real need to move off the back wheel and the only change you’re up for is back into acceleration mode. Now to check whose in front, if anyone, and figure out if your riders going to have a shot at getting around them, and of course trying to work out which side they’ll make the move too, so you can be ready for it. While its vital you’re keyed onto the bike at all times its good to know that there maybe something going down, surprises aren’t good in this game.
Wanganui often brings sidecars out of the woodwork that haven’t raced for a while and while there will be other teams you know around you on the track, there’ll be a few wildcards out there too, adding to the variables. Assessing any likely passing manoeuvres is vital at this stage cause whoever’s in front has a clean run and there’s no time to be stuck behind someone if they gonna hold you up.
It’s a hell of a kick being out there but you do miss a lot of the other action and usually the best of it’s at the first corner. Once you’ve sorted all the above its worth taking a look back at the corner, cause the entertainment factor is huge. You can also get an idea of whereabouts you are in the standings and whose likely to be stalking you, and that can fair put the willies up ya!
Turn two, similar in profile to the first corner but there’s a huge dip on the apex, hard on the body and hard on the machinery too. The dip in the corners bad, I like to get off the bike across this little nasty. There’s already the combined weight of the rider and bike, plus gravity doing its bit so removing ten or so stone (ok then, twelve) from the bike has gotta help as its the most stressful bump of any of the tracks I’ve ridden. Get your weight off and as soon as you’re through it you need to get that back wheel driving again cause a good launch out of here is important to set you up for the next few corners. There’ll be someone up your date ready to take you round the outside if you’re tardy on it so you need be onto it here. The Cemetery doesn’t have a lot of places to pass but up on the inside coming into this corner is a goody, if your riders managed to poke their nose up far enough on the inside its great, the worries are then in the hands of the people getting passed, if he doesn’t quite get there the worries are yours! Either way; be ready for it.
The back straight is cool, while you’re dealing with the acceleration its time to get out of the wind as we’re now getting up to a speed where the more aerodynamic the whole unit is, the quicker you’ll pick up speed. While you’re doing this its time to catch your breath, literally. This is the longest break you’ll get on the Cemetery so its time to take a couple of lungs full of air, and get the most of this resting period. The Cemetery Circuit is such a stop-start circuit and this combined with the six right hand corners means you will be spending most of your lap with a fair amount of force on your chest, and this hinders a full breath, as if there’s not enough other shit going on!
Now the fun starts, the kink off the back straight is fast and furious. It features an off camber entry and of all things railway tracks for added points. More swingers have walked from here than any other place on the Cemetery. The traction at the apex is weakened by the off camber and of course there’s none on the tracks, the back end will do all sorts of dances and you need to be over it long enough to hold her down till the apex.
Your next mission, using the G-forces created in the right hand section, throw yourself across to the left side of the bike to keep the sidecar wheel down, all within ten or so metres. Moving too early will cause the outfit to flick sideways and when it finds its ground again too often the passenger just keeps on going. This ones not good for the health; or the wallet in fact. It’s a compulsory dozen Quarts fine for a fallen passenger (two for a rider), and more importantly your rider can keep on going without realising the absence of their Swinger, and then it gonna end in tears for sure. Not getting across for the left early enough and the outfit will lift. When they lift its scary, the geometry of sidecars means if the rider buttons off it’ll just keep on lifting, and possibly rollover, so they’re compelled to nail it. Great, you still need to sort your shit out cause the biggest is yet to come, the Esses, and remember you’re on a ride with 160 odd horsepower and someone else has that throttle wide open too adding to the ‘fun factor’.
Sidecar racing is dangerous, and these Esses have claimed two lives over the years, if you run through here out of shape it’ll play for keeps. Those kerbs may only be a few centimetres high but when your overall height is so little they may as well be brick walls; there’s no such luxury as Kitty Litter on Street circuits if you run wide!. Quite simply you need plenty of faith in your rider and a strong sphincter to last the day through here.
