Actrix Winter Series Round 4

This round had a track day on the Saturday before the racing commenced on the Sunday. Both days started out cold but excellent weather otherwise.

Saturday track day

The track day was a good opportunity for me to make sure the bike was running all good. I used a  Pirelli 180 SC1 rear tyre for the whole day and it had already come as a used tyre so god knows how many laps it had done. It was getting a bit ripped up again with the cold track temperature only getting up to 24C at it's peak.

Sunday

Qualifying
I put on a new SC2 190 tyre for the day. Went out for qualifying and set a time (1:13.1) not far off my PB to get 2nd on the F2 grid.

Race 1
I got a mega start to lead out of turn one for the first lap and a half before Jaden Hassen came past. I was having major problems trying to get the bike stopped and also wheel spinning out of every single corner. Eventually I got picked off to finish 4th.

When I got back to the pits I checked out the tyre and it looked like it was wearing well but had a greyish colour instead of a nice black colour. I took the rear tyre pressure down to 24 PSI (hot) to try and get some temperature into it for the next race.

Race 2
Not such a great start but still in the lead bunch over the first lap only to have the same problems as race one - excessive wheel spin and no grip on the left side of the tyre. I ended up getting swamped and finishing 6th.

Again I had to put it down to the tyre as it was only 40C on the left side right after the race. I decided to put the 180 SC1 back on for the last race just to see if it would make a difference. By this stage the SC1 had done two test days and two races since I was given it as a second hand tyre. It had been ripped up by a cold track and flipped over three times!

Race 3
I got an OK start to end the first lap in 3rd but I could finally wind on the throttle with some confidence. I moved into 2nd and set the fastest lap of the race before it was red flagged. As we pulled into pit lane I took stock of the situation and was just happy to have found the cause of the problems I had been having that day.

We managed to restart the race and I got another good start before a false neutral ran me wide at turn one. I was expecting a bunch of riders to come past at that point but I must have blocked them all when I ran wide. Jaden had made a gap by that stage and so for the rest of the race I had to concentrate on holding off Travis Merkel for 2nd. I ended up crossing the line 2nd just ahead of Travis and reduced the gap to Jaden from 25 seconds in race two to 4 seconds in this race. I set a new PB of 1:11.0 about 3 seconds per lap quicker than what I had been doing on the 190.

I am now looking forward to seeing what I can do with a new set of tyres and I also have another couple of tricks up my sleeve that should allow me to find some more speed.

Actrix Winter Series Round 3

The weather was very cold (the days started at around zero degrees!) but the sun was out for the Friday test day and the races on Saturday.

Since the last round I had sent the forks and shock down to Kerry Dukie at Dukic Performance. We decided not to do too much to the suspension until the new rules for the Super Stock class were unveiled so it was to be a bit of a revalve and refresh only.

For the test day I used a Pirelli SC1 180 Supercorsa that had been sold to me with the R6 and was used by a rider in the Nationals so it had already done a fair bit of work.
I steadily improved my lap times throughout the day and worked on my technique for the 600. Despite the cold temperatures the tyre held up really well with only slight tearing.

For Saturday I put on a new 190 SC2 tyre for the races and it would be better for the cold temperatures anyway.

F2 Qualifying
I got out for the short qualifying session a bit late and missed out on putting in decent lap but qualified 6^th on the combined BEARs / F2 grid.

F2 Race 1
I got a pretty good start but was a bit conservative on the first lap letting a few riders through. By the second lap I got into a good rhythm and was pleased to be keeping up with the top F2 riders so I could gauge my speed against theirs at different parts of the track. I got into 3^rd and thought about having a go at second but decided to sit back and try to learn a thing or two so crossed the line in 3^rd.

F2 Race 2
The first half of this race got red flagged. When it was restarted I got a good launch to sit behind Travis Merkel for a few laps and again got an idea of my strong / weak points on the track. I thought I might be able to make a move for the lead but suddenly I noticed a dramatic loss of grip from the rear tyre, it was like there was a direct connection from the throttle to how far the rear end would slide out. I had to pull over only to see that it had gone completely flat! Afterwards I had a look and there was a big puncture so it was stuffed.

F2 Race 3
For this race I had to go back to the SC1 I had used all through the previous day. I got a good start but lost touch with Travis to eventually finish by myself in 2^nd.

The two days at the track have been valuable and I have a lot of ideas for the bike and my riding style so it has been a very positive weekend.

