Manfeild full track…YAY

Friday

Frankencane arrived a wee while later sporting sorted forks and a yellow ohlins sticker. First session…..soaking wet. Bike felt better handling but hard to tell as the brakes were just simply awful. Right hand clipon wobbly. Spent morning stripping and cleaning brake calipers. Chris Osborne fixed the right clipon. Afternoon session. Brakes slightly less crap. Track dry. Bike felt fantastic, turn in much quicker, transition smoother and more importantly, I could actually feel the back tyre misbehaving before it got out of control. Back end a bit loose under hard braking. Robert Taylor twiddled something 4 clicks. Back end sorted. Frenchy was out on his GSX600 and looking slow. I’m a happy bunny so a late night drinking with Darrin and Phil ensues. Marcus “biggles” and his girlfriend wisely wimp out at 10pm and I regret the late Chinese meal in the morning.

Saturday

Track is soaking. @#*%socks. I’m average at Manfield full track and everyone knows I’m awful in the wet.

F2 Practice:- Track is wet. I go out on the trusty Dunlop GPR’s as figure it’s going to dry . Putted around. Just trying to get my head around the track. Chris Osborne decided to smack into my left clipon at about 180 clicks just before I tip into Dunlop. I think he likes running into the back of my bike as he’s done this before.  I wobble round for a few more laps.

F1 Qualifying:- It’s raining a bit but track is just damp . Good to be following fast guys but I’ve gotta remember I’m lacking on grip. Qualify 19th (3rd last) with a 2.20 Bike obviously sliding around but it’s the tyres.

Pre89 Qualifying :- Ho hum. Full track not my bag baby so I’m going for a crashless top 5 this weekend. I qualify 2nd in the juniors with a 2.14 but it’s miles behind Ernie Cudby’s (FZR 6/4) 2.11. Still, Frenchy and the rest of the juniors are 4s or more behind me.

F1 Race 1 :- Track is dry. I have slicks but consider the temperature too low so keep with the GPR’s. Awful start, need to work on them. Lonely race but I work on my lines. I finish 17th (ok, 2nd last) and get pipped on the line by race winner Sloan Frost as he laps me. Hopefully a good photo LOL. I’m stoked with the 2.11

Pre89 Race 1 :- Full off confidence after my 2.11 in F1 I’m a happy bunny. Last race of the day. The heavens open at the 2nd call to the grid and we convince Dee Wintle (CoC) to declare it a wet meeting. We’ve got 20 minutes to change rubber. Jimmy changes the front in a jiffy. At this point Drew discovers the spare rear wheel has a spacer/sleeving mismatch and can’t be used. I have a bright idea and sprint across in full leathers to borrow Billy’s tyre groover. I’m VERY nervous as he’s never used one before but Drew sets to work and does a sterling job of modifying the rear GPR.

Decent start, Ernie Cudby leaves me for dead. I’m keeping a constant gap behind Frenchy. Red flag at lap 2. Drew takes some air out the front. Restart and Frenchy is gone. The grooved GPR isn’t actually too bad but bizarrely the front feels like a balloon (later discover it’s something to do with the 20psi!). The sun is low and the heavy rain and reflection makes the track very difficult to see. I’d by lying if I said I wasn’t happy to see Frenchy’s bike parked up on the 2nd last lap but I didn’t want to beat him like this. I push just enough to gap a ZZR600 behind me for the whole race but I’m about a minute behind the next bike by the race end. 7th overall and 2nd in my class with a 2.30. Ernie pulls a 2.13, I’m guttered.

Sunday

F1 Race 2 :- Soaking wet track, some of it with deep puddles. As I’d missed scrub-in and having never used a wet rear tyre I thought it wise to get a feel. WOW. LOTS OF GRIP. I gingerly applied more throttle coming out of corners and it didn’t let go. Came off track after 3 laps as want to get refuelled and head sorted before posties race. 2.29

Pre89 Race 2 :- Rain rain go away. This time I’ve got wets. I’m about a second behind Frenchy and stick to him for 2 laps. We get stuck behind Michael Webster’s ZXR750. After a couple of failed attempts, Frenchy loses his patience and pulls a crazy pass into the right hand hairpin. It sticks. I unfortunately keep getting passed back by the 750 on the straights and am stuck. Frenchy disappears. The ZXR750 blocks me a lap later and George Gaisford (KR250) takes the opportunity and buggers off past us both. This infuriates me but I don’t want to risk throwing the bike away for the sake of 2 measly points. Should have just cruised as about a minute ahead of the next junior bike. A best lap of 2.22 on lap 2….grrr. 9th overall and 4th in my class.

F1 Race 3 :- Decent dry line but it’ll take balls/skill to keep pushing on it. Went out to practise my start and assess the grip of the track. Diced with a repsol CBR6 and a Daytona 675. Really enjoying myself but came in after 2 laps as I didn’t want to stuff up my wet tyres like Frenchy has just done in F2. 2.26

Pre89 Race 3 :- Track dry with the odd wet patch. Wrong tyre choice I think but it’s too late now. I’m under instructions to ignore Ernie and Frenchy and just beat George Gaisford. Ernie’s on dry tyres….damn. Frenchy gets a minter of a start. I’m up Ernie’s chuff. Out of Higgins he has a huge slide and I take the opportunity to fire up the inside the fast left hander. At that moment it dawns on me that even though I’m slightly ahead of him he might not expect this so I slam on the brakes. I miss his rear by a few inches. George Gaisford pounces. I try the same manoeuvre at the next right hander and by the hairpin I think Ernie’s got the message that I want past badly so he leaves me a gap. I pull the pin, reel in George. Pass in Murray Cross (FZR1000) and reel in Frenchy who this time is the one stuck behind Michael’s ZXR750.

Lap 4 and it starts raining heavily. A proper dogfight ensues and it’s reminiscent of the previous year on the 400’s….only a lot faster. Visibility is again difficult, the track is getting slippier (or the tyres are going off), we’re going faster and faster and I’m beginning to lose my bottle. I’m passing him on the faster corners but twice I overcook it on the brakes into the right hand hairpin letting him through. Although he’s mine on the final corner, Frenchy has the upper hand braking into turn 1. Lap 6, left hander after Higgins and Frenchy has what can only be described as a HUGE MOMENT. I pounce, put the head down and pull a decent gap. He gives up…phew. I finish 2nd overall with a 2.16 and 1st in my class. 1st overall on the day…woohoo. Shame the Mairs have drunk all the beer in the pits though

Thanks to:

• Dunlop Tyres – Sticky black things
• Paul Martindale – For building Frankencane.
• Luke, Drew & Jimmy Mair – Tyre changing, spannering, storing gear, encouragement.
• Graham Billington – Squaring off my naughty pointy tail section and loan of tyre groover.
• Franz “Frenchy” Schuler/Nicky Smith – Taking the CBR to Crown Kiwi Technical in New Plymouth.
• Chris Osborne – Fixing broken right clipon on Friday test-day.
• Pipson for the photos http://picasaweb.google.com/pipsons5
• Robert Taylor (Crown Kiwi Technical) – Fitting Emulators, springs and shoehorning my old 748r rear shock onto the CBR.  Also took the CBR to track and offered continuous assistance throughout the weekend.

