Had the Feral Racing boys stayin’ with us Wednesday night, all the way from the west coast of the South Island. Probably the less said about that the better but some funny tales were exchanged, mostly concerning Clint and his MotoGP approach to building ZXR motors.
Fridays testing dawned and I headed on out to the track to meet my pit mate Dodgy Matt and get shit set up. I tell ya, 7am Friday morning and three quarters of the teams were there, set up and rearing to go. We set up right next to the funny-as-fuck west coasters and I got ready to trial the new Dunlop N-Tec tyres which Dunlop had been good enough to supply us for the final round. Something that’s always been a problem at Puke on the WBP Racing bike when wearing Dunlop boots has been the stability. The Dunlop people assured me this would no longer be an issue and I headed out to do some laps. Needless to say, the Dunlop guys know their shit. My first flying lap was quicker than I’ve ever lapped Pukekohe in before, and measurably. Did about 60 laps all told on the test day with no noticeable drop in performance. Stunning tyres indeed, I felt good for the rest of the weekend.
On Saturday I was feeling pretty confident but realistic having spent time on the track with the Bugdens, Strouds and Shirriffs of the world. We got a couple of practice sessions and a 20 minute qualifying. The plan for qualifying was to run in four to five lap stints, making changes in between and see if I could improve on our times. We did this but the fact was I couldn’t improve showing how much better the bike and grip package was than my riding. Qualified miles back in eleventh sandwiched on the grid between my old mates Dave and Neil from Hard On Racing. Seems to be a bit of a habit now.
Sunday was obviously a bitch. No what ifs maybes or how comes about it. It sucked. I tried to gather my thoughts up and actually won the warm-up laps which was nice. Gridding up on row three I watched the lights like a hawk, but still had a slow reaction time. I managed to get the bike rolling well though and moved past Carey Briar on the start. David Lees was an absolute bloody mission and battling with Hayden Fitzgerald ahead but I could make no inroads to catch them at all and after a couple of laps they were too far ahead. Checking behind me a few times was a bright yellow R1 with no numbers being ridden very well by Mr Briar. I couldn’t quite gap him and in a moment of softness, let him through into turn one. I tucked in behind the R1s flaming tail pipes and chased him down through the kink, out braking him into the hairpin. Unfortunately, I’m a blouse outta there and Carey came right back at me with far superior drive. I let him lead for another lap and gauged where I was quicker. Under brakes into the hairpin, over the hill and through turn one. I figured I’d give it another shot into the hairpin on the last lap, leaving me a second chance in the run to the line if it didn’t pay off. Final lap, I drafted the R1 down the back straight and through the kink, moving to his right and grabbing the picks just that bit later. I got ahead but lost in on drive out of there again. I got a really good run on Carey over the hill, running the Gixxer right out to the line and screwing the throttle for all it was worth. I managed to outdrag the R1 and pull right alongside but slightly too late, Mr Briar beating me to the line by less than a foot. Finished 10th. Farkin cool race.
Second race was a disaster. I got probably the worst start I’ve ever had, must have been dead last. Got angry, and shot past Neil and Brendon into the hairpin. Cleaned Phil Duxbury up over the hill and put my head down about catching Carey, David and Hayden who were slightly ahead. I was reeling them in alright until on the start of lap three my home made exhaust hanger broke, the muffler flopping around the whole race and knocking my right foot off the peg. Rode a really lonely race, always with Carey in sight but not closing the gap. Celebrated my eleventh place with some rolling burnouts for the crowd down by the hairpin and all the way down the pit road, which seemed to get a few cheers.
So we went quickly, but not quick enough. I lacked aggression and need to get my head around the bikes new found speed so we can start challenging at the front, but we know where to head.
Massive thanks to my gorgeous partner for her long suffering, never complaining attitude to my racing. I know you were freaked after Sunday’s earlier events babe, thanks for keeping both yourself and me together. My pit crew Patch and Death worked tirelessly all weekend in the bloody hot sun, always on the ball and quick to give me a smack in the head for letting a Honda beat me. Obviously all the marshals and ambos that had to deal with a whole heap of shit, you guys rock! AMCC did a great job of keeping things moving once underway too, very well run meeting.
Everyone that came and said “Hi”, thanks, it does mean a lot to all of us and in the coming event we will have posters available too.
So roll on the winter, we’re taking it to the next level regarding testing and I’m pretty confident of some cool results and progress
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Originally Posted by White trash
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