Well I have managed to survive the whole series with minimal damage to myself and bike.
It has been go great series to compete in but it is definitely good to finish.
The week leading up to race weekend we were once again keeping a firm eye on what the weather was going to do. I ended up trying to be clever and fitted my wets to the bike as I was certain it was going to be wet. But what do ya know… It was dry.
So as soon as I got to the track I had to change back to my dry tyres.
Qualifying: I had a new set of tyres to scrub in so spent a couple laps making sure they were scrubbed and warmed. Then put my head down for a couple laps. The bike felt pretty good. But each time I tried to put in a fast lap I caught up to other bikes which held me up. I managed to put in a half decent time of 1.16 to put me 18th on the grid.
F2 Race 1: I got a good launch but again got boxed in and stuck on the inside heading into turn 1. I got pushed so far on the inside I was actually inside the white line! But held my so called “line”, and put my head down. The race was spent dicing with Bruce and Darrin much like the whole series. But just couldn’t put a decent lap together and Bruce got the better of me. The race was then red flagged due to a crash. I finished 12th so gained 6 spots from my qualifying position.
F2 Race 2: I had changed my plan for the start and pointed the bike towards the outside line. For whatever reason the bike on the grid spot ahead of me was’nt there so I had a good chance of getting a good launch off the line. This worked to my advantage. I managed to pick up 4 or 5 spots off the line and got on the outside line for turn 1. I managed to stay with a fast group of riders in front untill I screwed up my down changes into the hairpin and ran wide. That gave them enough of a gap for me not to be able to get pulled along by them. This is when Darrin got by me again. We spent the rest of the race changing positions untill the race was red flagged due to a crash. So Darrin got the bragging rights for this race. I finished 15th so gained 3 spots from my starting spot.
I finished the day 17th overall out of 39 registered riders.
So all up a good series. I came in 13th place overall out of 62 registered riders in the Formula 2 class. I learnt so much this season and am still learning everytime I get out on the bike. May the steep learning curve continue.
Id like to thank the following people for their help and support throughout the series…
Motomart, Alpinestars, Robert Taylor and his team at Crown Kiwi Technical, Capital Chemdry, Motul Oil, Pirelli, Wakefeild and Scott Panel Beaters and Go Fast Energy Drink.
Without these people I would not be where I am now.
Also a big thankyou goes to the Victoria Motorcycle Club Volunteers, Volunteer marshals and fellow competitors cause without all of you we would’nt have the awsome series that so many people take part in and love.
See you all during the Summer racing Series.
Martin Billing #55 CBR600RR
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Originally Posted by Sparky Bills
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