As I was 4th in the champ, the decision was made to keep battling away in pre89 junior. As I'd barely ridden the ZX-6r and haven't ridden the CBR400 since PMCC round 2, a practice day was in order. Since I'd finished 0 out of 5 F2 starts, then things could only get better. Since I could only do 2 classes, the brave man in me decided to let Drew's wee bro out on the Kwakker in F1.
Practice day. Good weather, farked by Suzuki crapping itself over 90% of the track. Not getting to grips with the ZX-6r. The CBR400 now feels completely gutless. Still not "feeling" the long track or the bikes. I'm a wee bit despondent.
F2 Qualifying. 2.15 puts me near the back of the grid. Luckily there's very few entries this round so I'm 20th. Oh joy of joy...Clive's wobbling around with a 2.18. Drew asks me stupid questions about "how the bike feels" so I give him equally stupid answers as compared to the post classic bikes, it feels fast and scary.
Posties Qualifying. I come in a ballhair under 2.19 & 15th pos.. I'm feeling slow. Gawd the ZX-6r feels like a touring bike compared to the 400. My hip is making clicking noises from the origami like torture my body has been in. George Gainsford (smelly 2 smoke Kawasaki thing) and Eamon Timms (ZXR450) are my targets today. George is on my radar but no way in hell I'll catch Timmsy. I figure with the way he's riding there's a realistic chance he'll land on his arse over the next couple of rounds.
F2 Race 1. Holy fark....have I launched in 3rd gear or something. I slip the clutch for 50% of the straight. Clive's bike is in front of me but I'm not catching him. I ease off with 2 laps to go as there's a big gap behind me. From following Clive I figure I need to turn the bike harder/faster/more on the slow corners and get on the gas a LOT earlier. Rear tyre feels "slippy". Transition from braking to on the gas feels bloody awful. I arrive back with a laptime just under 2.11. Clive's gained 10s a lap....I think the old fox has been playing with me in practise. Still, I've finished a race.
Posties Race 1. Straight out after F2. Notice how much further back and lower I feel on the 400 compared to the ZX-6. Awsome scrap with Frenchy on Tweety pie. It feels like old times vs Nicky and does my confidence a lot of good. We cock each other up for the whole race and I have to avoid running into the back of him twice on the last lap. Couple of other bikes take advantage of us slowing each other down and pass us last lap. I finish a miserable 16th with a high 2.15, just behind Frenchy...gah. I come back smiling though.
I avoid watching the F1 race as I'll jinx Luke. I near $hit myself when a white muddy bike heads towards our garage but realise it's just Drew pretending he's back on a Ducati.
F2 Race 2. I triple check I'm in first. Then I rock the bike again and check once more. Launch time, a lot more rev's this time......fark...still bloody awful. There's NOTHING at the bottom end. Don't have balls to slip clutch on my new far more powerful bike. Note to self...do some practise launches. I make an aggressive move around the outside of the first corner bus queue but have to squeeze between a wobbly SV650 on my outside.....yikes. Pass another 3 bikes around the outside into T3. I'm sure I've passed Clive. I'm right up Aria's chuff. Not a chance I'll pass her but I'll try and stay with her as she rides pretty smooth. I think on lap 2 or 3 I have an "oh $hit" moment when I hit a false neutral through T3/T4. Nick Prestidge's got my bike back into gear by ramming into the back of me with his 749 thoughI dunno if it was going back to the road rubber (turns out the used slick we'd used in R1 was of 2005 vintage) or Drew's advice of "getting on the gas before turning" but the bike feels transformed. On lap 3 I feel brave enough to attempt stuffing a certain Kevin Waugh up the inside of turn 1. I think this wakes him up though as he starts riding hard and buggers off into the distance. I lose track of Aria towards the last couple of laps and don't fight back on the final corner battle. I'm happy enough to finish 19th with a 2.07.
Posties Race 2. Basically a decent start but the CBR feels lacking. Takes me a lap to get back to whacking on the throttle as there isn't much danger of her stepping out. Riding the 'cane and the ZX-6 has my braking all screwed up. More often than not into T1 and the hairpin on the long track, the bike's arse end is waving in the air and the front tyre is chirping and howling in protest.
As per the ZX-6r, I still haven't got my head back to throwing the bike on the ground. It's not all in my head...after it's big crash the CBR400 is lacking in what little mid-range grunt it used to have. George's 250 was leaving me for dust. The 600 'cane pissed over it on the power and I was hoping the better braking/handling 400 would be good on the long track. I basically don't put a foot wrong in the final race and was gob-smacked to have only pulled a 2.14. Put it this way, I was nearly 2.5s faster on the cane. Even back to last summer's form, there's no way I could pull 2.5 seconds back on the 400.
Conclusion
I'm still at the "waaahfuckmethisisscaryfast" level on the ZX6 although a couple of times on race day I felt the sheer rush that everyone warned me about. As enjoyable as it was, the 'hang off and haul it around' style of riding the hurricane seems to have put me a few steps back for riding the CBR and ZX6 sportsbikes. So in the long term, it makes more sense to ditch the 600 'cane, even though it's faster on the short track. Got some hard decisions to make about whether to continue on the 400, whether to concentrate on the 600 (extra F1 race time wouldn't go amiss), whether to make the 400 faster or whether to ask ozzie to lop a cylinder off the ZX-6. Being totally honest, the jury is still out on whether I'm cut out for F2 although like owning the Ducati, you'd go mad wondering "what if" if you don't try it.
Big uppys to:-
- Drew & Rachael for chauffeuring me around and accommodation.
- Paul and Dianne for gettin the wee CBR running again.
- Luke (& i guess Mikey) for gettin the bikes to the track and doing the tyre thing.
- Martin Peck for letting me stash loads of bike $hit at his place.
- Nick for his continued support...always appreciated.
- Kyle for gettin the 'cane roadbike down to the track.
Big downys to:-
- Air New Zealand - for charging me a fortune to change my flight to one 10 hours earlier...even though I use the cunts every month.
- The Indian Restaurant in Palmy North...easily the worst curry I've had this millennium.
Originally Posted by Kickha
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks