Second meeting for me and had been on holiday for a while so 2 months since being on the bikeLooking forward to Manfeild though and the forecast for the weekend was looking sweet!
Sat Practice:
First session out on old tyres and I beat my old personal best by a second and a half! Had to make a dash into town to swap to my new tyres before the shop shut, then I went out for a scrub in the next session. Last session I picked up the pace and was 3-4 secs slower than the morning?? Admittely I was playing with a couple of lines, though it obviously wasn't working.
Sun Qualify
Arrive to a very damp track which makes me nervous though I could finally break out the wets that I bought ages ago and still hadn't used. First time on wet tyres and am really feeling my way round. By the end I find I can brake way harder, lean more and get on the gas way more than I thought! These tyres are amazing. Qualified 3rd which I was pretty please with.
Race 1
After the weather decides what it is going to do, I stick with wets. Get a great start - just manage to keep the front down. Feels like I have the holeshot, but roll off too early and drop back to third. Still need to work on turn 1 from a standing start and not take my usual line leaving the door wide open! Bit of a lonely one from now on to take 3rd place.
Race 2
Looking at times from the first race, I'm rough equal pace to the guys in front. Problem is, I take 2-3 laps to get up to speed, which is no good in a 6-8 lap sprint! Not as good of a start this time, but hold third into the first corner. Managed to keep 2nd place in sight and put in some quicker laps so by the hairpin on the final lap, I'm on his back wheel. Almost catch him on the straight to Higgins, but do a newbie lame ass move up the inside from too far back with no chance of success. This puts me in the wrong place for a good drive off Higgins. Coming down the back straight, we catch a guy in open twins who I fail to get past going into Dunlop and miss out on second. Overall I'm happy with 3rd, but I wish I hadn't blown my load at the chance of second and planned the overtake a bit better. Live a learn.
Still a great weekend and thanks to all the organisers for their hard work.
Main things to work on are getting up to race pace straight away and getting better into the first corner of the race.
Thanks
Luke
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Originally Posted by lukemillar
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