I had high hopes coming into the weekend. With the better than expected results at Manfeild and my wrist being much improved after an extra three weeks of physio and exercise I was confident of a top 5 result. I arrived at the track bright and early on Friday morning knowing the forecast was for showers. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about going out in the rain but had a few maintenance tasks to do to the bike before I considered going out for some testing.

Intermittent heavy showers and sunny spells were the order of the day, along with some very summery temperatures and high humidity. By the time I had changed over a few parts and put a new piston in the bike it was about 2pm and I could have had two practice sessions. Due to the changeable weather I decided to hold onto my $120 and wait till Saturday to practice. I knew that my settings from last year worked well and was confident I could get into the 1:05’s with the bike in that state.

Saturday arrived and again the forecast was similar to the previous day. I wasn’t too worried although I had my wets ready and waiting. After the riders briefing and sign in was out of the way we were called up for our first session. I headed out and was quite a home on the 2.8km circuit within a few laps. I noticed a fairly stiff tail wind down the back straight which was good for top end into the hairpin, the datalogger showed a top speed of 210kph, but quite a hindrance over the hill and down the start/finish straight.

I stayed out for the whole session and eventually got my best time down to a 1:08.227. This was a bit of a surprise seeing as my fastest lap last year was a 1:05.7 and Avalon Biddle had set the fastest lap of the session with a 1:05.0. Although I wasn’t too worried and knew I would go faster in qualifying. Between the two sessions I made a couple of small modifications to the carburetion to try and get a little more speed out of it. I also made some big suspension changes in order to get the bike to be a little more compliant over the very abrupt and high speed bumps that are very well known around Pukekohe.

The weather again was playing its part and this time the wind had done a complete 180 degree turn. This was only apparent once on the circuit and by now was too late to make an adjustment in the gearing. The difference was very noticeable, in the first session I had been going into turn one at about 180kph, with the tail wind I was now just touching 200kph on a good lap. The wind change had the opposite effect on the back straight and without a slipstream I was faster into turn one than into the hairpin. I stayed out for another 12 laps and lowered my first session time by a little over a second to 1:07.166. This put me eighth on the grid, not something I was overly pleased with but a good starting point none the less.

The final act of the first day for the 125GP class was the first of the weekend’s three races. Again I made a few minor suspension tweaks and decided on a gearing change due to the strong head wind on the back straight. We had our call ups and then gridded up after two warm up laps.

The five starting lights went red one by one and after a short pause went out. I got a good start and was in third position onto the back straight. I got a good drive out of Castrol and was in right on the wheel of the bike in front. Well before the kink I was topped out in 6^th gear and then was swamped by 5 other riders all at the same time. I knew I had made a bad decision on the gearing, but had to run with it till the end of the race. I tried as I could to make up some ground under brakes into the hairpin but making a pass was difficult.

This continued for a few more laps, getting good drive over the hill and into turn one but then I just couldn’t keep pace with anyone else down the back straight. I could just keep in their slipstream for the first half but then they would just drive away. I knew I had a badly undergeared bike but should have been able to keep in their slipstream and most likely pass then down the first half of the straight.

Coming over the hill on the fifth lap I could see that someone had crashed coming over the hill. Avalon had lost the rear while leading and lowsided into the Armco. Not a very nice situation. As expected the race was red flagged fairly quickly and we came into the pits. Avalon was rather lucky, in comparison to others who have crashed on the same corner, coming out with only a broken leg. Hope she has a quick recovery!

But back to the racing, seeing as only five laps had been completed we would have a full restart and have a two part race. Seeing as I finished the first part in 9^th I would start from this position on the grid. I also took the opportunity to quickly change my rear sprocket back to the gearing I originally had. With quick work by the pit crew and the gearing change was completed in under a minute! After a short delay we were back out, engines revving ready for the lights to go out again.

I got another solid start and entered the back straight in fourth. With the gearing change the bike was revving a lot less down the back straight, but still revving right out coming into the braking zone. I was relegated to sixth by the end of this lap and had James McKay come flying past on the second lap, again unable to keep in his slipstream. I had a good tussle with Gordon for the next three laps. Each lap he would pass me on the back straight and on one occasion into turn 1 but I had him under brakes into the hairpin every time. By the last lap I had managed to get myself onto the back of a bunch of three riders all very close together. Due to the race being only a 5 lap sprint I was unable to make any headway and crossed the line just under 2 tenths of a second behind the 7^th place getter.