Actrix Winter Series Round 2

This would be the first outing on the R6 and indeed the qualifying session was my first ride on a modern 600. Fortunately I had come prepared with wet tyres as the meeting ended up being wet for the most part on the Manfeild long track (two day event). Having claimed the lap record on the SV a year earlier I was happy to make my 600 debut on the long track and I figured the wet conditions would actually help ease me into things at a slower pace.

F2 Qualifying
I was pleased to finally feel the power of a modern sports bike and set about figuring out how much gas I could give it out of the corners. The bikes suspension was completely stock for this round but even so, it felt well balanced and a joy to ride. The qualifying session was only 4 laps long and when I put my head down for a fast lap, the session was cut short with a red flag, leaving me down in 13^th on the mixed F2 / BEARs grid.

F1 Qualifying
A combination of more confidence and clear track allowed me to qualify 2^nd on the F1 grid.

F2 Race 1
Starting from 13^th wasn’t easy but I got a good launch and the R6 powered through the field into turn one. My only real objective in this race was not to crash the new bike. As the race progressed I made my way forwards, getting more confident each lap. Eventually I got past Mark Bennett to take 3^rd place in F2 over the line. I was pretty happy with the result but already I was starting to set myself higher expectations for the next race to close the gap to the leaders.

F1 Race 1
This race was similar to the last one in that I still rode fairly conservatively but learning all the time. Finished 3^rd.

Happy that the first day was over without incident we headed home to get an early night and get ready for the next day.


The next day was wet again so at least we didn’t have to change over to the dry rims!

F2 Race 2
I was having a fair amount of clutch slippage the previous day so with the help of Glen Skatchill, we adjusted the clutch freeplay. It worked a treat but caught me out on the start line for this race and didn’t get a great run into turn one this time. This gave me a bit of work to do for the race but I managed to work my way into 3^rd place before I noticed that my gear change knob was missing half way through the race. It would have been a bit dangerous to circulate around in 4^th gear so I decided to pulled in.

F1 Race 2
I replaced the gear changer knob and got out for this race but it was starting to dry out so I almost pulled in after the sighting lap to conserve my wet tyres. I decided to give it a go anyway and got a great start to lead the first few turns until I had a huge rear slide coming out of the hairpin. I ended up going slightly off track but the mud was so slippery I decided to wait for the field to go past before re-joining. The tyres were full of mud so after sliding around the next corner I decided to save my tyres after all and pulled in.



F2 Race 3 
By now the track was almost fully dry so it was time to see what the bike could do on dry tyres. I got an OK start but soon realised I didn't have much rear grip and didn't really get any confidence. I was trying to find the limit when I hit a false neutral (the replacement gear knob was a bit short) and ended up running into the gravel, losing a bunch of places. On the next lap, the heavens opened up with a huge downpour, so the race was red flagged. Finished 9^th.

I examined my tyres after the race and the stock suspension wasn't working the rear tyre properly so I thought I would just call it a day and get the bike sorted before putting in a more serious effort at the next round.

New Bike - New Class

As planned I will be moving up to one of the 600 classes (Super Sport / Super Stock) for the remainder of the year and the 2012 National series. In preparation for this I have a acquired a 2008 Yamaha R6, which as a proven machine, should be competitive in either class.

The plan is to compete in the Actrix Winter Series to get used to it and have a bit of fun too!

NZSBK Rnd 5 - Manfeild

After the disasters of the last two rounds I really wanted to end the season on a high. Where better than my home track at Manfeild!

Things had started well with some good pace during the test day and I tried out a few settings that worked well. Unfortunately we also had a lot of random problems with the bike, which wasted a lot of practice time. During the last session I struggled to match the times I had set earlier in the day and suddenly I crashed at turn three. I was a bit surprised but was probably just trying too hard. The problem now was that the rear subframe was damaged so we had to revert to the stock seat aka 'the couch'.

Qualifying
The next morning I knew that we were in trouble when I took the bike out for practice. It felt terrible and I changed a number of settings to try and get back the feeling of the previous day. I had put the change down to the new weight distribution because of the different sub-frame but when suspension guru Kerry Dukic had a push on the forks he knew something was not right. We took the emulators out and he found that a small fragment of cloth was stuck leaving the shim permanently open. Oops! By that stage I had already had my qualifying session and although I had qualified second my time was over a second slower than my time from last year when I was on pole.