See ya’ll at rounds 3, 4, 5 and 6 !

Ok, I’ll get the excuses in first. Bar half an hour on each bike at the CMCDC trackday I hadn’t ridden since the TRSS at Christmas.

Friday Practise

Too much work and insomnia on Thursday meant I drove down from “the love” through the night. A quick 3 hours kip in the CRV at the Vinegar Hill lookout and I was at the test day feeling remarkably refreshed. Deano and Luke Mair arrived with Frankencane. The Kawasaki ZX-6rr showed 118C on the first warmup lap and the fault was tracked to simply a faulty radiator cap. That alone made the test day worthwhile. Boy did I feel rusty and the oil that’d been spat all over the track didn’t help. However, I guess it’s like erm…riding a bike so by the end of the day I didn’t feel too bad.
On to Frankencane. I felt so at home with her and so I should as she’s basically the same CBR400 I’ve been riding for 4 years with a bigger motor. The new 17” rear just worked; pure and simple. One thing lacking was the brakes as the 600cc certainly was too much for the stock NC23 calipers and suspension. Still as bleedin cramped as ever! Intense soccer playing has me fitter than I’ve been for years. I left the practise day feeling that a podium was now at least possible and that I might not let Paul down too much.

Race Day
I had an epiphany at 6am, remembered where I’d left my ZX-6rr wets and nipped into Palmerston North to grab them. This made me a little late, thus pre-race preparation went in a blur of signing on and fitting wets. Luke Mair (who was also riding my ZX-6rr) decided to swap classes as F2 was right before my main Pre89 class.

Pre 89 qualifying
Hmm…seemed to keep getting stuck in traffic. Unsure how much grip the Dunlop GPR would give. The track was very wet. Had managed to grab a front wet from Clive Banks….they’re amazing. I wobbled around the corners and blasted on the straights. Seemed to be getting better drive out of Higgins than everyone…then Glen Williams passed me on his FZR1000 like I was going backwards. 1.35 put me 9th on the grid of 24 bikes. Of the Juniors (Sub 600cc) bikes, I figured no way I’d catch Ernie Cudby (FZR 6/4) but Abby Mes (VFR400) and Nigel Jones (ZXR400) were doable. George Gaisford had managed a 1.27 on his KR250….freak. Oh well….3rd was my goal.

F1 qualifying
Would have been useful to get some extra F2 practise. Remember I said rusty? I’ve never ridden on wets and couldn’t get my head around how much grip was available. Ok, poor excuses: I sucked badly and ended up following a posties FZR1000 to get a 1.28 which put me 19th (or 5th from the back) on the grid.

Posties Race 1
Drying track meant my wet front and road legal GPR rear were ideal. Short wheelbase, 600cc = monster wheelie on start. Still….the bike had legs and I buggered off past the 400’s & 250’s. How I normally go hard from the start and eventually get reeled in. I got the head down to hopefully head off the competition for as long as possible before the inevitable happened. It never did. Held up on the infield for a few laps by Murray Cross (ZXR750) before he got his act together. Gap check after crossing line and nobody behind me. 10s gap. Slippy track meant best lap 1.23. Congratulated Ernie Cudby for his win on the infield park up area. He didn’t seem to take it gracefully. Found out later his bike had died. I’d WON!! Posties junior and got 5th overall behind the big bikes.

F1 Race 1
Well, despite my advice Luke had went out in the first F2 race on wets and there simply wasn’t enough time to change them before the first F1 race. As the track was no bone dry, I didn’t fancy destroying $600 worth of rubber to wobble around the back of the pack. Did not start!

Posties Race 2.
Dunlop GPR’s fitted front and back. A better launch put me behind Ernie Cudby and George Gaisford’s KR250. Ernie is gone. The KR250 leaves me for dead on the corners. That thing has obviously got more squirt this year but 600cc’s made it my bitch on the straights. Decent battle ensues with good racing for a couple of laps. Lap 3, George makes a pretty stupid (IMHO) move cutting across me on the outside of the hairpin, I JUST manage to avoid his rear tyre. De Ja Vu as I’m sure he did exactly the same stupid overtake last year. You want to play rough? Ok, say hello to my little friend! Start of lap 4, I uncharacteristically park my bike in front of him braking into turn 1. I look back and it’s obvious he’s stalled his motor. I feel a twang of guilt when a lap later I realise that he’s out of the race. Well he started it. I maintain a small gap between John Carter, who due where it’s due, had an exceptional ride on his pre82 GSX400.
1.22 as I don’t have to push it for the rest of the race. That’s slower than with the 400 motor in it so this bike has soooo much more in the bag. 6th overall and 1st again as Ernie Cudby got pinged for a jump start.

F1 Race 2
Gah…I do exactly what Luke had done in F2. Bloody thing will not shift up to 2nd gear. I cockup the hairpin during the race and it does the same thing (not) coming out of 1st again. Anyhoo….2nd last into the first corner…doh. Most of the field have had at least 1 other race and I’m so out of it for the first 3 laps it’s not funny. I pull my finger out in lap 3 and make a couple of places and am up behind Wharfy and Ross McKeague. Lap 4 I park it in front of them into T1. Not deliberately but the normally excellent brakes on the ZX-6rr are wallowing…..the suspenders are far too soft. I’m blaming Luke ? Anyway, I don’t expect this so the two of them just bugger off past me into T2. Lap 5 and I do exactly the same again. This time I’ve banged it down to 2nd gear and say bye bye. This must truly have given Wharfy a rush to the head as he had a sudden unexpected burst of speed and I narrowly avoid him tipping into splash. I pass him back braking into Higgins and chase Michael Hardy. His erm…changing line means I’m held up big style on the final sweeper and I just lose out on the drag to finish 13th with a 1.17.5 Hardly a fast pace but practise makes perfect….and lack of practise makes…anyhoo. I enjoyed it so that’s all that matters.

F1 Race 3
Pitter patter of rain again. I’d had a good day and for once listened to my spidey sense. A red flag incident proved my decision to not go out was a good one.

Conclusion
For her maiden voyage, the fruits of Paul Martindale’s labour have certainly been unleashed. As I’ve never had a podium since Clubmans back in 2007, I was stoked. Sure, Ernie gifted me it. Sure, Frenchy’s GSXF600 isn’t ready. Sure, Neil Chappel & Chris Sales aren’t racing. I don’t care….I’ll take the wins when I can get them.
Project Frankencane development continues and Ohlins goodies are expected for round 2.

Credits

• Dunlop – The GPRs worked nicely in all conditions.  Perhaps slicks next round!
• Deano & Luke for spannering, bike shifting, arranging garage.
• Chopper – can’t thank you enough for the replacement ZX-6rr motor.
• Drew Mair for fitting the replacement ZX-6rr motor.
• Yellow Transit van man (who to my shame I’ve forgotten his name) who picked up the ZX-6rr.
• Martin Peck for storing the ZX-6rr and his brother Gary for letting me in to pick the bike up.
• Chris Ozborne for the radiator cap and also Ivan Juggins for bringing one with him.
• Nick “mumbles” for storing my wets, breakfast on Saturday and being my no1 groupie.
• Paul Martindale for cobbling together Frankencane.

