mike71
06-09-2004, 11:29 AM
Round 2 Brackets Sat 5th June 04 (Day 1) Track Cold
Practice:
Nothing to report, as usual I was running late. I got out of the pits and on my first lap had to come in, practice was over! Some of the other guys reckon they started our time from 9:00 although none of us were out at that time! Bugger.
Qualifying:
First lap, passed by an RS250 under brakes, exiting the hairpin into pacific waste he high sides! Not spectacular but he was unconscious and broke his collarbone.
Back to the pits!
Incidentally a get well soon to Paul, who highsided at the same turn during Friday first practice. He broke his collarbone but was in good spirits on Sunday. His bike suffered minimal damage and it’s two months till our next meet. Perhaps then we’ll resurrect team PIMP!
Qualifying went without a hitch; I qualified in the 1:25’s. I was hoping for more but that’s 4 seconds quicker than last time. They’ve put me in the fast group! Haha 23 out of 24.
Race 1:
WOW, the lights are on…
I got a great start as I passed about 8 bikes into turn 1. Cool!
To keep it short the group in front pulled a big gap (a couple of them passed me on the first two laps) and my only close competition was an R6. I’m bloody slow through turn 2!Lap 3 I see a menacing shadow through turn 2, lap 4 the R6 is close to passing me around the outside but I’m upright earlier and out drive him to the next turn. Lap 5 I see the R6 on the outside; it’s funny what you have time to watch; I enjoyed watching the R6 drift sideways onto the ripple strip as he never gets a nose in front. I win that battle and chuck a great second gear wheelie after the finish. It came up, then really hoisted. A couple of spectators later commented that they thought I was going to biaggi it!
Race 2:
Race 2 was less exciting. The bike was spinning out of EVERY corner but my times weren’t great. On lap 5 two R6’s pass me into turn 3, I got on a line to pass the first out of turn 3 but the second R6 got a wheel in front of and I had to back off. Coming through the esses I have a big rear wheel loose, the Yamahas disappear and I take 16th. Darn I was running 14th most of the race. It’s still good given my qualifying, but even better when I check the rear tyre! It’s only got 10psi in it! Well bugger me; I was one second off my fastest lap with a flat rear. There was a large group scrapping just behind, I’m glad they didn’t quite catch me! Later I checked the tyre and find a sliver of metal, perhaps from a braided line.
Sunday Morning:
I miss practice, that’s the bad news. The good news is I’ve sourced a second hand rear from the fast guys and they fit it to the rim for me J.
Race 3:
I’m not happy about missing practice and its COLD!!
Once again I get a good start but it’s a ritual that everyone passes me in turn 2! Nothing spectacular but I loose most of the places I made on the start. I finished 20th. I shouldn’t complain though, I’m still ahead of my qualifying position.
Race 4:
Well my brother showed up for this one so I hope it’s good! I wheelie off the start and again make up a few places. Lap 3 and I’m passed out of turn 2 by another R6, damn, at least it was a safe pass. I’m right back onto him in the southern hairpin and pass him through the kink. Lap 4, again he passes me in turn 2 but this time he baulks me in turn 3, I’m sitting right behind him under breaks into the northern hairpin. I didn’t see the yellow but saw the crashed rider running from his crashed bike. I follow the R6 close and get good drive onto the start/finish straight. I blast past before the line; it’s good to know you can win from behind if your last corner is executed well.
Haha I slow too much into turn 1 and again I’m passed into turn 2. I follow for a lap sizing up my opportunities.
It’s now the last lap, I’ve been on him into the northern hairpin, it’s tempting to try and pass on the way out but I keep my head (the next corner is notorious for high sides and I’d have to pass on the outside). My drive, however is great so I decide to pass into the esses. I pull alongside (on the inside of course) and match brakes. The R6 tries to brake later but runs wide; yeah I’ve got him now! Final corner, I enter on a wide line set up for a great launch onto the straight when an R6 appears in front of me! He’s thrown it in shallow, no good for corner speed but he baulks me again! I hit the breaks and then nail it….
….and out drive him to the line! WOOOHOOOO my best race yet, not for times but for racing itself.
Perhaps next time I’ll cover that, we missed crashing by centimetres. I placed 14th, coincidentally my best finish of the weekend, a good result and a great race!
