First Time Racing Offer

Good deal

 

Does the bike have to be race prepared?

 

All packed and ready to go, hope to see you out at Morgan Park over the next 3 days

 

Have fun tomorrow mate see ya in arvo / night remember take it easy get comfy then race debut sat !!!

 

hope to see you Sunday....stay upright......ish.

 

big thanks to the Motorcycle Sportsman club for hosting an awesome event, I had a great time. Also , big thanks to @Mclaren for helping me throughout the weekend, it was good to see his times getting better and better as the weekend wore on.

Here are a few pics, thanks to @Tim_ for getting my camera and taking these shots.

 

and a big thanks to you and @Mclaren for putting up with me and my girlfriend for the day.. the more i see you guys out there the more i want to go out.. lol.. Cory even said she can see her self doing it on a regular basis.. that is if we can afford it.. lol

 

Mate u did really well and I'm glad u finished on a high!!! It's addictive and u won't stop now!!! Big thanks to Tim and his gf and mark(brizfox) and his mate Frazer for coming out to watch!!!!

 

My Club Racer weekend


I took up the Club Racer offer for the Motorcycle Sportsman Club and headed out to Morgan Park in Warwick on Friday morning. I was pretty keen to have a go at racing after watching Mark Boddy at the Barry Sheene a few years back, so I guess this weekend was a culmination of alot of planning and hoping from my end. In saying that I had mentally decided that I would only do this round and "tick" the box of having a go, but more on that later.


I packed my trailer Thursday night and set the alarm for a 5am start, to be honest I don’t think I got much sleep as I was pumped about what I was about to do, a quick shower, coffee and I was on my way. After about an hours driving I remembered that I left my jumper on the bed, oh well, hope it’s not too cold in Warwick.


I made it to the track at 8am and found a spot to setup, I asked a young fella if it was okay to setup next to him and he said yep, he also said I looked familiar and it turns out it was Tom, I helped my buy a Cibby years ago when I first started the forum, he was there helping a mate who was doing a track day. The Marquee was setup and Tom helped me get the bike off the trailer. I went and checked in, then had my bike checked, all good. I fitted my transponder so I could be timed and went and waited for my group to be called.


My first run was pretty slow, I managed a 1.59 but I was learning the track, I have to say that Morgan Park is awesome, if you ever get a chance to do a track day out there, then do it. All up I did 6 sessions, I had a few moments as I pushed and at one point I found myself on a concrete rippel strip out of turn 2, scared the bejesus out of me , at the end of the day, I was down to 1.55 , still 25 secs off the pace of most of the other cibby riders, but in my head I was improving, so that was cool. Mclaren and his better half rocked up about 8pm, so we had a beer and chatted to a few of the riders, then it was off to bed.


Saturday was race day, we started out with 2 qualifying sessions and I struggled to beat my time of 1.55, I ran off in the grass and managed to hold on and rejoin. 1.55 meant I was at the back of the pack for the race, that was cool with me. As I was down there on the Club Racer membership, I was riding with 250's, 400's, 600's, 848's , 1000's and 1100's which was pretty scary. It was great to see Tim and Corey show up, I gave him my camera and he went off and took some really cool photos.


Simon came down to let me know that the 400 and 2 x 250's were being moved to formula 4 which included 250's, 300's and 400's. There were 28 bikes scheduled for the race, 4 didn’t start so it was a field of 24. We did a quick warm up lap, the it was game on, the red light went out and GO.. I found myself behind a Suzuki Across and managed to pass him down the back straight, then I set about trying to stay in front, On the second lap, I managed to run off the track at turn 4 and kept it upright but the Across passed me, so I took off after him in ernest. Then the race was red flagged as a rider had crashed. We gridded up again and the flag dropped and I managed to get in the front of the across before turn 1, we did another 5 laps and the race was over. I came 18th out of 19 riders who finished the race, I checked the timing sheets was marked as being in 11th place , shortly after I was relegated to 18th due to the red flag. Best time 1.52 . Race 2 was called and I was at the back of the grid, apart from the flashes of the front runners passing me, I was pretty much on my own, best time 1.54.


Sunday

Brisfox and Frasier showed up, awesome !!!

We had 2 races today, the first race I did okay by my standards, but was hovering around the 1.55 mark and felt I was giving the faster guys some passing practice. Simon popped over and said I needed to move on the bike, ie get my weight over on the bike when going through the corners, his feedback was get your body in position, gear down, then brake ...... I was like.. hmm, I haven’t really done that before... the Honda Factory gave me a perfectly good seat so I was using it


When race 2 was called, Simon passed my on the warm up lap and gave me a wave and point to the back of his leathers and move left and right, okay message well and truly received. The race started and I was by myself, so I thought bugger it I will have a go, I shifted my big arse all the way over and tipped in to the corner, OMG, the bike come straight around and I was like.. holy ****, it works. I then just set about trying to get over in all the corners, I knew I was heaps slower but I was trying to work on technique , funnily enough I posted a 1.53 awesome. The chequered flag was waived, race 2 over, my first race weekend was over, no damage to me or the bike brilliant. Brisfox and Frasier helped me pack up the trailer and I hit the road.


As I stated above, I set about this weekend as ticking a box for trying racing I had already decided I would sell my Cibby after the weekend as I didn’t think was a sport for me. I know I am competent road rider and enjoy riding, but racing is a whole another ball game and I have always thought I am a bit too heavy and cautious to make a go of it.


I have come away with a very healthy respect for the riders who get there with the Motorcycle Sportsman Club and race their bikes. I know my technique sucks, but that’s okay I am going to drop some weight and get some coaching, then I am going to get back out there later on in the year and get into the 1.40's. All I can say is if you have an inkling to try racing, do it, find your local club and have a go it might be the best decision you ever make.


I also wanted to say a big thanks to @Mclaren for his help and advice, I watched him have a red hot go and take 5 secs off his best time over the weekend, his is a top bloke.


Im snookered, Im off to bed.

 

That's the way mate set goals and push for them that all u can do and having fun is the aim of the game at the end of it all!!! Now I can have a pit buddy lol

 

Guys the great offer motorcyclesportsmen had for Rd 1 has been offered again for rd2 race entry forms online and be quick cause once they fill grid no more entry's come give it a crack boys and girls!!!

 

have a crack lads, for $300 its 3 days on the track, must have track bike with everything lockwired etc

 

any body keen to lend me a bike?

 

I have been thinking of asking the same question but I know how much these lads love their track bikes..

 

Oh mark on the 74 could be interesting lol

 

ain't my call but id donate my left testicle to science to have a go.

 

Hahaha few guys not In this rd my mates from tomahawks are out so need to capitalise on points lol