BADD 3 Hour.
What a day !!
Got a lift to the track from Gah (thanks) The Hornet and all my gear was in the garage I was sharing with Gah and Darrin.
I had new brake pads for the front and fitted those, I didn't do the first practice/qual as I didn't think it would make much difference, even if I was on pole by the time I waddled across the track the field would have been away and I might have got run over. !!
Practice /Qual 2
I did go out for this as it was now pissing down rain and I wanted to get an idea of how slippery the track was- the answer VERY !! I only had one set of tyres Conti race attacks (med) these have a very sparse tread pattern and though great in the dry very dodgy in the wet. I was going very slow (like over 2 ½ min per lap) a Triumph Bonneville passed me and looked very impressive hanging off the side in the turns, however when I got to the end of the back straight there he was in the run off with skid marks from about the 150 metre marker, how did he manage that ?
Race Time
I was last on the grid but wasn't to worried about that, after all I had three hours to catch up right ?
WRONG ! WRONG !! WRONGER !!
After slipping and sliding around I crossed the start/finish line for the second time at about 160 kph I swear I only THOUGHT about slowing down and BANG !! I am on my back sliding down the track looking back at the crowd on the pit wall vanishing into the distance and sliding, on and on and on, fuck I'm going fast will I ever stop ?... eventually I hit the kitty litter and tumbled a couple of times. I leapt up picked up the bike with help from someone and quickly checked it out, looked OK, started OK, I jumped on and asked my good Samaritan if there was a prize for first bin ? I then rode through the gravel to the grass and round the back of the gravel trap so I could get a good view of the whole track. When it was clear I rode across the gravel and continued on my way. Well I guess that answered the question of what happened to the Bonneville in practice.
I was going very slow and EVERYONE passed me at least twice in the next ten laps so I figured I was just a moving hazard and decided to come in besides I had a stone in my boot
It was a good thing I did come in as a closer examination of the bike showed the rear sets were bent and pushing the chain guard against the chain.
After getting out of my wet leathers I managed to repair the bike enough to be race worthy again but decided that I would still be just a moving hazard in the conditions so had a nice cup of tea and watched the event from track-side.
Eventually the rain stopped and the track started to dry out. I saw several teams getting tyres ready so I figured I could go back out without causing any harm (to myself or anyone else).
The track was still very slippery if I ventured off the dry line but I gradually upped the pace until I was down below the two minute mark (1:57.9 best lap). I managed to add another 17 laps to my dismal tally.
Usually when people ask me how I got on at a race meeting I respond with well I didn't fall off and I didn't come last After doing both I will have to think of another line now !!
After a few hours work the Hornet is ready to ride to work again on Monday and I am not hurt and I have the finishers trophy and have had a GREAT WEEK of racing. I'll be back for the Tri-series and next years endurance race. I'm looking forward to Paeroa
Thanks to the organizers and volunteers.
Special thanks to my partner Katie and her brother Paddy for transport and support.
P.S. Any video or photos of my prang would be cool to see
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Originally Posted by Skunk
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