A Podium at Last!

[Clivoris]

"Cut cat" I'm liking it. Awesome approach and skills Racey. Are you and Russell entered in the "Grant Russell Memorial Cup"?

[ajturbo]

DAM YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!
you make me want to get out there again....

SOoooooooooo

badly..

will you STOP writing up these sort of race reports..!!!

well done matey!!!

[Racey Rider]

NoT I! Far to young. have to be over 45 don't you?

[Racey Rider]

Round 4 had a new Michelin tyre on the rear of the KR150, as the Dunlop TT900 was showing chords after the last race day.
The day started with me three points behind Russel who holds 2nd place in the championship. Three points wasn’t impossible to gain was my thoughts, and I felt confident in my ability to at least hold my grasp on Third in the series.

Qualifying gave me an uneasy feeling however. The new Race tyre I had ordered had not yet arrived in the country, so this cheaper ‘Pilot Sporty’ was thrown on for one round. The profile of this tyre was not feeling right to me, and I longed to have my Two and a half year old TT900 back.
The track was dry and I soon fell into a rhythm with a quick commute through the long circuit, interrupted now and again by that awkward hairpin and sweeper over the divot that I still haven’t come to grips with. But 2:32 was as good as I have previously got around the long track so was pleased with that, even though it only put me in 7th place on the grid, with Russel in 6th, and Ryan (the guy right behind me in the champs) in 5th.

Race one
Got a ok start, got ahead of the two guys mentioned, and put my head down to keep it that way. On the last lap I knew Russell was right behind me, but went too slow over the divot sweeper letting him get by. Not wanting it to be over that easily I aimed for a inside pass on the last sweeper before the Chequered flag. I followed Russell in there taking a tighter line, The move was on, (in my mind - just the way I’d seen Rossi do it). The tighter line allowed me to creep up in track position to be almost level with my opponent.
Another couple of feet and I would be able to inforce my position. Russel ofcourse had other ideas, (just as he had seen Rossi do it!), and continued to throw his bike into the apex, shutting the door right infront of me. I had to think fast - Do I keep the throttle open and imagine theres a gap for me (I’m sure Rossi does this), or do I back off, allowing us both to finish the race respectfully rather than in a smoking heap at the side of the track!

Russell 4th - Alex 5th. Dang! BT of 2:29.

Race two
Ok start, and this time a battle with another of the young guys on a RG150, Jeff.
Jeff got past me at my weak point and lead me into the last lap. Though he was six bike lengths ahead, I tried to keep some pressure on him, and was rewarded when he made a mistake at the first hairpin. I got past and lead him down to Higgins sweeper and onto the long track. Things where going well till I hit that far hairpin again. Pushing hard through here I felt the back tyre lose grip, then bite, then let go, then bite and let go. All the time I’m hearing my expansion chamber scraping the ground as I slide round the corner on it. This loses my flow through the corner dramatically and Jeff sails past. Triumphantly he leads me to the finish line, leaving me again in 5th. BT 2:28.
But Russell had a bad run it seems and only finished 8th, so I gained some point on him.

At the end of the day I made an overall gain of 1 point on Russell. So with two rounds to go I am now 2 points away from second place for the series.
But a lot can happen in two rounds.

See you then.
Racey.

Thanks to my supporters
Web Farm
2Day.com
Freeparking.co.nz

[Clivoris]

Choice mate.
Had me on the edge of my seat.

[sinfull]

good read Racey, Best of luck for the next two rounds !

[ajturbo]

so cool to watch matey..!!!!

and another GREAT write-up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Racey Rider]

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

This is how I was feeling 24 hours after the two day race weekend that was Vic club round five.

The Saturday started with some trash talk, making sure Russell knew I was only two points behind him in the battle for 2nd place in the series champs.
Last month my bike ran really well, and since I had done no changes to it, I was disappointed to find it feeling a little dull in qualifying.

The Stupid part was,
I had all the symptoms of the problem right at my finger tips,, but didn’t click to what the problem was.

