Race Reports

 

 

2008

23/11/08 - Round 4 - Champions Ridedays Race Series (QLD Raceway)

5/05/08 - Round 1 - Champions Ridedays Race Series (QLD Raceway)

29/03/08 - Round 1 Southern Downs Challenge

2007

12/06/07 - Round 1 WPS Motorcycle Championship

11/03/07 - Round 1 QRMCS Championship

2006

13/05/06 - Round 2 - Motorcycle Sportsmen's Championship

20/08/06 - Round 3 - Motorcycle Sportsmen's Championship

15/10/06 - Round 4 - Motorcycle Sportsmen's Championship

Champions Ridedays Race Series - Round 4

The weekend that I have been looking forward to (and at the same time dreading) has been and gone. I had been looking forward to this race meeting as I had missed so many with the dramas with the bike, and I was dreading for the same reasons as I do not want to go thru another motor.

For this meeting I had cross entered into the Superbike (SBK) class as well as the New Era (NE) class. My goal for the SBK was to not get lapped by the leaders and to try not to come last. With the NE I wanted to run at the front and to get a win or two.

SBK
I qualified poorly running in last place with a lap time of 1:24 with the next 5 bikes from 1:21 to high 1:19s. This time is 4 seconds of my PB time of a 1:20.2 and I talked my self into taking it easy with the bike and trying not to blow up another engine. I am finding that I am ‘parking’ the bike thru turns 3, 4 & 5 and I am constantly swearing in helmet telling myself to get into the corner much faster than I am.

Due to the SBK race being straight after the NE race I decided to do only 2 of the 3 races for the day. Both races were a carbon copy of each other, I managed to get one of my usual starts, jumping 6 or 7 bikes into turn 1 and holding them out thru turn 2 but down the long back straight there is no replacement for displacement and the bigger bikes roared past my old 750cc machine. I was trying hard to not let the bunch in front get away from me. It seemed like we attached to a long elastic band with them stretching it out down the straights and me bunching it up under brakes and thru the corners. In the end we ended up on 6-8 seconds behind them at the end of the races and I managed to not be lapped by the leaders, so I achieved one of my 2 goals.

NE
We are starting to get a few more entries for the NE class. This meeting we had a field of 8 bikes with some of the usual runners not participating due to crashes, problems or a simple lack of funds. NE qualifying was held straight after the SBK qualifying. I had already been in topped the fuel, grabbed a drink and was off again. I was gaining some confidence with the bike and managed to roll around the full circuit in a 1:22 which was good enough for a front row start albeit in 4th position.

I don’t mind starting from the inside of the front row as the other bikes need to go around the outside thru turns 1 and 2. In race 1 I got my usual flyer of a start and was leading thru the first 3 turns until Paul Featherstone on his 916 Ducati raced up the inside into turn 4. I thought that he was taking an earlier entry to make the pass but watching him from behind it seemed to be his normal line. first time over the finish line I saw the ‘jump start’ board come out and thought that they had pinged me for my good start but as I rode past it was Paul’s number 9 on it, what a relief. Anyway I just put my head down and tried to keep with him but he was about 0.5 seconds quicker per lap and ended up riding away from me. I had a fairly quiet ride to the chequered flag knowing that I had won that race due to Paul’s jump start penalty of being relegated 3 spots.

Race 2 and I got another flyer from the start line. Once again I led thru the first couple of turns and once again Paul pushed his 916 up the inside of turn 3 and began to ride away from me. This time I had the buzzing noise of Aaron Fitchett’s CBR600 to keep me company. Ever corner I could hear his bike close in and the get fainter on the exit. On the last lap Aaron tried a pass on the entry to turn 4 but he was just a little to far back to make it stick and I took the corner and rode to a comfortable 2nd place.

