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scuzeme
30th December 2008, 13:15
Drove up to Taupo Day before and watched the the last leg of the road race spectacular the day was perfect hot and sticky.
Got my bike into the Garage and set up that afternoon so i wouldnt have to be running round like a blue arsed fly on race day.
Since i had decided to do the endurance race myself i didnt really have a pit crew sussed but by the end of Sunday afternoon Sue Futter, Rustys and Cayles brother Ryan had put their hands up to crew for me.

Race Day

Arrived at the track about 8am got scuteenered and sign in weather looked overcast with big grey pregnant clouds moving in, i had a set of Pirelli wets but had never raced on a wet surface or used wets obviously.

1st Quali: Surface Dry and Cool
Apart from a morning at Manfield a couple of weeks before, this was my first outing on the track since i dropped my bike twice at round 6 and broke my arm, my cast had come off December 1st and even tho it felt good my head was gunna be my biggest barrier.
Any way felt apprehensive and just didnt have the confidence to lean the machine over even on the awesom Metzelers.
Finished the 1st quali session....

...... the rain came down ......

Everyone started to change onto wets so my trusty pit crew got to work reshodding the yamakazi, meanwhile my head was having a major argument with itself about the saneness of racing a machine at 250kmh+ down the taupo back straight in the pouring (and i mean pouring) rain.

With the help of Steve Bagshaw, a few words from Haden F and a call to Robert Taylor the suspension was adjusted for the wet conditions just as 2nd Quali call was made.

2nd Quali: Surface Wet and Cold
Right from the first turn the bike felt really stable and by the end of the session i had knocked 7 seconds off my lap time.
I felt a wee bit more confident as i came into the pits and it was boosted by back slaps and encouraging words from my pit crew, although the bike felt more connected with the surface through the suspension adjustments i felt i had lost some corner tip in sharpness but it was all good.

Qualifying Position 11th on the grid

The Inaugural Taupo Endurance Race Surface a River and Cold
I made a point of wishing everyone that was racing good luck and sealed it with a hand shake.
I have to mention that i had got hold of a little square digital clock which we tapped to the steering yoke and water proofed with a condom (suppled by Ryan-he told me it was a "trojan") Russel was to start the stop watch on it as the green flag was waved, this gave me accurate timing durng the 3hr race.
We had our photo taken and lined up on the start grid opposite the bikes BANG it begins.
00:01hrs Hopped on the bike..wouldnt start..fuck...started...damn i was right at the back maybe one or two behind me spent the next 20 or so minutes clawing my way up to approx 9th place mid field.
00:30hrs My stratagey was to come in every 30 minutes and refill have a drink etc so after 30 minutes i came into the pits, i realised that the way the bike had been set up what i gained in feel and feedback i lost in cornering in fact i was physically fighting to turn through the corners.
Went back out and decided to throw my strategy out the window and just rode hard till the low fuel light went on which it did about an hour later.
01:30hrs came in and got a real suprize when i tried to hop off the bike my body didnt want to move, started doing stretchs and noticed a hell of alot of flashs coming from cameras pointed in my direction i guess i looked better than i felt bwhaaahaaaa back on the bike back on the track.
2.15hrs by this time i really started to feel my body start to complain the rain had almost stopped and i saw Russel signalling me on the start finish striaght so decided to come in.
As it happened he was trying to tell me to stay in the wet areas off line to conserve my wets i looked him in the eye and told him i was fading he told me just to keep going back out there i went.
02:30hrs I was literally had it i keep lokking at the clock willing it to hit 03:00hrs my concentration was off and my lines were getting sloppy and i was getting passed by every one, in hind sight this is where physical conditioning really comes into play its always the last part of any race where you can really make or brake it looking at the stats after the race i had been running 9th to 11th but dropped to 13th by the end.
I little disapointing for me because i knew my lack of race fitness had cost me atleast two places, better luck next year aye.

Big ups to my pit crew Sue, Russell and Ryan you are the best and im so grateful that you guys decided to help me, thank you for helping off my bike at race end and for packing up my gear i just couldnt have done it myself.
Big ups to Steve for spending your time working on my complicated suspension.
Big ups to all the Solo riders you all deserve the title "Superman"
Big ups to the Winners Glen and Vtec you did fantastically well and deserve the accolades WELL DONE!
Lastly thank you to the organisers for a well run event that is going to be a definite on the NZ race calender in years to come.
All in all i had a fantastic time.

Cheers.

prettybillie
30th December 2008, 14:10
This was awesome to watch - even in the freezing cold rain :baby:

Kornholio
30th December 2008, 14:48
Awesome man... Im glad I had a partner in the race, we went out and did 45min stints before we came in for fuel and rider change.
The wet was a real eye opener for us too :D

speed63
30th December 2008, 15:36
well done.. I can relate to the way you felt at the end!.

Duke girl
30th December 2008, 16:38
Darrin you did a Bloody Awesome job out there and it was truely a pleasure being 1 of your Pit Crew for the day.
It takes 1 hell of a rider to go out there in those conditions and race hard for the whole 3 hrs which is what you did.
I am sure that your confidence in the wet conditions has grown a huge amount as you weren't showing any signs to me that you had a lack off it out there.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time being in your garage and helping you as much as I could getting you through the 3hrs. I am sure that your family is as proud of you like your pit crew are of your achievements.
Congratulations to you and I look forward to seeing you back out there in the 1st round of the VMCC Actrix Winter Series in Taupo in May 2009. Have yourself a well earned drink or two for the New Year and I wish you luck on your racing for the coming year.

flame
30th December 2008, 18:27
Big thumbs up to you Darrin, The weather was so awful, you kept it upright and finished! ALONE! You deserve a medal :)

wharfy
30th December 2008, 20:10
Good one mate, you looked pretty comfortable when you wizzed by me :):2thumbsup

Sparky Bills
30th December 2008, 20:41
Well done mate!
Yamaha Motogp team will be giving you the call up in no time!

Congrats on finishing. Thats the main struggle of an endurance race.

NinjaBoy
30th December 2008, 20:55
Well done Darrin and a good write up. After your small break (no pun intended) from riding and then having to face the challenge of your first wet race, you did really well.

Now that you've got that event under your belt, you should be all prepared for the coming racing season. See ya at the next race meet.

Clivoris
30th December 2008, 21:10
+1 from me too mate. Huge achievement, especially in those conditions.

rustys
31st December 2008, 09:10
:niceone: Darrin, Fantastic to see you finish !!! that was the goal !!! and you achived it, great ride especialy with those conditions out there.
It was also a pleasure to help you out, and keep you going, man you did'nt look to good at the last pit stop but i had to motivate you somehow.
Also as you said it was great to get the setup right for the bike from Steve Bagshaw thanks Steve for the help really apreciated that as i learnt a lot out of that myself, it certainly is a minefield when it comes to bike suspension settings.
I no you said you would never do that again Darrin, but its 12 months to the next one and if you do change your mind, id be glad to help out again with a little bit of planing before hand.
Cheers Bud, hope the aches and pains are easing up after all that, might catch you out on the road over Xmas. :clap::apint:

vtec
31st December 2008, 09:19
Awesome mate, first time on wets too? Freaky aye. 3 hours touring on the road is hard enough let alone 3 hours of full on racing, partnering is far more than twice as easy. Respect the supermen.

icekiwi
31st December 2008, 11:22
Top effort..
Was lousy just watching it from the sideline...

kiwifruit
4th January 2009, 10:11
Well done in the tough conditions!

Biggles08
4th January 2009, 14:33
Hey Darrin, I noticed your riding got really fast and smooth throughout the 3 hours....you were looking extremely good out there! And to do it on your own after your bad off....top effort...made us lot with partners look soft! :-D
see you at PMCC round 2 most likely :-)