In summary a 15,16,20,14 was pretty good. Next time we'll start looking for a top 10 finish :D
Practice:
Nothing to report, as usual I was running late. I got out of the pits and on my first lap had to come in, practice was over! Some of the other guys reckon they started our time from 9:00 although none of us were out at that time! Bugger.
Qualifying:
First lap, passed by an RS250 under brakes, exiting the hairpin into pacific waste he high sides! Not spectacular but he was unconscious and broke his collarbone.
Back to the pits!
Incidentally a get well soon to Paul, who highsided at the same turn during Friday first practice. He broke his collarbone but was in good spirits on Sunday. His bike suffered minimal damage and it’s two months till our next meet. Perhaps then we’ll resurrect team PIMP!
Qualifying went without a hitch; I qualified in the 1:25’s. I was hoping for more but that’s 4 seconds quicker than last time. They’ve put me in the fast group! Haha 23 out of 24.
Race 1:
WOW, the lights are on…
I got a great start as I passed about 8 bikes into turn 1. Cool!
To keep it short the group in front pulled a big gap (a couple of them passed me on the first two laps) and my only close competition was an R6. I’m bloody slow through turn 2!Lap 3 I see a menacing shadow through turn 2, lap 4 the R6 is close to passing me around the outside but I’m upright earlier and out drive him to the next turn. Lap 5 I see the R6 on the outside; it’s funny what you have time to watch; I enjoyed watching the R6 drift sideways onto the ripple strip as he never gets a nose in front. I win that battle and chuck a great second gear wheelie after the finish. It came up, then really hoisted. A couple of spectators later commented that they thought I was going to biaggi it!
Race 2:
Race 2 was less exciting. The bike was spinning out of EVERY corner but my times weren’t great. On lap 5 two R6’s pass me into turn 3, I got on a line to pass the first out of turn 3 but the second R6 got a wheel in front of and I had to back off. Coming through the esses I have a big rear wheel loose, the Yamahas disappear and I take 16th. Darn I was running 14th most of the race. It’s still good given my qualifying, but even better when I check the rear tyre! It’s only got 10psi in it! Well bugger me; I was one second off my fastest lap with a flat rear. There was a large group scrapping just behind, I’m glad they didn’t quite catch me! Later I checked the tyre and find a sliver of metal, perhaps from a braided line.
Sunday Morning:
I miss practice, that’s the bad news. The good news is I’ve sourced a second hand rear from the fast guys and they fit it to the rim for me J.
Race 3:
I’m not happy about missing practice and its COLD!!
Once again I get a good start but it’s a ritual that everyone passes me in turn 2! Nothing spectacular but I loose most of the places I made on the start. I finished 20th. I shouldn’t complain though, I’m still ahead of my qualifying position.
Race 4:
Well my brother showed up for this one so I hope it’s good! I wheelie off the start and again make up a few places. Lap 3 and I’m passed out of turn 2 by another R6, damn, at least it was a safe pass. I’m right back onto him in the southern hairpin and pass him through the kink. Lap 4, again he passes me in turn 2 but this time he baulks me in turn 3, I’m sitting right behind him under breaks into the northern hairpin. I didn’t see the yellow but saw the crashed rider running from his crashed bike. I follow the R6 close and get good drive onto the start/finish straight. I blast past before the line; it’s good to know you can win from behind if your last corner is executed well.
Haha I slow too much into turn 1 and again I’m passed into turn 2. I follow for a lap sizing up my opportunities.
It’s now the last lap, I’ve been on him into the northern hairpin, it’s tempting to try and pass on the way out but I keep my head (the next corner is notorious for high sides and I’d have to pass on the outside). My drive, however is great so I decide to pass into the esses. I pull alongside (on the inside of course) and match brakes. The R6 tries to brake later but runs wide; yeah I’ve got him now! Final corner, I enter on a wide line set up for a great launch onto the straight when an R6 appears in front of me! He’s thrown it in shallow, no good for corner speed but he baulks me again! I hit the breaks and then nail it….
….and out drive him to the line! WOOOHOOOO my best race yet, not for times but for racing itself.
Perhaps next time I’ll cover that, we missed crashing by centimetres. I placed 14th, coincidentally my best finish of the weekend, a good result and a great race!
In summary a 15,16,20,14 was pretty good. Next time we'll start looking for a top 10 finish :D