Race 3 was a little different to the first two races as the start lights didn’t stay on for as long as they had in my 4 previous races. I headed into turn 1 in 3rd position, following the 916s of Paul F and Paul Cane. Paul F pushed past Paul C into turn 2 and I followed him thru into 2nd place. This race I could hear the thumping boom of the Paul C’s 916 in concert with the CBR600 of Aaron. I decided to just put my head down and ride as hard as I could and not look back. With the day getting on I could use the shadows to see if anyone was coming up the inside into turns 3 & 6 and thankfully no one was and I ended up with my 2nd 2nd place for the day.

Overall we ended up with 65pts only 3pts behind Paul F’s 68pts. The bike has come home in one piece and there is no metal floating around in the oil. It looks like we have a solid engine to run with next year and we can now start to work on other areas of the bike (suspension etc) and then try to drag a few more ponies out of the engine after that.

Champions Ridedays Race Series - Round 1

Well I was thinking that I had bitten off more than I could chew by entering KitUp ZX7R into the Superbikes as well as my much loved New Era class but it turned out that the old girl held her head well. I headed into the day with only goals

1.       Not to be lapped more than twice by Kev Curtain

2.       Win the New Era class

 Unfortunately we had the engine seize in the 1st Superbike race so this is going to be short.

 Superbike Practice

I didn’t spend much time out there on the National circuit as I spend quite a bit of time out there with Champs on ridedays but I managed to get in 4 laps free of traffic (that is the big boys tripping over me) and rolled off a couple of 1:22s. The bike was running well so I pulled in and saved myself for the day

New Era Practice

I wanted to spend a bit of time working on the cross over for the clubman circuit as I don’t get to run this track config too often. I ran about 8 laps to get this right and ran 1:01 as my best time for the session.

Superbike Qualifying

In between practice and qualifying I threw on some new slicks. I decided to run a ‘Very Soft’ YDC front and a ‘Soft’ rear. I had never tried the Bridgestone YDC front before and went out thinking that it may have been a very hard instead. Anyway I pushed on working on my lap times and trying not to get in anyone’s way. We pushed the bike a little harder than we had before and managed to roll off 3 1:20s in a row with the lowest being a 1:20.4

 I got back into the pits and checked the tyre pressure and found 37psi and 43psi rear and also found out that I was not the slowest out there (15 out of 17) YAHOOO!!!

 New Era Qualifying

I got out early in the group as race group had New Era bikes and Lites (400cc, 250cc, and 125cc) and I didn’t want to trip over any of these guys but they seem to space themselves pretty well around the track so it was hard to get a string of laps together. Even with the traffic problems I managed to get 4th fastest with a 1:00.4 with pole only 1:00.1. I was really looking forward to the race with Graeme (Ducati 916) and Aaron (CBR600).

 Superbike Race 1

I managed to get the bike off to our normal great start and made up 3 positions going into T1 and then promptly lost 2 of them down the back straight (no replacement for displacement) but I was still one place higher than I started and going off the lap time I was rolling off constant 1:20s that slowly get lower and lower. The guy in front started to get closer and closer and with about 3 laps to go I thought that I could get him and a 1:19 to go with it.

 Then it hit the fan, the bike started losing power down the back straight and when I clutched to change down gear the engine went clunk and stopped. I ended up rolling to a stop down at T3. The four letter words were flying thick and fast.

 Result – DNF (Best lap time 1:20.06)

 End result for the day

Well after about 45mins of working over the engine the diagnose was that the engine was seized and there was nothing I could do to fix it. What an bad ending to was a great day, but looking at my goals Kev didn’t get to put a lap on me at all, just a shame I didn’t get to race in the New Era class.

Mitch

Southern Downs Challenge - Round 1

Well it was a weekend of firsts. It was my 1st race meeting on the KitUp ZX7R since the debacle of our attempt at racing last year and our 1st race meeting at Morgan Park (which is an awesome little track).

