Event Reports » 2010 » Actrix Victoria Motorcycle Club Round 2
The second round of the Actrix Victoria Motorcycle Club championships was a two day event which we hoped to make a three day event by using the Friday testday to continue our teaching programme. Unfortunately the weather on the Friday was pretty cold and marginal, so we procrastinated deliberately until it became too late to spend the money on the entry fee. In the meantime however, Glen, James and myself went for a walk around the circuit extension on which we would be riding for this weekend, to get a feel for it. I think that this turned out to be quite beneficial as when it came to race day, the boys clearly did not feel lost. Unfortunately due to having to study and sit exams the following week, Kyle was unable to attend, so we would be down to three riders. One other 125 rider had entered, but he is a beginner and decided against testing out the wet conditions.
Raceday 1
The day dawned cold and damp as it had rained in the night, but was not raining. This changed quickly as it had done the day before, but the rain came and made the track quite wet. So we quickly got out teamwork going and had the rain tyres on before our qualifying session. The session went well, albeit slowly, with some of the 12 riders lapping below the leading Streetstock riders. However, there was little to be gained by pushing too hard in these conditions as the 125 bikes would be on the front row anyway. So Ben qualified first followed by James and Glen. Races for this weekend would be 15mins in length around the full extended circuit.
Race 1
The first race was actually the Superlite/F3 race as we were informed that we could join the race by starting at the back. This would give the boys some good tracktime and overtaking practice and effectively mean having a 30min race as the 125GP race was the next on the schedule. The track had dried sufficiently by this time to run on slicks and this race went off really well with all the boys having fun racing against other bikes and not having to ride around on their own. For the 125GP race there was some confusion on the starting grid and the riders had to sit there for some time, with a cold track and hence cooling tyres. At the start they all got away well and Ben was pushing into the lead. However at T6, Higgins, he pushed a little too hard on cold tyres and the rear lost grip and threw him into a big highside crash. He landed on his helmet and gave his ankle a whack. He was able to get off the track and with the aid of the marshal was able to get the bike off the track, so the race was not stopped.
Not so much damage was done to the bike (fairings, bent this and that), but Ben wrecked his new helmet and had a very sore ankle, so his weekend was over. The good thing to come out of the crash though, was that Ben understood that his tyres had gone cold and that he had pushed too hard too early on cool tyres. This is fantastic to know that such a new rider can work this out for himself and understand the dynamics. Standing on the sidelines wondering why the race was not starting I lost track of how long they had sat there, so I was unable to communicate that the riders should take it easy for a couple of laps. We will attempt to rectify this if it happens again.
Glen came away with the win with James in second.
Race 2
The weather on the Sunday dawned much the same, but this time the rain hung around for a while, so we changed the bikes back over to rain tyres, with the slicks remaining in the warmers on standby. So the field of two 125GP bikes lined up and took off. The race between Glen and James was actually pretty entertaining, for two bikes, as they tested one another’s resolve, finding their respective strengths and weaknesses. Once again we saw that late in the race Glen shows that he has excellent speed, but suffers early, while James was more consistent throughout the entire race and was able to hold off Glen until the end, but only just. The poor weather made us decide that getting wet and cold in the F3 race was not much fun, so we sat them out.
Race 3
The track had dried significantly so that we almost put the slicks back on the bikes, but a shower came through just in time to negate that decision, so the last race was on rain tyres, but on a bit drier track. This time Glen found something and got away fastest and lead the whole race, until the last two corners! Coming upon a backmarker he had chosen where he would pass him, but the backmarker lost a little control and had to stand up causing Glen to have to slow down. He did not realize quite how close James had gotten and James snuck up the inside of T12 and held Glen out through T13 and to the line to take two wins for the day.
Standings after Round 2:
James Jarman 112 points
Glen Orwin 109
Kyle Hammond 50
Ben Taylor 22
Qualifying
Qualifying was wet and crap, but it was good to get out and have to go slow on the long track to re-learn the track. Not much happened and we didn’t get given times, so we decided between us what our grid positions would be.
This weekend the club allowed us to enter the Superlite (F3) races, so we decided to do them. We did the first one which was basically just extra track time and some good passing practice, because we had to start off the back of the grid.
Race 1
The first 125 race was straight after the F3 race, which meant we ended up basically having a 30 minute race! At least it was dry! There was an issue with the grid places with some of the streetstock bikes not knowing where they should be, so we sat there for what felt like a very long time before the lights came on. I got an awesome start for me; hopefully I can keep getting off the line like that! A bad start can really ruin a race. Ben passed me coming out of turn one soI just tried to stick on his wheel. Both of us did little wheelies over a bump on the exit of the hair pin, which was awesome, making me feel like I was on a big bike! However, halfway through Higgins Ben had a high-side crash. It looked pretty bad from where I was sitting and I figured the race would be over, so I sat up and put up my hand. But no one else slowed down and no red flags came out, so I just got back to racing. From there, not much else happened so I just rode around and finished the race.
Day two
This was a wet race. I got another good start, but was a bit slow going into turn one and James got past me, he then pulled a bit of a gap over the next two laps, before I pulled finger and got on with it. From then on I gained every lap, closing in on the last lap, but not enough. Passing the line about 0.4sec after James.
