R6_kid
8th February 2009, 18:43
Well, what an introduction to 'real' bucket racing!
Saturday started off alright, was getting back into the groove of things when things started feeling a bit shakey, opened the gas as I came on to the front straight and quickly found myself on my ass! No damage so picked the bike up and headed back to the pits. Carver had come up from hamilton and I was running his camera on my helmet so you'll all get to experience it first hand in the next day or two!
Had a fiddle with the bike and found the left handle bar was a bit loose as was the steering head, tightened it all up and went out again. Had a good couple of sessions getting back into things and regaining my confidence, and getting some footage for 'NZ's most notorious stunt crew'. At this stage I decided I was going to conserve myself and the tyres for racing on Sunday but the peer pressure was unbearable so I gave in and went out for some more hot laps.
Of course I should have listened to my conscience! I got passed by one of the top local riders and thought i'd try to take his line through the hairpin, as i lifted my knee and turned in for that extra 2deg of lean the bike came onto the bottom of the powerband -just enough power to send the rear out from underneath me, again I was on my ass, this time the handle bar was pulled out from its mount so I called it a day!
I woke on Sunday morning to overcast, AWESOME! Well it didnt last, got to the track and as we unloaded the bikes the sky turned blue and things quickly heated up. I went out and did about 5 or 6 laps to make sure everything was as it should be (which it wasnt) so went in and sorted out the niggles and went out again, this time it was all sorted so pulled into the pits to conserve my energy.
After observing the remainder of the session it was obvious that the guys I raced at the 'have a go day' had improved considerably, and I was feeling a bit slow, so I went out in the next session to get into 'race mode' and see how far off I was, worked well for me and I made up some of the pace I had been lacking and my confidence was at the right place for the race.
Race 1, had a big mix of skill levels. Some experienced and some first timers. The experienced guys took off at the start and I had no way of keeping up with them. I fought pretty hard and finished in about 5th or 6th place, the race is a bit of a blur due to the heat!!!
Race 2, I knew I had to get a better start, which luckily I did! I got pushed back two places and pulled in behind a pair of CB125t's. It was quite difficult to find a line to pass them, and we were fairing even for drive down the straight so I had to get aggressive. I made it obvious to the guy in front that I was there, and after pushing up along side him into a couple of corners I finally out braked him and made the pass stick. Now I had to do the same to his mate, only one problem - only one lap to go! I figured I'd either have to get him up the inside into a corner or get better drive onto the straight to pass him. I stuck it up the inside into the esses but he turned across and i had to back off, I stayed right on his back wheel and got a good drive onto the straight, he beat me by about 30cm at the line! :weep:
Race 3 - knowing how important the start would be I made an effort to get the inside line into turn one - bingo I'm in 2nd! Going into turn two I wasnt thinking and changed down a gear, i suddenly found myself having to hook back up into 2nd and dropped back to 6th. It the next three corners to get back on the game by which time i was about 10m down on 5th. I managed to catch up through the esses and get a good drive on to the straight, so good infact that I went around 5th place on the grass! :bleh: Now I just had to work on 4th place, the same CB125t that had beat me in the last race. He had a decent gap on me and it took a bit to catch up on him, I tried a few times to put it up the inside but found it hard to get far enough up on him. Finished in 5th.
Race 4 - kind of boring! I nailed the start this time, and spent the first 3 laps trying to stay with 1st and 2nd, but they were having a battle of their own. They were taking about 1m on me each time we ran down the front straight. I sat down into a rhythm and realised with 2 laps to go that I was in the clear all by myself so backed off the pace a bit and focussed on finishing in one piece - i finished with an 'easy' third.
In the afternoon they ran two 'all in' races in the anti-clockwise direction. I knew I wouldnt be able to keep up with the F4 guys but figured I'd give it a shot anyway. I basically spent this race getting passed one at a time by the A grade racers, I had a little battle with my foe on the CB125t and got the better of him out of the hairpin, i heard him right behind me as we went through the other hairpin out onto the sweeper but i kept my nerve and got a good change into third for the drive down the straight. From there on it was just a matter of staying on the bike :clap:
The second race was a pearler to begin with. I got a perfect start and lead into turn one, but by the exit I was 3rd! :rolleyes: I knew I had the pace to lead the B Class guys so just set about going hard and not coming off. I even managed to hold some of the A grade guys off for a few laps. As we came through on the last lap someone had come off on the exit of the infield hairpin, I slowed down to adjust my line and as I did I noticed the RX wasnt sounding too good, it had a really bad vibration going through the motor and it subsequently died as I avoided the fallen rider - not good. :no::kick:
I've had a great weekend, enjoyed the racing equally as much as the company of those in the pits. It's awesome how friendly everyone is, and that people are willing to help each other out.
A huge thanks to Greg (littleman) for putting up with a 'poor student' and carting my ass around so I could race. Also to Pumba for the now broken RX125 bucket - I will pay you for it soon. Also to The Stranger and Mystery for lunch, and for your company, you guys are awesome :niceone:
Pics (hopefully) and video to follow!
