phillip island race report,hartwell rd 3 and pics and more!!

[SJTFZR1000]

The 3rd round of this series is the pinnacle of my race calendar and my racing to date. It was the round where I got to race at a circuit where the best gp racers from all over the globe came to race. Sitting on the grid was as exciting as the races them self’s.
Anyway that’s enough of that dribble.
My cousin Tim (pit crew) and I took off from home on a very cold Thursday morning bound for Phillip Island. We arrived at another racer mates place at about 10am in warnambool. We all arrived at Phillip Island about 5pm and checked into the cabins.
The next morning we were all very keen to get the first look at the track. We finally arrived at the correct gate after 3 wrong gates, so we were off to a good start (was probably my navigation skill.)We arrived at the pit shed where we would race from and were greeted by another race mate who had hired the shed for all of us. After we unpacked all our stuff we found out we didn’t have to get scrutineered for the race practice day, very unusual.so we were ready for the first practice session.
The session got under way at about 9am and the temp was about 10 degrees, just as the first group of riders was about to go out it began too rain, only a couple of spots but enough to panic the guys who did not have a spare set of rims with wet weather tyres on them. (The tyre changer bloke had not arrived yet.)
The first session lasted about 20 minutes or so and it was a look at the track for me as I did a track day there 5 or 6 years ago on a road bike and was very rusty.
In the second session I was getting to know the track again and felt pretty confortable for a while until I took the last corner onto the straight a bit fast and before I knew what had happened I was flying across the gravel catch trap heading for the tyre wall. I hit the tyre wall fairly hard but I managed to turn the bike side on the wall and only crush the right hand side fairing and the fall off the bike gracefully.no camera shots were captured so all was good. I managed to get the bike fired again and rode back to the pits via the straight with my side fairings flapping. After I got back to the pits and cleaned my jocks out my pit crew and I took a look at the damage and repaired it.
It was coming up to the lunch break so I decided to get the new tyres onto the rims .I was planning to do this later on in the day but the run in with the tyre wall changed my mind. I missed the next session after the lunch break as my tyres weren’t warm enough yet. The next session was a lot better after I scrubbed the tyres in and I did my best time for the race meeting. (1.53.167)The day ended too quickly and we all headed for the cabins for the night.
The next day we woke to a brilliant blue sky and we all headed to the track….it was race day…
First my class went out for a quick 6 minute practice/warm up which was about 3 laps on the 4klm long Phillip island track. Then the qualifying sessions came up, we were only given about 10 minutes for this session, so I went out hard to set an early qualifying time. I qualified in position 1 in my class but 4th on the combined grid as there were other classes running in with us. After lunch the racing started and I was in the second race up. We all did a ¾ lap and then lined up on the grid. The over 600 experts and non-experts were gridded up in front of us and there were two grid rows between them and us.
I got a great start and was up in amongst the over 600 experts and non-experts by the first corner at about 180kph.i settled in to follow the big boys but was unable to keep up the corner speed they had. I finished first for my class and second in our group of riders. The second race came around and was much the same as first race except for a better start. On the second lap I was had just passed another rider, as I came around turn 2 and was getting set up for the next corner apex I found two cape barren geese in the middle of the track, I was in the middle of the corner so I couldn’t brake so I leant as far as I could and missed them by about 6 inches at about 160kph,that would have made a nice mess I thought.(there goes another pair of jocks).so at the end of day one of racing I had won both of my races.
The next day was still dry but the wind had come up a bit so it was going to be a bit more difficult in curtain corners. We didn’t have a morning practice which some more nervous riders didn’t like at all. We got straight into the races. I got another great start and was mixing it with the big boys for a corner of two before they began to pull away from me and the rest of my group. I finished in first place in my class and this stayed the same for the last point’s race as well. The next race was the last for the day and it was a trophy race with no series points. Most of the guys were packing up but I wanted to have one more run on the unbelievable Phillip island track before I too went home. I asked the track officials if I was able to start at the rear of the grid for a bit of something different. The red light went out (the race started) and I got an ok start and once again I was up with what was left of the thousand cc bikes. I finished the race with a win for my class.
I ended up with five first places and an overall period 6 trophy.
I now lead the series by 22 points over chris on his gpz900 and am looking forward to the next round on august 20th at Broadford. I have never seen or raced on the Broadford track so this is going to be a bit of a new challenge. The Broadford track is the home track of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th placed runners in the series so it is going to be interesting and lots of fun…..
sorry for the length,hope you enjoyed the read.