Race 1
With the suspension problem solved, I just wanted to get out and have a fun race and see what happened. I got a good start and although I still couldn't go as quick as the previous day I was in with the leading bunch of riders after the first lap. Going through the last turn I noticed the brake lever move slightly as I let off the brakes. Coming down the front straight I considered that there may be a problem and I thought about how bad that would be for the championship. I decided to brake early for turn one and assess whether I needed to pull into the pits over the lap. I never got a chance however as when I pulled in the front brakes there was absolutely nothing at all and the lever came straight back to the bar. Shit!

I stamped on the rear brake and left a big black line before running straight on at turn one through the gravel and into the tyre wall. Normally it is possible to drop the bike before hitting something to lessen the impact but without any brakes I had to leap off at the last minute. I never lost consciousness but I hit the tyres hard with my neck and right wrist. I just lay there for a bit to check my self out and make sure that I hadn't broken my neck or anything major. Eventually I staggered up and headed off back towards the pits. By this stage the race had been red flagged and I was encouraged to take a ride back in the ambulance.

While lying on a stretcher with neck immobilised on my way to hospital (a bit over the top!), I did a few calculations in my head and determined that in order to finish second or third in the championship I would have to rely on two other riders crashing the next day. Although my friends worked hard to get my bike ready for the next day, taking into account my injuries and the fact that I was lucky to come away in one piece, I decided that would be the end of the series for me.

As it turned out, one of the brake line bolts had come loose and was the cause for the crash but it is still a mystery as to why so many things went wrong on the bike over those two weeks.

So I ended up 4th in the championship, which was really disappointing but it can't be changed and I am already concentrating on moving onto a 600 for the rest of the year to prepare for the next national series (so long as the finances will allow it).

NZSBK Rnd 4 - Hampton Downs

 

After the Ruapuna round we headed home to assess the situation and also the damage done to the SV's engine. Seemingly, the engine was unrepairable so we had a look for a replacement and settled on getting one in from the U.S. With days to spare a replacement engine was in and we headed off to Hampton Downs.

We were able to test the engine out on the Friday and it ran beautifully without any need to touch the fuelling, which was a relief. The weather was terrible however, and the track never dried.

Qualifying
The weather was the same the next day but for some reason the bike was playing up during the first practice session with the bike intermittently running on one cylinder.

It still wasn't running properly during the qualifying session with it conking out a few times only for me to jump start it again to get going. I was lucky enough for it to behave for exactly one lap which allowed me to get a decent time in to put me 2nd.

Race 1
We worked frantically to try and solve the problems with the bike before the race and it was looking good until the bike died going up the hill to line up on the grid. I tried to push start it again but it was impossible on such a steep incline. Eventually I missed the start and watched from the side of the track. The race was red flagged and I managed to get the bike into pit lane where we found the fuel pump cable had come unplugged under the tank. It was going to be a full race restart but the officials wouldn't allow me to start from pit-lane because I hadn't made the original start!

By now our mission was just to finish 2nd in the championship as the points gap to first was going to be too great. Still in second however, I was confident that we could finish runner up - not too bad considering our run of bad luck.

Race 2
The next day was again wet but not as much as the previous days. That was until there was an oil spill in another class and the solution was to spray more water onto the track!

I felt a sense of achievement just lining up on the grid this time and I got a scorching start. I passed a couple of riders around the outside of turn one and lined up another at the entry to turn two. I decided not to make the pass but at least block anyone else who wanted to pass me up the inside. When I pulled in the front brakes the front wheel immediately locked and it felt like the bike was floating on a pocket of air with no way of slowing down. Somehow I slipped past the other riders ahead of me and ran off the track. As I hadn't scrubbed off any speed I had to drop the bike, which as usual bent enough to make it impossible to carry on.

I was furious with my self as it was the first time I had crashed of my own accord for a while. On reflection I don't know what happened as I was braking at the usual point but that part of the track might have been affected by the oil spill and cleanup.

Race 3 (TT)
After Duncan Coutts very generously lent me some spares and with the help of Paul Buckley for the weekend, we managed to get the bike together for the next race.

The track was drying but our class was suddenly pushed up the running order, which caught everyone by surprise. I made the call to use a wet front and a dry rear for this race as it was the TT and much longer than a normal race. I was stoked to see everyone else on full wets as we lined up on the dummy grid and when we set off for the sighting lap I knew we had made the perfect choice... then it started raining.

The sneaky shower lasted just long enough to wet the track again and I was wondering what I had done to deserve such rotten luck. The track felt very greasy and I had to be extremely careful with the throttle but I felt like I could keep it upright so I lined up on the grid.

