Well what a bloody weekend, I can honestly say that all up, this was the best time I’ve ever enjoyed since beginning racing bikes. Bit of a long winded rant, hope we don’t bore ya
Started off Saturday morning by throwing a whole heap of gear, mattresses, and a bike into the stolen (thanks SDV) truck. Patch turned up about eleven and seeing as he knew that you need to fill in a log book, I elected him as chief driver. Had a nice (noisy and slow) cruise down the line to Paeroa with no events to report. Caught up with our old mate Deano, Mrs Deano and their cool new son Rex before going and finding the legend that is Dave Elgar who was holding a pit spot for us and the guys from Hardon Racing. Unloaded our immense amount of shit from the truck, set the tail lift to half mast and sat down for a refreshing beer and BBQ lunch. Did the sign on and scrutineering bullshit too.
Saturday night, Gixser, Dodgy Matt, Laurie, Aff man, Sanx, Frenchy and Nicksta all arrived and we set about making a dent in the massive amount of beer we had on hand. Drew pointed out to me that the riders briefing sheet stated our grid positions would be posted during scrutineering. Pretty funny way to determine a grid I thought but I’d better go have a look. Sure enough, there in the shed I came to the realization that I’d already qualified. I started jumping up and down swearing to anyone that would listen about what a bunch of cunts they were sticking me right at the back until someone calmly pointed out that I was looking at the sheets upside down. I was on the front row! Fark me!, Li’l ol’ Trashy then became a very happy man. Wandered back to our pit and told everyone about what a legend of a qualifier I am. Also stopped drinkin about then too.
I wont bore you with the shenanigans that took place Saturday night, what goes on tour stays on tour (see Riff raffs thread)
Slept in the back of the truck with various burnouts, partys and burglar alarms going off all night but all in all slept pretty well.
Sunday morning and everything started to happen pretty quick. Did our practice sessions and was stoked to have Gareth Jones come past towards the end so I tried to steal a few pointers from him. Hate to say it but those Yamahas are dynamite quick. My bike felt pretty good, perhaps not the perfect gearing but I managed to find a good rythym so we left it as it stood. Watching from the sidelines for a few years I’ve always been a little apprehensive of the front straight and it’s kink at Superbike speeds. Let me tell you it’s a hell of a lot worse from the pilots seat.
All the practices outta the way, I started to get a little nervous even though I’d told myself I was here for the fun of it, not going to expect too much of myself after the bitter disappointment of Wanagnui. Grabbed the MP3 and blasted out a bit of Rage Against the machine while cheering Nicko and Drew on in the first F2 race.
Race 1.
Got not a bad start but pussied out a little into turn one, allowing Shirriffs, Jones and Cudlin through way too easily. Pete Tanner and Carey Briar also got through as well. Managed to feel pretty good through the first 4 laps and held a pretty good position, getting back through on Tanner. Race was red flagged after Nicko and Neil Martin had a wee coming together before the esses, thank Christ no one was hurt although both the MV and the GSXR looked pretty second hand. We were held on the start grid then restarted for the remaining six laps. Glad of a second chance I focused everything on the flag Chris Costello was holding high and got an explosive start, out dragging everyone except Gareth on the Bernard Yamaha. Curious George (aka Craig Shirriffs) mowed past me under brakes and Damien shot through soon after. Hayden Fitzgerald and Carey got through and I needed to calm down a bit and ride my own race to stay with them. Both Hayden and Carey were pushing really hard but outbraking themselves into turn one. Carey ran a little wide and I managed to square it off a little better, getting on the inside of him and holding him out over the stop bank and down the chute towards the Esses. Keeping my head down I just rode as tidily as I could, trying to keep the front down on the back straight and a tidy line through the hairpin. All the way down Paeroas main street the WBP bike was trying to wheelie itself into the crowd but we held it together, gapping Carey but unable to catch a fast Hayden. Finished 5th in probably the most enjoyable race of my life. First privateer home and running on the same pair of Dunlops I raced at Wanaganui.
Got invited to the King Of the Streets race and was running sixth in this event. Started to notice my footpeg getting loose and couldn’t weight the peg. Jason Hulme was all over me and I couldn’t get off the turns well enough to gap him. Running into the hairpin I was going later and later on the brakes when finally on lap ten, I lost the front there and dropped the bike in front of a couple of thousand people. Got some good cheers and clapping. Rode back to the pits and the marshal told me to go slowly in the opposite to track direction. I went nice and slowly but the rear tyre seemed to be spinning about 20 times faster than the front. Crowd seemed to enjoy that
Patch and Death set about making the very small repair needed to get out for the final Formula Paeroa race and we made it to the grid with our troop of stunning brolly girls. It was nice to see Curious George had an absolute minter in the shape of Robert Taylor to hold his umbrella
Got a good start again but by now my tyres were well and truly fucked, my fastest lap being one and a half seconds slower than the first race so I just went into damage control, trying to make it impossible for Neil to come by. He’s obviously got a fair bit of trust in my riding as he made a dive through the kink in the hairpin in a very cheeky manner. He gave me a little wave down the front straight to say sorry but he’s one guy you can trust to get by cleanly and we had a laugh about it after the race. Couldn’t catch him back up so finished a creditable 8th on VERY second hand tyres. Pete Tanner was doing his best to get by and I thought he might on the final lap but luckily Kicking Zebra provided a life saver, leaving a tiny gap for me to squeeze through as we lapped him and making Pete go the long way round.
I’ll post what a full lap feels later but I really gotta thank soooo many people.
Quasi, Paula and Bikestore. Thankyou so, so much for the troop of gorgeous brolly dollys. They did you guys proud and got us all some very hotly contested exposure. Patch for spinning spanners and driving the truck and cooking the food and buying the beer. You’re a fucken legend mate and I’m lucky to have you on my side. Every single marshal and photographer there. You guys work tirelessly throughout the day in the stinkin hot sun without a break for our enjoyment, thankyou all. All the race fans who cheered or clapped. I really hope we all put on a good show for you. Speedie for hooking me up with such an awesome ride and of course my gorgeous, child bearing partner Sue. I love you so much babe, thankyou for helping me remain confident.
WBP racing is really luck to have the support of Wealth Buy Property, Easystart rental management, Auckland Motorcycle Surgery, Quasimoto leathers, Bikestore and of course Dunlop for the super sticky tyres. All of you guys rock as without you, we wouldn’t be doin it.
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Originally Posted by Wolf
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