k14
18th February 2009, 16:45
Ever since my accident at Ruapuna three months ago I had been targeting the fourth round of the New Zealand superbike champs at Manfeild as my return to track day. My left wrist (which I had broken in 6 places) was originally supposed to have been cast and metal free for 5 weeks leading up to Manfeild, but the Dr insisted on leaving it to together for another 2 weeks. This only left 2 and a half weeks to get back to race strength for Manfeild.
I arrived at the track on Friday to overcast skies, but the forecasters assured us it would remain dry. They were proven wrong at around 1030 when the heavens opened. It looked like it wouldn’t be a long shower so I kept the slicks on and waited for it to clear out. Every time the track started to dry a little another shower would come through and we would be back to square one.
After a lot of waiting I finally decided to throw the wets on and go out for a few laps. I was a little nervous, being the first time back on the bike in nearly three months and with a left arm that was only 60% fit you could understand me being very slow. At the end of the day I had been out for three sessions and did about 25 laps in total. Things felt quite good to be honest, I was just happy to be back out there, even though I was going very slowly!
Saturday dawned and this time the forecasters had got it right for a change. It was quite a crisp morning but the sun was up and the temperature had risen to 19 by the time our first practice session came around. My wrist felt ok yesterday in the rain, but the dry would be a completely different story. I went out on some quite old tyres and did two four lap stints. I was consistent in going faster, starting off in the 1.24’s and by the end of the session had reduced this to 1.19.4. Just over four seconds off my best time around here (1.15.2) but I wasn’t too concerned about the lap times, more about my arm and that felt good! I was placed 9th out of the 12 riders in the class which is where I was expecting to be for most of the weekend taking into account my lack of race fitness.
I put a new set of tyres on for the qualifying session and I instantly knew that these were a big improvement over the previous set. Again I did four laps and came into the pits to see my times. I saw a 1.17.7 on the timing screen but knew I could improve on this, hopefully by about a second were my thoughts. I did another five flying laps and managed to get down to a 1.17.0. I came in before the session ended wanting to conserve my limited energy for the race. My hand was starting to feel the strain of the 15 clutch movements every lap so this was starting to be a bit of a concern. Again I finished the session 9th which put me at the head of the third row. I was unsure how my personal fitness and my wrist/hand strength would hold out for the 9 lap race, so I was aiming to beat the three riders I had qualified ahead of and take whatever other opportunities may be presented.
The 125 race was called up and after one warm up lap we were gridded up and ready for the lights to go out. I got an absolutely horrible start, the three months of no racing really showed up and I was second to last going into the first corner. I settled into the first few corners still being a bit tentative on the throttle but quite relaxed about the situation. Coming into the hairpin on the first lap I see James McKay doing a good superman impression which was slightly unnerving but I quickly focussed back on the rider immediately in front of me (Colin) and set about catching and then passing him.
For the first two laps I didn’t make much headroom, he was riding a very good pace and I had to push harder than I thought I would. On lap four he managed a good pass on Eric and I quickly followed suit. By now I was comfortably into the low 1:16’s and we both were gaining on the two riders ahead of us, although still 10 or so bike lengths behind. On lap 5 I dived up the inside of Colin into turn one and set about catching both Gordon and Jaden.
They were still just over one second ahead of me and with only five laps left I had to put in some good laps. I reeled out a string of low 1.16 laps and had got onto the back of them on the second to last lap. I came across the line for the white flag and knew it was now or never. Gordon decided to stick his wheel up the inside of turn one and I decided to follow suit, one down, one to go. I got a good run through splash and dived up the inside of Gordon going into the hairpin. This compromised my drive out onto the straight and he came roaring past me into Higgins. This gave me one last chance to pass him. I got good drive onto the back straight and pulled up along side him. He was covering the inside line into the final turn so it gave me no option but to take the outside. I was very determined to not let him beat me, so I just made sure I was later on the brakes. I went in harder and faster than I had all race and made it to the apex first, trailing the brakes the whole way in. I managed to hold my line and get good drive to the finish line, eventually beating Gordon by 0.4s, I also set my fastest lap of 1.15.8. I wasn’t sure till I got back to the pits what my placing was, but I was ecstatic to learn I had placed 5th. A crash and a mechanical had put two other riders out and I had been the benefactor from this.
So the first day had been good, I knew I still had a lot of improving to do though. I was quite concerned about my wrist/hand too; it was showing signs of swelling and fatigue. A prolonged icing that night helped a little but it was still feeling a bit of strain after the 20+ laps I had done that day.