Short Version

Practice went well and learned that there is a few different lines you can run thru the corners. Ran in the high 1:15s

Qualifying went out and ran about 5 laps and ended up 14th on the grid with a 1:15.3

Race 1 – Got a good start and ended up 8th. Best lap time 1:14

Race 2 – Started at 14th again, got a great start and ended up 10th. Got pinged for passing under yellows and relegated one position. Best lap 1:13.8

Race 3 – Started 14th again, got an awesome start passed a few guys and ended up 8th. Best lap 1:12.66

Long Version

Practice

Morgan Park is a very interesting little track. It has many turns that lead into the next corner or even set of corners, and it possible to take a number of different lines thru them. I spent about 3 laps just riding the circuit learning where the track goes and how to best get around it and then a couple of the quicker guys came thru and I followed them thru the back half of the circuit and found a good line to run. I put my head down to find some braking markers and found a few happy places with the brakes.

I wasn’t expecting to set the world on fire and run at the front of the pack but I was only 5 secs of what the front guys had done. The best lap that I done was a high 1:15 with Scott on the Ducati running a 1:11

Qualifying

I went out behind the group and tried to string a few laps together to see what I could do. I was reeling off a few 1:16s and the odd 1:15 and then over shot a braking marker. I slowed to settle myself and Scott and Graeme came past me and I put the head down to chase them. It worked well for me and I put in a 1:15.3 for 13th fastest in a grid of 18 on the 4th row :?

Race 1

I normally get the bike off the grid well and the ZX7R is no exception. I got a flyer and was about the pass the whole 3rd row when the gap between the 2 bikes ahead of me closed. I followed thru the 1st set of corners and set off for the chase passing a 250 2 stroke down the straight into T4. I was having a good battle with a GSXR1100 that on lap 3 holed his barrel and sprayed oil all over the track into turn T8 which leads back over the hill.  The GSXR managed to stay upright and get off the track/racing line as quickly as possible but it still brought down one of the 916s of the leading packing and brought out the red flag.

Part 2 of race 1 was a 4 lap dash. Once again i got a great start and once again the gap closed. I managed to stick the KitUp ZX7R up the inside of a few bikes and managed to bring it home in 8th position.  Best Lap time was a 1:14

Race 2

After a short morning warm up I was ready for racing. The Sporties decided that we would start from our qualifying positions for every race, so it was back to position 13 for me instead of 8th L.  Well the KitUp ZX7R got another great start and we decided to not back off and stick it thru the gap this time. It was very close but I made it thru and then stuck my knee out to protect my line into T1. What a rush. I was gaining confidence in the bike and we moved ahead to start battling with the Ducati 916 of Peter Andrew, the GSXR750 of Damien Irwin and the 125 GP bike of Warwick Ayres. It was a great battle that went on all race with Peter and I passing the bike 17. The race ended with the 250 getting the best of Peter and myself on the last lap.

I got back to the pits and stripped out of my leathers and went to congratulate Peter for a great race when my pit helper Simon came down and told me that the race Stewarts wanted to talk to me. I found the race stewards how told me that my passing move on bike 71 (Damien Irwin GSXR750) at T6 had been made under a yellow flag! He explained that the yellow was displayed at T4 and I had not yet passed a green flag so even though I had travelled approx 400m passed the accident and thru 2 corners I still had passed under a yellow so the penalty was a 1 position relegation from 10th to 11th.

My lap times had started to drop down and the best lap time of the race was a 1:13

Race 3

Well back to P13 on the grid :? Well it was a repeat of the start of race 2 and I managed to hold my position thru into the back half of the circuit. Once again it was a great battle with Peter on the 916 and we battled for the whole race with Damien Irwin. Peter put a move on Damien into T6  and got away thru the complex of corners leading on to the front half of the circuit. I managed to slip up the inside of Damien’s GSXR going thru the left hand sweeper under the bridge and set off after Peter. Peter had over shot his braking marker into T4 and I also dived in a little deeper to try and pass him, but the 916 got good drive out of the corner and managed to just keep ahead of me for the last lap.