:ar15: #32 will live again!!! :ar15:
Saturday started off alright, was getting back into the groove of things when things started feeling a bit shakey, opened the gas as I came on to the front straight and quickly found myself on my ass! No damage so picked the bike up and headed back to the pits. Carver had come up from hamilton and I was running his camera on my helmet so you'll all get to experience it first hand in the next day or two!
Had a fiddle with the bike and found the left handle bar was a bit loose as was the steering head, tightened it all up and went out again. Had a good couple of sessions getting back into things and regaining my confidence, and getting some footage for 'NZ's most notorious stunt crew'. At this stage I decided I was going to conserve myself and the tyres for racing on Sunday but the peer pressure was unbearable so I gave in and went out for some more hot laps.
Of course I should have listened to my conscience! I got passed by one of the top local riders and thought i'd try to take his line through the hairpin, as i lifted my knee and turned in for that extra 2deg of lean the bike came onto the bottom of the powerband -just enough power to send the rear out from underneath me, again I was on my ass, this time the handle bar was pulled out from its mount so I called it a day!
I woke on Sunday morning to overcast, AWESOME! Well it didnt last, got to the track and as we unloaded the bikes the sky turned blue and things quickly heated up. I went out and did about 5 or 6 laps to make sure everything was as it should be (which it wasnt) so went in and sorted out the niggles and went out again, this time it was all sorted so pulled into the pits to conserve my energy.
After observing the remainder of the session it was obvious that the guys I raced at the 'have a go day' had improved considerably, and I was feeling a bit slow, so I went out in the next session to get into 'race mode' and see how far off I was, worked well for me and I made up some of the pace I had been lacking and my confidence was at the right place for the race.
Race 1, had a big mix of skill levels. Some experienced and some first timers. The experienced guys took off at the start and I had no way of keeping up with them. I fought pretty hard and finished in about 5th or 6th place, the race is a bit of a blur due to the heat!!!
Race 2, I knew I had to get a better start, which luckily I did! I got pushed back two places and pulled in behind a pair of CB125t's. It was quite difficult to find a line to pass them, and we were fairing even for drive down the straight so I had to get aggressive. I made it obvious to the guy in front that I was there, and after pushing up along side him into a couple of corners I finally out braked him and made the pass stick. Now I had to do the same to his mate, only one problem - only one lap to go! I figured I'd either have to get him up the inside into a corner or get better drive onto the straight to pass him. I stuck it up the inside into the esses but he turned across and i had to back off, I stayed right on his back wheel and got a good drive onto the straight, he beat me by about 30cm at the line! :weep:
Race 3 - knowing how important the start would be I made an effort to get the inside line into turn one - bingo I'm in 2nd! Going into turn two I wasnt thinking and changed down a gear, i suddenly found myself having to hook back up into 2nd and dropped back to 6th. It the next three corners to get back on the game by which time i was about 10m down on 5th. I managed to catch up through the esses and get a good drive on to the straight, so good infact that I went around 5th place on the grass! :bleh: Now I just had to work on 4th place, the same CB125t that had beat me in the last race. He had a decent gap on me and it took a bit to catch up on him, I tried a few times to put it up the inside but found it hard to get far enough up on him. Finished in 5th.
Race 4 - kind of boring! I nailed the start this time, and spent the first 3 laps trying to stay with 1st and 2nd, but they were having a battle of their own. They were taking about 1m on me each time we ran down the front straight. I sat down into a rhythm and realised with 2 laps to go that I was in the clear all by myself so backed off the pace a bit and focussed on finishing in one piece - i finished with an 'easy' third.
In the afternoon they ran two 'all in' races in the anti-clockwise direction. I knew I wouldnt be able to keep up with the F4 guys but figured I'd give it a shot anyway. I basically spent this race getting passed one at a time by the A grade racers, I had a little battle with my foe on the CB125t and got the better of him out of the hairpin, i heard him right behind me as we went through the other hairpin out onto the sweeper but i kept my nerve and got a good change into third for the drive down the straight. From there on it was just a matter of staying on the bike :clap:
The second race was a pearler to begin with. I got a perfect start and lead into turn one, but by the exit I was 3rd! :rolleyes: I knew I had the pace to lead the B Class guys so just set about going hard and not coming off. I even managed to hold some of the A grade guys off for a few laps. As we came through on the last lap someone had come off on the exit of the infield hairpin, I slowed down to adjust my line and as I did I noticed the RX wasnt sounding too good, it had a really bad vibration going through the motor and it subsequently died as I avoided the fallen rider - not good. :no::kick:
I've had a great weekend, enjoyed the racing equally as much as the company of those in the pits. It's awesome how friendly everyone is, and that people are willing to help each other out.
A huge thanks to Greg (littleman) for putting up with a 'poor student' and carting my ass around so I could race. Also to Pumba for the now broken RX125 bucket - I will pay you for it soon. Also to The Stranger and Mystery for lunch, and for your company, you guys are awesome :niceone:
Pics (hopefully) and video to follow!
:ar15: #32 will live again!!! :ar15: