Race Report Hartwell Rnd 4

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JasonL
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Race Report Hartwell Rnd 4

Post by JasonL »

At last! Racing the '89 EXUP for the first time and at Phillip Island no less.

I didn't get the bike completely ready and running until the night before and with only one track day on it and only having ever done a few laps at the island, it was going to be a weekend of discovery!

Since I hadn't managed to get spare rims and wets organised for the EXUP I took the VFR as a wet bike and back up for the dry if the FZR ran into trouble.

The weather was looking ominous for the weekend and Saturday morning dawned wet and windy. I left the slick-shod FZR on the trailer as it didn't look like it would get a run. Had entered both bikes in P6 and Pre Modern. Practice was wet and very slow. The Honda had decided not to start, unusually, and we finally got it running on a set of rollers. I got one practice lap in before the end of the session. First qualifying session was P6 and unlike most rounds we had a lot of P5 bikes running as practice before the Historic titles there in a month's time. Qualified 9th outright, 2nd in class. It was only a couple of sessions later until Pre Modern qualifying but the track had dried considerably - I contemplated coming in and swapping to the Yamaha which was now off the trailer (and had also not started until put on the rollers) . Parts of the track were bone dry, other sections were still quite damp. I believe you'd do the same time on wets or drys. I stayed out on the wets and was conscious not to chew them up, but stayed out a couple of laps too many, as you can see:

Image

It was worth it however, as I qualified 3rd out of 31 bikes, well pleased.

So the first race up was P6 and it was dry and sunny, not something we could have imagined in the morning. Now to this point I have had very little time on the EXUP and on this track. The race prep and changes to the bike are untested; I don't know for example if my dodgy bellypan will stay in or fly out through one of the fast turns and so on. Hence taking it easy then, I came in 6th outright and 2nd in class which was still pretty good, but I was struggling to adapt to the bike - different clutch action making it hard to get off the line and changing down is scrappy; power and handling all very different to the 750.

The Pre Modern heat came round and I knew I had to put in more of an effort since I needed to beat Andrew Lind on his Z1000 as he lies only a few points ahead in 3rd in the points. bad start again, but managed to chase him down and passed at Lukey Heights on the last lap. Already the reasons for getting the EXUP were paying off - on the 750 I might have got past him but would be dragged off on the straight - not this time! Fourth outright and 2 points nearer 3rd in the title. improved lap time by 4 secs, did a 1.51.7, I thought I would be sub 1.50 but that's going to have to wait.

Image

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There was a pile up off the line in the 600 novice race, I didn't take much notice at first but then it became apparent that it was serious, there were three ambulances there, word was going around CPR was being performed on one rider, which to me meant very likely he was lost. And sadly he was - the race meeting was abandoned for the remainder of the day then cancelled on Sunday morning. It was pause for thought, and I was interested in how people react.....you could see the devastation and incomprehensibility in the faces of his family and girlfriend, while others joked about as if nothing had happened. I was very very keen to get back and see my kids that night. It wouldn't take much for me to pack it in. After this year I'll certainly be toning it down a bit.

Well, the bike finally got a run and its good - but I need a lot more time on it and it needs some fettling and set-up, but that's fine. Here's a garage shot, my bike with Craig Beswick's two early model FZR 1000's - one and ex factory bike, the other a wet set up!! SP1 in the foreground is a Moriwaki bike, 160+bhp....can't get away from those Honda's !!
Last edited by JasonL on Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

JasonL
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Post by JasonL »

Oops wrong pic, try this one:


Image

duke22
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Post by duke22 »

Don't you just hate those wet-and-dry days?

Great photos of the FZR, it almost looks like a summer day there - a shame it had to end early and in such an unfortunate way.

Do you have any more photos / info on that Genesis 1000 factory bike?

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Post by Mike_SS »

Good report Jason. Great photos as well. The FZR looks good and that belly pan looks about as good as the one I made for PJ. :) Did the job obviously.

(I'm racing this weekend. Forecast temp for Saturday is 0 -18 brrr)





RIP Matt and condolensces to his family. :cry:
_________________________

1994 YZF750R Race/Track Bike
1992 FZR1000 Race/Track Bike

JasonL
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Post by JasonL »

Duke,

That Genesis is an ex Marlboro Yamaha bike, I don't know much more about it specifically but you can see more pics of it on the Hartwell website and from last weekend on SDPICS website. I may have a pic or two of it aswell, will have a look. I know its running frame bracing, braced swingarm, underslung rear caliper, different triples etc. Craig told me who used to race it at the time but it wasn't a name I knew or can remember.

