Hi All,
As per usual, I will start with the events leading up to round 4.
After round 3, I needed to put the number on the nose of the bike on the other side. So, I contacted Billy from race fairings, and got him to make me a new top fairing.
Thanks very much for the prompt service on that Billy.
Then I got it painted, along with my front guard (Stone damage from my crash last year) by Paul Martin, at RNZAF Base Ohakea Paint Shop. Top work Paul, and there were many comments on race day on how shiny my bike looked.
I took the bike into work on Friday, to get a bit of a public viewing, and to get it prepared during my spare time for the weekend ahead.
Friday night I loaded the ute with all the gear I need for the weekend, and then sat down in the lounge, and pulled out my copy of "Twist of the Wrist 2". Then I decided to come up with a plan to work on during Saturdays Track Day.
Saturday rolls around after a good nights sleep, and looks a cracker.
I get to the track nice and early, set up in the garage, and register for Race Class. Might be slightly mad on a Pro-Lite 250, but I was wanting to work on some things, and at least I knew the race boys would all be on the same page..... Seemed to work, as long as I concentrated on my lines, and didn't watch in awe the amount of rubber Choppers BMW left on the track....
I also had my heart rate monitor on during the sessions to see what my heart was doing. I have seen them put one on Rick Kelly in V8 Supercar, and his sits at 190 during a race. My max heart rate is 190, so I was hoping I wouldn't get near that, but I wondered if mine was at 90%, as I'm picking Rick Kelly's max is closer to 210, or so.
After 4 sessions,m I find my max HR was 160, typically 155, and average around 70% of max (133 beats per minute). Interesting..... And I good sign that I'm breathing, and actually keeping relatively calm.
In the last session I went out in fast class, as this was the class Chappy was running in on his RG 150 Street Stock. This was a test to see if what i has practiced during the day had worked.
I lead him for a bit, then he past me. I stuck to his tail for the entire session. Not quite literally, as I had discovered some new things about the Ninja, and didn't fall into the trap of following his lines. We finished the session, and I was very pleased of what I had achieved during the day.
Packed the bikes into the shed, and went home. I was in bed by 2200, and had a good nights sleep.
Race Day:
The morning was very clear, and promised to be an awesome day weather wise.
I got to the track at 0745, and signed on. I didn't really need to get there that early, as there was nothing to unload, but I didn't want to rush anything.
After sign on, I put some fuel in the bike, went to riders brief, and got ready for qualifying. It was great to have all the previous days practice fresh in my mind.
Qualifying:
I was first out on the track, and put in a sprightly lap first up to get some heat into the bike. We have 4 laps, so no time to muck around really. My laps got progressively faster and qualified second in class, and 8th overall with a time of 1:34.811. That happens to be my fastest qualifying time ever!
After a check of the fuel state, and catching up with fellow racers, it wasn't long before we were called up for Race 1.
Race 1:
Found my grid spot on the outside of row 2, and waited patiently for the lights to come on, and go out. I got a bit of a bad start, but managed to get through turn 1, and the esses, and hairpin without anything untoward happening. I watched as my team mate, and his competition headed up the track. My competition was with them too. I kept my head down, and my mind forward to put in some quick lap times to ensure the previous day had paid off, and my qualifying lap wasn't a fluke. Near the end of the race Larry Tilson had managed to catch me on his 150 Street Stock. So I kept my mind forward and him behind me. Finished the race in second (Sam Croft was quite a way up the road), with a best lap of 1:33.505 on the last lap. This was better than my previous best of 1:33.659 set in the summer. I was pleased all my laps were in 1.2 seconds of each other, so a 1:33 is no real fluke.
Race 2:
With my new found pace, I was very keen to get into race 2. As it happens too keen, as I waited for the 5 lights to come on, but forgot to wait for them to go out! Yup, another jumped start for me! I was so angry with myself, and then got dealt to in turn 1 anyway! Sam Croft took off and I knew I was going to get a 20 second penalty, so I put my head down, and mind forward to try and put 20 seconds on Simon Vollmer back in third. The track Marshals thanked me later for making my numbers so big they knew exactly who to ping for the jumped start. I basically rode the race alone. My previous challenger (Larry Tilson) couldn't get near me. Then on the last lap I see Sam was picking his bike up out of the gravel. I could see was okay, and glad for that. the bike was a bit of a mess though. I finished first in class by 9.914 Seconds... Not enough to take the win due to my jumped start! Well done to Simon on his first race win.
I awarded myself the Muppet of the day award.
I was pleased to see my best lap was 1:32.421 on the second lap, and all my flying laps were with in 0.533 seconds of each other.
Race 3:
Found out Sam had to take the bike home. It was too damaged to repair. So I knew if I could put all my stuff in one sock, I was up for a race win.
The Lights come on one by one, I have the 250 bouncing off 13000 RPM, and then I waited for the lights to go out, and feed in the clutch. What a start! I managed to get ahead of Richard Ban in P7 who was on a F4 Bike. The race went very fast. I was dicing with Richard the whole time. He had more corner speed in the hair pin, but we were evenly matched, apart from the extra legs of the Ninja. So we swapped positions all race, and crossed the line together... The computer put him in front by a little bit, but as he is in a different class, it didn't really matter. I still took my first victory in Pro-Lites. I was wrapped. My best lap was a 1:31.488 on lap 4. All my laps were within 0.820 of each other, so the 1:31 was no fluke, as I rode the last lap at that speed too. I won the round on the round on points too, so all in all it was a fantastic day.
Many thanks to:
RNZAF - The paint job speaks for itself
Celtic Leathers - Sam is always at the track for us
Dunlop Tyres - They are fantastic when conditions are great for racing.
Racefairings - Great service there Billy.
Cheers
Aaron
Team Air Force Racing #42
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Originally Posted by Billy
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