First and foremost thanks for all those who put this event on...it was simply an amazingly smooth run race day despite the weather! Secondly, everyone who was brave enough to race on the day....big ups to you all...there was not one time when I was swearing in my helmet at some other rider....everyone was VERY well behaved.
Well by now you would have all heard what happened to the weather so I won't go on about that.
Practice 1:
Wiggles went out on my bike in the first practice to get a feel for it and try to get into the groove. He looked very smooth from the sideline and was lapping at about 1:46's comfortably. We had had discussions prior to the enduro about not binning before the race actually started so I was happy he was riding well within himself. As it turned out, this was to be our grid positioning session as the second session I was supposed to go out on new slicks and go for our grid position as I knew my bike and the track better than wiggles...obviously this wasn't to be.
It was an interesting time between practice sessions as everyone cruised up and down the pits talking to everyone about the weather and trying to decide what tires to wear, whether in fact to race at all, if the weather was likely to ease.....it completely threw most peoples 'race plan' out the window...including ours. I had a set of wets, but never really anticipated to use them. I had never raced in the rain and in fact was known as a fair weather rider when I was on the road so this situation was not ideal for me. I was worried that the wets wouldn't last the 3 hours and all we had after that was slicks...but in the end we had no choice but to put the wets on because there was no doubt....it was wet!!!
tire change: I had a spare set of rims with wets on so my pit crew (Frankie, Tam and Wiggles) went about getting these changed over. Although I was told by Jamie when I bought the rims that the spacers were different and I had to use the ones specifically for each set of rims, somehow in the change this didn't happen. We got the front on and then the back but this is where it all turned to custard. the rear wheel wasn't turning freely! We mucked around for a while trying to figure the problem, meanwhile the second practice started...in the wet....which I really really wanted to get out in as I hadn't ridden in the wet before. We decided in our infinite wisdom to swap the wet tire onto my old rim....which Wiggles and Frankie set about achieving (as I was standing around in my white condom rain suit :-D). While they were doing that the spacers got muddled again and when they came back and put the rim on...same problem! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr I was kind of annoyed as it was evident that I was not going to get out in the practice! Finally we figured it out and we were set for the start!
Race start:
As other reports said we lined up on the side after photos were taken and waited for the flag to drop. My headspace at this point was totally not on the job at hand...I was chatting tot the guy next to me about who was going to drop the flag and then there it was...so I started running :-)....got over to my bike, got my leg over and took a while to realize that the key was already on and I just needed to push the start....did it, put it in gear....I'm off. Entered the first corner in 7th place I think right behind a yellow SV (you know who you are :-)). Well, first lap I was sure carnage was about to unfold! Paul was doing his best to keep the SV on the wet track and was sliding both wheels on EVERY corner in the first lap! I was too scared to attempt an overtaking manouver so sat behind him for most of the lap until the back straight where I think I picked up two places and went past the start finish in 5th.
I was told by a few people I would be surprised at the amount of grip I was about to experience on wet tires....well to be honest I was really supprised at how little grip I had! lol
I made it through my first session with no incident which I was very happy with. Came in for a rider change and off wiggles went. We had calculated our fuel consumption based on Wiggles qualifying session so had to recalculate (guesstimate) what it would be in the wet...we managed this in the first instance but when it dried in the middle of the race it all went pear shaped again and we were very very lucky pulling Wiggles into the pits AS HE RAN OUT OF GAS! talk about cutting it fine (we really wanted to have a chance of being on TV if it is covered...lol). Wiggles seemed very confident in the rain and his skills as a smooth dry rider came into great use in the wet and we were both circulating at between 2:04 - 2:07 mark.
I had one very close moment at the left hander at the end of the back straight where I cut the corner a bit much and hit the inside white line...DOH! completely crossed up my front to the left at about 80kph and my bike slid a full metre to the right as I wobbled around on top....along for the ride and lucky to keep it upright!
The only other incident was after a final unscheduled fuel stop which could have cost us a place....about 2 laps after this stop my right peg gave way and turned out had vibrated loose and fallen off. This is very difficult to ride around as I had to stay seated rather than shifting my weight to the side which made every corner feel like I was sure to have a lowside! I considered coming in to the pits but decided against it as there was nothing that could have been done quickly about it so stayed out there with the goal of maintaining my position until the end. I felt like I was learning to ride again and had slowed down considerably. I was overtaken at one point but managed to regain the spot and hold on to a final position of 6th :-D
I really have so many people to thank that have supported me over the last little while but you all know who you are! I do need to mention Motott crew for allowing us to fill some space in your shed and my pit crew mentioned above! Wiggles.....really glad you did my decision justice for allowing you to ride my pride and joy and not putting anymore scratches on her :-D...you ride like a demon bro! Thanks to those who made the trip to watch too....prettybillie being one of them...appreciate your support!
now I gotta look for coin so I can attend PMCC round 2 at manfield! sponsors????? :-D
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Biggles08
Bookmarks