CHOPPA
17th May 2009, 23:34
Well this might be a bit of a novel as ive been requested by a few people to go into a bit more detail, so here we go....
It was a bit touch and go 'weather' id even go down :baby: I decided to harden up and i set about finding a trailer at around 8pm friday night as id missed the truck to take the bike and with the new edition to the family the transit wasnt gonna be ideal!
Early start! Got up around 4.30 to get loaded up and supposedly get to Taupo on time for a change... It wasnt to be as halfway down i realised id left the key for the gas tank in my van! I eventually got to the track and right on time to get my late entry in and take in a bit of briefing while the boys, frenchy, luke, quasi, jono and drew, in the pits frantically changing my tyres to wets.
Without a minute to spare Luke fired up the Ex Stroud LG superbike and i was off for my first experience on a thou in the wet! I tinkered around for a lap but i was having issues shifting gears so back to the pits where with a quick adjustment to the linkage i was back out on track but it was all looking a bit late as i come around to start the timer on my first qualifying lap the chequered flag came out :doh: so as safely as possible i cut through a bit of traffic and caught up to some guys still on there last lap so i could duck past the finish line 1 more time :spanking: to qualify in third position.
Race 1;
The rain was still falling ever so slightly but the track didnt have too much standing water. I followed Hayden and Glen through turn 1 and desperately tried to get by glen asap, i managed to go around the outside in turn 3 to steal the line into turn 4. Fortunately Hayden hadnt got to far away and i was right on him when he went a bit wide in T7 and ran over a patch. The track had enough grip to still go fairly quick but you had to be ultra carefull with line choice, i had a few hairy moments as i ran over some of the repairs! Hayden had a few checks to see who was behind him so i kept the pressure on and used him to check the grip level, at one stage we both came out of the back hairpin a little to early on the gas and almost highsided in unison! I followed him untill the second to last lap when i saw a bit of a gap into T5 and made the pass stick. It all came down to the last corner, i could hear Hayden trying to come up the inside but i knew it was to hard to get on the gas early and i managed to pick up the win.
Race 2;
This is one of the worst things when your a rider, trying to be a weather man! As i didnt have any spare wheels due to the switch to suzuki i was praying for a bit of rain, no such luck so with about 5 mins to spare it was wheels of and a quick change of tyres! We had the everyone in there helping out there were tyre levers and spanners flying everywhere! Even had Mr Andrew Stroud there fitting wheels and checking pressures :banana: It was all a little bit late though as my class were already on the warm up lap so i was left to start from pit lane.
I think it was a bit of a blessing in disguise though as this turned out to be one of my favourite races ive ever had, I came through the pack and got to battle with guys i never get a chance to see. I was having to make quick passes but they were all safe. The first 2 laps on cold tyres were a bit scary too as the bike was bucking all over the show trying to throw me off! There was never gonna be anyway id catch Hayden but i did the next best thing and got through to 2nd on the second to last lap :second:
LG SUPERBIKE FEATURE;
I really wanted that DVD player! It wasnt to be thou as the fairest way to make this class work and give everyone with a superbike the opportunity to win the prize the prize will be given away at the discretion of the club.
I was a bit of a whimp on the start and didnt give it enough revs, the bike bogged but with a few slips of the clutch i was away! Too little to late though as i got to the first corner in third only to have Ed pass me around the outside and demote me to forth!! I could see Hayden already pulling away so it was desperate times and i put a close move on my team mate and tried to pass phill at the same time, good thing ed was quick with his reactions and managed to avoid me :whistle: i didnt manage to get Phill in the same manouver but i did get him a corner or so later then it was off to catch hayden who had already got himself a handy lead.
I put my head down and pushed fairly hard, the track was cold and still slippery off line but it was quite grippy, i held my breath a few times as the new track crosses to the old running straight through the repair and feeling the bike get loose but the little risks were starting to pay off as i started to reel Hayden in. Our gearing was quite a bit different as Haydens bike would pull much stronger out of the turns but he would have to shift when i could just hold 2nd for most of the lap. I got right on his back wheel and tried to find a way past, he was breaking late and we were running out of laps. I spotted a place i thought would work and made sure id get a good run through turn 2 to make the pass around the outside of turn 3 and have the line for turn 4, the pass worked but he came right back at me out of T5 and it was a bit of a breaking duel into turn 7. Haydens bike snapped sideways under brakes which forced him wide and gave me the line. I knew now with the nature of Taupo it was my race to loose so i just ran good lines and held out for the win which was a bit more satisfying then the overall that i lost on countback as it was the LG feature :first:
Unfortunately i wont be at R2 as i have to have surgery on an old hand injury but in the meantime hopefully i will have some good news to report back from R3 of the Australian Superbike Series
It was a bit touch and go 'weather' id even go down :baby: I decided to harden up and i set about finding a trailer at around 8pm friday night as id missed the truck to take the bike and with the new edition to the family the transit wasnt gonna be ideal!