[ThomVis]

sorry for the length,hope you enjoyed the read.

Yeah, way too short!
Nice read, and congrats on 5x 1st.

[Hooligan]

congratulations!!! any pics available of your podium celebrations?!

[Mike_SS]

Congratulations on results and good report

[JasonL]

Nice one Steve, I was watching Computime over the weekend and coming away with all wins and a good lead in the championship is the best result possible especially after starting the weekend with an off. Those geese are scary, one race weekend they were sat on the outside at the Hayshed, not somewhere you want them wandering out! Glad the weather held out, we had terrible conditions back in May for the Vic titles (Chris will tell you)

[spook]

Enjoyed the read, thanks Steve

Great results, congratulations. What series are you running in? You will love Broadford.

[SJTFZR1000]

thanks guys for the congrats.if i knew how to put picks on i would,help please.got some goodies.

spook im running in the hartwell series next is broadford on the 20th august and then back to mac park in late october.

yeh jas that turn 12 got me to run wide,a bit fast for the old girl or pehaps me,but anyway it just smashed the side fairing and i was able to keep running.yeh the motorcycle gods smiled on us with the weather all weekend,fantastic...hayshed was awsome fun.....what am i sayin, the whole track is awsome!!!!

will try to put some pics up for u guys soon....

[JasonL]

Yeah, one of many places its easy to get sucked in at. Spook I might take a look at Broadford Aug 20 if you want to head up, might even enter!!

[JasonL]

PS - some pics at SDPics website (slow to load up)

[FZRDude]

.... if I knew how to put picks on i would, help please.got some goodies....

Look HERE and/or HERE for help posting pics.

Way to go on the wins!!!!

[JasonL]

Sorry and Cam too of course, maybe we can make a day of it (Sat or Sunday , its a two day meet)

[SJTFZR1000]

ok guys here are some pics if they work,thanks for your help with the pictures..
on the grid


at siberia


under one of the over 600 expert and non experts


chased by a triumph 675


after the raceing is finished

[SJTFZR1000]

some more pics

my mates cbr600 and my fzr1000 on the grid...posing..


another siberia shot....got to get over the front more and lower....damit!!!!!!


whos the goose on the bike.lol.


in front of the sheds

[spook]

Hey great photos

[JasonL]

P6? Bring it on! great pics Steve, bike looks good (maybe I should keep mine after all???)

[Mike_SS]

Nice trophy haul

Did that rear rotor pass scrutineering ?

[SJTFZR1000]

yeh it passed no worries mike.in fact they asked what the yellow book was for that had my bike pics in it.....(log book)..the rear rotor was replaced with this one because it was 50 bucks from china against 100 bucks or more for all the round ones.since i brought my first one i have got another for the spare rim with the wet on it.p6 is still a bit fuzzy in the rule interpretations in the hartwell series.
the only thing is for sure they wont allow usd shocks..hey i dont use the back brake anyway.
you gonna make it down this way sometime mike would be a blast to get a few more together for a run..next one is broadford on the 20th august.hey jason have you heard any more from the two guys from aderlaide yet m8.the p6 guys i mean.also jas i heard at phillip island of two guys going to have a go in p6 at broadford,one on a 1990 rc30 and another on a 1990 tzr250.this should create a bit more interest........

[JasonL]

An RC30 !!! Well that's throwing down the gauntlet!! I hope he's not fast I'll be devastated! You don't know who it was do you?? It's starting to pick up, what's a trickle now will be a flood soon enough. Log book - that definitely wasn't Roland then! At the Vic titles they have been checking them. No-one is going to worry about minor stuff like back discs just yet but all the same if you can keep it as close to period as you can then its a lot less grief later on when it does start to matter (like national titles!) I haven't heard from the Adl guys and thanks for reminding me I should chase them up.

[SJTFZR1000]

yeh he did mention his name but ive got a memory like a fish,so its gone.he was between 50- 60 yrs old i recon,didnt look like a fast guy but you can never tell till there on the track.he said he has had the rc30 from new or very close to it.sign up to face book jas as im freinds on there with the s.a. p6 guys your after.dont think i will be doin any vic titles or stuff like that for a while..lol.
you got bring ya fzr to broady too m8 just so i can have a look at her..

[Mike_SS]

you gonna make it down this way sometime mike

Nah definitely out for the year, maybe forever. I will continue to watch from the sideline though.