Riding well - but slow laps times (1:36 put me 9th in a grid of 17.)
No over-rev - (As soon as I hit red line the bike started burbling)
Low barometric presser (affecting the jetting)

Had I clicked my bike was running Too Rich for the days conditions, the weekends outcome could have been different. So not only did I blow a chance to gain points, but I lost points to Ryan who had a cracker of a weekend, and bumped me back into 4th.

That said, I had great fun with some close racing all weekend. I was pleased with my starts, being confident to force my way into better positions in the first corner.

Current Standing’s:
Gareth: 231 points
Russell: 175
Ryan: 172
Alex: 167
Tyler: 134

Last round of the series 17th Oct.

Thanks to my supporters
Web Farm
2Day.com
Freeparking.co.nz

[Racey Rider]

I had been expecting a wet track, and to see what the other riders had to offer in the rain. But Manfield again put on a warm cloudy/sunny day.

Although last month the KR150 had run rich under the days conditions, We didn’t have the same low pressure on this day, so the bike rolled out of the pits un-changed from the previous round. I could feel the difference already after the first warm up lap, the bike was running perfectly under the mornings weather conditions. The track was in great condition ... I had great tyres on .... So now - it was all down to Me!

On lap two I slowed to allow traffic to get well ahead of me, to give room for a run at some ‘hot’ laps. Giving myself time to think about the job that needed to be done. 8 little points between me in 4th place, and Russell in 2nd on the ‘champs’ board. Ryan stuck between us was the ‘wildcard’, I didn’t know if he’d do well again today or not.

I rounded ‘Dunlop’, pinning the throttle wide open, and tuck low on the bike as the start line comes into view. I cross the line and the seconds start to tick. tick .tick. tick.
Into the first corner - Braking late - Braking hard - dropping through the gears - body position - tip the bike in - thinking smooth thoughts - little less brakes - down one more gear - thinking open the throttle early - brakes off/throttle open - exit corner - ..... next one.
Everything felt good, and I was pleased to put in three consecutive laps in the 1:34 range. This put me 5th on a grid of 16 150’s.

Race One:
Got off to a good start and forced myself into third 150 coming out of the first corner. My main competitors were behind me, and I saw no reason to change that! But by half race Ryan was showing his speed again, - past - and started pulling away from me. One more got by, but I was still holding my own against Russell. Last lap - last corner - Chequered flag in front of me - Great I’m going to beat him - But no! Right on the finish line I see Russell’s bike coming past me. He beats me by 0.003 of a second! I was SO ANNOYED!
Got back to my best time of 1:33

Race Two:
Red lights go out - and the 250cc bike right infront of me on the grid decides to pull a big wheelie and flip it’s self before it’s even gone 2 metres. (May have had something to do with rider input, but.... I’ll not be the judge.) I swing sideways to get past him, hoping not to get collected by oncoming racers myself, and drop into about 6th through the first corner. Red flags. Race stopped. Start again.
Another good start, but I soon found the changes I had made between races had not paid off. In qualifying the bike ran great. As the morning warmed, 11am, race one the bike was running just a little rich. So as our 2nd race was to be at 2pm, I thought the day would be hotter still and chose to go down Two jet sizes on the main jet. But with delays, we didn’t get race two till 3pm and the weather was not warmer. This really effected the power of the bike and most of my laps were 1:36’s. 3 seconds a lap down on where I should have been.

So 4th place this year in Streetstocks 150. Disappointing to the competitor within me.
But I guess that just means, I’ll have to come back another year!
Still lots to learn.

Thanks to all those that have shown an interest in my progress.

Thanks to my supporters
Web Farm
2Day.com
Freeparking.co.nz
Heidenau

This has been

Racey Rider

[xr-rider]

well done on your 4th place. i enjoyed the few battles we had this season.

[wharfy]

Good read, and congratulations on the placing !

[Clivoris]

Great read man. I felt like commiserating about your 4th place for a while. Then I remembered that I've probably come 35th. Well done.

[ryanf062]

its a bit of a shame you had problems with your jetting especially with the point so close.its been great racing with you this season.
See you next year.