First of all, I'd like to thank Quasie and Mrs evil for their great hospitality, letting us crash in their beautiful home and letting us have a great feed too!!
Yesterday's racing event was a step forward for me in the right direction.
Here is how I went:
Practice 1: I was just scrubbing in the tyres (yep, that means I had brand new tyres for a change!!!). I took my time scrubbing in the tyres and getting the feel for the track again. During the last few laps I turned the pace up a bit to warm up for the next practice session. After bringing it in, the tyres worked beautifully and they were scrubbed in pretty well too. K14 told me that I had got 47s as my best time for practice. I thought that, it was pretty good for just scrubbing in the tyres.
Practice 2: I got the chance to up the pace a bit more and fully scrub in the tyres. I also got a good feel for the track by now.
After Lunch racing began.
Race 1: The way things are done in taupo is pretty relaxed or crazy! There are no qualifiying times or anything and basically who ever comes first in the warmup lap get's to pick his/her grid position. All thanx to my tyre warmers that F/F had kindly gifted to me, I was able to go hard straight way on the mad dash for a good grid position. I was able to slot my self in between Nick Cole and Glen Williams on the front row! (I am #15, 2nd one from the left on the pic below).
The red flag was taken out and we waited from the green flag to be dropped. As soon as the green flag twiched to move on it's way down, I could already hear the revs of the engines rising... just waiting for the clutch to be released. A few mili seconds later, all of us shot off like a bullet exploding out of the barrel of a gun. I still held 3rd position in a straight line but soon, a bunch of guys lined them selves up on the inside of turn one so I had to let them through. Then again, the same thing happened at the hairpin. I was kicked from 3rd to 9th position in less than half a lap. We went round and round for 6 laps and that was the end of race one. I managed to hold 9th position and I felt more and more comfertable with the bike and the track with each lap. I had managed a best lap of 44s with a pretty consistant 45s so I was pretty happy with that. The pic below is from Race 1:
Race 2: For race 2, I was feeling a lot more confident. again, we furiously shot out of the pits to go around the warm up lap as quickly as possible. Again I got a front row grid position. This time I was commited to not letting other people pass and try to be a bit more agressive. Again, the green flag dropped and we took off like the wind. We went into turn one and this time I had covered my line well, not letting others pass through. Through the hairpin as well, I kept a really tight line, making it impossible for someone to pass me around the outside. This time I grabed 6th position after completing the 6 laps. I was really happy about it because I could actually see the guys up front this time and I could feel like I was getting more closer to the F2 race pace. The guys came around and cheered for me, which was really cool. This time I had come 4th in F2 and 6th overall because They ran F2 and F1 classes at the same time. More important than that, i managed a low 43s lap time!! I was really happy about that. I wanted the 43 but I didn't think, it would come to me this soon!
Race 3: I started race 3, in a typicaly MR manner. As the guys were shooting off for the warmup lap into the track, I was still undoing the tyre warmers and getting the bike off the race stands. TS quickly came to the rescue and I managed to sneak into the 2nd row of the grid by skipping the warm up lap. This time I was behind a few guys to begin with and after getting the green flag, some more guys got through because I had a crap start as well. I managed to get past someone at the hairpin and I started going pretty well. Then a Supermotard of all things overtook me around the sweeper. A Supermotard?? As good as they may be around corners, they'r no match for a inline 4 600cc bike on a straight. I took him on the straight and then kept him at bay for the rest of the race. I also had a good battle with a guy riding a GSXR1000 up front. I almost managed to get him on the hairpin but he didn't budge. For the rest of the race, I was just waiting for the moment to make a pass but then I missed a gear comming out of the hairpin and that was the end of that. I came around for the 6th time and I came home at 7th (I think) for Race 3 behind the Gixxer thou.
Overall I was happy with my performance and the performance of the bike and tyres as well. I am finally begining to feel comfertable during racing conditions. I have always found race conditions stressfull and nerv wrecking so far (although shit loads of fun at the same time). But now, from how I went yesterday, I just felt like as if it was almost like a KB ride where I didn't have any worries. The only thing I was foccused on was riding my bike well. I have a long long way to go but the path is becomming a lot more clearer.
Thank you for all the guys who helped me out, timed me, took pictures of me etc etc. It really does help to have you guys out there for support. Not only is it just helpfull but I probably couldn't have done as well, if it wasn't for the support from you guys. So, cheers for that!
Most KB guys out there were doing very well but the few that caught my attention for doing exceptionally well were of course TS, ThatGuy and scroter. It's scarry to think what TS will be capable of in a few months/years of racing, if he's doing this well already! Well done that man!!
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Originally Posted by Firefight
I'll fuckin throw you away 
mate.
you can hear it next week if you donate me $900 lol....
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