So with the combined points added together to form the placings for the race I was awarded 8^th position. Not a bad start to the weekend but below expectations. Looking at the datalogger it was evident that my engine was slower than last year by at least 10kph down the back straight. I was unsure what was causing it but had to make some changes.

The next morning we arrived at the track bright and early and set about replacing some components to test in the morning warmup. I put a new spark plug in, swapped the reeds and reed block over and replaced a handful of seals and gaskets. Just as the F3 warmup had finished the heavens opened and quite a heavy downpour drenched the track. I was toying with the idea of going out in the scrub on wets but in the end decided against it.

By the time our race came around it was clear blue skies again and service as usual. I got another great start and was in fourth onto the back straight. But immediately I could tell that the changes hadn’t solved the problem with my engine. I came across the line after the first lap in sixth place but was passed by James McKay down the back straight and pushed down to seventh. For the final 8 laps I had a great battle with Eric. We were changing positions at least two times a lap, he having the greater speed down the back straight but me being able to reel him under braking into the hairpin. On the 8^th lap the timing shows the gap being 0.000s (and that’s while doing 190kph!).

As the race progressed I became more confident of being able to beat him to the line. The white flag came out and as expected he flew by up the inside going into turn one. I chased him through Castrol and onto the back straight lining him up for a pass up the inside into the hairpin. I didn’t get a very good run down the straight and he broke the slipstream a bit earlier than the previous laps. I was still determined to beat him to the line and pulled right up to the back of him coming out of the hairpin. I was right in his slipstream coming over the hill and pulled out as I clicked it into sixth gear. I was edging closer and closer to being in front but in the end was about 100m too late and finished an agonising 0.127s behind, about half a bike length. Quite disappointing really, my fastest lap was still only a 1.06.9 and it was quite obvious on the datalogger trace that it wasn’t me that was slowing the bike down!

So back into the pit garage and to changing a few more parts to try and solve the mystery problem. I replaced the cylinder, checked the piston for signs of wear and replaced all the head o-rings along with a few gaskets. Hopefully now my power problems would be solved!

I was all set ready to go, heard the five minute call and was waiting anxiously for our one minute call to go up to the dummy grid. All of a sudden I heard the buzz of 125’s roaring over the hill! Something had gone wrong, neither I nor my pit crew heard the call and I had missed the warm up laps! So off to a pit lane start it was, in a slightly irritated state of mind.

The lights went out and I had to hurriedly make an exit a second or two after the rest of the grid cleared the way. In the end it cost me approx one second on the next placed rider and I was able to pass him coming over the start/finish line at the end of the first lap. I managed to move up another place to 9^th next lap and then start to hunt down Colin in front of me. Sadly the engine problem had not been solved (I think it may be something a bit more in depth than a dodgy cylinder or faulty gasket) and so I had to make all my gains through turn 1 and into/out of the hairpin.

I made good progress on Colin and by lap 5 I had closed him right in and made the pass under brakes into the hairpin. He passed me back again down the front straight but I was braver into turn 1 and took him down the inside. I now had the next two riders in my sights, Gordon and James, and was eager to get onto them as soon as possible.

The main area I was making up time was under brakes into the hairpin and this time I just overcooked it a little too much. Down I went, a nice gentle lowside coming to a rest just off the track. I quickly jumped to my feet and picked the bike up, both brake levers were intact and I couldn’t see too much damage, apart from a bent fairing stay. I gave my bike a quick push start and off I was again. Just over 25 seconds lost so not a bad effort. For the remaining 7 laps I just toured around the track at a slightly reduced pace waiting for the chequered flag and finishing in eleventh place.

So after being out for 3 months with my wrist injury I came back to two very eventful rounds of the NZ superbike championships. Overall I was happy with my riding but the results weren’t up to scratch. But none the less a constructive and educational experience. I will be back next year!!

Finally I must say a big big thanks to all my sponsors. My bike looks absolutely terrific thanks to the guys at Alexandra Panelbeaters. The assistance from Two Wheels Unlimited Alexandra has been greatly received and my Shoei Helmet, Teknic Gloves, RK Chains and Spectro Oils are all excellent products! Also thanks to motorbikeparts.co.nz my awesome website.

Also check out these great photos taken by Andy at bikesportnz.com check out his website!