Middle-aged men at Manfeild report
Friday arvo MotoBob (Paul) and I have our bikes on trailer and settle in for a cruisy drive from A to F. Check into a motel near the track and settle in for a good nights sleep.
Saturday morning wake up and it is - well you have heard about the weather from others...
As Paul and I had never been to Manfield before (well mid 80's Castrol 6 hours aside...) we got lost and couldn't find the entrance. Finally after bothering some poor factory workers in the cold and dark we found the way in. Despite all our pissing around we were still first ones there. Bikes off trailer and then KABAM 20 white vans full of bikes all turn up at once.
OK so we are having a race meeting then...
Now there was a slight problem for Paul and I. We didn't have wets... we figured with our road tyres and new tyre warmers AND a weather forecast that was going to be a hell of a lot better than what it actually turned out to be, that we would be sweet... WRONG!
First time ever around Manfield and it was after a hail storm with temperatures slightly above zero and road tyres that actually got colder the longer I went around the track! What am I doing here?! Anyway I guess I learnt when to turn left and when to turn right.
Not surprisingly I qualified towards the rear of the field.
Nothing else to do after that and it actually stopped raining and hailing long enough that I decided to pop over to the pit wall and see how Paul was doing on his and K19's SV in his practice session.
I arrived at pit wall in time to see Paul exiting onto front straight and looking very fast and tidy for an old fella.
Hard brake into corner at end of front straight and then... down... slide, slide, slide ... bounce, mud and bits of bike in various directions. Oh shit. Poor Paul. He is going to have to tell Jill that he crashed their bike...
end of Paul's day apart from helping out and bull shitting with others...
Race 1.
Still cold and wet. Rear wheel spun at start line but still got away OK. Out braked a few into the first corner, wheel spin coming out and all that I had passed into first corner went around me on the exit. As race went on, road tyres stayed cold and just about everybody passed me. Didn't check it was 15 laps long before I started the race and so each time I came around onto the main straight from about lap 8 I was wondering where the hell the flags were.
Finally it was over. I managed to get to know Manfield and not crash. (As opposed to the bikes all around me in the pits - 2 Smoker, Motobob and Nick Odermatt...)
Race 2
Still cold and wet. Figured I had nothing to gain but a crash and a very muddy bike (a la Paul and Chris and ...) at least so decided not to bother.
Still had a great time and good to see some fellow KB'ers there. (Darryl, Chris guy in next pit on F3 bike sorry I forgot your name etc)
Manfield looks like a good track (despite the bumps and holes) and so I am keen to return. Next time on a fine day I hope, so will look to try the September round and then do Taupo in October.
Will spend the winter months getting the R6 improved (and snowboarding instead of racing).
"...New Zealanders, for all their faults, have virtues that are precious: an unwillingness to be intimidated by the new, the formidable, or class systems; trust in situations where there would otherwise be none; compassion for the underdog; a sense of responsibility for people in difficulty; not undertaking to do something without seeing it through - "
Michael King
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Originally Posted by Cleve Brown
Time for some spare rims with wets aye???
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