Shane - Superlite (#43)

The weather reports for the Sunday were looking like it would be appalling weather to race in, but thankfully the weather a mind of it's own and doesn't listen to the weather reporters.

The usual pre-race routine went out the window because my wife and I went and stayed with her sister over near Miranda. It's closer to Hampton Downs than Hamilton is, but not by much. It was, however, a great chance to catch up with them and our gorgeous nieces and nephew again. I was very disappointed that I wasn't able to go to the Rugby on Saturday night but that was actually a good thing as I'd probably end up celebrating the Chiefs winning the cup again and not be able to drive or ride the next day. As it was we had a few quiet ones with the lounge full of people in front of the tv.

Sunday morning I was reluctant to get out of bed due to forgetting the affect Bourbon has on my stomach. I only had 2 small ones with lots of L&P but even that upsets things so I wasn't enthusiastic about doing anything. Not to mention the bruised shin from where I whacked the draw bar on the trailer in the dark. The morning view out of the inlaws kitchen window over the Firth of Thames is gorgeous and makes up for it though and it was bone dry outside so I wasn't going to need the wets for qualifying.

Hitting the road we just followed the signs (choice was Auckland or Mercer - we chose Mercer) rather than getting onto SH2 then SH1. That was a learning experience. Koheroa Rd isn't all that trailer friendly but thankfully breakfast was waiting at the other end. It wouldn't be a race day without a McMuffin stuffed with Hash Brown, not to mention getting caffeine for my wife.

Pulling into the pits I park up outside shed #6 and go to sign in before doing anything else. I come out and Gary tells me I'm in shed 12 so move the car, forgetting that I'd taken my gear bag out of the car to get my race licence out. A minute later Gary turns up lugging my gear bag at shed 12.

Because the weather forecasts kept saying it was going to rain and I kept looking out the window thinking it wasn't I'd decided to go half way and change the front wheel to a wet and leave the rear as a slick, that way I only had to change one wheel. It turned out I should've just left the slick on the front but hindsight is a bitch like that. After changing it back and getting the tyre warmer on it I went for a wander as I'd offered to chalk the start grid numbers so there wouldn't be any mistakes. Unfortunately, I'd told Shayne to bring some chalk and he thought he'd told me to bring it meaning we didn't have any. As it turns out it would've saved some confusion for people at the start of races.

After Riders Briefing the first on track was the Junior Practice/Qualifying so I got into my gear and got ready. For some reason there was a delay and we weren't called up until around 9:00am so I'd been wandering around getting all nervous. Waiting sucks, I hate waiting and because we hadn't been able to follow my usual routine for a race day I was feeling unsettled and nervous already so the delay wasn't helping at all although I knew I'd be fine once I got out there and started putting in some laps.

Finally we were sent out and somehow I happened to be first down the slip road, something I'm not accustomed to. However, I quickly put it out of my mind knowing the fast guys would hurry up and bugger off and for once I wouldn't have to watch out for people taking the first 2-3 laps very slowly.

Winding up to turn 2 and holy crap, the drifters had been out there. The braking area was black and I could see lots of crap offline. Usually rubber down is a good thing but because the drifters put it down in really thick lines it doesn't offer much grip, especially when cold.

Turns 2 and 3 were the worst affected, although if you got wide on turn six you'd be upside down in the sand so fast it's not funny.

I spent the entire session freaking out going into turn 2 because I couldn't see the track surface and my braking marker as they were underneath all of that rubber. On top of that I was trying to squeeze one last day out of the slicks but they were well and truly past their best so the bike was squirming and wriggling and generally feeling less than secure. Needless to say my qualifying time wasn't spectacular, placing me 9th, next to the the inside wall on the third row.

For this round I'd cross entered into another class to get some more track time so I had another Qualifying session after a short break.

In the second qualifying I already had my eye in, I just needed to start trusting the surface under brakes at turn 2. I got in a couple of good laps and started to closing on Greg Cornwell on a Ducati 999. Driving hard out of turn 4 I suddenly see Greg coming backwards towards me at a hell of a rate of knots as he's missed changing up and it's refusing to grab any gear at all, forcing me to get out of the throttle and grab the brakes, a situation I wasn't ready for and I end up over the front of the bike looking down at my front tyre. Thankfully I was drifting to the side so between that and getting on the brakes I missed him, but not by much.

Coincidentally I qualified in exactly the same spot as I had for the Junior race so I didn't have to remember to change spots on the grid making life a little less complicated.

The Junior class was the first race so I lined up where I was meant to be, only I'd got it wrong. We were meant to be using the row numbers on the fences instead of the car grids that I was used to so I was actually 2 rows behind where I should've been. However, I wasn't the only one to be in the wrong place. The entire second row were using the car grids as well which led to quite a lot of confusion.

Not only that but as the lights came up Guy Webster on an LC350 came drifting past me to get to the spot in front of me. He stopped, the lights went out, I launched but he bogged down!! For the second time that morning I had to take emergency action, only just missing his left side, although I swear my knee and elbow did touch. Clear of Guy and Stefan De Lacy on an RS250 has also bogged down on the second row, my only option is to throw the bike hard right to avoid him.

So far I'd done all of 20m of racing and been centimetres away from having 3 accidents. Thankfully, once we were clear of the start grid normal racing looniness resumed.

