Me again.
Well after deciding to quit racing, I realised that I'd never done my favourite circuit (taupo) on a competitive bike, and seeing as I had only just acquired a nearly competitive 2005 GSXR600 I'd put off retirement till after the last Victoria Club meeting. It would have been rude not to.
Due to the fact that I was going to give it a good go, I had decided to go down for the practice day on the friday... Got up at about 5.45am and hooned around like a cut snake to try and get on the road. Somehow I arrived at the track without my leathers by about 11am. Thankfully a very kind gentleman very bravely loaned my his cool 2 piece leather (as seen in the photos) for the practice and race days. So I managed to get on the track. $180 bucks later, I'd had a couple of practice sessions and I'd felt pretty good until Jimmy on his 2007 GSXR1000 race bike blasted past me like I was half throttling on the main straight. Felt crap in the first session, and as usual once I'd settled in I felt great in the second session.
Race Day. Woke up in the middle of the night thinking it was time to get up and got the heart pounding thinking about it. Luckily I managed to regain a sleeping state. Got to the track, and thankfully Nicky let us share her pit garage. Was nervous as hell, cause it had been 3 months since I had last raced, and I think I've lost my nerve a bit, was thinking about my percentage chance of crashing, and needless to say it was pretty good.
SS Qualifying, went out, got past early on by a few guys including Gav, really just wanted to ease into this session, make sure it was all working properly. Put in a couple of hot laps and got up on Gav's tail. I practiced getting my head and shoulder right over to the side of the bike to lower my centre of gravity for faster cornering without having bike to ground clearance issues, this worked a treat and could now do the highspeed sweepers noticeable quicker, could feel the rear moving around. Thought about passing Gav, but he was pretty strong in the safe passing spots, so I kind of got stuck behind for the rest of the session, but I managed a mildly decent lap when catching him up... Got a 1.41.117 putting me happily in 6th out of 34.
Superbike Qualifying, it always takes me at least one good session before I start to lose my fear and ride properly. Put in some pretty good riding, caught up to Johno and passed him through the cresting blindish right hander on the inside and got my head down to try and get clear of him, looked back half a lap later and he was nowhere to be seen, was really worried that I'd cut him up and he'd dropped it, but it turned out he'd powered on trying to follow me and highsided, so I was cleared of wrongdoing. Still I loaned him my trusty CBR600 for the rest of the day. Managed a 1.39.416 which put me in 8th in a very large superbike field of 35. There were more riders but only 35 grid positions. Was really happy with 8th, cause it meant that I'd still be in the front two rows of the grid and I'm usually pretty good at the launches, so I could hopefully hook up with some fast guys.
Supersport Race One. By now quite pumped and hoping for a podium in the class. Still a bit gun-shy though. Got a reasonable launch was about 4th into the first corner. Then Chris flew past in the infield. Saw Gavs bike lying on its side, bummer. Ended up tussling with a crazy man (Glen Williams) on an SV650 would you believe. I had quite a large speed advantage on the straights, but he was cornering and braking awesome. Was powersliding out of corners on the well worn Dunlop Rear. I felt faster at times, but lost touch after making a couple of mistakes and couldn't quite make it up on the last. Unfortunately Chris had crashed out so I got 5th. Managed 1.39.491
Superbike Race One. Put on a 180/70 Pirelli Supercorsa for this race that had only seen two races, so was as good as I had ridden on, cause the Dunlops that I had been on had seen one race day and two track days and were getting a bit worn. Just thought that I'd go out and play in this one, but I still gave the launch a good go. Found myself in 3rd place after the first corner. But got unsettled by a superbike squeezing me out, and that left me with less speed and a few more got through. Jimmy passed me about 50k/hr faster down the big straight, and his engine is pretty close to stock. Started making good progress on an RSV1000, had both wheels slide on one occasion but held onto it, hadn't quite pulled him in by the end. Went pretty hard but ended up in 9th position. Still pretty happy though, managed 1.39.5.
Supersport Race Two. With the pretty fresh rear tyre and a bit of confidence with having done some decent and consistent laptimes, I was keen to see if I could stick it with the front guys. Got a reasonable launch and think I ended up in about 4th or 5th. Spent a fair bit of the race swapping positions with Glen Williams on the 650, but eventually managed to drop him. I slightly bungled a few corners and could tell he was right on me for the rest of the race. Looked back after the chequered flag to see an R6 between me and him, hadn't realised I was being hunted by him aswell. Finished 5th again, and 4th overall for the day. Pretty happy really. 1.39.429. Disappointed with the lack of improvement in my lap times, but by this stage my arms were pretty rooted. Not really race fit seeing as how infrequently I get on the 600.
Superbike Race Two. Didn't quite get the wonderful start of the first SB race, but I did some good consistent lap times and finished 9th again. 1.39.5 My left arm tricep completely destroyed, but feeling happy and satisfied. Any day of racing without a crash is a very happy one. Felt that my riding style had greatly improved over the couple of days, with more moving of my body weight. It'll be more effective when I don't have to think about it and remind myself to do it.
Thanks must go to the following. Peter Carbines and family for the support. Paul Williams for being my technical assistant, pity you didn't know anything about bikes, but you knew where to put the gas and I gave you the numbers for tyre pressure etc. Also for lending me your leathers Matt ( www.bikestore.co.nz) you legend, just glad you didn't know my crashing history. Nicky for letting me share your garage. Mum and Dad for loaning me stacks of money, lending me the truck, and spending heaps aswell. Gran and Col, Nana and Ross. Ian from Pinto Trailers. Thanks to my bro Mike and my uni mate Mike also for coming to check it out and all the other Crazy KB'ers and racers that were there. An awesome day.
Your mate
Jason McCamish #97
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Originally Posted by Dean
, I too kinda have a curvy figure which makes it worse beacuse im a guy. Well the waist kinda goes in and the bum pushes out. When I was in college the girls in my year would slap me on the arse and squeeze because apparently it is firm, tight...
I wear jeans
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