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Shane - Superlite (#43)

HMCC R3 Shoei Winter Series @ Hampton Downs

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It seemed like forever since I was last racing and thinking about it this would be only the second full race day (provided nothing stopped me from finishing the day) in a year.

I had a list of things to do to the bike but due to real life stuff the priority of that list dropped until I forgot what I'd done with it. I'd definitely changed the oil and filter and lock wired everything back up so the only thing I really needed to do was clean the brake pistons. It's a job I hate but it's necessary.

Instead of the usual soapy water and tooth brush I'd decided to try out something I'd heard about, using a small steam cleaner. The brake system gets hot enough that the heat from the steam won't hurt anything and the steam cleaners pressure isn't high enough to blow past any seals so it seems like an ideal way to clean them. Steam to heat and loosen stuff up followed by soapy water and tooth brush worked brilliantly. Only brake cleaner does it quicker but that dries out the seals and can damage them.

I forget to set the sag and can't be bothered as I'm just looking to ease into things and finish the day.

For Qualifying our timing is out a little and I'm rolling out of the pits last with nobody else in sight. Everything feels comfortable and familiar as I'm rolling around the track checking it out. I gradually up the pace, waiting for the rest of the pack to come past me. Eventually Nathan Jane, Gerard Pijfers and Kerry Chapman ease past me and slowly gap me, little by little. I let them go, content just to keep riding my own ride and gradually upping the speed until I was doing a comfortable pace. By the time the chequered flag comes out I'm surprised only those three came past me and I didn't expect too much but after the second part of the Intermediate practice is done I'm sitting 15th on the grid out of 26, which is a bit further forward than I thought I'd be.

Rolling out of the pits for the first race I'm one of the last away, accelerating and braking all the way around to the start/finish straight. Rolling up to the grid most are in place already. I'm rolling along a line that takes me over every spot second in from the outside, stopping at the first empty one. Checking where I am I see I'm two rows back from my spot but there appears to be a Triumph Thruxton in my spot (a Triumph Thruxton complete with number plate and tail lights because it's a road bike). The grid marshall is already walking off the side of the track so I'm sitting there thinking "wtf??" but I've already got my head in race mode and I'm not looking to argue so I kick it into gear and wait for the flag to drop.

The flag drops and we're off!! .... except I'm not cos the bike popped out of gear when I released the clutch!! Into gear and taking off I'm dead last into turn 1 and now suitably pissed off at everything. Into turn 2 everybody is weaving around in front of me looking for a gap so I go around the outside of Phil Duthie and John Hegearty. Into turn 5 and John rides right around the outside which gets me out of the throttle, leaving an opening for Phil to power past on the exit. End of the short straight I'm back past Phil under brakes and go the long way around John past the pit entrance.

Charging through turn 1 I've got Malcolm Pearce, Jase Augustine, Aaron Carmichael and Kerry Chapman in front of me. Jase and Kerry get past Malcolm and I'm right behind him in turn 1, riding through a suspicious cloud of smoke coming from his left side pipe. I take a shot at passing Malcolm at turn 2, having to hurriedly back out of the pass as Malcolm is giving that big heavy Thruxton everything, throwing it at corners hard and fast. I blow past Malcolm on the short straight and work on pulling the gap back to Jase.

Quickly catching Jase I take him under brakes into turn 4. Aaron is past Kerry and backs into turn 5 looking alsorts of out of control, but he holds it together and keeps the spot. I power past Kerry and take off after Aaron. Driving hard out of turn 1 I surprise Aaron with a move up the inside at turn 2 which pushed me a little off line but Aaron isn't able to take advantage. Into turn 4 and Kerry Chapman charges up the inside of me. Because of the slight mistake Kerry gets a run on both of us.

Things start to settle down a bit and I just concentrate on gapping those behind me, not even focussing on those in front of me.

Last lap and I see Nathan Jane is down on the exit of turn 4. Crossing the line I've clawed my way back up to 15th from dead last and I had some good little tussles so I'm feeling pleased.

Talking to Malcolm Pearce afterwards he said that someone had stolen his spot so he took the next empty one, which was mine. The grid marshal also said he had the wrong piece of paper so he didn't know who was in the wrong places and had to signal we were all ready.

For race 2 I made sure I got out near the front of the pack and was cruising up to the grid nice and earlier. For some reason I had trouble getting it into neutral and started to panic a little as I didn't want any gearbox problems with rows of bikes behind me. However, the bike went into gear easily and when the flag dropped I got a good, clean start.

Tagging onto the back of the front group I could see Sean Bateman a couple ahead and picked him as my target. Into turn 3 and both John Hegearty and Kerry Chapman went around the outside of me while I got stuck behind another bike. Through turn 4 behind Kerry and here's Gerard Pijfers in the middle of the track trying to get his bike clear. Jacob Stroud was off on the grass after dodging Gerard and was heading back onto the track. Just as he was about to disappear from my vision the back wheel on Jacob's bike stepped sideways. Turns out he high sided on the grass and broke his collar bone. Low speed crashes suck.

Out onto the short straight I blew past Kerry and went after John on the exit of turn 6. I was quickly up behind Jase Augustine and got past him under brakes. Aaron Carmichael was pushing hard, getting it all sideways in a couple of places but managing to hold it together. I went the long way around Aaron up the hill and off in the distance I could see the next rider.

Getting my head down I got close enough to see I was closing in on Sean Bateman. He kept looking back to see where I was and every time he did I was getting closer and closer until I blew past him on the last lap to cross the line in 11th.

Last race I'm around to the grid early again. While we're waiting Gerard Pijfers hand goes up and he starts pushing his bike off the side of the track and isn't able to start. I guess something happened to the bike during the crash in the previous race and it wouldn't run.

The flag goes down and I get the best start of the day, charging through turn 1 without any competition. I'm pushing on much earlier in the race this time and quickly pick up Kerry Chapman, Jase Augustine and Aaron Carmichael and reel in Sean Bateman. By the end of lap two I'm past Sean and working on putting space between us. Every now and then I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of Aaron but he's not getting any closer. Onto the last lap and I'm surprised to see Chris Cain is not far behind me. Seems Aaron overshot turn 5 and Chris snuck past him to claim 11th.

A good, fun day riding. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Summer racing.

Thanks to
  • my wife for not yelling at me too much for racing with titanium bits in me
  • Cherie for all the help in the pits
  • Stefan @ DL Consulting
  • Tony, Diane, Boaz and Eve for looking after my bike
  • Craig @ Grey Street Motors
  • Dusty @ Leda Leathers for the awesome custom race suit
  • Steve @ SPJ Art and Design for painting my helmets
  • Phil Smith for the excellent pics


Click image

Thanks to Phil Smith for the excellent pic






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