You can’t do both corners justice here, so you need to have a good compromise sorted. Looking at the Essess the second part is quite a mild corner, albeit at around 130kmh and on full throttle. Favouring the right hand entry is the key to the Esses, it is vital to keep down the wheel-spin, like I said it’ll nuke your tyre but its also wasting acceleration, and that folks is the whole point of racing. Its an advantage to actually lift the outfits sidecar wheel coming out of here, the sidecar wheels don’t run straight with the chassis they tow in towards the front. While this is good for the whole handling it also creates a drag when in contact with the ground so the more time in the air the less drag. Weighing up all these options its better to concentrate on the entry, and whilst on the apex use a little of the G-forces to get you over into the sidecar rather than hanging all the way out to the left. Added to the, shall we say ‘stress level’, there is the need to be ready if your riders gonna take someone on the outside coming out. Doing this will make the corner tighter, and you’ll need to shift a bit more of your carcass over on the exit to keep that wheel from lifting too far. Too high and you risk tipping over, you rear tyre then loses its full contact with the track and we’re gonna get wheel-spin again…
While all this is happening Roberts Island is heading towards you at nearly the Ton, most sidecar passing moves are done here and your don’t wanna let anyone out-brake you do you. This’ll sort out the Men from the Boys.
Roberts Island is a traffic island right in the middle of the road, named in Memory of the late great Robert Holden. The Island narrows the road to barely let two sidecars through, that’s if they’re gentlemen, and in sidecar racing there ain’t many of them around! Sidecars don’t steer round right handers at all well. You’ve got the huge G-forces on a corner loading all the weight on the sidecar wheel; and that’s pointing straight ahead. The rear has the swinger’s weight and that’s pointing straight ahead too. The front wheel coming into the corner has a stinking lot of weight behind it, two people and most of the bikes weight hard under brakes. The problem is when you stop the braking and whack that throttle wide open; there’s very little weight, if any, up front, and sweet Fanny Adams in the steering department. You may even see the odd wheelie out of here!

[jellywrestler]

We all know there’s not much steering done when full on the brakes so the best thing to do is keep hard on them till right on the apex, to stop anyone getting up on the inside, and then load up the sidecar wheel with the swingers weight and break its traction. The weight loaded on the side has been taken off the rear of course so this is probably in the air a tad by now, you’re now riding speedway style and the rider won’t have to worry about steering much now, maybe even a little counter steer. Once the corners been squared off you’ll be throwing your weight over the back wheel again and getting that traction going again, for another of the Cemetery’s many Drag Races. Roberts Islands a great place to break ribs from the sheer breaking force if you don’t spread the load through your arms and legs too I tell ya!
Beer Can Hill they call it, its one big party on Boxing Day, just to your right. Give the Boys a rude gesture in the first race here and you can just hear the cheering above the bike’s racket. This doesn’t work in the later races as well, their attention span and numbers dwindle as the beers take their toll…
Don’t spend too much time looking at the crowd though, there’s still more work to be done, another right-hander. This is the widest right hander on the circuit so its It's worth loading your weight further up the front of the bike for this baby. The corner speed here is quite good so your rear wheel is less likely to break its grip. Meanwhile the more weight over the front wheel the better cause the last thing your rider wants to do is have to button off due to the under-steer I talked of before. Rear wheel steering used on Roberts Island will cost your valuable drive here so isn’t the plan.
Once again there’s scenery that’s worth catching up on so a quick glance behind here is worth it to see how you’re placed and of course watch how the others are playing with each other too. It’s the easiest corner to deal with on the Cemetery Circuit so it’s a great opportunity for some sightseeing.
The run up to the overhead bridge is the worst part of the circuit for me, she’s just one long row of bumps here and no fun at all bearing in mind Sidecars don’t have any suspension travel. It doesn’t take long though and once again it’s a good opportunity for some more of those breathing exercises too. While we’re paying attention to our health despite the bumps this is a great place to ease your grip on the handles too, and gets some blood moving to the old fingers. Arm pump can creep up on you if you don’t release your grip now and then.
That done, albeit in a few seconds, you’re over in the deck of the sidecar ready for the braking. Spreading you weight over the side and rear coming in is the answer so they don’t lock up under brakes, too far out and the rear will lock, too far in, ditto for the side. As the rider releases the brakes a quick weight favour to the side just for the apex, and while I’m there there’s usually time for a quick wave to the Old Man at least once in a race. He’s spectated from the overhead bridge for as long as I can remember.
This corners a prick a never ending off camber so right after the apex I slide across to the rear wheel and tuck in low, gotta keep the back wheel from spinning here too as you’re coming up to the start/finish line.
The front straight is cool, its time to feel the buzz now and take in the surroundings. It’s a lot of fun out there but most of the time you’re far too busy to think of how much fun it is, its time to remind yourself why you’re here. This is my happy place on the Cemetery. The noise, the adrenaline, the heat, the speed rush, the pain, my hometown, yeah mate, this is my happy place. Don’t day dream though, you’re close to the ton on an aluminium deck 120 mm from the ground and there’s a right hander looming up; you need to be getting somewhere good for the hell braking coming up…