Well after the debacle of the previous two weekends, having the same state of affairs again was just not an option. I headed out to the track on Tuesday with pretty much a whole other bike of spare parts to test and try remedy the problem. After swapping over every single part the problem still persisted. Out of share desperation I decided to put on a spare length of fuel hose I had in my collection. To my disbelief the problem seemed to disappear. After doing about 7 or so laps running fine I had come to the conclusion that a small hole in my fuel hose was leaking fuel into the airbox, thus richening the fuel mix up so much as to not let the bike rev out.
Friday was the practice day and after remedying my problem earlier in the week I was keen to finally get a chance to string some laps together and get some compliance from my suspension. The first session was just used to get into the groove. I was pretty happy to see that after about 6 laps or so I topped the timing sheets with a 1.44.3. The day was a stunner, 32 degrees air temp and over 50 degrees on the track. This was wreaking havoc with the tiny 125's and the times showed. Everyone was slower than normal and my time from the first practice session continued to top the sheets till the final session of the day when 3 guys went faster. I had decided to change my piston so didn't make it out in that one but knew I would be thereabouts for the weekend. After putting the new parts in and the bike back together I packed up and went home for the evening.
Saturday dawned overcast but alot better conditions for going fast than the previous. The plan for the morning was to take it easy in the first qualifying session and just do a plug chop and get the new piston run in. Then put on a new set of slicks for the next qualifying and put in 2 or 3 fast laps. I did 4 laps in the first session and was very surprised to see that I had managed a 1.42.7, which put me 4th on the grid. Unexpectedly before the next qualifying session the rain began to fall and our second session would be held in the wet. Knowing there was a fair chance of our first race being in the dry and not having much to gain by going out in the wet I decided to stay in the pits and thus I would be starting 4th on the grid. So far so good, everything going to plan.
The first race was scheduled for after the F3 race. About 30 mins before this race the rain eased and the cloud started to lift. The track was slowly and steadily drying and it was anybodies guess as to which tyres to run. At various stages I swapped between wets and slicks not knowing the total track conditions. Towards the end of the F3 race the straight was fairly dry but I had no information as to the rest of the tracks condition. In the end I decided to make the bold decision to go for a rear slick and front wet. On the dummy grid I was nervous to see that no one else had any slicks on, everyone was on full wets. We would soon see who had made the right decision. On the warm up lap I was very happy to see there was a totally dry line round the whole track and in some places the whole track was dry.
We grided up and the lights went red. They were red for quite a long time and I slowly crept forward a fraction anticipating them going out sooner than they actually did. Finally when they did go out we were off and I had got a good start, 2nd into the first corner. Coming out of the hairpin in the first lap I had a small rear slide and just a small reminder that I was on a slick and that it wasn't up to full operating temperature yet. At the next corner I was passed up the inside by Cam and just saw Adam tumbling away in the grass from 1st place. I finished the first lap in 2nd and I was still taking it cautiously wanting to ensure I had enough heat in the rear before I tried anything. A few more laps passed and I was holding 3rd comfortably by about 10 seconds and was right on the tail of 2nd. A few times a lap I felt the front trying to tuck, the wet didn't like running in the dry and it was showing it. On the sixth lap I tried to enter the last corner with a little more speed to try get the run on Cam in 2nd down the straight. I tipped in and before I knew it I was sliding along on my arse. I kept my hand on the left handle bar in an attempt to keep anything from breaking off. To my relief nothing on the bike was amiss apart from a slightly bent footpeg so I jumped back on and rejoined the race in 4th place. After this I was pretty apprehensive about pushing the front end so just took it easy and came over the line in 4th place. Was pretty happy with that, although it could have been alot better. The drama hadn't finished yet though. Upon seeing the race results I found out I had been given a twenty second penalty for a jump start and so had been demoted to 8th. Argh, my dramatic run of luck continues. This was definitely one that got away. In retrospect I should have pitted after the warmup lap and quickly changed the front to a slick. I would have had at least a 3 or 4 second per lap advantage over anyone else in the field, as it was I put in the second fastest lap of the race at a 1.49.1 and knew I would be able to do 1.46's comfortably on full slicks. Never mind, an invaluable learning experience and I’m sure it will come in handy in the future. Just to make it more enjoyable I had also destroyed my brand new front wet, easy way to drop $200 down the drain.
Sunday would be a different story and the weather was playing ball with a small amount of high cloud and very comfortable temperature. I went out in the scrub in for 3 laps to scrub my new front and check the jetting out. After making a few changes the first race of the day was upon us.
This time I was very cautious on the start and didn’t quite get as good a one as in the previous races. After a few passes in the first lap we settled into the race and I was holding 5th. I could see that I was slowly closing in on the guy in front but was also being gained on by the guy behind. I was trying to keep ahead of him and also trying to keep in touch with the guy in 4th. The laps were counting down and on the start of the 8th lap the guy in front of me had a nasty highside when his bike seized, just coming out of the first corner. This bought out the red flag, just in the nick of time and I managed to finish in 5th place. At last something to be happy about a race finished without incident and in a position I was happy with. This bought hope for the final race of the weekend, the main event, the 15 lap NZGP.
After many delays we finally got the race away 2 hours behind schedule. Again I got a good start and was 3rd through the first corner. I was passed by Adam and relegated to 4th coming into the hairpin but held onto him for the remainder of the lap. I got a much faster run through the back straight kink and went down under him on the brakes into the hairpin. He had a nibble at me coming into the next right hander but I had the inside line for the next left and held my position. I didn’t see him for the next two laps but on the fourth lap I didn’t get such a good run out of the final corner and lost a bit of drive down the straight. This must have let him into my slipstream and he went roaring past halfway down the straight. Knowing it was a very long race I didn’t go for the pass straight away and just tried to keep in touch. On the next two laps he put the hammer down and I wasn’t quite able to go with him. He extended his lead and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to push and try keep up with him. I saw on my lap board that I had a 9 second lead over the guy in 5th and was just focussed at keeping that consistent for the remaining 10 laps. It was a lonely remainder of the race and was very hard to keep consistent. I just kept focus and ensured that I kept tidy and didn’t miss any of my brake markers or tip in points. Counting the laps down the chequered flag couldn’t come soon enough and after more than 26 minutes it was finally out and the race was over. I was pretty stuffed after that marathon and was pretty happy with how things went. The podium would have been nice but 4th was just as good in my books.
So finally things had come together. Pity it took this long but that’s the way things go sometimes. The results put me tied for 4th overall for the weekend so not a bad result at all, by far the best of the 07 nationals season. So now there’s two rounds to come up in the North Island. I’m currently sitting 11th in the championship and there’s a small possibility of 5th but any higher is out of reach. I’ll be gunning for more top 5 finishes in the North Island in February and March. Hopefully see some of you guys there.
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Originally Posted by RG100!!
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