Nationals Rd 4 Levels Raceway
Friday I arrived at the track about 12, found a spot and dragged the tent out, then I sat about for a hour or so until Alex turned up, trough sign in and scrutineering without any problems and then the sidecars are called up for practice
This was Alex first time at Levels riding the sidecar and so for a couple of laps he was taking it easy then slowly cranking it up a bit faster, he was using the gears to slow down which tends to jerk the outfit around and make the swingers job a lot harder and was a bit on/off the throttle, shutting it to go through the right hander after the decreasing radius which was throwing me forward as I was trying to change sides then after the hairpin changing up and gassing it as I was trying to change back which was trying to put me off the back
About lap 5 I got caught out in that spot, Alex hooks another gear and dials it up and my foot slips as I swap to the left and the thought flashes through me mind “fuck I’m gone” ½ off the chair and he’s turning into the left and my weight isn’t in the right place and the chairs coming up, he glances back and backs off and I get my spot back another lap later and I signal to end the session as I’m all tired out
A little debrief in the pits and I ask him to not use the gears unless he’s already on the brakes to smooth it up a bit and not to try going fast but concentrate on being smooth and add a bit of a speed each lap, we discuss lines around the track and before you know it it’s our turn again
This time there’s a big difference, I’m not getting hammered about in the chair and we’re going faster and smoother, we see Scrivy off the side of the track and it turns out later they did a motor within the first couple of laps of practice and are out for the weekend, after about 6 laps we pull back in and I’m feeling a lot happier and Alex has also noticed a difference
Saturday
Format is two qualifying session and on race
Q1
Goober turns up with 5 minutes to go before scrutineering ends after getting lost on the way to the track and proving as usual he couldn’t find his arse with his hand, He’s his usual ball of sunshine bitching about everything he can, we head down for riders briefing and stand about hardly being able to hear what is being said, with twenty minute qualifying session and us being last out we sit about for nearly 2 hours before our turn comes around
We roll out onto the track and Alex is smoother and faster still, we’re having a play chasing the Wolland brothers around, we spot goober and Pig parked off turn 4 and it turned out their clutch adjuster had come loose and unwound, Steve/Dion spin their outfit and then just about get collected by Stu/Darren going off at the same spot, Goober/Pig get back going and then Steve/Dion snap a chain as they pull out to pass them redlined in 5th luckily with out doing any damage, the Wollands have a coil wire fall off which robs a bit of power and then it’s all over and we pull back into the pits
Q2
It feels smoother and better every time we go out, Alex is riding better and better, we have a bit of a play with the Wollands and Bill and apart form a few missed gears which allow both Bill/Paul and the Wollands to pass us it’s all looking good and we end up last spot on the grid in tenth, we head off to the Prentis team who’ve put on a good feed for lunch on then sit about and wait for our turn
Race 1
We’re on the inside on the back row behind the Wollands and with Goober in front of them, Goober is to busy looking at the lights to realise it is a flag start and gets left behind off the line and we got boxed in behind him as the Wollands go around him and Bill/Paul is along side, coming into turn 3 and there’s Stacy/Kerry spinning the LCR off the track, we’re chasing Bill/Paul and the Wollands and another lap Alex lines up Bill/Paul out of turn 3, we get the drive and pull out past them, into turn 4 and they’re not far behind us but we pull away each lap, lap eight and Stacy/Kerry have made a good recovery coming back from their first lap spin to pass the field and lap us which is good because I’m getting a bit tired so we have one lap less to do, we also drop from a best lap in qualifying of 1.26.513 to a best in the race of 1.24.579
Not content with getting lost on the way to the track Goober just about takes a wrong turn on the way back to the motor camp as well
Sunday
We’re back at the track by 8am and after a quick riders briefing the first classes roll out for their scrub in sessions
Race 2
Grid positions are the same as the previous day and as the flag drops (Goober is paying attention this time) we all launch into turn one, we pass Bill/Paul before the corner and are right on the back of the Wollands but as we hit the straight and they get the Blackbird cranking they motor away, we close them down off the end of the straight under brakes and hang with the back of the bunch for the first couple of laps then they start pulling away and we get left by ourselves, Alex is riding better and better as the weekend goes by, he’s drifting it around turn three onto the straight and gassing it up hard and early but the tyres are about rooted and we’re not getting the drive that we should and this time around we knock another second and a bit off the laptimes to get a best 1.23.166 and this time we don’t get lapped
Race 3
This is a pretty much a repeat of race two, but with the Wollands having dropped their laptimes 4 seconds a lap since race one we can’t get close to them and although we hang onto the back of the bunch for the first lap or so they pull away that little bit more each lap until we’re left by ourselves and although we don’t improve the laptimes anymore we’re pretty happy with how it’s going with this being only Alex third meeting riding the sidecar
Back into the pits and we’re packing up and the beer and bullshit is starting to flow, Chris is running around trying to sort some tyres for Alex and it turns out the Prentis team have some and they organise to get them down for the next round and after a chat to Phil Garret that night some fronts are organised as well, a well run and organised event, awesome weather and a great weekends racing is over
Roll on Ruapuna next weekend
Originally Posted by scracha
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