Sam's vmcc r1

**samsmith88** · 26th May 2008, 18:44

My 1st race report on here!

After a 4 month break I was extremely excited to hop on a bike and ride again. Dave Cole did an amazing job in getting the Yamaha R6 track ready. Although completely standard the bike exceeded my expectations by a mile. The weekend started with a test day at Pukekohe, this was valuable tracktime for me as it made me comfortable about racing the next day.
Sunday was round 1 of the VMCC winter series at Taupo. The weather was good to us, threatening rain but luckily holding out for the duration of the day. The day was used for valuable tracktime and also suspension development.
The programme started with qualifying for F1 and F2. Starting race 1 in 6th I dropped back three spots to finish 9th. By the afternoon Robert Taylor and Dennis Shaw had the Ohlins suspension at a point where they were happy with tyre wear and handling. They did a simply amazing job devoting huge amounts of time to make sure I was comfortable and most importantly happy with the setup of my Yamaha R6.
At the end of the day I finished with a 9th and a 4th in Superbikes, along with a 5th and a 1st in F2. I also managed a new lap record in f2 at a 1:34.67 which was cool. It was also the first time I raced with Sloan Frost and Johny Burkhart. They were awesome to ride with and are going to be front runners come nationals time.
Thankyou very much to my mechanic Jason voice who did a fantastic job and worked very well together.
It felt great to be riding again and I cant wait for the next round of Winter Series. Thankyou Yamaha NZ, Dunlop, Ohlins, N.E.S, Teknic, Shoei, Afam and RK chains.

**98tls** · 26th May 2008, 18:49

4th in superbikes

well done.

**Nasty** · 26th May 2008, 18:52

Wow .. sounds like an awesome weekend .. well done!

**Nicksta** · 26th May 2008, 19:41

great to see you back out there Sam

look forward to watching your racing throughout the series, well don on this round and good luck for the rest!!

**Clivoris** · 26th May 2008, 22:57

You were looking so good out there Sam. Coming back from injury makes it that more impressive. I can't wait to see how this series goes and I imagine that there will be many riders stepping up to the Nationals if the competition continues to be so hot.

**speedracerjimmy** · 26th May 2008, 23:56

good to hear ur back riding dude.hope you can make it down this way some time for a race later on.

**codgyoleracer** · 27th May 2008, 08:11

Good to see you supporting the series Sam

**NZsarge** · 27th May 2008, 08:17

Shit hot to see ya back up and at it dude. Keep that R6 screaming and good luck with ya racing.

**Matt Bleck** · 27th May 2008, 11:35

I was blown away buy the support you had in ya pit shed.

Good luck for the next round.

**Toast** · 27th May 2008, 11:51

Originally Posted by samsmith88

Although completely standard the bike exceeded my expectations by a mile.

Maybe keep it that way to give the rest a chance, eh. Awesome to see you out there in our little pond, gotta be good for the guys up front to have a proven National champ to aim for.