Bridgestone Winter Series Round 3. Manfeild. July 13th 2013. Hi Guys, I’ll try and make this report a bit of a shorter read but it was such an awesome day I doubt I can manage it. (Sorry Darren, Kurt & Richard) Just a reminder that you can check out this report and photos from this round on our Facebook page. I’ve also started to post some photos and comments during the race day. If you Like the page you will be able to keep up to date during the race day with my posts. facebook/JustForFunRacing You can also get live timing and a video/audio feed from… ctaslive.co.nz/ Round 3…. During the week the forecast wasn’t looking too flash with rain predicted for Saturday, however when we got to the track in the morning we were greeted with a dry surface with only what looked like damp patches. Evan & Clint helped get Rex & me setup in the garage and got my bike off to scrutineering while I got signed in. During riders briefing they mentioned that there was water streaming across the track at the Higgins corner and other wet patches! F1 qualifying was up first. Did a few cautious laps as I had to scrub a new set of tyres in and wanted to see just how much grip there was. I quickly figured out there wasn’t much. A very cold track, very big wet patches on the racing line in most corners and Higgins was impossible to get any power down until you were well clear of the corner. I got faster every lap and did my best time on the last lap with a qualifying grid position of 10th out of 17 riders. A big improvement from the last round. F2 qualifying was a copy of F1, although I did improve my time by 0.5 second. Again finishing with a 10th place grid position out of 18 riders For the first F1 & F2 races conditions were the same as qualifying and I had a few moments on Higgins corner with one really big slide that got my attention. Finished with a 11th place in F1 & a 7th place in F2. I was really happy with the mornings effort as I was right up with the lead group of riders and just needed to force my way past a few or try for a better start. Just as we finished the F2 race it started to rain and got progressively heavier. The race straight after ours was the last of the round and when it finished race control announced the lunch break and also that the meeting had been declared a wet meeting. During the lunch break Clint and I changed tyres while Evan made us some awesome toasted sandwiches. However I can’t give credit to Ev for them as it was Jackie (Ev’s partner) who did all the work. Ev just had to bring them along and put them in the machine. Jackie has been providing Ev and the rest of us with lunch for the whole series and it has been much appreciated. One of things I look forward to is to see what little treats Jackie has put in to the chilly bin for us. You have to be quick to get a Mallowpuff :) Ev was also very useful during the break as I had pulled one of the draw strings on my rear tyre warmer through in to the sleeve area and couldn’t pull the warmer tight around the tyre. (yes Ev, I have shit tyre warmers, anyone want to sponsor me a new set?) Ev got a piece of wire and threaded it through, attached the draw string and pulled it through. All sorted. First F1 race after lunch and with a very wet track we set off on the warm-up lap. Going through the infield, I was just behind Ross Bloodworth and from nowhere his front slid under him and down he went. Shit, this is going to be an interesting race when someone falls on the warm-up. Got probably my best start all series and dropped in behind Glen Williams & Daniel Kempthorne in 5th place. To my surprise I had no trouble keeping up with them. With the wet tyres on, the grip was predictable and so much better than the morning races. Finished in 5th about 4 seconds behind Daniel but knew I could have pushed a bit harder. Was looking forward to the next F2 race. Again I got a good start and rode around a few guys on the first corner and dropped in to 4th place right behind Glen going in to the hairpin. I pushed hard for the next few laps and stayed right up with Glen & Daniel this time while watching them swap for 2nd & 3rd. I dropped off a little down the straights (they must have a bit more horsepower than me) but made up the gap under brakes and on the infield. I had about a 2 second gap on Shane behind me so starting the last lap I went for one last big push hoping to get a wheel up the inside of Glen and maybe push him to the line. Got on the gas really hard and early coming out of turn one and the rear lets go, then the front starts to slide and I think it’s all over, here comes a big high side. As my arse hits the seat I grab a hand full of throttle & the little Honda just straighens up and pulls out of the slide. Phew. Tried to settle down and push but Shane had made up the gap and got a good line through the hair pin and went past in to Higgins. I know he’s got at least 10HP on me, so I tucked in behind him and took a wide line through Pepsi to get a good run on him to the line. Didn’t quite make it, finishing 0.2 seconds behind him but with a 5th place best finish in F2. With the track drying a little the last F1 & F2 race was going to be interesting. Not dry enough for dry tyres but the wets would overheat if it got any dryer. The F1 field was down a bit from the start of the day with a few retirements but the fast guys were still there. To my surprise I dropped in to 3rd place behind Phillip & Glen after the first corner. I watched Glen and Phillip swap places for the next few laps until Phillip seemed to have had enough and just pulled away from us. I stayed behind Glen for the rest of the race with him again pulling away down the straights and me making up the gap under brakes and through the infield. I knew he was quite a bit slower through splash (infield corners) so tried real hard on the last lap pulling right up on his rear wheel and stayed there with him only pulling a small gap down to the finish line. Finished with a 3rd place only 0.8 second behind Glen. I don’t know just how hard he was trying (he is a F3 multiple National Champ & top NZ rider) but I was stoked to keep up with him in tricky conditions. The last F2 race was a tough battle. There was a group of 5 of us together for most of the race and I was stuck behind Rex. I tried a couple of times to get past but he would close the gap. Took my wide line again going through Pepsi when racing to the finish but Rex pushed me wide (almost off the track) and I had to back off. He beat me by only 0.18 seconds and I finished in seventh. A great days racing with overall placing for the day… 3rd for F1 & 6th for F2. So much for this being a short read ah. Many thanks to the volunteers from the Vic club for an excellent run meeting. Many thanks to my awesome sponsors… Motomart (Metzler Tyres, Motul oil and everything else I need) Engineering & Building Maintenance & my work… John Brooks Ltd. Round 4 is on August 24th so mark it in your diary and come along for a watch. Cheers, Neville.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 05:44:59 +0000
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