Sketchy’s VMCC round one – Bring on the 250!
This round was the beginning of a few things. It was the launch of MotoAcademy NZ which I have become a part of, and it was the first time I was going to race a bike faster than my 125 on a track – a 250GP bike!
I had entered both superbikes and supersport. I was a little worried by the superbikes and the speed difference there would be, but essentially it is just supersport with a few 1000’s out there too. Turned out to be one of my best races dicing with a stupidly quick thou. It was insane!
Qualifying – Superbikes.
I had ridden the bike briefly before, for about 5 laps of manfeild, so had some idea of what to expect. First couple of laps I just spent time learning the bike nothing to spectacular. I tried to start setting a half decent lap, but was still not comfortable with myself and I was having trouble exiting the turns. The bike wouldn’t really want to keep turning as soon as I got on the gas. Had a bit of fun best lap was a 1:44.059 and that got me 20th on the grid.
Supersport qualifying
Steve made a few changes to the bike to help with the exiting of the corner, which made a bid difference. This session I felt a lot better on the bike. I managed to get some clear space in this one and got a better lap time down. Best lap was a 1:41.015 that put me in 15th on the grid.
Superbike race 1
First time launching the 250, and it went better than expected. I found that riding around the outside of everyone at turn one worked well and I gained a few places. Got a bit excited exiting the hairpin this lap and spun the rear a bit. It was quite exciting! I diced all race normally with bike getting me down the straight and me having fun through the corners. It’s great trying to learn how to plan and apply a pass. I finished 18th with a best lap of 1:40.062 – Improving every time I was out on the bike.
Supersport race 1
Another good start and using my cornering advantage to pass people around the outside of turn 1. had a good race diced with a few people. Had a bit of a shock coming off the back straight on the last lap. A yellow 600 and Glen Williams went past at a million miles I knew as soon as the 600 went past he wasn’t gonna make the turn and ran off, then Glen was in a similar situation, but he came across on me nearly taking out the front wheel! What was exciting! I finished 12th with a best lap of 1:40.272
Superbike race 2
I quite like the superbike races for some reason. I had a good start and was in about 7th place out of turn one. Surely enough each lap a few bikes would go past down the straights. But I think I kept them honest in the corners. After everyone had spread out I caught up with a gsxr1000 that I ended up battling with. I was great fun. I knew that everytime I made a pass I wouldn’t hold it, but hell It was awesome. I went round the outside a few times on the fast left hander (before the right hander going on to the old track) and he’d get me back on the straight to the sweeper onto the back straight where I would get past him again. All I know is that bike was flippin quick! I was a great race and I finished 12th with a best lap of 1:39.521
Supersport race 2
This was a spectacular on for sure. Turn one was a mess with someone going down just behind me. It felt like everyone was out for blood. After things settled down I ended up having a battle with a yellow R6. it was great fun. I could tell he was going fairly hard but knew he was in the shit half way through turn one. It looked like he gased it too hard and it spun, he backed off and the bike went into a nice oscillation. It got worse until flip he was off. I knew there was a reason I didn’t go round the outside of him. I dodged him, but then his bike started chasing me off the track. I ended up on the grass and by the time I go back onto the track lots of bikes had gone past. I got quite a few bikes (about 7 I think) but got stuck in a bit of a freight train I had trouble making moves in. Even with the drama I clawed my way back up to 13th with a best lap of 1:39.936.
Overall for:
Superbikes – 14th
Supersport – 11th
Best lap – 1:39.521
A pretty good start to the season I think. A bit of excitement and lost places in the last race, but that’s racing!
The launch of MotoAcademyNZ went extremely well with the three 125 riders all doing very well. Especially the 2 first time 125 riders. Good stuff guys.
Huge thanks to:
Vic Club organizers. Without them I wouldn’t have been racing. Top effort guys
Steve – For spending all the time and effort getting MotoAcademy together and going!
My dad for driving up from pram just to be at the races and watch. And give me big ups!
All the guys that make the racing scene what it is.
Cheers,
-Glen Skachill
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Originally Posted by Sketchy_Racer
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