We managed to bring home the KitUp ZX7R in 8th position for race 3 with a best lap time of 1:12.66

Overall

The bike ran extremely well without problems and was fast and well sorted and we went better than we expected. We had a goal to run in the top 10 and ended up 7th on the day on 38pts. We managed to be within 3secs of the leading bunch running 1:09 to 1:10s and we reduced our laps times from Qual to last race by 3secs.

Next race meeting is a QLD Raceway with the Champions Ride Day Race Series on the Monday 5th May (Labour Day Holiday). Hope to see you all then.

Mitch

 

WPS Motorcycle Championship Race 1

 

Well Rnd one of the WPS Championship has been run and won. This race meeting was run on the full National Circuit.

 Practice

Well I had done a little bit to the bike before rolling out for practice on Sunday, just small things like change the air filter, oil filter and oil, so I just wanted to make sure everything was running fine before getting stuck in to it. However the bike had other ideas, don’t get me wrong it was running nicely but I was out there on worn tyres and I had a few front end slides, which scared me a little bit so I coasted around. I got back to the pits and the timing sheets said I was 1.8 sec slower than my prev PB. This was a little sad but to be expected really. Best lap time was a 1:21.29

 Qualifying

In between practice and qualifying I had slipped on a not so worn set of tyres. The bike behaved quite well for the first 3 laps then started to move around on me a little. On the 7th lap coming out of T6 I must have wound on the throttle a little to had the bike almost highsided me into next week. I remember looking down and seeing my front number and mud guard. I still had hold of the bars and managed (somehow) to push my self back towards the seat and landed nuts first on the tank. This combined with the front slides during practice must have really screwed with my head as the best lap time was a  1:21.14 still 1.5 secs outside of my prev PB. Qualified 16th  

Race 1

What a stuff up with the grid positions. I had never been anywhere other than the front row before and now starting off row 4 was something new. I saw the guy on the front row and counted back four spots back. However I had forgotten the grid rows are slightly offset between them and really I was sitting on row 7. Well I got a good start and managed to be with the group going into T1 and them we seemed to spread out a bit into T2 and along the back straight to T3. I seem to have a disadvantage with acceleration mainly due to my size and I don’t seem to catch anyone on the straights even if I do get a better run out of the corners

After a few laps Warren Harding (GSXR600K7 No.8) got away from me and I ran around by myself until the last lap when Pat Torbey (blue CBR6 No.22) passed me. I was thinking that it was the 2nd last lap and I was busy planning my run at him into T4/T5 and then checkers came out. I wasn’t real happy with that one! The bike was fine for a few laps then started to slide around a bit. I mentioned this to my mate Ross who told me to check the tyre pressures. Sure enough they where way to high (37f/36r) and the tyre must have been over heating and losing grip. Best lap time was a 1:21.55

 Race 2

Careful to avoid the stuff up with the grid spacing again, I got into position early and managed to get another flyer. Ben Henry had ditched his bike in the 1st race and was starting rear of grid and came flying up the inside in to T1 scaring the be-jesus out of me. I gave him some room and tried to follow him thru the pack but really who was I trying to kid with that plan and he disappeared off in the distance. Once again Warren and I had a bit of a tussle until something happened to his bike and both Pat and I got passed. In the closing laps of the bike I started to close in on Pat but I didn’t have enough laps to get him. Anyway I was happy that I the tyres stuck and didn’t give me any grief. The change in tyre pressures sure did help too and the bike stayed true all race, mmm much better! Best lap time was a 1:21.05

