ryan at rnd5 racing streetstock150
We went down to Manfeild Friday morning there was snow on the side of the road and it rained most of the way. It wasn’t looking like we were going to be doing the test day. By the time we got to the track it had stopped raining but it was cold and windy. The first thing I did when we got there was have a look at the track. It was more than just wet, some of it was under water and they were also finishing a new rumble strip. They eventually opened the track and charged a half day entry fee once they had pumped out most of the water.
I took it slow for the first few laps due to the new seal on the infield and the amount of water still on the track. The track dried out a bit by our second session and I started going quicker. We put another rear wheel on the bike for the third session with a different size tyre on it (Thanks to Doohan Racing). I couldn’t believe how much difference it made to the handling of the bike it just seemed to go around corners differently and we also had to change the gearing because of the change in diameter.
Saturday was another early start and we got to the track about 7.30. There was barely any pit spaces left by then, so we ended up on a concrete pad down the far end of the pits which turned out to be a pretty good spot. We were up first for qualifying which meant the track was going to be damp and greasy. I was happy with my qualifying time of 1.33.4 which got me 4th out of the 150s but knew I could improve on that time if I change my line through Dunlop.
In race one the grid positions weren’t were I thought they were so I had to move my bike around to were I was meant to be. The lights went out and we were off I past some 250s and even some of the 125s it was an exiting first corner with the 125s buzzing back past and every one else bunching up I got a good line out and through the esses but by the time I got to the hair pin there was a red flag out. I expected there to have been a crash on the first corner but I couldn’t see anything there. Back at the pits we found out that they decided it was too dangerous even though every one got through it cleanly so for the restart we were to go off the second set off lights. It wasn’t nearly as good a start for me but I still got to the first corner in about 5th the field didn’t spread out very quickly so there was still a big bunch by the time we got to Higgins. I started trying new lines through Dunlop closely watching how other people went through it and it was quite surprising how many ways you can take the corner and still be fast. I got my lap times down to 1.32s beating my personal best and finished fourth.
On Sunday we got to the track even earlier than Saturday to try to reclaim out pit space.
They had changed the grid layout which I didn’t realize until I was coming up to what I thought was my place and it had a different number on it. I was really tense coming up to the first corner but it was another clean first lap for everyone. The race seemed to go on and on, it’s the firs time I’ve just wanted the race to end. I heard a 125gp bike coming up behind me on about the sixth lap so took the esses wide to avoid being taken out but I quickly realized it was a stupid thing to do when a 150 went past to. I managed to get him back on Higgins and finished with another 4th.
Finally the last race. It was starting to get hotter and the track had good grip. The first part off the race went well and I thought I was putting some good lap times in. after following a bike for a couple of laps I found his weakest corner to be Higgins so I made my move around the out side but he changed his line and I was all but heading for the grass. I managed to stay on the track but a move like that I did not want to repeat so I thought I would play it safe and stay behind unless there was a clearly easy pass. A combination of the near miss and a long weekend was my excuse for letting another two people past after that which pushed me down to 6th.
It’s been a great season so far and with one round to go I think I can hold 3rd place for the championship.
Thank you to my sponsors Bay Cad Services, Autocycle refinisher (Nice website by the way), Burrell signs and Quality auto machinists. And a very special thanks to Doohan racing who have helped us constantly improving the bike and my riding, even this weekend when they were having problems. Without them I probably would have still been seizing the bike every race.
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Originally Posted by Racey Rider
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