So after killing Johan’s 998 whilst practising a few weeks earlier, I took a deep breath and asked the Drew if he wouldn’t mind co-piloting the ZX-6rr for the endurance race. The Drew went out for the 2 x endurance race qualifying sessions to finally destroy the rear slick whilst I did a couple of F2 practise sessions to re familiarise myself with my “bogey track”. First session I felt crap. Second session went much better after the Drew told me to pull my head out my arse.

Somehow we lost track of time and before we knew it, a call was made to get the bikes on the track in 5 minutes. Unfortunately we were at the other end of pit-lane with the bike’s rear rim and an uninflated barely used rear slick. Somehow I got into my leathers and Drew/Andy/Simon got to the start line on time with all the stands etc.

Endurance Race

Flag down, sprint to bike. “Don’t panic. Breathe.” Click into first. Minter of a start and I’m into the 1st corner way ahead of where the Drew qualified (which was pretty high up). 1st two laps “calm down son…it’s endurance”. There’s a big queue behind me and the crazy fast guys like Sketchy and Sloan fly past me but the sheer quality of the field has me getting towed along faster than I’ve ever went before.

By lap 5 I’ve got a good rythm going. The fast guys have all farked off and hell, I’m even catching some. By about lap 10 I’ve started lapping riders. By about lap 13 I’m getting lapped. By about lap 15 there’s riders already pitting. I make the odd mistake here and there but keep my rythm and remember to stretch my limbs on the back straight. Due to the last minute panic my camel pack was lost and I’m dehydrated to hell. “HTFU laddie”. Agonising cramp sets in my left leg about lap 20 but I shake it out on the straights and it doesn’t bother me again. I have great battles with a well ridden Yellow SV650 (Paul?). It’s a nice change to be the one with the better power and brakes. I’m rubbish at the infield bit but my point and squirt and late braking must make me a right bitch to get past.

Sandra passes me on her thou and a couple of laps later is on the grass at T4. 3 laps later and she passes me again. This time with a huge tank slapper out of the A1 corner. Somehow she stays on. Impressive. I have another highlight when I chase down the ZX-6rr’s previous owner and pass him. It doesn’t last as in my enthusiasm I outbrake myself and end up cutting across the track just beside the drag-strip. I spend the next 6 laps working very hard to catch him up again and this time the pass sticks.

I make another mistake a few laps later, bizarrely going too far left out of turn one and onto the thankfully dry grass. I somehow muscle the bike back on track by putting my stomping my boot on the ground and don’t lose much time at all. Half a lap to refocus and I’m back in my rythm. I think at this point I was getting faster and faster and just was in the zone.

No idea how many laps I’ve done and I’m starting to flag. “not as fit as I thought” thinks I as we’ve estimated the gogo juice will last about 50 minutes”. The reserve light comes on and I do a further 3 laps before coming in and looking for wherever the hell I’m meant to refuel and switch with the Drew. I get off the bike and find I can’t stand Turns out I’d done the race’s longest stint at 1hr 13m. Simon and Drew were waiting on me coming in and I was waiting on them to wave me in after about 45 minutes as we’d planned on 2 sessions each. Oops. Upshot was that even though my times were way below the fast guys (1.43 best), the lack of pit-time had put us in about 8th position. Drew being waaay faster than me would no doubt get us even further up the field. Bike refuelled. The Drew went out. 4 corners later the engine went kaput. Suspected bottom end bye bye. Yikes.

Possibly the most enjoyable race I’ve ever had

Bloody good band, food & beer put on after the endurance race. Free camping for 2 nights. In all honesty, what more could you ask from this event?

This event was the ying to the Wanganui yang. For all it’s cost me a $hit load of money I yet again thoroughly enjoyed the TRSS. Well done to the organisers. Really farked off I didn’t get a finishers trophy but that’s racing. Felt guilty for Drew as he had travelled all the way up to Taupo and got very little time on the bike.

Unless an unknown rich relative dies I don’t think I’ll have funds to race for a few months as I’ve got to square up with Johan and the Drew is fixing up the ZX-6rr.

W(h)anganui

Well, a boring drive down there on Christmas day. Arrived just after lunch to get setup with lots of assistance from Deano & Simon.

Practise and race-wise, I was totally pants and target fixating on trees, lamp-posts, bumps and kerbs. Didn’t crash or come last (just) but I’m man enough to admit that I was totally useless. Didn’t enjoy W(h)angas at all. I left before the second 600 race as the delays were huge and I was in a bad head-space. Not sure if “street racing” is for me.

Very dissapointed as I’d so been looking forward to this event for weeks and weeks.

After a night of 5 star accommodation at Nick’s place, Philt & I offski’d to the track on Friday. Due to short notice, I wasn’t able to arrange all my stuff so spent the day taking photos. By Saturday I was itching to get on the ZX-6.

F2 Qualifying – Drew had changed fork oil and dropped front end to improve feel. Was looking forward to it. Plan A was a warm up lap then 2 semi fast laps before coming early to catch breath before going on the 400. Waaah.. Bike felt bloody awful. Head shaking worse than ever. “Must have miscalculated and dropped it too far” thought I. Even the normally excellent brakes had my hand cramping up. Worried that I’d even qualified so nobody more surprised than me to find I was 22nd on grid with a high 1.17.

Pre89 Post classic Junior Qualifying – Umm…Didn’t push it. Smooth & error free. Worked on my turn in as per Neil Chappel’s advice. Must have worked as 14th on grid with a 1.23.8 which was faster than my race pace last round.

F2 R1 Oh woes…the ZX-6R was retired for the day. Drew was mystified as he hadn’t changed the fork settings. Turns out bottom of fork was fooked, loose and wobbly….thus causing headshakes, skittishness and brake pistons to vibrate off pads. The talented Dr Taylor advised it couldn’t be fixed PROPERLY at the track.

Pre89 Post classic Junior R1. Kinda like qualifying. Didn’t push it. Clean dicing with a ZXR750 but I lost his tail with 2 laps to go. The heat at this round meant the 2×10 laps were much harder than the 2×12 laps the previous round. Smooth & error free. Must have also worked as 1.22.5.

Clive had a little let down so after a token condolence in the sick bay I asked to steal his CBR600. He said “yes”. Thinking he must also have bumped his head I quickly grabbed his bike and Drew worked his magic (a.k.a. made it start).

F2 R2. Slung a leg over the Orangetang for the first time. Took a guess and dialled in some revs. “Hello my little friend mid-range..oh how I’ve missed you”. Nice launch but I lost a lot of places in the first few corners until I realised the CBR600 actually turns FAST and brakes well. The brakes weren’t as good as the ZX-6r but still more than capable of lifting it’s back wheel. There was a wee bit of vagueness under hard braking though. It’s even happy turning whilst off the gas and the transition is much nicer. I followed Aria for a bit to get a guage.

Think I passed her about lap 3. Nick’s Black 749 and someone else were about 4s ahead. I reckoned I could take them but an image of going to the hospital and explaining the Clive that I’d trashed his bike popped into my head. A couple of laps later and Aria was all over me so I pulled my finger a little bit out my arse to make a safe gap.