 Race 3

Well the day had dragged on now and the sun was starting to set. This made the very T2 even harder as the sun was setting right in the middle of it! Well I got off to another good start and passed a number of people as they ran wide thru T2 (due to the setting sun) and promptly lost all the places that I made into to T3. Matt (Archers R6 No.73) reckons that he was going to give me a run for my money this race but he and Pat got tangled up into to T3(?) and they both ran off into the kitty litter. I really just ran comfortably by myself and saw the No 77 GSXR of Dean Robinson coming slowly back towards me. This was a great incentive to put in so better laps than I was doing. Well I caught him on the last lap and dived up the inside into T3 but he passed me on the way out and lead into T4. Thru here he was much slower than I so I passed him between T4 & T5 but this ruined my exit speed (tighter line) and he passed me back into T6. Bugger 14th place! Best lap time was a 1:21.2

Overall I ended up 6th on the points for the Superstock class for the day which isn’t too bad for the bikes racing debut. I can’t wait for the next race meeting.

 

QRMCS Round 1

I was all pumped to have my first race in Superstock. I had gone thru all the race prep, fitted up some new rearsets, changed the gearing to give a little quicker acceleration and had arranged for about 20 mates to come and cheer me on. Unfortunately QR had other ideas. They had decided that due to the lack of numbers received that they could not hold a competitive event and decided to cancel the racing. This wasn't all bad as I was not really confident with the bike and I was still learning it.

QR decided to give all that entered a free 4 practice session. It was good to use this time to get a better feel for the changes that I had made to the bike. As it turned out the cancellation was God sent. It was 38C on the day scheduled for racing! Also I had a few problems with my rearsets as well. The gear change shift rod came loose and almost fell off during my first venture out on the track and during the last I came close to loosing a foot peg as well.

Over all the bike and I feel fast thru turns 1&2 but we are really parking the bike mid corner on all the others, which is certainly costing me plenty of time per lap.

 

Motorcycle Sportsmen's Championship Round 4

This race meeting was held on the ‘Clubman' Circuit at QLD Raceway. It cuts out most of the back straight and has a dipping crossover linking the back straight onto the 2 left hand in field corners. Who says the QR is totally flat?


 

Qualifying
I got out at the front of the qualifying pack so I could make use of my warm tyres and get a few laps in before I came across traffic. I managed to reel off a couple of low 62sec laps before running into the slower historic bikes. I had to play bit of a game sussing out who was around the track and where I would catch them, after to slow 64s I managed to enough clear track and rolled off a 61.9sec lap. Good enough for 3rd spot on the grid behind Graeme on his Fireblade and poleman, Scott on his Ducati.

1st race (8 Laps)
Well I normally get off to bit of a flyer off the line as the ZX6R doesn't bring the front up like the bigger bikes, but I had installed a new clutch a week earlier and the stronger springs really slammed the clutch plates together hard lifting the front more than I am used to off the line. So after a ‘pedalling' the throttle, I followed Scott into turn 1 in 2nd place. I managed to hold 2nd until Graeme came passed me on the straight between T5 & T6. I managed to hold onto them but each lap they just pulled a little bit more out down the straights, so I settled for 3rd position.

2nd race (6 Laps)
This race was supposed to be before lunch, but due to 1 of the sidecars dropping its guts from T1 to T6 it was decided that the race would be conducted post lunch in order for the clean up crew to clean up the oil slick.

In the garages it is pretty hard to hear the calls over the PA but I noticed Jock in the garage next to us suiting up so asked him why and he said he heard the 5min call for our race. I had never gotten suited up so quickly! I managed to make the dummy grid in pit lane just as the bikes where being let out. We got a full sighting lap in order to asses where the oil was on the track. Most of the oil was offline accept in the dipping crossover where it lay right across the racing line when we where switching direction. Well I made it to the grid to take up my 3rd position and I looked over to my left and saw that Graeme and Scott where trapped in pit lane as pit lane is only open for 30 secs from when the 1st bike leaves and they didn't make it (you have to make sure you hear the calls guys!).

