Tri – Series Round 1
Practise Friday
Got the van loaded nice and early on Thursday night including a Daytona 675 for Scott Healy that Motorad had just finished preparing for him.
The drive up on Friday morning was uneventful and I arrived at the track in time to get my favourite stall. Got the 675's out of the van and tyre warmers on paid the entry fee and was ready to go. A few of the usual suspects were about the weather was looking pretty good and I was all set (if a little nervous ) for my first outing since bouncing on my head at the last round of the winter series.
Practice went OK.
I discovered that my right ankle was still a bit stiff from my last off and felt awkward on the peg so I adjusted the position a bit forward and lower and seemed better. Because I had new leathers and a new helmet it took a wee while to get comfortable on the bike, I had left the bit of “snow foam” that I use as a seat covering back in Wellywood and was slipping about a bit. I managed to bludge a bit from Chris Osborne (ozzy performance of ozzy 450 triple fame) and it made a big improvement.
I was saddened to hear that Darrin would not be racing as he had an “off” at Taupo and concussion and would be out for the whole series. He will be really bummed as I know he was really looking forward to the “Cemetery Circuit” (he was about the second rider to sign up) I know EXACTLY how he will be feeling
I have no idea what my times were like (a lap timer is on the list ) but by the end of the day was feeling pretty comfortable.
Had a few beers with Choppers Mum and Dad (we are about the same vintage) and some of the other folk that were staying at the track overnight until Katie arrived from Wellywood and took me to the pub for a steak and a Guinness (it is becoming a bit of a pre race ritual an Manfeild).
Race Day
My usual pit crew was back in the form of the lovely Katie O'Donnell so I was ready to go in short order.
Qualifying
600 1:17.9 18th on the grid beside “dodgy Dave” Walker and Scott Healy
BEARS 1:18.088 5th on the grid directly behind Peter Tanner (who was on pole)
F1 1:18.4 25th on the grid
I was not unhappy with my times or grid positions even though I was a bit off my best qualifying times from the winter series I wasn't too concerned, after all I am not anywhere near the pointy end and was looking forward to a bit of racing
F1 Race 1
They changed the order of service and I missed it !!!! as did a LOT of others !!!! see how many DNS on mylaps !!!!
BEARS Race 1
On second row behind Peter Tanner so I knew that HE wouldn't hold me up at all
I got a crap start, swapped places with Scott Healy (675) and Craig Sergeant and Jason Easton. It was a fun race and finally crossed the line 5th with a 1.17.180
600 Race 1
Came in from the BEARS race and 600's were already on the dummy grid so just pulled onto the back and had enough time to get some deep breathing done and back out again !!
Another crap start but managed to have a bit of a “race” with Michael Lee, Glenn Mettham and Chris Fry it was great fun. I went to down shift going into turn one for the last time and no gear lever !!! so had to do the last lap in 4th all the way round, lucky for me the 675 has loads of torque and I managed to not loose any places ended up 18th with a best time of 1:16.707 I have only managed one “16” before so was happy with that, just have to get more consistent.
Back in the pit I discovered that the bolt connecting the rod to the gearbox leaver had snapped ! I must have been doing a bit of rough gear shifting !! I removed the leaver and went in search of an “easy out” to extract the broken end of the bolt which had about ½ a thread showing. A visit to Chris Osbourne again and he said he did indeed have an “easy out” examined the lever for a few seconds and then proceeded to extract it with his fingers !!! A few cracks about how “easy out” that was and he asked me if I needed a bolt and directed me to his collection and said help yourself. Awesome stuff
F1 race 2
Another crap start but some fun racing with Jeff Tichbourne, the bike felt good, I was pretty happy to cross the line in 16th place even though my lap times were slower than the 600 and BEARS races. I must have been starting to wilt a bit.
BEARS Race 2
Crap starts are becoming a bit of a habit !! Scott Healy got the jump on me and I couldn't catch him – a bit rude of him considering I brought his bike up from Wellington !!!
This was the first race of the day without any place swapping for me, but it was good fun anyway and I managed to finish 6th with a 1:17.122
600 Race 2
Again I only had time to come in from the BEARS race and swing round onto the back of the dummy grid and out again for the 600 another miserable effort on the start, managed to claw my way from last on lap 1 to 16th at the finish with best lap of 1:18.631.
I was knackered, I had entered 3 classes so potentially was up for 9 races, I missed the call for the first F1 race and was to stuffed to do the 3rd session of races. It did mean I could watch a couple of good races though
It was a great day and a big thanks to all the volunteers that make these events possible, I managed to scrape the knee sliders on my sexy new leathers WITHOUT scraping the rest of them or my shiny new helmet.
Thanks to Darrin and his guys at EMS for fixing my fairing from rnd 6 and also Simon Hardgrave from JETCO group for making new foot pegs and Dan the guys at Motorrad for all the help fixing me up with new riding gear, replacement parts and fitting and balancing my new tyres.
And Chris Osbourne (Ozzy Performance) for the “easy out” and bolt !!
And of course the lovely Katie O'Donnell for her support and work in the pits.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by SWERVE
Bookmarks