The CBR600 has Much more mid-range than my ZX-6r but my seat of pants accelerometer indicated the ZX-6r pisses over it at high revs. Ride it like you stole it and the ZX-6R is the daddy. Going sideways into the final turn because I forgot the CBR6 has no slipper clutch confirms it. I feelt quite at home on this bike, in a weird way it felt like the CBR400, just a bit taller and with about umm…twice the power. 1m16.2. Another lap and I think my PB would have been broken but I nearly ran over Gah Chan and the red flag came out. Have I bought the correct bike? I’m sure once the front end is sorted I’ll find out!

Pre89 Post classic Junior R2
Bloody good start *** WHINE *** but so it should have been after about 10 minutes on the start line *** END WHINE ***. Up the inside…now there’s a 1st. Frenchy 4 bikes ahead of me. Passed a couple of wobbly 1000cc buses outside of t2. BARGED another fat bike at hairpin and the last one stuffed up Frenchy and by Coke we were together. Frenchy had tweety braking as hard as me so stuffing him into T1 was much harder. If he was on a promise from Nicky then I made him work for it. He made me faster through splash and raped me out the hairpin but his lack of ground clearance meant I was way faster at higgins and coke. Shame I didn’t have the power to pass him but the 1.5 litres of coolant I threw into the rad to replace the air bubbles meant the bike had enough power to stay in the fight. If I keep this pressure up he’d surely make a mistake but he didn’t. Final lap, I failed at sticking it up his inside into splash….stupid Scotchyman…should have parked it in front of him on the final corner before tweety could stretch her legs. Frenchy pulled me along to a 1.21.9. Still above my PB on the CBR400 but considering the nick the bike was in compared to last year, I was more than pleased. Fitting that the final race of my winter series was the most enjoyable.

Conclusion. Well…finished a creditable 4th in the Posties Junior class. Bloody Kawasaki’s 1, 2 & 3. I’d have been in the game for 3rd & perhaps even 2nd had I persevered with the ‘cane but I think staying with the 400 will pay dividends in the longer term.

The next Pre 89 junior champ will be wearing orange *

Thanks

• Phil “Toast” – Transport & listening to my “big” talking.
• Nick “Mumbles” – My best groupie who’s about to lose his license.
• Paul “Roadracingoldfart” – CBR ridercoaching, keeping the CBR alive and breathing life into Project FrankenCane
• ‘the drew’ – zx-6r ridercoaching, bike spannering, bike transport, airport chauffering.
• Martin Peck – giving the CBR a bed and transporting it to the track.
• Petra – My long suffering girlfriend.
• VMCC – Another great year of racing.
• Dunlop – Be it cold, warm, wet or dry, the GPR’s have not let me down.

I’ve probably missed a few. Most of these guys and gals have literally looked after me all season.

Big Thanks
Clivoris Banks for throwing himself off his bike to let me have go.

* Potential Sponsors Disclaimer: Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. The maintenance of your investment in knackered old bikes & a foreign rider cannot be guaranteed.

Well muppethead here starts the day by putting his back out good style (dunno how). I’m flat out on the garage floor before Deano comes and gives me a cracking good cuddle. I’m now officially his bitch.

F2 Qualifying :- Onto the scary bike. I’m doing rubbish and slow down a bit so I can follow someone slightly less rubbish. Qualify 30th with a 1.20. Still can’t get the bloody ZX-6R turning.
PC89 Junior Qualifying: I take it easy:- A sniff under 1.25 and I’m 10th on the grid.

“the Drew” Mair arrives and asks me the stupid “how does the bike feel?” question again. I tell him I’m really to sell the bloody thing as I can’t make it turn. He calls me an arse, twiddles something on the rear of the bike and raises it’s arse by 3mm.

F2 Race 1:- Moooooooooore slipping the clutch but this bike doesn’t launch well. Unlike on the 400, I go easy into the first few corners and get swamped a little. Well fark me, it feels like a different bike. At the hairpin I actually keep up with another 600 and we pass a load of SV’s before higgins. Ying to the yang is that “the odd wee headshake” is now “wow fuck she’s trying to kill me on every corner”…….but it’s fun aye. If Jay ran this without a steering damper he was either very fat or very crazy! The usual suspects of Aria, Nick’s 749 and Wharfy are in front of me. On lap 2 I pass Aria under brakes into Higgins. Think I passed Wharfy a lap or later and then an orange bike gives me some extra motivation. Clive is fairly cranking it so it is with great pleasure that I sail past him braking into T1 about 3 laps later. All the while I’ve been dicing with Nick’s 749. Once past Clive I put my head down as I’m sure he’ll give chase. I’m surprised to see a fair gap behind me a couple of laps later. I pull a low 1.16. I’m a happy bunny.

PC89 Junior Race 1:- Jump back on my little ricer and assume the origami position. Pretty crap start. After the 600, everything feels like it’s being played in slow motion and it’s seriously trippy. Dice with Frenchy for a bit but it’s plain to see he’s not even pushing. I keep in the fight by slipstreaming him, outbraking him and generally screwing up his corner exits. We slow each other down too much and some old geezer on a green ZXR passes us like we’re standing still. Enjoyable race. Caned arse off CBR. Think I’m wheelspinning out of T1 but it’s just the clutch slipping. Oh dear. 1.23s…oh dearie me. Best time in lap 2 says it all really.

The ZX6R rear is stepping out quite a bit though so Drew persuades the talented Mr Shirrifs to put near new slick in my direction. Top man. I take about 1.5hours changing the Rizla thin brake pads much to everyone’s amusement. Thank ged Drew did the tyre change otherwise I’d still be there. A few beers works better than painkillers for the back. Helen keeps the awkward silences at bay over the BBQ. Onto Sunday.

F2 Race 2:- I’m a bit cagey about my mechanical abilities so take it easy on the brakes for a couple of laps. Biiig mistake…F2 boys and girls say “faak you stupid scotchyman”. Track feels a lot colder and everyone seems sleepy. Start getting on gas earlier and earlier but rear has no hint whatsoever of stepping out….mind over matter I guess. Aria, Wharfy & Clive and are despatched over the next few laps…mostly under brakes. Gawd that bike can brake. My arms feel like popeye. ZX-6R mysteriously goes down a gear coming out of splash and I have a moment but other than that it’s all sweet. Jase “the ace” flies past me on his 748 like I’m standing still just to keep my brain in perspective. Best lap a mid 1.17. Cable tie experiment confirms I’m bottoming out forks. Drew isn’t here and I have no idea what the twiddly things do so fuggit.

PC89 Junior Race 2:- Good start. Go up inside for a change as everyone leaves me a nice big gap. Try dicing with Frenchy and co but by about lap 4 there’s a good 4 or 5s in front of me. Blue bike about 8s behind me for whole race. Yawn. I back off too much about lap 8 and 9 and by lap 10 he’s on my arse. Oops. Pull out a couple of fast laps out of the bag and pip him to the post by 0.05s. Caned arse off CBR again, still best of 1.23. Confirms it’s a bit farked as I could do them in my sleep last year. Coolant bottle dripping a little but nothing major. Quite frankly I’m fucked off at the lack of power it’s making against the other bikes and don’t like not being able to give it to Frenchy and co.

Aside from beating Clive, my goal is consistent 1.16’s, to find out just when a rear slick will break traction and it would be nice to dip into the 1.15’s.

F2 Race 3 :- About 10,000RPM and it doesn’t bog down quite as much at the start. I even outdrag some SV650’s into the first corner (idiot). Clive is going hard out from the offset and has obviously gained some insight from his F1 & LG excursions. Red rag..bull…so I follow. Wharfy brings the fight to me good style for a couple of laps more so once I’m dicing with Clive’s CBR6 and Nick’s 749. This time it takes me about 7 laps to deal with Clive (not helped by losing about 2s to a pant staining false neutral going into higgins) and once I leave him n’ Nick to dogfight I spend a few seconds doing a risk analysis of “can I catch Aria or not?” before realising it’s the final race, I’m not going for championship points and I should HARDEN THE F#C% UP (Paul and Drew would be so proud) so I put the head down and start reeling her in. I’m a lap short of this goal but I’m happier being beaten by a girl than by Clive

Goals? The slick just doesn’t move, even at stupid angles of lean (ok..I briefly scuffed my slider on the final corner a couple of times). AMAZING. 1.16’s every moving lap and for one lap I dip into the 1.15’s. I’m over the moon.

PC89 Junior Race 3 :- Cold front tyre as warmer had farked out, not helped by the officials not giving me even 10 seconds to get to the dummy grid after the F2 race..end of gripe. Pretty good start. Put squeeze on inside of Frenchy but into T2 tweety outdragged me (sob). Dicing with a ye’olde Ducati. He was very slow on final corner but tried slipstreaming him for the tow. Pretty good on brakes for a big bike. Backed off after a VERY near miss into the hairpin. Not worth binning for an extra point. Nobody else doing similar times…it’s either 1.20’s or 1.26’s. At least 10s in front of next bike. Commuted for remainder of race, even waved & pulled faces at photographers as I was so bored. Tried some stoppies into T1 and higgins but the front tyre kept chirping cos I’m ham fisted. Guess what…more 1.23’s.

1. PC junior is frankly boring without the big bikes to play.
2. It sounds stupid but this back to back class thing (24 lappers!) is doing my racing a power of good. I don’t have time for the nerves to kick in and I’m having to think more about conserving my energy, breathing and concentration. Seem to be making a lot less mistakes and being more consist ant.
3. The final corner is MINE again. Need to work on the bloody hairpin though.
4. Tyre warmers are a shite rip off and I’m sick of replacing them.
5. Hero of the event award has to go to AJ Chappell

This waffle report wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of:-
Drew – ZX-6R prep, airport Chauffer, motivation.
Clive – Wellington Chauffer, LOTS of motivation,  good cook too
Paul – By all accounts, making me look stupid on the Hurricane
Deano – Temp back doctor. Shifting the ZXR
Martin – Taking the CBR and most of my shit to and from his place…top man.
Nick “Mumbles” – Top groupie. Know me before you judge me.
Phil “Toast” – Amazing comeback buddy. Your van driving is scarier than Drew’s. Munching an Indian is preferable to Chinese.
VMCC – Top people. Support them.

Manfeild Long track again…yippee!

As I was 4th in the champ, the decision was made to keep battling away in pre89 junior. As I’d barely ridden the ZX-6r and haven’t ridden the CBR400 since PMCC round 2, a practice day was in order. Since I’d finished 0 out of 5 F2 starts, then things could only get better. Since I could only do 2 classes, the brave man in me decided to let Drew’s wee bro out on the Kwakker in F1.

Practice day. Good weather, farked by a Suzuki car crapping itself over 90% of the track. Not getting to grips with the ZX-6r. The CBR400 now feels completely gutless. Still not “feeling” the long track or the bikes. I’m a wee bit despondent.
F2 Qualifying. 2.15 puts me near the back of the grid. Luckily there’s very few entries this round so I’m 20th. Oh joy of joy…Clive’s wobbling around with a 2.18. Drew asks me stupid questions about “how the bike feels” so I give him equally stupid answers as compared to the post classic bikes, it feels fast and scary.

Posties Qualifying. I come in a ballhair under 2.19 & 15th pos.. I’m feeling slow. Gawd the ZX-6r feels like a touring bike compared to the 400. My hip is making clicking noises from the origami like torture my body has been in. George Gainsford (smelly 2 smoke Kawasaki thing) and Eamon Timms (ZXR450) are my targets today. George is on my radar but no way in hell I’ll catch Timmsy. I figure with the way he’s riding there’s a realistic chance he’ll land on his arse over the next couple of rounds.

F2 Race 1. Holy fark….have I launched in 3rd gear or something. I slip the clutch for 50% of the straight. Clive’s bike is in front of me but I’m not catching him. I ease off with 2 laps to go as there’s a big gap behind me. From following Clive I figure I need to turn the bike harder/faster/more on the slow corners and get on the gas a LOT earlier. Rear tyre feels “slippy”. Transition from braking to on the gas feels bloody awful. I arrive back with a laptime just under 2.11. Clive’s gained 10s a lap….I think the old fox has been playing with me in practise. Still, I’ve finished a race.

Posties Race 1. Straight out after F2. Notice how much further back and lower I feel on the 400 compared to the ZX-6. Awsome scrap with Frenchy on Tweety pie. It feels like old times vs Nicky and does my confidence a lot of good. We cock each other up for the whole race and I have to avoid running into the back of him twice on the last lap. Couple of other bikes take advantage of us slowing each other down and pass us last lap. I finish a miserable 16th with a high 2.15, just behind Frenchy…gah. I come back smiling though.

I avoid watching the F1 race as I’ll jinx Luke. I near poo my pants when a white muddy bike heads towards our garage but realise it’s just Drew pretending he’s back on a Ducati.

F2 Race 2. I triple check I’m in first. Then I rock the bike again and check once more. Launch time, a lot more rev’s this time……fark…still bloody awful. There’s NOTHING at the bottom end. Don’t have balls to slip clutch on my new far more powerful bike. Note to self…do some practise launches. I make an aggressive move around the outside of the first corner bus queue but have to squeeze between a wobbly SV650 on my outside…..yikes. Pass another 3 bikes around the outside into T3. I’m sure I’ve passed Clive. I’m right up Aria’s chuff. Not a chance I’ll pass her but I’ll try and stay with her as she rides pretty smooth. I think on lap 2 or 3 I have an “oh poo” moment when I hit a false neutral through T3/T4. Nick Prestidge’s got my bike back into gear by ramming into the back of me with his 749 though I dunno if it was going back to the road rubber (turns out the used slick we’d used in R1 was of 2005 vintage) or Drew’s advice of “getting on the gas before turning” but the bike feels transformed. On lap 3 I feel brave enough to attempt stuffing a certain Kevin Waugh up the inside of turn 1. I think this wakes him up though as he starts riding hard and buggers off into the distance. I lose track of Aria towards the last couple of laps and don’t fight back on the final corner battle. I’m happy enough to finish 19th with a 2.07.

