BRM Summer Series Rd2 - Luke's report

Thought I'd stick another one up as it is my first of 2010:

Just doing a couple of summer rounds with the Pacific club, until the VMCC winter series kicks off in June which I'll do every round (hopefully!)

Second meeting for me and had been on holiday for a while so 2 months since being on the bike Looking forward to Manfeild though and the forecast for the weekend was looking sweet!

Sat Practice:
First session out on old tyres and I beat my old personal best by a second and a half! Had to make a dash into town to swap to my new tyres before the shop shut, then I went out for a scrub in the next session. Last session I picked up the pace and was 3-4 secs slower than the morning?? Admittely I was playing with a couple of lines, though it obviously wasn't working.

Sun Qualify
Arrive to a very damp track which makes me nervous though I could finally break out the wets that I bought ages ago and still hadn't used. First time on wet tyres and am really feeling my way round. By the end I find I can brake way harder, lean more and get on the gas way more than I thought! These tyres are amazing. Qualified 3rd which I was pretty pleased with.

Race 1
After the weather decides what it is going to do (Went from bone dry > wet over the first 3 races!), I stick with wets. Get a great start - just manage to keep the front down. Feels like I have the holeshot, but roll off too early and drop back to third. Still need to work on turn 1 from a standing start and not take my usual line leaving the door wide open! Bit of a lonely one from now on to take 3rd place.


Race 2
Looking at times from the first race, I'm roughly equal pace to the guys in front. Problem is, I take 2-3 laps to get up to speed, which is no good in a 6-8 lap sprint! Not as good of a start this time, but hold third into the first corner. Managed to keep 2nd place in sight and put in some quicker laps so by the hairpin on the final lap, I'm on his back wheel. Almost catch him on the straight to Higgins, but do a newbie lame ass move up the inside from too far back with no chance of success. This puts me in the wrong place for a good drive out of Higgins. Coming down the back straight, we catch to lap a guy in open twins who I fail to get past going into Dunlop (no blue flags - different class) and miss out on second. Overall I'm happy with 3rd, but I wish I hadn't blown my load at the chance of second and planned the overtake a bit better. Live and learn.

Still a great weekend and thanks to all the organisers for their hard work.

Main things to work on are getting up to race pace straight away and getting better into the first corner of the race.

Thanks
Luke

Next up - Sound of Thuder at Ruapuna at the end of the month. Should be fun as it is a BEARS round. Is a South Island trip though so I need to get my **** into gear to organise it!

Great to read the progress Luke. How much fun is the extra dimension of racing over track days? 50%, 100%, 200%? I presume you find yourself pushing the limits a lot more?

Always fancied it, may try some form of racing next summer, just waiting on a location....

Racing is a 200% more fun the trackdays! In the UK/Oz I was doing 1-2 a month. In NZ, I have done 1 in a year! And that was just to practice a new circuit configuration before racing it later this year.

Limits wise - Competing against other people raises the game for everyone. Simple proof is that almost every racer I race with/against tends goes 1-2 secs quicker in the race(s) than they did on their fastest qualifying laps.

You should definitely take the plunge! Only problem is your 750 - To big for supersport and too small for superbike. Racing the 675 straight out is great, but 600s are so popular in NZ and the competition is fierce (even at club level). In time, I might look to buy a different bike and switch class.

The 750 wouldn't get raced, it's a modern grand tourer!

Depends on where I am for summer 2011 on plans/series etc. How much modding have you done to the Daytona to race it?

In NZ, you don't need to do much to you bike to go racing. Bare minimum is:

- no glycol based coolant
- Lockwired sump plug and oil filter
- Catch bottle(s) on all breathers

You can even use road fairings - just tape the lights up! From there, the sky is the limit

Main things I bought were track fairings, a spare set of wheels, tyre warmers, lock stop protector, clip-ons and a lap timer. All other stuff was already on the bike from track day era.

Mod's worth writing about, but in no way essential:

Full system + remap
Race air filter
Slipper clutch

Main thing I need to spend $$ on is getting to more meetings. Each time I go out, I get more competitive and it's purely through gaining experience. The problem is distance from many of the tracks in NZ and therefore having to pay for motels, ferries for the south island and days off work (which as a contractor means no pay!)

Vid from race 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1hHApDPzqA

I am third into the first corner and the guy who shot the video takes the holeshot, so I'm in it for the first few corners on the reverse cam! (black/white 675, #124 on yellow)

Looks like damp fun

Wetter than an otter's pocket

Were you on wets?

Originally Posted by Tim in Belgium

Were you on wets?

Yep. These tyres are awesome! I used to worry about racing in the rain, but you have a lot of grip. Really stretches the field out as well. There were quite a few people running wets, but people still don't have the confidence to push.

Next up Rd3 - Taupo (new track for me) in 3 weeks. Then the winter series kicks off from May-November, all at Manfeild. Can't wait!