I had my first go at racing on the Sunday just been. Overall, have to say that it was a tonne of fun, and I learnt heaps. This PMCC crowd are a great bunch to get in to racing with, and I'd recommend anyone to have a go. It's so much more fun than just a plain track day.
Firstly, thanks to everyone who helped me out on the day. Especially to Jill for hooking me up with tyre warmers at the very last minute, and Jono for allowing me to share your generator, pit tent, tools, and even pit help. It made a hot, exhausting day a whole lot more bearable and fun.
I'd actually rather not write a report, but in the hope that it may benefit other racing newb's who go out to pop their cherry, and help to prevent them from making the same mistakes, here it is:
Things didn't go as smoothly as I'd have liked. I learnt the practical meaning of racing not being about just going fast. You've gotta pass someone who's holding you up first, keep a decent line in to the next corner, and then bugger off from them. Passing is certainly a lot harder than it seems, and something I've never bothered to practice at track days.
The Good:
I felt that my pace was ok, but I was never going to come anywhere reasonable in a race by getting impatient trying to pass, go off the end of the back straight, do a u-turn, get back on 10 seconds behind and then go hard just to try and pass a couple near the end of the field. The best position I got to was 4th, after making 6th by the second turn, and once again, I got impatient at the green Kwak not letting me ruin free in front of me on only about the 2nd or 3rd lap, and ended up running of the end of the straight. Pretty dumb shit.
The bike was running a lot better than last time I had it out when it was putting out 85hp (about 12-15 less than stock), and the brakes were mostly sorted this time around.
'Issues' to Address:
My whole mindset was rushed, for a number of reasons, but it was still the wrong attitude. The few times that I got a reasonable start (had to start from the back, no qualifying), and was in a position to make my way to the pointy end of the field, I'd try to pass at the first fraction of an opportunity, or try to pass too many people in one corner. Someone would change a line, and I'd be screwed. I haven't been able to ride a bike much lately, and I was treating this day as if it was possibly my last. Was trying a bit too hard to make the most of it straight away, and ended up getting less out of it.
I was also a bit gun-shy when there were decent opportunities. After the last track day where I passed a guy on the inside and his front wheel ended up shaving a bit off of my rear rim, I was not willing, even mid corner, to steal in front of another bike and take right of way, just incase they nailed it and collected me. Going around the outside gave me a bit more success, but I still dropped my nuts at the thought that they might run wide or lowside, when instead I needed to get the gas on to go past
Vision. I was losing my focus on the track when surrounded by other bikes, and made a large number of mistakes when surrounded by a bunch of them, or even just a couple. Not totally sure why really, as I don't do this at track days. Perhaps I was not trusting that they would hold lines, or was fearing too much that they'd go down like a motard and someone else did right in front of me in the first couple of races. Whatever the reason, it caused me to make a few more mistakes, miss braking markers, and generally ride worse.
I crashed in my 7th race. Partly because I was rushing to make up for another error which saw me run off the track while in 4th, and partly because, without realising it, I was exhausted. I didn't even feel the front end going. I realised that that since 5am I'd eaten half a muesli bar and probably only had about a litre of water, which in the heat and after so many races, short as they were, was just not enough. It was a pretty disappointing finish from a race where I actually had a chance to finish well. A number of lessons learned in that incident though, and the bike is a cheap fix
Also, a note on that crash. I didn't have my wrist buttons done up on my suit 'cos it was so hot, but upon crashing the leather rubbed my skin and burnt a decent patch of the skin off. Not a wise move, and although the injury is relatively minor, it's totally pointless.
So, not altogether successful, but I've learnt heaps, and now I can't wait for round 4, which is going to be heaps better.
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Originally Posted by Kyle
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