Hi All,
Round 3 of the Bridgestone Victoria Motorcycle Club Championship Winter
Series was held at Magic Manfeild. It has been 5 weeks since the last round. The
sun was not really shining through, and couldn't overcome the cold air temperature. There was no wind,
and the place felt like a fridge!
I got the bike started nice and early, and waited for the call to qualify.
Qualifying:
To get noticed I made sure I was first on the track. This also means nobody can get in my way.
I rode around for 5 laps quite casually really and didn't feel comfortable putting in a really quick time.
Pushing is not the thing you want to do on a cold track with compromised traction.
As it turns out I got the fastest time of 1:35.625 to give me my first ever Pole Position!
Race 1:
It is really easy to find Pole Position when lining up, so I made my way there and waited for everybody else.
Last to arrive was Graeme "Billy" Billington on his 250 Minilite who was on the #2 spot.
The lights came on one by one and went out. I feed in the clutch and away we go. I kept my eyes on the inside on the corner and didn't back off..... I managed to exit turn 1 in first. I put my head down and kept the pace on.
Once I came out of Higgans though Billy had the 4 cylinder 250 wound up and went flying past me. I tried to stick with him for as long as I could, but he managed to get a little too far up the track for me to catch. Both of us put in our fastest laps on lap 2 and then the weather started to deteriorate. By the end of the race it was raining. I was 1st 250 Production, Marc-Antoine Jacquet came second and I knew he tended to be faster than me in the rain so I couldn't back off too much at all. Simon Robson was 3rd 250 Production.
I managed a 1:35.435, so was pretty happy with the 25 points toward the 250 Production Championship.
Race 2:
Well the weather hadn't improved at all so it was a case of finishing the race on 2 wheels an see where I came.
Again, I got a ripper start but Billy passed me heading to turn 3. I was some way off his tail this time and on lap 3 Marc-Antoine Jacquet decided that he was going to have a go at collecting 25 points.... After a fine move, and me sitting back wondering where he was finding the traction, I thought I had better do something about this. I increased the pace and managed to pass him going into the corner formally known as Dunlop on the last lap. I crossed the line 0.269 seconds in front of him. Another 25 points but a true demonstration that I am not going to have it easy in race 3. Fastest lap 1:38.167 on the final lap.
Race 3:
This was it. The final race of the day.
I managed another great start and again got into and out of Turn 1 first.
Then it seems it was going to be another Billy, Aaron, Marc, 1,2,3....
By lap 2 though Marc-Antoine decided that this was his race to win, and snuck past me again.
Not to worry, I was up for a battle. As we came out of the Hair Pin I knew I could get up beside him under brakes into Higgans.
I actually got up beside him before we got to the braking zone and as I went for my brakes I heard the distinctive sound of metal and plastic sliding down a wet track..... Trust me, I have got to know it well.
Marc-Antoine had made a little bit of an error and locked the front. The sliding bike came up beside me, but thankfully it was on the outside, so I turned into Higgans and took it easy for a bit as it was apparent we didn't have a lot of traction on a very cold track.
On the last lap Danial Phillipson on his KRR150 Development Class bike decided he was going to pass me. He was riding very well and was ahead of me for most of the lap. I passed him into the corner formally known as Dunlop and crossed the line ahead of him. It is awesome to see young talent like that riding so well in wet conditions. My fastest lap that race was a 1:41.354, and another 25 points in the bag.
So with the round win and 75 out of 75 points secure in the Championship with 222
points and a lead of 48 points I was pleased with the results overall. Still anything can happen.......
Round 4 is at Manfeild on August 24th.
Thanks go to:
ProRider
Forbes and Davies + Dunlop
Celtic Leathers
RNZAF
Race Fairings
City Honda
My partner Coral for all the support on the day and at home.
Last but by no means least, the Victoria Motor Cycle Club for putting on an awesome
Day in very cold conditions. It was one of the best meetings yet and there wasn't a single Red Flag situation (Race Restart).
In fact the Ambulance only had to deal with 2 minor issues all day and never entered the track.
For those that are interested the footage from all the racing can be purchased on
DVD from www.ctaslive.co.nz. Or you can watch it race by race for $2.50 each or $20
for the lot for 30 days!
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Originally Posted by wharfy
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