We came, we saw, we fell off!

[SWERVE]

Well here goes..... The collective of OS Racing set off at a "sparrows fart" on friday to catch the 10.00am ferry good journey up(quite wet) booked into the Chancellor motel in palmy (cheers for the recomendation CHOPPA) Got to the track just as it closed for the day.
Did a walk round using some of the info you guys gave me on this site (some of it made sense cheers) not impressed with the water leaching thru halfway up banking and the "dodgy looking" seal repairs thru splash, but otherwise looked pretty cool
Thanks to Pete Jones for the space in scrutineering shed all set up and ready to go............ Ants was out first on the 150.... thought he was taking things a bit easy but turns out bike wouldnt rev above 9k.so he came in. By the time we had fixed it (broken ign wire) the session was over and he had a qual time of **** so last on the grid.
Me next (merv) in F2 my only goal this weekend was to match (or poss beat WHARFY) as i have been following his progress on mylaps and we are on same bike. Did a consistant but pretty slow qual session and qual on the last row.
Pete was soon out on the SV...... i was still checking over the 150 in the pits when in walked Ants..i said "hows pete doin" dont know he said he is parked up at T1. Turns out he ran out of track on the exit and dumped in the gravel(or should i say stones). this was on lap 2 so a very slow qual for him too.... last row too I was up again fo F1....... lap 4 i think decided to follow Petes example and have a lay down at T1... should have just "decked it into corner and prayed" but thought i would just run onto grass and stop Oh NO front slid on grass dug into stones and i landed on my head (as photos prove) couldnt pick bike from its resting place so watched the session from the tyres. thanks to photographer on T1 for helping me to pick up bike CHEERS)

Race 1 SAT. Ants got a brilliant start from the back, nearly hit a bike that had missed a gear but survived and went into first corner mid-pack....red flags Lets do it again. Another good start and mid pack again. This was his first high speed laps of the track but he seemed to be getting the hang of it ...lots of battles throughout the race and a very good 7th. he was not happy as he knew that he should have been at least on the 2nd row but had to accept that "shit happens" lapping around the 1:34 mark.
Pete got a bit fazed by the "mayhem" at first corner: (this is only his 5th meeting) but steadily started to work his way thru (first high speed laps too) Good solid ride no real dramas and a 7th in Clubmans lapping around 1:23/4.
Final race on sat saw me in F2 (as hadnt qual for F1) Got a great start wheel up in 1st-2nd and just behind Wharfy into T1. The race saw him get faster and me remain about the same. Could feel a strange vibration through back end of bike towards the end of race. finshed about 3 places up from starting poss and lapping around 1:19.
Upon inspection found that my chain (which is a new type that im trying for a sponser) was falling apart and there were about 5/6 rollers missing. BUGGAR Some furious searching found a new RK replacement from Kirk Pritchard Thanks bud.
So what a start to the weekend 3 last row quals 2 crashed bikes and a broken chain............. Time for a beer.................... TBC

[k14]

Good work man. Sounds like an eventful weekend! No worries about the chain, hope it lasts longer than the last one!

[Deano]

Hey nice to catch up with you in the pits. Good effort from you guys making the trip up.

[chanceyy]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh so it was you guys keeping us on crash busy for the weekend ..

Great write up & there is always next time

[Clivoris]

You bloody tease. Where's the rest?
Stoked you made the effort to come up and try the water mate, despite the bad luck. I gotta get down to Ruapuna sometime. I've heard very good things.

[wharfy]

Me next (merv) in F2 my only goal this weekend was to match (or poss beat WHARFY) as i have been following his progress on mylaps and we are on same bike.

Glad I'm good for something !!!