I got a good launch into turn one and although I couldn't carry much corner speed, I made sure to ride defensively for the initial laps. Other riders came past one by one but I had to bide my time until the track started to dry again. Slowly but surely my lap times started to drop and towards the end of the race my tyres came into their own. I managed to work my way back up through the field and although I would have been better off on wets from the start, by the end of the race I was the fastest rider on the track. Eventually I caught up to the rider for second in Pro-Twins but as I was passing on the inside he came across and we collided causing me to go down and him to run off track. It was basically a racing incident but I was just so fed up with the way things were going. Once again the bike was too damaged to carry on and pick up any points.

I could never have believed that I would leave Hampton Downs (probably my most successful track and where I got my first national win the previous year) with zero points! What's more I damaged my elbow, resulting in a huge hematoma, in the crash so we were feeling really down.


My only consolation was that my competition for second place in the championship had also gone down during the last race, so I was still confident of being able to finish on a high at my home track and take runner up in the points. With our terrible weekend Johnny was declared Pro-Twin champion with the points gap being insurmountable. I congratulated him and then we headed off for liquid refreshments.

NZSBK Rnd 3 - Ruapuna

Based on the previous year, I had identified Ruapuna as the most difficult track to learn in NZ and the one that I figured I would need the most practice at. I don't find the track to be very flowing and for the most part, each corner is very different and has it's own little secrets that you need to learn to unlock a good lap time.

After a couple of test days where Kerry and I were finally able to work on the setup of the SV we made some huge steps in terms of feel and speed.

Qualifying
The weather had been kind for the most part and come qualifying I felt like I had a very capable machine under me. As usual, Johnny was up to his usual tricks and so I took a trip through pit lane after the first lap to try and find some clear track. I then put in a long series of laps and got a best time of 1:39.3, which was enough for my first pole of the series and also just a hair under the lap record for Pro-Twins.

Race 1
I didn't get as good a launch from the line as I had hoped for and ended up a bit further back in the pack by turn one. Johnny was just ahead and riding very aggressively with some F3 bikes. On lap three someone crashed just ahead of me in a huge cloud of dust - it turned out it was Johnny. This made my job a lot easier and I backed off to conserve my tyres for the next days races to take my first win of the series and about frickin time! Fortunately for Johnny, he was uninjured and was able to remount to finish 5th.

Race 2
Again I got a bit of a dodgy start and ended up following Johnny into turn one and over the first couple of laps I tucked in behind him. I knew that I needed to make up some points on him and that he was capable of making mistakes so I just put the pressure on. He took a look couple of looks behind to see that I was gaining on him and this gave me a lot of confidence to take another win. Any hopes were quickly dashed on lap three however when I heard something 'snap' on the bike and the engine died, leaving me coasting to a halt on the side of the track. I frantically tried to assess what the problem was but when I saw how much oil was sitting in the belly pan I pretty much knew that the championship lost.

After the race we saw the extent of the damage, which turned out to be a snapped rod essentially writing off the engine. Luckily it didn't spit me off and there wasn't any oil spilt onto the track but we were almost in disbelief at how much bad luck we were having at this point. Pro-Twin bikes are stock so I wasn't expecting such a catastrophic failure but having spoken to a few people since, it is not unheard of for this to happen.

Almost immediately another Pro-Twin competitor, Nick Southerwood, was in our pit offering me his spare bike to use for the last race of the day (the Grand Prix). Thanks to Nick's generosity, and that of a number of my other direct competitors, we were able to transfer the wheels and suspension from my bike to Nick's spare bike in time for the GP race.

At this stage I felt like the pressure was off and I just needed to collect points. Nick had stressed that he didn't care if I crashed his bike but regardless, I didn't want to push my luck. The bike felt very foreign due to a different geometry but it was plenty quick enough to bag some points.

Race 3 (GP)
I got an OK start but by the end of the first lap I realised that I would not be able to run the same pace as what I had done on my bike. One by one, people passed me including Nick who was riding really well. After a few laps I saw that Nick had come off at the hairpin and I felt really bad for him but there was nothing I could do but push on. Robbie Stokes was also riding really well and so I ended up finishing 3rd in Pro-Twins, which by all accounts was an awesome result considering I thought I wasn't going to be able to ride at all.

I have to say a big thanks to everyone who helped me on Sunday, especially considering some of them were my competitors!

Nick Southerwood
Duncan Coutts
Geoff Irving
Peter Rees
Trevor Stokes
Neil Chapell
Pietre
Tony Collins