A guy called Nigel Taylor is running a sister bike in NSW.

spook
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Post by spook »

The bracing is not factory. It is probably Yamaha Australia. Aparently this type, with the squared off insert really digs into your leg.... Ehh Stan? :)

The Japan Yamaha kit frames look different to that.

Edit: looks like he is running the one piece seat-tank cover-unit. I'm sure I've got one of those here :)

hotcam
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Post by hotcam »

Thanks for the report - I heard of the tragedy and wish sympathies to
all concerned. In situations like these, 'doing something he loved' is little
or no consolation.

Great to hear you're getting ahead of the competition, I hope it continues
and improves more as you get used to the FZR.
Gee you really 'did a number' on those wet tyres!
-------
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"

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stan
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Post by stan »

Great report as always, and if you don't like the weather at the island, wait a minute

Read a report about the accident on Sunday night, made my little heart skip a beat, espically as i knew you were down there on the weekend, but as it says on every ticket i have to a bike race
"Motor sport is dangerous"

A 1:51.7 is really starting to get around the island, as you get more comfortable with the FZR you will quickly drop into the 1:40's, my best was a 1:47 something, it took me years to get that fast. My last Hartwell meet at the island i did 47's all weekend, i guess thats as fast as i could go

stan
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JasonL
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Post by JasonL »

Stan,

47's was that on the FZ(R) ?? That's really going if it was, I'll be lucky to get near that on the EXUP. John Rickard on his FZR1000 was in the 49's and he's my benchmark at this point. Next race is Broadford and having been there before I hope to get round quicker on the EXUP than on the Honda. I'm only a couple of tenths slower than John so the EXUP might give me the rest.

Cam, Spook - sorry I wasn't more organised to see if you wanted to come down to PI this time, I was a bit reluctant to make a big deal of it in case it fell over like last time!! Maybe we can make a weekend of it later on, there are three, possibly four meetings I'll do before the end of the year, all at Broadford:

Vic Titles Rnd 4 Aug 28-29 (last chance to duff up pitboarder)
Hartwell Rnd 5 (and last Rnd) Sept 18-19 can I jag 3rd in pre modern??
PCRA Rnd 4 (and last Rnd) Oct 2-3
Interclub Rnd 5 (and last rnd) Nov 21

And/or we can get out on a track day???

The spectre of death is not faced fully by the racing fraternity. On the Hartwell website there are pics of Matt but all on his bike, no shots of him, we don't get to see his face. It's pretty incongruous at the track, families there, young kids playing while dad races, I don't know if its denial or a full acceptance and is it right?? I'll be taking my own family to the PCRA round this time, it gets normalised because its what we do. I went to watch my dad race etc. Seems the number of race fatalities is more than we might realise and the majority, as best I can tell, are caused by a rider being struck by a following bike.

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Post by spook »

There is only one certainty in life, and that is at some point in time you will die. There is a lot of false logic regarding high risk activities, such as, 'you have more chance of being killed driving to the track' Fact of the matter is if you don't race or ride you are never going to die that way, and if you didn't ride you wouldn't be driving there...etc, etc.

Tragic as it may be, the loss of life is inevitable. Especially at the level at which we play. We ride at dodgy tracks, with other relatively inexperienced riders, add to that most track meetings have St Johns in attendance. These guys have done a first aid course and are only good for holding your hand while you die. The tragedy, is for those left behind who have to deal with the gamut of human emotion associated with loss.

What I have experienced amongst the racing/track riding community, is a fairly retarded way of dealing with fatalities, seldom talked about or discussed. Either way it makes no difference.

Death while riding is a reality that all participants have to acknowledge, if the notion causes you discomfort or reservation you simply shouldn't be out there.

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Post by sbutler »

If the FZR was ex Marlboro bike they built a few of them.
They would have been one of Doohan/Dowson/Magee bikes.
I think they built one for the Arai500 at Bathurst, & the other two were there superbikes for the domestic series.
Give Dudley a call with chassis numbers he would know as he built them.
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90 GSXR 750 racer gone
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stan
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Post by stan »

Jason,

My 47's were on my FZR750. Like i said, it took me almost 5 years of racing (and a shed load of $$$) to get there. My biggest improvment came from doing a race craft course there. It was a three day thing with lectures and a walk around the track, looking at each corner in turn, and its relationship to the previous and the next, all building to a good lap time.
To be honest, looking back i probly enjoyed going a little slower, to ride a a level for me to maintain 47's i was on the limit of my, and probly my bikes ability

stan
Motorcycling, it's a participation sport!!

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