Event Reports » 2009 » Event 9 - King of Ruapuna Rd 2
With the very generous assistance of The Interislander, and the Tyrewarmers.co.nz van, Moto Academy NZ headed off to Christchurch to compete in the King of Ruapuna meeting. The week prior to this meeting we had purchased a new trailer to carry part of our equipment. This trailer originally belonged to my good friend Derek Hill who we lost at Pukekohe Raceway nearly two years ago now. So I had some history with this trailer and understood what a good one it is. So when the opportunity to buy it came up, we took it. It is now all cleaned and painted and really looks the part, cheers to Pretzel for the excellent and rapid paintjob.
Unfortunately Walter was not able to make this meeting due to other committments, but Will, Glen and Kyle were all ready and keen to give Ruapuna a go. We all arrived on Thursday afternoon and ensconsed ourselves at Mel Jacksons new gaff in the middle of Christchurch. Friday dawned fine and cool, but with the prospect of warming up significantly during the day. We headed out to a very sparsely populated Ruapuna circuit to meet the other north islanders who had travelled down (Glen Skachill and Chris Osbourne, and Jeff Booth and Sam Love). We signed in for the Friday testday and set up our garage spot. $50 each including a garage, what a deal!!
We then got the bikes ready and the boys got geared up. I decided that the boys would go out for a slow first session without filling their heads with lectures about the track, that we would let them have a good look at it and then get into details. This first session went without a hitch and the boys (none of whom had previously been to Ruapuna) were all suitably impressed with the circuit.
We then had a bit of a chat about the circuit, sorted out some new gearing for Kyle and Glen and got ready for another session. The next session went well except for Will having a step off going through Turn 3 (Pothole), which is not a nice place to come off. He was unhurt and we only needed to replace a few parts, so that was a relief. It was clear that Glen and Kyle especially were really getting on with the track, which was great to see.
By the third and fourth sessions we were lengthening the gearing on Kyle and Glens bikes even further so that they could go faster, and we lengthened the gearing on Wills bike too. We had two problems with chains slipping off on Wills and Kyles bikes, but we have now decided on a solution to this problem that will solve the issue. Glen also had a step-off in Turn 5, but put his body on the line and slipped under the bike to keep it off the ground!! So there was almost no damage done. After 6 sessions of 6-7 laps each we had run out of gasoline and energy, so we packed up and headed back into town to relax and have Will whip us up a slap-up dinner. Cheers mate!! Thanks also to Motorcycling Canterbury for the garage space to put our bikes in overnight. Also thanks to the Ruapuna management for their efficient picking up of damaged bikes and letting us go for a lap around the track in the van at the end of the day.
Saturday dawned lovely and fine and also promised to get warmer as the day went on. We again signed on and set up our garage with the bikes, gear and Interislander flags. Motorcycling Canterbury runs a bit different to VMCC and our riders were entered in the Junior (125GP, F3) class with 125GP running off the front of the grid. The boys headed out for practice/qualifying and had a great session. Kyle qualifying 5th, Glen and Will 8th and 9th respectively. It should be pointed out that the lap of Ruapuna is around 100-120 seconds long and that it can take many, many hours to really get to grips with this circuit. The local riders have significant advantages in this regard, so for Kyle to qualify 5th was an excellent achievement.
Race 1 saw Kyle leap into 3rd in the first corners and then 2nd during the race. He went on to keep ahead of the next rider Gordon Hastings, for the remainder of the race to come home an awesome second place! Glen came home in 8th but was right behind the 7th and 6th placed riders. Will rode a steady race where he was swallowed up by the F3 riders, but found someone to race with and had a great time. Glen was clearly cautious through the corner complex where he crashed on Friday, but was fast elsewhere, but did complain about not coming to terms with the T2 complex.
Best times: Kyle 1:43.5, Glen 1:48.0, Will 1:55.5
Race 2 went off the same way as Race 1, but Kyle relaxed a wee bit too much at the end of the race and Gordon managed to get by him and he couldn't get Gordon back, so had a 3rd place finish. Glen was also closer to the riders in his group and was expressing satisfaction with the way he was riding, but clearly also indicated improvement was possible. We had a small problem with Wills bike when the carburettor float got stuck open and the airbox and engine got filled up with fuel!! We emptied 5L of gas onto the ground, dried out the engine and got him out into the Clubmans race, which he enjoyed immensely. Whew, what a mad thing to happen. We will make sure that the airboxes have a small drain hole in them to indicate if this is happening in the future.