Posties Race 2. Basically a decent start but the CBR400 feels lacking. Takes me a lap to get back to whacking on the throttle as there isn’t much danger of her stepping out. Riding the ‘cane and the ZX-6 has my braking all screwed up. More often than not into T1 and the hairpin on the long track, the bike’s arse end is waving in the air and the front tyre is chirping and howling in protest.

As per the ZX-6r, I still haven’t got my head back to throwing the bike on the ground. It’s not all in my head…after it’s big crash the CBR400 is lacking in what little mid-range grunt it used to have. George’s 250 was leaving me for dust. The 600 ‘cane pissed over it on the power and I was hoping the better braking/handling 400 would be good on the long track. I basically don’t put a foot wrong in the final race and was gob-smacked to have only pulled a 2.14. Put it this way, I was nearly 2.5s faster on the cane. Even back to last summer’s form, there’s no way I could pull 2.5 seconds back on the 400.

Conclusion
I’m still at the “waaahfarkmoithisisscaryfast” level on the ZX6 although a couple of times on race day I felt the sheer rush that everyone warned me about. As enjoyable as it was, the ‘hang off and haul it around’ style of riding the hurricane seems to have put me a few steps back for riding the CBR and ZX6 sportsbikes. So in the long term, it makes more sense to ditch the 600 ‘cane, even though it’s faster on the short track. Got some hard decisions to make about whether to continue on the 400, whether to concentrate on the 600 (extra F1 race time wouldn’t go amiss), whether to make the 400 faster or whether to ask ozzie to lop a cylinder off the ZX-6. Being totally honest, the jury is still out on whether I’m cut out for F2 although like owning the Ducati, you’d go mad wondering “what if” if you don’t try it.

Big uppys to:-

• Drew & Rachael for chauffeuring me around and accommodation.
• Paul and Dianne for gettin the wee CBR running again.
• Luke (& i guess Mikey) for gettin the bikes to the track and doing the tyre thing.
• Martin Peck for letting me stash loads of bike stuff at his place.
• Nick for his continued support…always appreciated.
• Kyle for gettin the ‘cane roadbike down to the track.

Big downys to:-

• Air New Zealand – for charging me a fortune to change my flight to one 10 hours earlier…even though I use the cunts every month.
• The Indian Restaurant in Palmy North…easily the worst curry I’ve had this millennium.

Well. I’d hastily purchased a 2005 ZX-6RR at the previous round. It was covered in bling, ohlins, slipper clutch and with the extra rims, wets & other spares, just too much of a good deal to say no to.

Laid eyes properly on my newZX-6rr at the track…I had barely seen her last round before pandemonium broke out when Nicky had a nasty bump. Decided I’d go easy on her as I’d never ridden a modernish 600 before (bar 4 or 5 laps of a new road legal CBR at Taupo months ago). Borrowed a rear tyre warmer off Nicky/Frenchy. Didn’t have a front one. Decide my own warmers are going on the ‘cane as I’m going to be giving that bike a damn good thrashing. The tyres looked round, put the tyre pressure down to 28psi front/rear but I was just guessing. New rear GPR on the Honda CBR600 Hurricane and no scrubin…drat.

Targets.

Stay upright and bang in some points in Posties
Beat Frenchy in posties.
Finish an F2 race

F1 practice:

ZX-6r Engine…woooooooooooooah. Brakes…oh dear gawd. The brakes are ….unbelievable. Gotta say they’re miles better than the CBR600 I rode and even better than the 748r’s. I can’t get my head around the braking points. It’s nothing like the CBR600 I had a shot of. I’m all over the shot. At least it has a road shift. I can’t turn the thing. The lcd rev counter is useless.

Posties qualifying:

Ah…familiar territory. Track is still a bit damp & new rear tyre. Cruise around and remember how to ride her. A low 1.23 puts me 7th on the grid. Frenchy is looking good…fark.

F2 Qualifying

: feeeeeeck. It’s straight after posties and I’m hot and sweaty. Arrive back and nobody is in the garage. The ZX-6 is stone cold. I panic. Frenchy/Nicky et all arrive and a flurry of activity ensues. The ZX-6 gets bump started. I get to the gate a lap late but the marshalls let me out. 2 laps warming up engine and tyres. This is beneficial as I’m not trying to follow anyone and work on turn in points. The gearbox is practically ignored, unfortunatly compared to the old ‘cane the engine has NOTHING at the bottom end. Wonder if the organge shift light turns red at the limiter. I’m a bit concerned that it’s shaking its head out of nearly ever corner. Even by the end of the back straight the bars are still flapping (I’m later told all ZX-6’s do that and I should HTFU…Tony.OK stiffens up the damper thingie and I think him and Luke pretend to twiddle some dials at the bike’s arse end). Qualify with a 1.19.9 a few milliseconds behind Clive.

Posties R1.

10 Lapper. I again wait on the green light instead of lights out. Dumbarse. Back to 17th into T1. Doh. Fight my way up. Eamon Timms passes me, I push harder, he responds. I pass George Gainsford in lap 4. The ‘cane starts getting more ‘hoary’ and jumping out of more gears as the race goes on but I ensure I’ve got George gapped. 8th overall, 4th in class. 1.20.5

F2 Race 1

10 Lapper. Straight after the posties 10 lapper. Fortunatly (for me anyway) a couple of bikes have gone down so I get an extra 5 minute breather. Luke Mair has the bike at the dummy grid and Paul has the bottle of water for me. The transponder is switched and before I know it I’m back out. Right….”move when the lights go out you berk”. As I’m slowing down to find my line (actually I found Clive’s but he put me right) it dawns on me I should maybe have practised a few launches.

I bog it completely at the start. Somehow I’m still not last. As my brain still can’t cope with how hard this bike brakes I completely bottle it into the first corner and by the exit I think I must be last. Well shove me up bum with a broomstick but there’s a sexy pumpkin in front of me by the end of the first lap. Darrin Humphries is in the fray and a 3-way ensues. I settle in for the ride. The plan is to watch and learn for a couple of laps. I start figuring what gears to be using and also work out that the orange shift light does not turn red when it hits the limiter. The jury is still out on whether the bike has a slipper clutch though. They’re getting much better drive out of the corners and turning faster. I find out in lap 3 that the throttle has another 20 degrees left to turn!!! After spinning up twice I decide to work on turning faster. Hanging off like a monkey is making things worse as it seems to buck and weave a little mid-corner. I try sitting forwards, I try sitting back, I try weighting the inside peg, I try pushing harder on the inside bar. I just can’t get it turning further than it wants to go.

Anyhoo…this ZX-6 is p!shing all over them on the brakes so lap 4 and I go around the outside of the pair of them into T1. This spooks Darrin, he misses a gear and his bike drifts out right into my path. Brakes and evasion later and I’m back behind them. No problem, I’m reeling them in again and …fark…Lap 6 and out of the left hand hairpin I can’t upshift. I buzz around the rest of the track in 2nd gear. Bolt has came out the rearset…bugger…would have made my month to beat Clive on my first outing. 1.17 flat.