Tyler Firn shot past on my right side literally touching the grass, Tyler benefiting from me having to take evasive action on the start grid and Stefan De Lacy came past on the left going hard for the outside line around turn 1. Turn 2 I was up the inside of Tyler even though, at this point, my nerves were a bit frayed. Slotting in behind David Smith on a ZXR450 I started to settle down and look for places to pass him, not finding one until lap 2.

After I was past David there was a bit of a gap to Leelind Bennett on an FZR400 so I got on with the job and went after him, over cooking it into turn 1 by a long way and losing quite a lot of ground on him. Putting that wee incident aside I got it together again and chased hard, clawing back the gap until I overshot at turn 6, ending up on the wrong side of the huge black tyre marks amongst all the crap and had to lose a whole lot of speed and carefully get back onto the clean inside half of the corner. Unfortunately by this time I was too far behind to make up the gap so ended up finishing behind Leelind.

Over enthusiasm, the cold track and not being able to brake while leaning over due to tyre wear were the main problems in race 1. On reflection it was looking like I was just lucky to make it to the end of the first lap let alone complete a full days racing.

For my second race it was the first for the class I'd cross entered into. Having since cleared up where I was meant to start I lined up in the correct place. Unfortunately, all of row 2 lined up in the wrong place, right beside me. All except for Andy Harper who was signalling to me that I was in his spot but I was trying to signal to him row 2 was actually in front of me and empty. We didn't have any time to sort it out though as the lights came up and we took off. Not that it matter because his RSV absolutely blew past me at a rate of knots well before turn 1, as did everyone else because I was on the smallest bike in the field giving away at least 40 horsepower to the next smallest.

Turn 2 I'm not able to get to the inside of Ray Cox so I go around the outside, holding my breath because of all the crap lying around off line. Past him and I'm hard on the throttle to try and drive up the right side of Greg Cornwell but the big Ducati has enough power to come back. Out onto the straights and everyone powers away from me although by turn 3 I'm all over the back of Greg again as we watch Andy Harper create a big cloud of dust in the sand pit. However, now we both have to deal with Tony Rowland who overshoots turn 4 letting me get past both of them.

Driving out of turn 4 half way up the hill and I get the fright of my life as Tony comes past me on one wheel, the bike around 45 degrees and suddenly kicks to almost vertical making me get out of the throttle and throw it hard right to avoid the ensuing crash. Some how he gathers it back together, gets the front wheel down but over shots turn 5 so I get the hell out of there and try to put as much space between me and him as I can.

Into turn 6 and Greg dives up the inside of me hanging on long enough to get back on the gas and put 100m on me down on the straight. I catch back up to him only to have Tony Rowland come past us again. Once again he over shoots turn 4 but this time both Greg and I are staying the hell out of the way, coming out of turn 4 with Tony only just in front. Into turn 5 and he again makes a mess of it and straight lines off into the sand leaving Greg and I to bolt.

I spend the rest of the race chasing Greg, making up huge amounts of ground in the slow stuff only to lose it all on the straights each lap until the end of the race.

Once the first round of races is completed a second Riders Briefing is called out on the start grid to clear up the confusion over starting positions.

With that sorted we're out for the second Junior race and this time everyone lines up in the correct spots.

The lights come up and we're off!!

I get a decent start but Gerard Pijfers gets a flyer. Stefan De Lacy bogs again and everybody misses him. Blair Lambarth only just manages to get past me but I'm up the inside of him into turn 2 again. Soon I'm right behind Leelind Bennett and as we charge out of turn 6 Gerard Pijfers is slowing with his hand in the air, the RGV seizing. We charge past him and I aim to out brake Leelind into turn 1. However, due to the tyre wear I can't turn and brake and end up going straight ahead, 20m offline so Leelind keeps the spot. I chase him down but this time we've both got Ryan Firn to deal with at turn 1. Both Leelind and I go for the outside line and both end up out braking ourselves, pushing 20m wide of the right line. We both deal with Ryan, Leelind in turn 2 and me in turn 4. I chase Leelind again but he starts to get his head down and because I'm already sliding around more than I'm comfortable with he's able to gap me by the end of the race.

Unfortunately due to the Supplementary Regs I have to drop the other class and only race in Junior. The choice was a tee shirt or a refund and seeing as my wife didn't want a tee shirt I end up getting my $20 back.

The final race for me is the last Junior one. I decide to take it easy and finish because the tyres are knackered so I'm not really able to push as hard as I'd like.

Lining up on the grid I get a good launch but Tyler Firn got a better one. I get past him again and decide to see if I can chase down Leelind again but after a lap and half I'm not making any impression and end up having a quiet race to the end.

Because the Junior race was the first up we were out of there early, pulling into the drive a couple of hours earlier than anticipated.

The Hamilton MCC did well with this series although there were hiccups with the second round. However, it's a learning experience for them and I'm sure they'll put those lessons to good use and improve things for next year with a planned three round Winter Series. The meetings were low stress with the sign in etc all well organised and it was good to see so many new faces around the paddock.

I'd like to thank

• my wife for being pit crew for the day
• all of Hamilton MCC for the great little series
• Colleen and the others from AMCC that pitched in and helped out with this series
• Stefan @ DL Consulting
• Allan at Grey Street Motors
• Tony, Diane, Boaz and Eve for looking after my bike