Race Report Broadford March 20-21
Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:16 am
I'm not on a Yamaha (yet) but Spook encouraged me to put up a race report anyway since this is the place and he was there on the Sunday to see the highs, lows and general unpredictability which scares the bejesus out of us and hooks us at the same time.
So this was Rnd 1 of the Vic Road Race Titles and I entered the Pre Modern over 500 class which in this series is for anything 9yrs and older. There weren't many entrants but they were on R1's, 916, RSV1000. So I turned up on my 22yr old sports tourer and the best lap I did all weekend was in qualifying, a 1.04.999 (!!) That wasn't too bad in the group, however they run several races on the one grid, being under 500 Pre Modern (F2) Thunderbikes and maybe something else I can't remember. Because of this I was gridded on p14 which seemed not quite right, anyway off we went, the first race was a blur, I was dicing with a 916 and trumping them in the corners then getting lunched on the straight, a familiar theme to develop over the weekend. I realised this guy finished 3rd in the BEARS race so that gave me some confidence. He was from Qld and I wondered if he was the 916 Mike mentioned was going to the Barry Sheene but its not him.
Onto Sunday for races 2 and 3. Spook rode out for a visit and a look about, and I think it fired him up to get the OW01 on track. It's also great to have some company and help on racedays, it makes a big difference. Race 2 was scrappy, lots of disparate bikes all over the place trying to claim some tarmac. I had a couple of exciting slides and we set about analysing a few things, changing tyre pressures and Spook rightly pointed out the chain was too tight so we backed it off and the small changes seemed to work as I had a cracking last race, running 3rd or 4th. I had massive brain-fade into the uphill eight hander turn 1 and ran very wide. Just so happened a KX450 Motard was beside me on the outside and he ran right off, lucky he was on a dirt bike! A couple of guys got past me but I settled down and got into a rhythm, catching an R1 and getting baulked in the turns, I got under him once or twice but was passed again on the straights. It was all good fun, the guys' mate had a pitboard for him which Spook quickly pointed out made him a tool, and therefore fair game (ie: perfectly ok for me to duff up in the turns) Dunno what was on the pitboard, maybe a picture of a bus?? I hadn't kept much of a track of my finishes but it turned out I got 2nd overall in class for the weekend, I was pretty happy with that, I thought maybe possibly a 3rd.
The 400 was a different story. I never got quite as comfortable on it and the 400 class is more competitive. I qualified 9th and finished 5th for the weekend, but not without some excitement - race 2, I had managed to push the flimsy chainguard in with my heel and it carries the rear brake line on top of it. Result?? Brake line and chain guard caught between wheel and swingarm. And I didn't notice! I saw an oil flag not realising it was for me until I rounded the last turn with a frantic marshall waving the flag and pointing at the rear wheel. I had also felt no back brake and thought it had dumped fluid so I pulled over at the side of pit straight. I'd had such a good start too. Spook came up and said I'd blown it up, it was pumping out lots of smoke. We looked a bit more and it had rubbed a big chamfer off the sidewall, the tyre was buggered! I was going to park it but I checked the results and I was listed - last, but completed the race as I'd pulled in after more than 75% race distance and gone past the start/finish line to get back to the pits! So it was worth carrying on, and a new rear was fitted. The last race I took it easy, new rear to scrub in for a lap or two and the front was pretty worn, pushing more with the new rear. Best lap on the 400 was a 1.06.7
All in all a fun weekend and since its only a four round series and I've started well, might just do the rest. But I need to get this FZR out, go chase down some R1's !!
I'm looking forward to the reports from the Barry Sheene in a couple of weeks time!! Have a great race!
So this was Rnd 1 of the Vic Road Race Titles and I entered the Pre Modern over 500 class which in this series is for anything 9yrs and older. There weren't many entrants but they were on R1's, 916, RSV1000. So I turned up on my 22yr old sports tourer and the best lap I did all weekend was in qualifying, a 1.04.999 (!!) That wasn't too bad in the group, however they run several races on the one grid, being under 500 Pre Modern (F2) Thunderbikes and maybe something else I can't remember. Because of this I was gridded on p14 which seemed not quite right, anyway off we went, the first race was a blur, I was dicing with a 916 and trumping them in the corners then getting lunched on the straight, a familiar theme to develop over the weekend. I realised this guy finished 3rd in the BEARS race so that gave me some confidence. He was from Qld and I wondered if he was the 916 Mike mentioned was going to the Barry Sheene but its not him.
Onto Sunday for races 2 and 3. Spook rode out for a visit and a look about, and I think it fired him up to get the OW01 on track. It's also great to have some company and help on racedays, it makes a big difference. Race 2 was scrappy, lots of disparate bikes all over the place trying to claim some tarmac. I had a couple of exciting slides and we set about analysing a few things, changing tyre pressures and Spook rightly pointed out the chain was too tight so we backed it off and the small changes seemed to work as I had a cracking last race, running 3rd or 4th. I had massive brain-fade into the uphill eight hander turn 1 and ran very wide. Just so happened a KX450 Motard was beside me on the outside and he ran right off, lucky he was on a dirt bike! A couple of guys got past me but I settled down and got into a rhythm, catching an R1 and getting baulked in the turns, I got under him once or twice but was passed again on the straights. It was all good fun, the guys' mate had a pitboard for him which Spook quickly pointed out made him a tool, and therefore fair game (ie: perfectly ok for me to duff up in the turns) Dunno what was on the pitboard, maybe a picture of a bus?? I hadn't kept much of a track of my finishes but it turned out I got 2nd overall in class for the weekend, I was pretty happy with that, I thought maybe possibly a 3rd.
The 400 was a different story. I never got quite as comfortable on it and the 400 class is more competitive. I qualified 9th and finished 5th for the weekend, but not without some excitement - race 2, I had managed to push the flimsy chainguard in with my heel and it carries the rear brake line on top of it. Result?? Brake line and chain guard caught between wheel and swingarm. And I didn't notice! I saw an oil flag not realising it was for me until I rounded the last turn with a frantic marshall waving the flag and pointing at the rear wheel. I had also felt no back brake and thought it had dumped fluid so I pulled over at the side of pit straight. I'd had such a good start too. Spook came up and said I'd blown it up, it was pumping out lots of smoke. We looked a bit more and it had rubbed a big chamfer off the sidewall, the tyre was buggered! I was going to park it but I checked the results and I was listed - last, but completed the race as I'd pulled in after more than 75% race distance and gone past the start/finish line to get back to the pits! So it was worth carrying on, and a new rear was fitted. The last race I took it easy, new rear to scrub in for a lap or two and the front was pretty worn, pushing more with the new rear. Best lap on the 400 was a 1.06.7
All in all a fun weekend and since its only a four round series and I've started well, might just do the rest. But I need to get this FZR out, go chase down some R1's !!
I'm looking forward to the reports from the Barry Sheene in a couple of weeks time!! Have a great race!
I gotta watch this one