Posties R2

. 6 lapper. Better start but it wheelies a bit too much. I’m up to 6th and take car of George after a few corners. Dice with AJ Chappel for a couple of laps but as we up the pace things start scraping. He’ll win and previous experience confirms he’s a nutter. I just let Eamon Timms go come lap 2, they can bang in 1.19’s all day…I cant. Smashing dice with Darren Calder’s big fizzy for the rest of the race. I avoid doing block passes though as don’t want to slow each other down as we’re in different classes. Consider going up his inside on the final fast corner of the last lap but figure out it’s pointless and we’ll both be peeved if it all goes Pete Tong. Very happy with my performance this race. 1.20.9

F2 Race 2

8 lapper. Plan is NOT to follow Clive as we’re both doing stupid 400 style lines….”square off, point and squirt”…READ MY LIPS. Right Clive…you’re getting spanked. But he’s not got his bike back out. Damn. Try Ozzie’s advice to relax grip on bars once it’s turning and just let the bike turn. Hey…it’s worki…..fark…wot….nooooo. It keeps turning right off the tyre into T3 and I’m in the familiar position of tumblywumbling along the track. I’ve NO idea why I crashed….gentle turn and I wasn’t braking. Made more embarrassing as I’m about the 4th bike on the track and it’s the warmup lap.

Conclusion

Lots of helpful post crash advice about the big boys tyres being much more temperature sensitive. Wish I’d known pre crash lol. Next to naff all damage tho.

Ace weekend…even considering the crash. I need to get more tracktime on the ZX-6 to do it justice though. Would have came down for the practise day but I’d booked all my flights prior to my spur of the moment purchase. Did I mention the brakes? They’re ferocious…I didn’t get my head around them the whole meeting and there’s lots more to come from them. The ZX6 into that final corner feels about 70kmph faster and guessing the braking points probably wasn’t a good idea.

So that’s 0 out of 5 F2 races finished (rider fell in front of me, ran out of fuel, red flagged, rearset came loose, fell off in warmup). 4th in the Postie Junior table but we’ve decided to abandon project hurricane and go back to project CBR400. The hang off for grim death and haul it round the corner style of muscling the ‘cane is just too different to the sportsbikes. I hate to admit it but Paul and Drew were right when they said I wouldn’t be able to cope.

My bike will be out in F1 and doing 1.14’s next round.

Thanks:

• Paul for trying to fit wider rim/shock etc to the ‘cane and for bunging on the new Dunlop GPR rear
• Drew for picking me up at the airport, dropping me off (with 3 minutes to spare), putting me up at his palace and carting me about all weekend.
• Dee Wintle for getting my bikes to/from the track
• Nick for his support
• Martin Peck & Ozzie for offering to store the ZX6r at their respective places in Fielding…unfortunatly dipshit here dropped it so had to get it back to Drew’s for repairs.
• Clive for taking my stuff home again
• Sam at Celtic Leathers for taking a lot of my stuff to the track
• Sloan ‘the man’ Frost for taking my new Genny back to Hamilton.
• Vic club…we sometimes are a set of moaning gits and forget all the volounteers and organisation that goes on….we do appreciate it.

A 2 day event on the little used full track. Yay. I’ve only done the full track twice before and both times it was wet and I was rubbish. Anyhoo, Friday practice day I didn’t bother with as it was only on the short track so I didn’t see the point in taking another day off work. Changed my F3 entry to F2 as the 400 wasn’t ready….yikes!

Saturday
Post Classic Practice
Oh dear…I’ve totally forgotten the new track layout. To be honest, even the short track is giving me grief today. Follow Nicksta for a few laps, feel reasonably OK. Next thing Johnny Wagner passes me like I’m going backwards. Try sticking with him to get his lines but I’m nowhere. Qualify 14th with a high 2.17.

F2 Practice
You can’t help get towed along with these boys and girls. I’m not passing anybody but somehow qualify and I’m not quite the last bike and qualify in 32nd with a 2.15…woohoo…I’ve hit one of my goals.

Post Classic Race 1
9th overall so obviously the boys on the big bikes were having similar problems to me. No use having 130bhp if you can’t twist the throttle more than 1/2 way. I finish 7th in PC Junior with a 2:12.9 but to be honest, I’m all over the shot and most of my laps are about 2:16. AJ Chappel is leaving showers of sparks at every corner. After spanking everyone in F3, a silly Neil Chappel runs out of gogo juice during his main race. Not dicing with the usual crowd. The ‘cane is the wrong tool for this track and feels very loose when I try and match the 400’s on the long sweeping corners. The CBR400 is still broken so I’ve taken George Foreman to a ninja sword fight. It’s unusual for me but I back off a little as I decide that I’ll make the points up on the shorter track where the bike is more suited. Besides…some of these guys look very very loose. In between moments of skillful genius, Timmsy is a scary guy to follow.

F2 Race 1
I get a decent start from 32nd on the grid and employ my round the outside technique in turn 1 and this sets me up for taking another half dozen bikes around the outside of turn 2 and inside of T3…suckers! Back straight about umm…5 bikes shoot past me but when I look behind me on the corner exit there’s still about 12 bikes to my rear. Have a big out of seat almost highside out of higgins so I presume the boys behind me backed off a little. Through the next few fast corners and into the right hand hairpin and everybody seems to be taking a different line. Carnage ensues and a bike 110 (Rick Playford) gets hit and falls off right in front of me. I can’t steer around him so I pull a stoppie that Frenchy would have been proud of. When my heart starts again I look down and I’m literally less than an inch from the Ricks head. He aint moving. Couple of other guys wobble off the grass and Ozzie is picking up his 450 triple. Fugg the “continue racing rule” as Rick still aint moving and the marshalls are just starting to react (plus I’m now realistically gonna get lapped and hold up the fast boys). I park the bike up on the tyres and run back. Rick is up now and staggering aimlessly around on the track. Marshall can’t pick up his bike so I lift it to safety and I think Ozzie or the marshall points Rick in the correct direction. Rick’s broken his collarbone but he’s OK. We watch the rest of the race from a pretty awesome spectator part of the track. Glen Skatchell (sketchy) combines sliding the back of his bike into the hairpin with scraping the top of his boots AND drifting the back of his bike out (and catching it) every time he comes round. It’s awesome to watch (and I don’t use the “a” word often). End of race and I’m getting the death stares from half the grid as they see my $hite old CBR covered in mud (the bit near the tyres was like a skating rink with mud) and obviously assume this F2 noob caused the crash. Oh well, early curry at Nick and Allies place.

Sunday
Paul arrives. Notices my exhaust is pointing skywards. I guess Ozzie DID run into the back of me yesterday. I never felt a thing as the exhaust bending must have taken most of the impact. The nerves are back with a vengeance and I’m regretting the Saturday night Sag Aloo. Anyhoo. Today’s agenda is a ten lapper race in each class followed by a 6 lapper.

