Well seeing as most reports are from northern i figured a good time to start some southern ones. And why not start with the burt munro. Yee haw.
Anyway got back from japan Thursday afternoon and mucked about getting warrants for cars and dressing up the bike before loading the bike up to get down and do the f3 races at teratonga and the wyndham. Got away at 6am for a meet up with a mate in Dunedin and then the haul to Invercargill. All good at the site (we camped) outside the mix up on entry to the rally site and prices being a bit off if you competed and camped. But having said that it was the only mess up i really noticed at the whole event so thats pretty impressive.
Anyway onto the racing. I’d never been to teretonga to race yet so i was rather alarmed when i was told i had six laps of learning/practice and qualifying all rolled into one. Somedays i really like having no transponders. So headed out for qualifying and immediately teretonga struck me as way different to anywhere else down here with very long corners and lots of corner speed required. Nice for us 400 guys (and there were alot more than usual about which was even better). Managed to qualify in 20th which wasn’t too bad considering i wasn’t sure whether to go left or right.
Race one was an utter shambles. Bombed the start as the lights were very fast to come and go so had no revs. Lesson learned. Made my way forward for the next two laps and dropped a few more seconds but at the end of the 3rdish lap bombed the bike onto the rumble strip outside the last corner – thats rough really rough. Wasn’t sure id stay on but managed it all right and caught back up to paul fisher on the 141 750SS and a motard who i was behind before i messed up, in 20th
The second race went on fractionally better. It got alot colder and windier so times were about the same despite seeming much quicker. The start was good but i wimped out at the first corner and feel back. Had a good battle for a bit with josh on the FZR and then paul fisher and the motard again. Got past them both but pauls 750 is an animal down the straight and i had no hope. The motard got round again but i took him back through Castrol which was nice. Couldn’t get my gears right anywhere which was a pain and the rev limiter took a pounding all day long. Ended up 1 better in 19th.
End of the day was a quick change to super short gearing and a tether switch fitting before back to the camp site to freeze to death in the cold and rain – smart me had 1 thin wee jumper and one pair of socks. Idiot.
Next day was the wyndham – got there late and was bugger all spots left but ended up next to some kind coasties on a pre-63 triton that were good for a yarn through the day.
Got to see the track first before qualifying at least. And all i could think was holy shit this is bumpy. Like parts of the summit road here in Christchurch. Wish i had my road nc21 with its soft suspension. Figured out by the end of practice that you actually rode more focused on the bumps and how to get over them to go alot quicker. Qualified 14th which was not too bad considering it was my first road meet.
First race. Well first race yea. Well that. Hmmmm. Got held on the grid for a looooong time so everything cooled off. Finally got out. Unfortunately Tom Bos on the #45 green Kawasaki decided that he needed to lie down for a bit so highsided at the first corner on the warm up lap and left me no where to go but to lay down with him. So i think i hit the brakes hard and lifted the rear and came off. Only a broken foot peg and gear shift lever but it jammed in gear so couldn’t ride back. Unfortunately i went down head first and it damaged the helmet and somewhere inthe carnage my finger got caught some where and bent funky and that hurt like fuck. So get the bike on the trailer and head back to the pits. New peg and lever and sorted it out and was ready to go. Only good part of the whole experience was my foot peg design worked as desired and broke rather than the rear set.
2nd race was a much quieter affair with me worried alot about 650’s and there point and squirt riding style. Was held on the dummy grid for ages again so not good again. Took it easy to get me back into the grove and come out about where i started. Didn’t do much racing and it was a tad boring.
Final race i started off the back of the grid to have a bit of fun. Slowly made my way up a few positions with some good riding by some guys on 150’s doing well for a while. Had fun slowly finding speed and getting the feeling of the whole street racing thing. Can’t wait to sort a few more things out on the bike and get into the nelson races.
Overall i left the weekend pretty happy. The bikes a wee bit banged up but nothing to hard to fix. Fingers a wee bit stuffed. Insurance is covering the helmet which is the good news. But i could care less cause it was lots of fun And thats all that matters. good to see lots of bikes out there. See ya all there again next year.
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.."What's with all the lights"..officer..
Originally Posted by Okey Dokey
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