I knew that this was my time to make hay while the sun shined. I got a flyer and lead into T1 and put my head down and went as fast as I could (remember the oil!). I managed to pull a gap on Leo Cash (CB940) and after 4 laps I looked over to see where 2nd place was as I entered T3. I could see Graeme and Scott making their way into 2nd and 3rd positions but they where still in T1, so I had a comfortable lead. I thought that if I stuff up then they may catch me, so I eased off a little and came across the line in 1st position. It would have been nice to have beaten Scott and Graeme with them on the start line rather than the pits but that is racing I suppose.

3rd Race (8 Laps)
This race was only 3 events (approx 30mins) after the 2nd race. There was supposed to be lunch in between the 2nd and 3rd races but oh well. I was on pole after winning the 2nd race. My start was a little bit slower than normal and Leo got the jump into T1. I followed Leo thru T2 and I knew that I needed to get by him there as he would then hold up Graeme and Scott for half a lap or so and tat I might be able to get away. Unfortunately I got into T3 WAY, WAY to hot and Leo gave me more room for the corner and then I wanted more. As I sailed passed the apex and pushed Leo out wide as well, Scott got underneath me and Graeme came along for the ride. I tried to stick around the outside of Graeme thru T5 but Graeme had a ‘moment' and I backed off to give him some room. Unfortunately this also allowed Graeme to get the power on and open a gap from me. Scott and Graeme then opened up a ½ sec gap per lap and I knew that they had gotten to far away to catch, so I cruised for another 3rd place finish.

4th Race (6 Laps)
This was the last race of the day (& year) and I thought that it would be a do or die effort. I got a good start and lead thru T1 to T5 when Scott and Graeme both gunned passed me on the shute to T6. This race I was giving it a red hot go and managed to hang in with them for whole 1st 4 laps. To my advantage we started to hit traffic where the other 2 where quicker than I was. Graeme was leading on lap 5 and pushed hard up the inside of some slower traffic in T3 and lost the front and slide off into the weeds. I don't think that Scott knew that I was right behind him as he seemed to run a little bit easier than normal into T6 and I had to push my bike around the outside of him a little bit. My plan was to sit behind him and pounce into to T3 and hopefully pull gap thru T4 & T5 and hopefully have enough distance between us to fend off Scott's infamous block pass into T6. alas this was not meant to be as I had a little moment thru T2 and backed off a little bit allowing Scott breathing room into T3, and therefore the finish line as I could make up enough time for my last ditch effort into T6. Well 2nd position is better than the 3rd (or last).

Overall
Well for my 1st year in road racing I ended up 2nd overall in the championship (by 7pts) with only competing in 3 of the 4 rounds. I guess this leaves me with some space for improvement next year. It will be great racing next year with hopefully more people competing in New Era. I have a few plans lined up for the ZX6R next year which should see a little more power, a little less weight (rider inc), and a little more ground clearance too and hopefully I will be able to stick to the big bore bikes.

It was a great day for everyone out there. I had a great time with some close racing with great people. It was good to see Glen aka Varden out there racing, and Ashley as well.

If you get the chance to race, DO IT!

 

Motorcycle Sportsmen's ChampionshipRound 3

Qualifying

1st time on the Sprint layout at QR and I didn't know exactly what to make of it. I hadn't even done the Clubman layout before so where to brake etc coming out of turn 2 was going to be a learning experience. Graeme (#15 Fireblade) and I decided to take a look at what was happening in the Superbike and Supersport qualifying to give us a few pointers. I had a few ideas but most of them turned to mud as soon as I got out there and I just followed the racing line. I managed to get thru the crossovers ok and surprised myself when we and my little ZX6R landed pole position with a 58.8142 lap.


