OS Racing - King of Levels Rd1

[SWERVE]

After travelling to Manfield to race in May & june the 160km to Timaru was a breeze.
The weather wasn,t much differnrt though........ wet/cold suppose thats winter racing for ya.

We we quite confident as the conditions were very similar to the last two meetings and Ants had been doing ok.
Qaulifying for Pro-twin saw him take it a bit too easy and only managed 6th PT - 12th overall so a 3rd row start. One other racer said he would have expected Ants to be higher and was he "holding some in reserve" hehe....he was.
Race one.... Conditions were very wet. He nailed the start and came onto the back straight in 4th After picking off Jonny Small (sv650) and Neil Smith R450 he went in search of James Hoogie.......... took him onto the back straight in lap 2 and never looked back. James was trying to hold on but he retired in lap 4 (bike probs!) and Ants took the win (His first in Pro-Twin) by 17 secs.
Race 2 saw another good start and he was in hot pursuit again. A rider fell infront of him in lap3 and a back marker gave him a fright(with some erratic braking) This allowed Jonny & Neil to gap him and he finshed 2nd PT & 3rd overall.
Race 3 saw a not so good start and a few more riders to contend with in the early laps....... but thats the price you pay for not qualifying better.... A whole race battle with PT 56 saw him finish in 3rd PT and 5th overall. Looking at the rear wet tyre i made the wrong tyre choice on a drying track in the last race......... should have left the front wet but put a 211gp on the rear.

We also ran the Rg150 in streetstock but Ants really struggled to adjust between the bikes as races were back-to-back... we also found this at Manfield with the same back-to-back race order.
Its not so much the change of braking points/level of grip/etc but more a mental thing where he hasn,t had chance to wind down from the previous race and his head is still full of the previous race.
So with this in mind we are going to concentrate on the Pro Twin ride from now on. His younger brother Chris is keen to take the seat on the 150. Ants may ride it in selected events.
We hope that this will bring his pro twin riding up a another notch and allow him full concenration.
If we want we can enter in the Superbike/supersport class too.
Upon studying the lap times the top few Pro-Twin riders would not disgrace themselves in this class either.
Looks like Anthony & Jonny are going to resume thier rivalry from streetstock into Pro twin now...........bring it on

[Wingnut]

If we want we can enter in the Superbike/supersport class too.
Upon studying the lap times the top few Pro-Twin riders would not disgrace themselves in this class either.

Yea the weather was a real equaliser. Some of the motards would too have been competitive in the seniors when you look at the lap times. Wets are on the list for the next purchase. Not much fun watching as opposed to riding!

Ya lad smoked em in the first race was impressive and good to watch.

Geoff.

[discodan]

Congrats on the good results and Protwin win! Ants must be getting more and more confident on the 650.

[Deano]

Terrific results !! Well done.

[wharfy]

Great results and good write up, might see you at Labour weekend ?

[SWERVE]

Will be there Wharfy. Not racing myself............. Ants possibly........... our other team rider from last year(& team sponsor) has brought an Aprillia RVX450 motard so will probebly bring him/bike this year.