Now tell us the rest of the story

[SWERVE]

OK Part 2
After a Sat night analysing the day and swapping ideas on corners etc as well as the future of OS Racing we retired to bed .........woke up to a very wet Palmy Nth.
A quick dash to the track with the intention of wet tyre changing was short lived when as we turned of the main road the roads were dry and so was the track HOORAH.
Ants was first up again....... he really got his starts nailed this weekend and flew past the main field into turn one..would have got further up if he hadnt taken avoiding action to miss a rider who decided to close his visor at the end of pit wall(with his throtle hand!!!!) another hard fought race with many battles resulted in another 7th and lap time of 1:33.
After a visit to the office i found out that because i & a few others had not qual for our respective classes that we could start at the back of clubmans for an extra race. The sheet said that there was to be a delayed start for us after clubbies. However after lining up we were beckoned to start at back of clubmans. Good fun weaving in and out of traffic for first couple of laps then got a clear track and decided to try and smooth myself out. Felt comfortable and finished first home of the "guests" in the class.
Pete came in after the race with a big grin thinking that he had managed to hold me off (still thought we had a delayed start) only when i told him that i had overtaken him before first corner that the grin dissapered. He had a good battle all race and finshed 5th little bit off his times now around low 22.s.
F2 came and went without any dramas again made up a few places on start position cant recall any noteworthy moments.

Ants went and had a talk to some of the other riders about ways to improve as he was out-dragging them on the straights and out-braking into corners but not carring enough corner and exit speed. thanks for the advice guys (especially Harvd)
Race 2 saw another great start........ however this time he started to follow riders for a lap and learn lines and speed into corner and realised that he could pass them straight after exit rather than halfway or more down the straights .He was on a mission Up into 5th with 3 laps to go he stole 4th on the back straight only to lose it at Dunlop........ so he followed the guy for 2 laps checking out his lines.then on the last lap he ran into corner before back straight right on the guys tailpiece got on the gas early and passed him on exit and proceeded to pull a gap took probebly his best approach at Dunlop all weekend and took a 4th place (from a back row start) best lap time 1:30 what an improvement. His riding style had improved his lap times had fallen and he came in with the BIGGEST GRIN. Im very proud.
Another clubman race came and went very similar to the last both me and pete improving. Pete got into the 1;21...... i concentrated on my lines etc because i wanted to beat Wharfy in the last F2 race.
F2. Started at the back.......locked wharfies tailpipe into the radar......... launch successful...right on wharfies tail into T1 had a look around the outside but too much traffic. Followed for a lap took him on haipin i think only to lose it back within a lap. Eventually taking him again a few laps later.managed to not see him again for a few laps so thought i must be lapping faster so set sights on guys infront....managed a couple then about 2 laps from the end i was lining up (#145 i think) for a run around the out side at Dunlop so i could cut in on exit to go under him.......... As i ran high beside him along came the leader (Mr Skatchil) who took the inside line and gave other rider a rather large bump which gave me nowhere to go except the grass. knowing that if i touched the brakes it would be over instantly i decided to hang on keep it straight and let the gravel take the sting out.WRONG........... Kept it upright but gravel didnt take out any sting so when i hit grass on the other side (still moving bloody fast) and saw the tyres only metres away i decided to "abort mission" touch of front brake to tuck front gave the bike a good push to the right and jumped to the left. Bike buried itself under the tyres.and i hit the tyres backwards about halfway up.
Stood up..all still working ..over the tyres... spectator.
A miracle no injuries and bike only had a few more sratches
So Wharfy i managed to get infront but couldnt deliver the final result ..but a very low 1:17 so not all bad.
Thanks everyone for a great weekend
Vic Club - for the meeting
Pete (rider & sponsor) - for financing most of the trip
P. Jones and Sth Is riders- for pit space & advice
Kirk (i won on my 1st meeting)Pritchard - for the chain
Chancellor Hotel - great accomodation
Choppa - for the hotel recommendation
All you guys who raced - for just being there
Deano- Sinfull - for coming and introducing yourselves (good to see ya)
Wharfy - for being a great TARGET
Ants - for making me very proud...WELL DONE SON
The future of OS Racing was discussed on sat nite and we will be back up NTH more often next season (watch this space)
THANKS ALL FOR AN AWESOME WEEKEND

[Sketchy_Racer]

Hey Swerve,

Mate I am so sorry for being the instigator of your off on Dunlop, I feel awful! It was a sticky situation I really did have no where to go! I got to see Clive (#145) and apologise about giving him a bunt, but had no idea you had run off the track for it!