The next race was still a bit wet, but drying out. I got another good start and held onto my lead this time. Every time I thought I was going to have pulled a bit of a gap, I would make mistake and lose what I had gained. When the white flag came out I thought ‘Great James hasn’t shown me a wheel anywhere, so I should have this race in the bag’. But we came up on a back-marker. I had him all lined up to go around the outside on the new hair-pin on the extended part of the track. But he started to lose the front and stood up, leaving me nowhere to go. I slowed right down and wasn’t comfortable passing him on the exit of the corner either as I wasn’t sure where he was going to go and didn’t want to cut him up too much. James did as most racers would do and hauled past both of us! With only a couple of corners left there was not much I could do. I got a lot better drive out of the last corner and crossed the line just 0.2sec after James.
Overall I didn’t learn too much, but it was probably the fastest I have gone in the wet. It was good to get some faster time in the wet as I haven’t done too much and it is important to be able to race in all conditions.
Glen.
FRIDAY PRACTICE:
We arrived at the track reasonably early and set up the pits. The weather was very cool and raining and it looked like the rain would stick around all day. In between showers it gave us an opportunity to take a walk around the long track and see which way the corners went and look for some possible markers, as I had only been around once before. I was not aware of how wide the track is and the flatness of some corners. After lunch the weather conditions were still the same and Glen and I both decided not to spend $100 on half a day out there. It felt strange not being out there and time seemed to drag but I did learn from watching others go around the track.
SATURDAY RACING:
QUALIFYING
This was used to learn the track and to find some reference points that could be used for the racing. The track was wet so I was unsure of the grip level and didn’t want to fall this early on. I felt stiff on the bike and felt all the bumps around every corner and couldn’t relax out there. But by the end of the session I was happy with the layout of the track and had found some markers to work from but needed to relax more. My best time was 2:31.56
F3 RACE 1:
We found out that we would be able to run off the back of F3 for a non-points race. This gave us some extra track time before the 125GP. We would have 30 minutes of track time at once which would be a test for my fitness. I got a flyer of a start and it seemed like 2 rows of bikes were standing still. Into turn one I was hesitant because of the number of bikes entering into it. I still managed to get through a few riders but then the red flag was put out as a rider’s bike was left in the middle of the track. My next start was reasonable, passing some bikes in the first lap and from here on I was racing with two SV650s and trying to pass them. This taught me a lot about how to approach a corner differently to try and pass someone using your bike’s strengths. I managed to get past one of them and knew I had to pass the other to get a gap on them. I achieved this in the next corner and after that I pulled a comfortable gap to finish the race. Best time was 2:15.04
125 GP RACE 1:
The weather had cleared up and the track was quite dry but still very cool. Due to some confusion amongst the starting grid positions our start was delayed by some time. Once we were away my start was OK but certainly not the best (over the weekend I found out the reason for this) the positions were the same Ben, Glen then me. We were all close together when Ben had a massive high side around Higgins (hope the ankle isn’t too bad). Both Glen and I raised our arms and thought the red flag would be out, only to find out that the Streetstock riders were coming up fast. After a few corners we sped up again. This race for me was good learning, trying to stick with another rider and if possible pass him. I managed to keep the gap close but sometimes due to traffic the gap would get slightly bigger (this was when I started to push to catch up again). I made some passing manoeuvres that I would have never made before, just to stick with Glen. I was unable to pass Glen but felt good about being able to stick with his pace. My confidence around Streetstock riders was improving and my mental mindset was getting better about racing and sticking to the task. Best time was 2:10.91
SUNDAY RACING:
TYRE SCRUB
This was three laps to get prepared for the days racing. It was in very wet conditions so I did not push at all. It was very difficult to see through the screen when in the ‘tuck’ position and my visor was fogging up. I need to work on my breathing when in the ‘tuck’ position. Also our gloves got very wet, leaving them like this for the rest of the day J.
125 GP RACE 2:
The track was wet but it was not raining and I felt that if I got a good start then I would have a good chance of wining the race. My start did not go well as I kept the clutch in for too long but was able to get into the lead going into turn one. The next few laps I was trying to pull a bit of a gap which I managed to achieve. Once I had done this I kept going quicker however, I was not matching the pace of Glen who was behind me. Going into the last lap I was unsure of how close Glen was and I had a few moments with some Streetstock riders which upset my mindset and pace. I managed to stay in the lead but felt that I need to work on my overall race mindset which allowed Glen to catch up. It was also hard to determine how hard the other riders were riding, meaning it was up to me to set my pace. I knew I would have to pick up the pace if I wanted to keep up with Glen in the next race especially as the track was drying. Best time was 2:31.05
125 GP RACE 3:
Track conditions were similar to race two but it started to dry out during the race. My start was ok but I was unable to get into the lead. For the rest of the race I stuck behind Glen looking at his lines and where I felt I was stronger, this was to line up a passing manoeuvre later in the race. The rest of the race was about staying with Glen (where I learnt lots about my riding) and I really was looking for any passing opportunity. The plan was to pass on the last lap if I could, at one of my stronger points on the track. I had trouble doing this (mindset/self discipline) but had one more opportunity only to be gifted an opportunity. Glen slowed for a Streetstock rider and this gave me a chance to pass. This passing manoeuvre pushed my limits a bit as I have not passed many times and was unsure how close Glen was to me. It was still close coming into the last turn and I had trouble getting out of Dunlop which meant a close finish at the line. Hope there is no hard feelings Glen. Best time was 2:25.71
Once again it was all around a good weekend with learning to ride in wet, cool and testing conditions. Hopefully this will later give me more confidence in the dry so that I can get more on pace. I have noticed my fitness has improved and I can stay in the ‘tuck’ position for longer which is a small but positive improvement for me.
Thanks Steve, Vic Club, Mum, Dad and everyone else involved.
James #14