Wharfy's PMCC rnd 3

**wharfy** · 7th April 2009, 09:30

Katie and I drove up on Saturday afternoon, had beer and pizza for tea and slept in the van at the track. A couple of items to be added to the check list:

make sure the cigar lighter in the van works for the compressor for the air mattress
Take the sheep wool mattress cover - air beds get cold.
Take an electric jug so we can have a nice cup of tea in the morning.

After reading all the stuff on KB about the Taupo track repairs I was a bit nervous about scratching my sexy new bike. The riders briefing did nothing to allay my fears. Sinfull did his best to put me at ease but I was still VERY wary on the sighting laps.

Qualifying was uneventful, mainly because I was going really slow, only a bit faster than I was doing on the Hornet the last time I was there. I was a bit disappointed.

Race 1:
I was on the second row of the grid, the 675 has a pretty good launch so I gridded as far to the left of my spot as possible without getting of it and that gave me a bit of a gap to aim for. The flag dropped and I got a bloody great start if I do say so myself

I was second into turn one and managed to hold second place for about a lap and a half. I had a bit of a moment on the fast right hander (turn 8 ?) with a small front end slide and three bikes shot past. I must have been holding them up because they just kept getting further and further ahead. Darrin had a bit of a moment at turn one and Richard on the 990 must have had one as well because we all ended up at the apex of turn one at the same time. I managed to get past the 990 and I finished fourth, but only just the 990 superduke was less than 2 one hundredths of a second behind !!!
I was much happier after the race than before it, and I had managed to knock a couple of seconds of my qualifying time.

Race 2:
The plan was simple, get another good start and see if I could hold my position longer.
Well my start was not great, it was not "bad" just not great, a bit of a wheelie and I was about 4th or 5th into turn one. I the 990 good a great start and was 2nd into turn one. We ended up haveing a bit of a dual that was pretty close, I managed to get ahead in lap three and held it to the chequered flag. Fourth again and again only by a few hundredths of a second. I again managed to drop a couple of seconds from my best lap time.

It was a great weekend, a big thanks to all the people that make these things happen, they do a damn good job.

Looks like there will be a whole new bunch of F2 riders this winter !!!

**scuzeme** · 7th April 2009, 10:39

Kev, I think the only reason you didnt do better was in your head you didnt want to scratch up that new bike of yours, couple more track days mate and you will be dangerous, great to see you and your wife there on Sunday catch up soon.

**sinfull** · 7th April 2009, 10:50

Bloody good going out there mate, love the way that triple of yours gets off the line ! Like Darrin says a few more trips over that resin will fix any issues ya may of had with it and you will be flying round there !
Must go test ride one hehe !

**kittytamer** · 7th April 2009, 11:41

Good to meet you at the weekend Kev. I was hoping to give you more of a run for your money after qualifying, but you stepped it up in the races big time! The 675 looked purdy too!

**slowpoke** · 7th April 2009, 18:08

You're always the gentleman Warfy, ya got uppity with those young fullahs! You looked super smooth out there mate, and the bike is even sexier than you said, not to mention it sounds fuggin' mint!