Best times: Kyle 1:43.5, Glen 1:48.6, Will DNS
For Race 3 the weather was just perfect and the boys were all amped up totally for a good final flourish. Kyle immediately sprang into 2nd and proceeded to pull away from Gordon and chase Alistair on his very expensive kitted '02 (effectively) bike. He managed to stay close for half the race, but his superior speed and experience around Ruapuna eventually saw Alistair pull away. But Kyle was only doing less than 2 sec a lap slower than Alistair, which was awesome. So he had a really good second place for the last race, and we were all suitably wrapt. Glen managed in this race to get past young Cam Hudson on the Steve Ward Racing RS125 and was racing with Colin Hastings. He almost got passed him in the infeild for 6th, but didn't quite manage it, so had an excellent 7th place. After some more coaching from me and from Mel Jackson, Will made another step forward in his racing style and really managed to start getting his weight off the bike in the corners. We could see the satisfaction in his face when he got back.
Best times: Kyle 1:43.0, Glen 1:45.3, Will 1:56.4
So, all in all, another really successful weekend for Moto Academy NZ. The boys got to learn a new track, got to race against some other racers and bikes and had a fun trip to Christchurch, which was a first for them. We need to thank our supporters once again, who have helped make this possible, especially The Interislander and Tyrewarmers.co.nz without whom we would not have been able to make the trip.
Thanks also to Patrick Baker and Mel Jackson for lending a hand and providing accommodation for our motely crew.
I knew this was going to be a big weekend, but it was well worth it! I tried to finish work as fast as I could on Wednesday so that I could head down Palmerston North and stay at Steve’s. Steve and I were up early Thursday to get down to Wellington so we could get on the Interislander ferry (Thanks for making our trip possible!). We got into Christchurch late afternoon and moved into Mel Jackson’s house for the weekend (Thanks Mel).
Test Day
We arrived to a quiet track, which was good as I had never seen the track before so it was nice to head out and just go real slow to find out which direction it went without being passed left, right, and centre. After a few sessions of getting more and more comfortable I got a little carried away in Turn 6 and lost the front, but did next to no damage to the bike and didn’t hurt myself either, which was good. I was trying to carry a bit more corner speed because I was bogging a little coming out of it. I got out and did the last few sessions working on the parts of the track I was still having issues with.
Race Day
Qualifying
I went out for qualifying and just went at a pretty comfortable pace, while still trying to sort out my problem areas before the racing began. I was still having issues with Turn one and two, basically I just need to harden up and do it, but I didn’t fancy crashing that early in the day. When we came in, we found out that there had been an issue with the timing system, and we had not put in any times, so the grids would just be run from the placing of the last round, which put us at the back.
Race one
They were running 125GP off the front of Formula 3, which was cool, giving us more space and meant that we wouldn’t be lapping Streetstock bikes within 1-2 laps. I had a pretty average start, but didn’t lose too much time off the rest of them, and then lost a fair bit in Turn one and two. I pulled a bit back in the in-field on the back markers and then lost more in the first two turns. This happened for a couple of laps, until they lost me. My best time was a 1.48.008. While this was a bit off the pace, my original goal was to be around 1.50.
Race Two
In between Race one and two I went out on a Streetstock bike in the training group to get a few extra laps in, but the bike I was on seized in Turn 3 leaving me with a long push back to the pits, and not much time before the race to recover, but these things happen and I probably should have been saving my energy anyway. I got a slightly better start this time, but after the first couple of laps it was basically the same as the last race. Best time was 1.48.598.
Race Three
Not only do they have three races down there, but the third race was two laps longer! This was my best start of the day, it wasn’t great but it left me very close to the bikes I had been chasing all day. Coming out of Turn two I passed one of them, who must have been in the wrong gear, because he seemed to bog quite badly. He then out braked me into the hairpin, but I was right with him and the next bike in front. I was faster than these two through the in-field, but didn’t get past them and then also lost a bit of time in Turn one and two (AGAIN! Really got to work on that). But I seemed to gain a lot of ground from then until the last turn, so I got up nice and close and then out drove one of them coming out of turn 8 and didn’t see him again. Then I set out on the next bike in front of me having the same issues and having a few shots at getting past, but never really getting that close. I was improving through Turn one and two while trying to beat this guy. On the second to last lap I had way more drive coming out of the hairpin and in the wiggly bits, so I tried to get around him, only to be blocked out and left with no where to go but crash into the massive curbs they have there. I rolled off and lost a lot of ground which I couldn’t quite make up, and finished right behind him. Best time was 1.45.368, which I was pretty happy with and know where I can save a fair bit of time for the next time I’m down there.
Things I need to work on;
I had an awesome weekend. I was only out of Auckland for 4 days, but it felt a lot longer than that. It may have had something to do with only getting home an hour and a half before it was time to start getting ready for work! It was easily worth it though and can’t wait to do it again.
I would like to thank, Steve, Motorcycling Canterbuury, Moto Academy NZ and all of its sponsors. And a big thanks to the Interislander ferry for getting us down there, it wouldn’t have happened without your support.
Glen Orwin #15