I hope the damage was minimal, and am glad to hear you were ok!

-Glen

[wharfy]

F2. Started at the back.......locked wharfies tailpipe into the radar......... launch successful...right on wharfies tail into T1 had a look around the outside but too much traffic. Followed for a lap took him on haipin i think only to lose it back within a lap. Eventually taking him again a few laps later.managed to not see him again for a few laps so thought i must be lapping faster so set sights on guys infront....managed a couple then about 2 laps from the end i was lining up (#145 i think) for a run around the out side at Dunlop so i could cut in on exit to go under him.......... As i ran high beside him along came the leader (Mr Skatchil) who took the inside line and gave other rider a rather large bump which gave me nowhere to go except the grass. knowing that if i touched the brakes it would be over instantly i decided to hang on keep it straight and let the gravel take the sting out.WRONG........... Kept it upright but gravel didnt take out any sting so when i hit grass on the other side (still moving bloody fast) and saw the tyres only metres away i decided to "abort mission" touch of front brake to tuck front gave the bike a good push to the right and jumped to the left. Bike buried itself under the tyres.and i hit the tyres backwards about halfway up.
Stood up..all still working ..over the tyres... spectator.
A miracle no injuries and bike only had a few more sratches
So Wharfy i managed to get infront but couldnt deliver the final result ..but a very low 1:17 so not all bad.
Thanks everyone for a great weekend
Vic Club - for the meeting
Pete (rider & sponsor) - for financing most of the trip
P. Jones and Sth Is riders- for pit space & advice
Kirk (i won on my 1st meeting)Pritchard - for the chain
Chancellor Hotel - great accomodation
Choppa - for the hotel recommendation
All you guys who raced - for just being there
Deano- Sinfull - for coming and introducing yourselves (good to see ya)
Wharfy - for being a great TARGET
Ants - for making me very proud...WELL DONE SON
The future of OS Racing was discussed on sat nite and we will be back up NTH more often next season (watch this space)
THANKS ALL FOR AN AWESOME WEEKEND

Good shit swerve !!!
You'll have to show me round Greymouth

[SWERVE]

Hey Glen NO WORRIES
only wish i could have stayed on to follow you for a few metres and learn something
Thats the kind of single-minded/focused racing style that WILL win you a championship mate.
And as they say "thats racin"...... bloody miracle not hurtin myself or the bike at that speed though
Give em hell at the Nats Glen

[SWERVE]

Yeh its a lot different to Manfield eh wharfy.
Only two things to remember its either FULL THROTTLE or FULL BRAKES
Bloody awesome fun too
See ya there bud.

[Clivoris]

Thanks for not smashing into me bro. Things went a bit blurry for me after the wee bunt, but the truth is I was struggling with arm pump and you would have probably got past me if you'd stayed on the track. It was veeery exciting.

[SWERVE]

You did well to not drift onto grass too mate. Believe me you didnt have ANY track left
God how"humbling it is" when they come past you like that....... i cant wait till the day my boy does that to me and says" hey old man let me give you a few lessons on how to ride"........... dont think i will have to wait tooo much longer either.
Have to say i actually enjoy it when there is a little bit of "push & shove" especially when you feel safe around the people doin it

[Clivoris]

You did well to not drift onto grass too mate. Believe me you didnt have ANY track left
God how"humbling it is" when they come past you like that....... i cant wait till the day my boy does that to me and says" hey old man let me give you a few lessons on how to ride"........... dont think i will have to wait tooo much longer either.
Have to say i actually enjoy it when there is a little bit of "push & shove" especially when you feel safe around the people doin it

Humbling is definitely one of the words I'd use and it was one of the high-lites of my weekend. Another racing experience to cross off my list and we all got away with it. The fullas at the front are from another species as far as I can tell, but us older guys can definitely drop a few more seconds with the right kind of practice.
My girls are keen to get onto a 150 as soon as they can but I want them to do some dirt-bike time first. Then they will be pushing me just like your boy no doubt. What a buzz this racing shit is!!!