Sunday was again a beautiful but crisp morning, but the temperature was soon up to levels that are conductive for quick lap times. I sat out the 3 lap morning scrub in session to try and save my wrist for the two 10 lap races later in the day. I had a lot to live up to after the previous days result and the nerves were setting in a little leading up to the race.
I again took my grid position at the head of row three and waited for the lights to go out. This time I got a slightly better start but was still back in tenth at the conclusion of the first lap. I was right behind Gordon on the second lap and could see Eric and Jaden in front of him. I knew I had to get in front of him quickly if I was to have a chance of getting a decent result. I passed him going into turn one and tried to focus on the riders in front of me. He wasn’t going to let me get away that easy and we had a bit of a tussle for the next 2 or 3 laps. This however, slowed both of us down and let the others in front make a bit of a break. By the fourth lap I had made a break on Gordon but Jaden had also made a 2.5 second break on me.
It was a quiet next couple of laps until I saw Eric have a moment and loose a lot of ground. Jaden passed him and I had closed right up on him. There were only 3 laps left so I didn’t have much time to make my move. On lap 9 I had reeled Eric in and was ready to try a pass. I had a go around the outside at the hairpin but didn’t want to compromise my drive onto the straight too much so tucked into his slipstream. We were side by side going into Higgins and he led onto the back straight. I was right in his slipstream again and this time I knew I was stronger into the final corner and I went up the inside of him. I led him across the line for the white flag by 0.3s but now had Jaden in my sights also. I kept pushing and was gaining on him but the 1.3s gap was too far to bridge in one lap and I had to settle for 8th place.
I had improved on my fastest lap from the first race down to 1.15.6 but my times were very inconsistent. A little bit frustrating but putting it in perspective the other guys have already had the first three rounds of very hard and close racing to get their race fitness to its peak. So it still wasn’t too bad an effort. To add to this my hand and wrist were giving me some issues still, so the remaining 10 lap race would be a bit of a struggle.
As with the whole weekend I didn’t make any changes to my bike for the final race at all, just fuelled her up and waited for our race call up. This time I got a much better start off the line, mixing it up with the front runners down into turn one but again my lack of racing showed and I was a bit hesitant into turn one and relegated to 8th. Later that lap Cam Jones (who got an absolutely horrible start) came flying past and try as I might, I couldn’t keep his pace. I was however tagged right onto the group of Gordon, Eric and Jaden.
I arrived at the track on Friday to overcast skies, but the forecasters assured us it would remain dry. They were proven wrong at around 1030 when the heavens opened. It looked like it wouldn’t be a long shower so I kept the slicks on and waited for it to clear out. Every time the track started to dry a little another shower would come through and we would be back to square one.
After a lot of waiting I finally decided to throw the wets on and go out for a few laps. I was a little nervous, being the first time back on the bike in nearly three months and with a left arm that was only 60% fit you could understand me being very slow. At the end of the day I had been out for three sessions and did about 25 laps in total. Things felt quite good to be honest, I was just happy to be back out there, even though I was going very slowly!
Saturday dawned and this time the forecasters had got it right for a change. It was quite a crisp morning but the sun was up and the temperature had risen to 19 by the time our first practice session came around. My wrist felt ok yesterday in the rain, but the dry would be a completely different story. I went out on some quite old tyres and did two four lap stints. I was consistent in going faster, starting off in the 1.24’s and by the end of the session had reduced this to 1.19.4. Just over four seconds off my best time around here (1.15.2) but I wasn’t too concerned about the lap times, more about my arm and that felt good! I was placed 9th out of the 12 riders in the class which is where I was expecting to be for most of the weekend taking into account my lack of race fitness.
I put a new set of tyres on for the qualifying session and I instantly knew that these were a big improvement over the previous set. Again I did four laps and came into the pits to see my times. I saw a 1.17.7 on the timing screen but knew I could improve on this, hopefully by about a second were my thoughts. I did another five flying laps and managed to get down to a 1.17.0. I came in before the session ended wanting to conserve my limited energy for the race. My hand was starting to feel the strain of the 15 clutch movements every lap so this was starting to be a bit of a concern. Again I finished the session 9th which put me at the head of the third row. I was unsure how my personal fitness and my wrist/hand strength would hold out for the 9 lap race, so I was aiming to beat the three riders I had qualified ahead of and take whatever other opportunities may be presented.
