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.