Post Classic Race 2
Two words…bloody and awful. A good launch but I’m boxed in and the bike in front of me starts braking waaaay before the 1st corner. I’m still kinda hemmed in through the fast T2 and am way back. Sharky, Antony et all are miles ahead of me. Through the long left hand sweeper onto the short track, my worst nightmare happens and Nicky flies past me. I’ve got no response. Just then Johnny Wagner bounces off the wall and his bike spins towards Nicky and I. We avoid it but I back right off. Next lap, the oil flag is out just before the final corner. I spend the next 4 laps looking for the oil (turns out it was on the start finish straight). A had a very boring 10 lap race and see no other traffic for the remainder. I pulled my head in a little towards the end and caught up with Nicky and Glenn. Another lap and I would have had them but I’ve nobody to blame but myself for taking so long to get into the game. I finish waaaay back in 16th (12th in my class) with a best of 2:13.21. Worse than yesterday even though the track is now nice n’ sticky.

I took Drew and Deano’s advice about 29F, 28R psi being too high and dropped tyres to 26F,26R at the start of the day. Big mistake…rear tyre is now very very chewed up and even more skittish. I don’t have time to lower it before F2. Drew’s advice about pulling the bar angle in (thanks Frenchy for spannering) to help turn the bike is working although my right hand is still swollen from hauling the crappy brake lever back so hard. I don’t have time to fuel up either but had calculated I’d shoved enough in the old beast. Besides, I didn’t want to go back to the garage since Nicky thrashed me.

F2 Race 2
Charge. Another good start. Wee bit over-cautious on the brakign into T1 as I’m now very aware how hard the modern 600’s can stop. I pass Clive through one of the faster corners (ok..he passed me back before the next corner but it’s all good). I miss all the fallers this time. By lap 3 there’s still a couple of bikes behind me. The 2 bikes ahead of me aren’t gapping me either. Cough splutter does the bike. I exit stage ahead at the crashy hairpin and park the bike safely. My fuel calculations were correct but it turns out dumbo here hadn’t set the fuel tap to reserve when he’d changed the fuel pump. 2:13 again but that’s with traffic. I wasn’t too dissapointed….the F2 race was straight after the 10 lapper post classic one so I was knackered anyhoo.

For the next couple of hours I have to endure the “beaten by a girl” comments. I consider removing one of Nicky’s HT leads. I pump up the rear tyre to 29psi again.

Post Classic Race 3
Better than good start, but I have to brake and swerve suddenly when a chain comes flying towards my head. Now I wasn’t expecting that. Was quite funny watching the guy revving his bike, stamping on the gear lever wondering why his bike was slowing down. The sun is now very low and it’s getting hard to see the track. The temp’s dropped and everyone has slowed down a little. Nicky passes me and she’s definitely got her previous season’s mojo back. I get red mist, pull a block pass on the left hand hairpin and use the 600’s power to bugger offski. “Who’s the daddy now eh?” I’m ashamed to say but I did smirk in my helmet. Sharky is on his arse but OK..yay. I’m ashamed to say…you get the picture. Keep waiting on Nicky out braking me and an epic grudge match of seasons gone by to happen but nothing ensues. Have fantastic fun racing against an elsie350 2-smoke, strangely it’s similar in lines, braking and power to my 600. Brendon passes me on his 250 (elbows out he takes no prisoners but it’s all cleanly done) but I chase him down. I can get him back but before the fun begins the red flag is out as a yellow GSX550 has taken a lie down in the middle of the final corner. Nope…Nicky has taken a big lie down on the hairpin. Cripes…hope it wasn’t my block pass…I’m not smirking anymore (it wasn’t…not that it’ll help her double fractured pelvis heal any quicker). Sharky is a happy bunny as results are taken back a lap…git 12th overall, 8th in my class. 2.16.

Post Classic Race 3 restart
It’s a 2 lap sprint race for half points. Sods law dictates I get an average start. I’m having fun. Anthony outbrakes me into t1. I’ve got the legs on him on t2/t3 but nowhere to pass. Pass him into higgins but man, he just gets fantastic drive out of there and he’s literally 20m ahead of me by the time my tyre decides to hook up. Sharky gets me on the right hand hairpin. I through caution to the wind and we’re neck and neck going into the final fast right hander. It’s a battle of the brakes but I don’t want it as badly as him and he snatches the 7th position from me. 2.14 this time and 12th overall.

I feel much better, change my mind about not going out in the final F2 race and Paul helpfully throws some more gogo juice in the bike and back out I go.

F2 Race 3
I’m determined to actually finish an F2 race. A primo “this clutch is an elastic band” start…so good I worry I’ve jumped the start as the bikes next to me aint moving. I guess I’ve got the measure of how to launch this thing. Same method as last F2 race…round the outside and up the inside of T3. Someone’s fallen so all the bikes take a very tight line. I nearly take out Aria but she has enough skill to avoid this idiot. I’ve nothing to loose, F2 is my “fun” race so I’m getting on the gas a lot earlier. I’m waiting on being swamped by all the bikes behind me but it’s not happening. I’m still “hot” from the previous race and under no illusion that once they’re warmed up they’ll be disappearing into the distance. Still, I can pick up some more pointers and erm hold them up for as long as possible. But no I can’t….the race is red-flagged.

Conclusion
Feel a bit sorry for the 125 hotshots (and the F2 bikes that weren’t cross entered into F1) as they’d been waiting around a hell of a long time for nothing. No-one can predict crashes though.

Disappointed I didn’t get any faster as the weekend progressed. I know where I’m going wrong and it’s on the corner exits. I’m getting on the gas early enough to pick the bike up but I’m not feeling the grip of the rear tyre enough to roll on the throttle hard. I’m blaming the bike but Paul says the bike’s fine and I need to just harden up. My fastest time was on the final lap in race 1 where I was riding defensively, braking hard, taking a tight and very slow corner speed, standing the bike up and getting on the gas early. My mind is telling me that this method is slower but the results on paper tell me it must work better.

Next round hopefully the ‘cane will be sporting a wider 160 rear tyre, a 1998 rear shock, a CBR400 swingarm, winder rim and a decent front brake master cylinder.

Maybe I should take up drag racing. Would benefit from a day just circulating on the long track.

Thanks:
Paul and Diane for the moral support.
Nick and Allie for letting me stay at their house and popping up to see me race.
Nicky and Frenchy for the garage space.
The Warehouse for the fan heater.
Dunlop tyres.

Looks like I’m gonna be a busy boy around Christmas. Schedule is :-

19th Dec 09 – Manfield : Round 1 Suzuki Tri Series
26th Dec 09 – Wanganui (Cemetry Circuit) : Round 2 Suzuki Tri Series
27th Dec 09 – Taupo : BADD 3 Hour endurance race
28th Dec 09 – Taupo : Round 3 Suzuki Tri series

They’re lumping the pre-89 bikes in with the wobby Bears and Clubmans riders. Don’t fancy that so I’ve entered the 400 (assuming it will live again) into F3 and the 600 into F2. Of course, I won’t be anything like competitive against the new tackle but it’ll be one hell of an experience. At least if I’m wobbling around in last place I can blame the age of the bike, not the lack of talent

We’ve managed to talk Paul out of retirement to co-pilot the hurricane in the endurance race!

More details : www.raceweek.co.nz
www.roadracespectacular.4t.com

Wanganui is also hosting jet-sprints and hydroplanes around that time so it should be a good few days entertainment.
www.cemeterycircuit.co.nz