The 125 race was called up and after one warm up lap we were gridded up and ready for the lights to go out. I got an absolutely horrible start, the three months of no racing really showed up and I was second to last going into the first corner. I settled into the first few corners still being a bit tentative on the throttle but quite relaxed about the situation. Coming into the hairpin on the first lap I see James McKay doing a good superman impression which was slightly unnerving but I quickly focussed back on the rider immediately in front of me (Colin) and set about catching and then passing him.
For the first two laps I didn’t make much headroom, he was riding a very good pace and I had to push harder than I thought I would. On lap four he managed a good pass on Eric and I quickly followed suit. By now I was comfortably into the low 1:16’s and we both were gaining on the two riders ahead of us, although still 10 or so bike lengths behind. On lap 5 I dived up the inside of Colin into turn one and set about catching both Gordon and Jaden.
They were still just over one second ahead of me and with only five laps left I had to put in some good laps. I reeled out a string of low 1.16 laps and had got onto the back of them on the second to last lap. I came across the line for the white flag and knew it was now or never. Gordon decided to stick his wheel up the inside of turn one and I decided to follow suit, one down, one to go. I got a good run through splash and dived up the inside of Gordon going into the hairpin. This compromised my drive out onto the straight and he came roaring past me into Higgins. This gave me one last chance to pass him. I got good drive onto the back straight and pulled up along side him. He was covering the inside line into the final turn so it gave me no option but to take the outside. I was very determined to not let him beat me, so I just made sure I was later on the brakes. I went in harder and faster than I had all race and made it to the apex first, trailing the brakes the whole way in. I managed to hold my line and get good drive to the finish line, eventually beating Gordon by 0.4s, I also set my fastest lap of 1.15.8. I wasn’t sure till I got back to the pits what my placing was, but I was ecstatic to learn I had placed 5th. A crash and a mechanical had put two other riders out and I had been the benefactor from this.
So the first day had been good, I knew I still had a lot of improving to do though. I was quite concerned about my wrist/hand too; it was showing signs of swelling and fatigue. A prolonged icing that night helped a little but it was still feeling a bit of strain after the 20+ laps I had done that day.
Sunday was again a beautiful but crisp morning, but the temperature was soon up to levels that are conductive for quick lap times. I sat out the 3 lap morning scrub in session to try and save my wrist for the two 10 lap races later in the day. I had a lot to live up to after the previous days result and the nerves were setting in a little leading up to the race.
I again took my grid position at the head of row three and waited for the lights to go out. This time I got a slightly better start but was still back in tenth at the conclusion of the first lap. I was right behind Gordon on the second lap and could see Eric and Jaden in front of him. I knew I had to get in front of him quickly if I was to have a chance of getting a decent result. I passed him going into turn one and tried to focus on the riders in front of me. He wasn’t going to let me get away that easy and we had a bit of a tussle for the next 2 or 3 laps. This however, slowed both of us down and let the others in front make a bit of a break. By the fourth lap I had made a break on Gordon but Jaden had also made a 2.5 second break on me.
It was a quiet next couple of laps until I saw Eric have a moment and loose a lot of ground. Jaden passed him and I had closed right up on him. There were only 3 laps left so I didn’t have much time to make my move. On lap 9 I had reeled Eric in and was ready to try a pass. I had a go around the outside at the hairpin but didn’t want to compromise my drive onto the straight too much so tucked into his slipstream. We were side by side going into Higgins and he led onto the back straight. I was right in his slipstream again and this time I knew I was stronger into the final corner and I went up the inside of him. I led him across the line for the white flag by 0.3s but now had Jaden in my sights also. I kept pushing and was gaining on him but the 1.3s gap was too far to bridge in one lap and I had to settle for 8th place.
I had improved on my fastest lap from the first race down to 1.15.6 but my times were very inconsistent. A little bit frustrating but putting it in perspective the other guys have already had the first three rounds of very hard and close racing to get their race fitness to its peak. So it still wasn’t too bad an effort. To add to this my hand and wrist were giving me some issues still, so the remaining 10 lap race would be a bit of a struggle.
As with the whole weekend I didn’t make any changes to my bike for the final race at all, just fuelled her up and waited for our race call up. This time I got a much better start off the line, mixing it up with the front runners down into turn one but again my lack of racing showed and I was a bit hesitant into turn one and relegated to 8th. Later that lap Cam Jones (who got an absolutely horrible start) came flying past and try as I might, I couldn’t keep his pace. I was however tagged right onto the group of Gordon, Eric and Jaden.