Early start! Got up around 4.30 to get loaded up and supposedly get to Taupo on time for a change... It wasnt to be as halfway down i realised id left the key for the gas tank in my van! I eventually got to the track and right on time to get my late entry in and take in a bit of briefing while the boys, frenchy, luke, quasi, jono and drew, in the pits frantically changing my tyres to wets.
Without a minute to spare Luke fired up the Ex Stroud LG superbike and i was off for my first experience on a thou in the wet! I tinkered around for a lap but i was having issues shifting gears so back to the pits where with a quick adjustment to the linkage i was back out on track but it was all looking a bit late as i come around to start the timer on my first qualifying lap the chequered flag came out :doh: so as safely as possible i cut through a bit of traffic and caught up to some guys still on there last lap so i could duck past the finish line 1 more time :spanking: to qualify in third position.
Race 1;
The rain was still falling ever so slightly but the track didnt have too much standing water. I followed Hayden and Glen through turn 1 and desperately tried to get by glen asap, i managed to go around the outside in turn 3 to steal the line into turn 4. Fortunately Hayden hadnt got to far away and i was right on him when he went a bit wide in T7 and ran over a patch. The track had enough grip to still go fairly quick but you had to be ultra carefull with line choice, i had a few hairy moments as i ran over some of the repairs! Hayden had a few checks to see who was behind him so i kept the pressure on and used him to check the grip level, at one stage we both came out of the back hairpin a little to early on the gas and almost highsided in unison! I followed him untill the second to last lap when i saw a bit of a gap into T5 and made the pass stick. It all came down to the last corner, i could hear Hayden trying to come up the inside but i knew it was to hard to get on the gas early and i managed to pick up the win.
Race 2;
This is one of the worst things when your a rider, trying to be a weather man! As i didnt have any spare wheels due to the switch to suzuki i was praying for a bit of rain, no such luck so with about 5 mins to spare it was wheels of and a quick change of tyres! We had the everyone in there helping out there were tyre levers and spanners flying everywhere! Even had Mr Andrew Stroud there fitting wheels and checking pressures :banana: It was all a little bit late though as my class were already on the warm up lap so i was left to start from pit lane.
I think it was a bit of a blessing in disguise though as this turned out to be one of my favourite races ive ever had, I came through the pack and got to battle with guys i never get a chance to see. I was having to make quick passes but they were all safe. The first 2 laps on cold tyres were a bit scary too as the bike was bucking all over the show trying to throw me off! There was never gonna be anyway id catch Hayden but i did the next best thing and got through to 2nd on the second to last lap :second:
LG SUPERBIKE FEATURE;
I really wanted that DVD player! It wasnt to be thou as the fairest way to make this class work and give everyone with a superbike the opportunity to win the prize the prize will be given away at the discretion of the club.
I was a bit of a whimp on the start and didnt give it enough revs, the bike bogged but with a few slips of the clutch i was away! Too little to late though as i got to the first corner in third only to have Ed pass me around the outside and demote me to forth!! I could see Hayden already pulling away so it was desperate times and i put a close move on my team mate and tried to pass phill at the same time, good thing ed was quick with his reactions and managed to avoid me :whistle: i didnt manage to get Phill in the same manouver but i did get him a corner or so later then it was off to catch hayden who had already got himself a handy lead.
I put my head down and pushed fairly hard, the track was cold and still slippery off line but it was quite grippy, i held my breath a few times as the new track crosses to the old running straight through the repair and feeling the bike get loose but the little risks were starting to pay off as i started to reel Hayden in. Our gearing was quite a bit different as Haydens bike would pull much stronger out of the turns but he would have to shift when i could just hold 2nd for most of the lap. I got right on his back wheel and tried to find a way past, he was breaking late and we were running out of laps. I spotted a place i thought would work and made sure id get a good run through turn 2 to make the pass around the outside of turn 3 and have the line for turn 4, the pass worked but he came right back at me out of T5 and it was a bit of a breaking duel into turn 7. Haydens bike snapped sideways under brakes which forced him wide and gave me the line. I knew now with the nature of Taupo it was my race to loose so i just ran good lines and held out for the win which was a bit more satisfying then the overall that i lost on countback as it was the LG feature :first:
Unfortunately i wont be at R2 as i have to have surgery on an old hand injury but in the meantime hopefully i will have some good news to report back from R3 of the Australian Superbike Series