 

Race 1
I got off to a cracker of a start, looking over to the infield I could see Leo Cash on his worked over CB, I just gritted my teeth and kept the throttle on the stop and some how came out of T1 in the lead. I kept my head down and got thru T2 as quickly as I could but alas I over shot the braking marker and ran wide into T3 (1st cross over) letting Leo and Graeme get by me. I was so filthy with myself. I put my head down and started to hunt the pair down. After a 3 laps I caught the pair (Leo leading & Graeme in 2nd) and took a lap to calm myself down. 3 laps from the end G made a move passed Leo in between T1 & T2 and started to bolt away. Both Leo and G were on bigger bikes than I and just shot away from me out of both the crossovers but I was a little quicker thru T1 & T2 and the crossovers. Well last lap came and I had to make a move on Leo if was to even be close to G at the line and I copied G's move from a few laps earlier and passed Leo between T1& T2. G by this time had gone, so I just put my head down and worked on hitting my braking points and getting thru the crossovers as smoothly as possible. The checkers came out and I had secured 2nd position. I was happy the result but I really want a race win!

Race 2
Once again I got off to good start, but Leo got a better one this time and I fell in behind him in 2nd position. Going out of the 1st crossover down the revised ‘back straight' G on his blade blew past me and a lap or 2 later Scott on his Ducati 904 did the same thing. Next lap I worked out why, my clutch was starting to slip. So down the front straight here I am adjusting the cable at the lever trying to get a little more out of it (later I found out that my wife thought I was waving to her!). it made a little bit of difference but I still had some slip so I soldiered on with what I had. Well I ended up 4th in that race only 4 sec behind Graeme who won yet again! My fastest lap of the race a 58.60 and G set the fastest lap with a 58.01. GGRRR still no race win!

Race 3
From 4th on the grid (inside line too) I got an absolute ripper of a start. I looked across and saw Leo and G both level with me and both with there front wheels about a foot in the air, so I just kept it pinned hoping they would back off as I had the inside line, and hello I am in the lead! I managed to pull a small gap over Leo who was holding G up very nicely. On about lap 4 G must have got passed Leo and out of the 1st crossover G came blowing pass me like I was standing still (stupid clutch slip). Well G has gone and I had started hearing the sound of a big V twin bearing down on me. I managed to Scott a bay and gave him a nice show of uncontrolled sliding as the tyres started to go off and get a little slippery. I managed to hang on for 2nd position only 1.5 secs behind G. My fastest lap of the race 58.08 while G set the fastest lap with a 57.39. Bugger still no race win!

Race 4
From 2nd on the grid I got another cracker and lead all the way into T3 (I got to go drag racing). On the exit G blasts past into the lead and I hear the others not far behind. G and swapped the lead a couple of times after he ran wide into the 2nd crossover and I passed him only to be past again down the straight. I was right on his tail and almost ran over him a couple of times thru both crossovers. It was good close racing with Scott on his Duke getting in on the action as well. Once again I gave Scott a display on uncontrolled sliding as the old girl broke traction over bumps coming out of T1. everytime the bike stepped out it appeared to be in slow motion and I remember thinking ‘ok, if I back it off it will grip up in possible flick me somewhere between QR and Warwick or I can keep the throttle where it is and try to ride it out' surprisingly I took option 2 and the bike drifted nicely to the outside of the track where I wanted to be for T2. man was I lucky! A couple of times I saw the front of Scott's bike poke up the inside of mine coming into the crossovers but somehow I managed to stay ahead until the last lap when coming into the last crossover I saw Scott run up the inside and I thought ‘where the bloody hell is he going?'. Scott ran a fair bit wide and I was able to take my normal line and pass him back and squeeze him out for the run to the line. You beauty I thought! This later turned You Bastard when I found out that both G and I had been pinged for jump start and relegated 3 positions. So back to 5th position, damn that hurts. My fastest lap was 58.16 with G once again setting the fastest lap with a 57.07sec

Summing up
What a great day. Great close racing with great mates, plenty of swapping positions, plenty of pressure on the track and great atmosphere off it. I ended up 3rd overall for the day in New Era with Scott beating me due to the ‘jump start' in the last race which he technically won, and Graeme winning the day. All up I think we did ok considering 1/ worn out tyres 2/slipping clutch and 3/ there just isn't any substitute for cubes!!

