Hi All,
Well after putting my money where my mouth is and getting a Ninja 250R Race bike, and all the gear plus some spares, and did a little training, I entered my first race meeting.
The Morning:
I got my act together rather early, and headed over to Feilding to the Service Station for fuel.
Put 5 litres in the bike, and filled the Jerry Can, and the ute.
Saw Robert Taylor from CKT and talked about my work....
Then I asked him about some wear patterns on my rear tyre I noticed after Hampton Downs.
Apparently it was caused by the front being too soft, and backing the rear in.... Well, well I thought...
Headed to the track to look for a place to set up in the pits.
Stables were already fill.... So went out the back and parked the ute.
Caught up with Jonno W and he said as I have been a help to the Vic club I earned the right to pit in the scrutineering shed. Cleared it with Russel F, and I proceeded to set up.
I then went and registered. Thanks to Skippy for holding my hand, i managed to get that done. Then it was a matter of listening to the briefings, and wait.
Practice/ Qualifying: We all got called to the Dummy Grid.
So i jumped on the bike and headed out. Just then there was a cloud burst!
All the Street stocks and the Pro Lite bikes were keen(ish) to hit the track, but we all got turned back and had 10 minutes... this was for the 125GP's to change their wheels to wets.
After finally getting out, I spent a lap to check to see if there was any big puddles forming on the track, and warm myself and the bike up.... Then it was time to get into qualifying.
I discovered straight off the bat i was taking corners a lot faster than most, and having to take some very interesting lines to get around them.....
I have ridden Manfeild many times, just not on this bike.... Must say, the track does look a little different!
Then I made a little mess into Dunlop. I went for my usual turn point, but as it was a bit wet, didn't get the bike turned fast enough, and run a little wide on the exit.
This put me up to the paint. Not really a place to be, but in the wet it spells disaster!
I lost the front on the exit, and crashed!
I had to stop myself getting up while still sliding... I then got well off to the side of the track do nobody would hit me.
Then the Super Quad guy, Neil_CB125T, came over to help me get the bike to the fence.... I must say those quad guys always do an awesome job
I managed to get the bike going at the end of the session and rode it back to the pits. All that was broken was the RH Footrest hanger.
zxr400#150 then helped me wash some of the mud off the bike and asses the bike for further damage.
I then made a phone call to AFC Motorcycles in Palmerston North to see if they had a new Hanger in stock. "We can have one here on Monday" was the answer.
I explained I was at Manfeild, and asked if they had a Ninja 250 in the showroom I could borrow one off.
They said yes, so i made the dash to palmy.
After I got the new bit in hand I proceeded to start fixing my bike.
I then learnt that I hadn't missed my first race, so was getting my bike ready at a much increased pace.
Skippy asked how long it would take me to fix, as she was off to find the MNZ steward. I told her 4 minutes.
Well, it took a couple longer, because while talking to Skippy, I forgot to actually bolt the brake leaver on, before putting the hanger back onto the bike....
Once all fixed I managed to get out to the dummy grid on time.
I was that pressed for time, I couldn't remember if I had actually qualified.... So assumed I crashed on my first flying lap, and started from the rear of the grid.
Race 1:
After the dramas of the repair, I had to shut the visor, and get into race mode.
On the warm up lap I carefully checked the bike for stopping power, and bent disc.
Brakes were all good.
I then ensured I had Full Throttle... Yup, had that too, and engine seemed fine.
So round we come to line up for the start of my very first race and I was sitting at the back with lots of bikes in front.
The lights went out, and I got off the line.
I seemed to pass heaps of bikes and there were even more in turn 1!
Through Splash and all the way to the hair pin i was taking some real weird lines...
One bike went down in splash, so progress slowed somewhat.
Finally we all sorted ourselves out and got into the 10 lap race.
I had a dice all race with Kyron L on his Hyosong.
A very good battle, and I was trying to get my act together after by bruised ego.
We both got our fastest laps on the last lap.... Drafting a CBR down the back straight into a very strong head wind helped.... Scored a 1:37, and finished 3rd in class.
Race 2: Again assumed I didn't qualify, so started off the back of the grid.
I got off the line reasonably well. Again at turn 1 it was a real lolly scramble.
I knew I had to try and get on the pace quickly. This was a 5 lap race, so no time to muck around...
The Track was drying, and my confidence was coming back, so I just concentrated on reference points, lines, and corner speed... Yes, that is what I SHOULD have done in practice.
I finished second with a best lap of 1:36.486.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and would like to thank all those that helped me out on the day, and AFC for pulling a bike in the show room apart for me.
I would also like to thank the fellow racers for some great racing in this fantastic class.
Finally thanks to all the Vic Club Volunteers for making the Race Meetings happen.
Cheers
Aaron
#42.
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Originally Posted by Racey Rider
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