I can't wait for round 4 on 15th of October!
 

Motorcycle Sportsmen's Championship Round 2

As I had not pulled my finger out in time to race in the first round, round two was our race debut.

My main aim was to not qualify at the rear of the grid and not fall off in the first race

Qualifying

I was wishing to qualify somewhere in the middle of the group and not embarrassingly at the tail end. I headed out on the bike 4th in the line, following 3 other bikes. I cruised around for the first 2 laps warming/scrubbing in the tyres and feeling how the new braided lines felt. I started hooking in managed to keep pace with 2 bikes in front. I didn't dare push it too hard as I least wanted to make the grid for race 1. The session ended and I raced up to the control tower to find out my grid position. Grid Position 2 – Lap time 1:23:9336. I was shocked.

Race 1

I started off with butterflies in my guts the size of elephants. The guy who grabbed pole had blown his motor on the last lap of qualifying so I technically I had it. I was nervous as hell and didn't want to blow the start or worse stall it on the line. All of a sudden the marshal had left the track and lights blinked on then off and we where away. Immediately I fell into 2nd place (behind Leo Cash on a significantly worked CB 750) and was taking it easy on cold tyres (no warmers) and lost 2sec to the guy in 1st place. Being only a 4 lap race I bit the bullet and tried to reel in Leo. I caught him at the end of the back straight on lap 3 and passed him into the corner. Leo hung around the outside of me and blasted back into the lead. I followed Leo on the last lap planning my last corner heroics and hoping I could win the drag to the line. A back marker had played right into my hands on the last cnr and borked Leo and I wound it on a little more planning a great run onto the front straight but my exhaust can dug into the ground and scared the bejesus out of me and I lost my momentum and the race to the line. I ended up 0:6sec behind. I still ended up with the quickest lap time of the race being a 1:21:6562.

I later found out Leo's CB750 had been bored to 940cc out and had much more torque than my ZX6R.

Race 2

Once again I started slowly on cold tyres and I had to hunt down Leo again. After the 1st lap I had given him a head start of just under 3sec. Once I had some confidence in the tyres I put my head down and started to reel him in. The 6 laps went in a blur. I had Leo get too much of a gap and had only brought the gap down to 1.7 secs at the end of the race. Once again I had the quickest lap for the race, 1:21:7033

Race 3

During the lunch break the guy (graham) who blew up his CBR900 during qualifying came over and started to chat to me. He offered me the use of his tyre warmers so I would lose so much of the line. So now I had nice hot sticky rubber! Going out on the sighting lap I could feel the difference already. No sliding around or misbehaving. It was just sticking there. Well my confidence was sky high and I gave it everything I could right off the line. I managed to stick with Leo's CB for most of the race and on the 2nd last lap I got a really good run out of turn 2 down the back straight and passed Leo under brakes. I managed to hold him off for most of the run to turn 4 but he had the inside line and I had to yield the lead to him. Leo got a great run out of 6 to start the last lap and all I could do was follow him. I ended up only 0.4 secs behind and once again set the fastest lap of the race at 1:21:5639

Race 4

Once again I had the use of tyre warmers for the race. Those things make a lot of difference to the opening lap time and your confidence as well. I got off the line well again with a little wheelie and was only half a bike length behind Leo into the 1st turn. I followed him and was thinking that I would give it a go into turn 6 and see if I could hold him out thru 1 & 2 and hopefully pull a gap down the back straight, so I wouldn't get picked out of turn 3. Unfortunately my cunning plan came undone as I locked the rear wheel and slide a bit. I spent the rest of the race trying to catch him but couldn't. The good news is that my PB had come down again and it was also quickest lap of the race again at 1:21:3938.

So the brief wrap up

2nd in Qual, 2nd in race 1, 2nd in race 2, 2nd in race 3, 2nd in race 4. Fastest lap in every race and the PB slowly coming down too. I think that is a consistent day. I can't wait for Round 3 on 20th August.