This blog is the race report from the 4hr relay endurance race Rnd 2 St George Motorcycle road racing series. This race series is club series and GvD racing did not attend Rnd 1. GvD Racing joined fellow competitors to form a team of 4 riders. The race is a 4 hour endurance race, relay style, which means each rider uses his/her own motorbike for the race. There are numerous catergories and CTD Racing entered category 5: Senior, BEARS F2 or Any Group 3 - 5 M/Cycle, C & D grade.
The St George series is a relaxed motorbike race series at club level where riders can get together and have a bit of fun.
Date: 31st July - 1st August 2010
Track: Wakefield Park Raceway
Race Team: CTD Racing - Crash Test Dummies Racing
Rider / Bike:
Colin Lewis / Suzuki GSXR600 k7 / D Grade
Scott Gapps / Suzuki GSXR600 k7 / C Grade
Garry van Diggele / Suzuki GSXR600 k7 (k8 engine) / D Grade
Russel Downie / Yamaha FZR-600 1992 / D Grade
Spare Bike: Honda CBR 600 99
Race Report:
The race report is written from a perspective of Garry van Diggele
Sat Practice 1: Suzuki GSXR 600 k7
Track Condition: Wet but drying
After having purchased the engine, rebuild and installation finishing only in the morning of the 31st July 2010, the day of practice, GvD Racing was ready for testing. The team arrived at the race track exhausted after having an extremely busy week prepping the motorbike for the race meet. After sign-on, setting up and having a chat to the clerk of the coarse regarding getting a practice session in the team was ready to start. After finally finishing the bike by picking up and installing the brand new case protector for the engine we were ready to roll.
After having a quick chat regarding the track condition with team mates we hit the track very gently. We ran the bike on very low revs for the first 2 laps as well as investigating the condition of the track. There were 2 "rivers" running across the track at turn 2 and 9. Having the bike on slicks we were in for a very slow lap which was good for the gaskets etc anyway. After having a few soft laps with low revs we started to wind up the pace, 1st and 2nd gear felt great, quick shifter was working well and acceleration was strong.
In the fast sections 3rd gear felt a little sluggish but we were still taking it easy. In the 3rd lap after picking up the pace significantly we noticed that 3rd, 4th and 5th gear were very weak. It felt extremely sluggish with slow response, fluffy and significantly struggled to rev past 12K revs. We were unable to get the bike above 14K revs and were not even able to get the bike into 6th gear on the straight. After pulling into the pits and taking the bike apart we made a small change. We noticed the bike was running extremely rich so the small change incorporated attaching another breather tube from the throttle tube which we originally blocked.
Sunday Practice 1: Suzuki GSXR 600 k7
Track Condition: cold, damp but drying
Rider: Scott Gapps
Fastest Lap: 1:14.09
After making changes to the intake of air for the throttle body, Scott Gapps went out to test and run the engine in. One lap and it was determined that the Suzuki needed to be retired for the race meet. The bike was still running fluffy and rich. Scott continued the session with his race bike putting consistent laps on the board.
Scott ended up having the fastest laps for the class CTD Racing is competing in.
Sunday Practice 2: Yamaha FZR 600 '92
Track Condition: cold, damp but drying
Rider: Russel Downie
Fastest Lap: 1:15.108
Russel was the next one out on hit hot fire-engine red Honda. The track had dried quite a bit was still tricky with damp conditions. Russel completed his practice and felt comfortable on the track having consistent results.
Sunday Practice 3 / Qualifying: Suzuki GSXR600 k7
Track Condition: warm and dry
Rider: Colin Lewis
Fastest Lap: 1:08.162
Colin was selected to complete the qualifier for our team. Colin had completed the previous day's practice and was confident of being able to achieve a good results. As it was an endurance race our strategy was to ensure we had a decent start but consistency is more important than fast times. Colin went out and was able to qualify 19th out of 40 entrants. We qualified 6th for our class.
Sunday Practice 4: Honda CBR 600 '99
Track Condition: warm, windy and dry
Rider: Garry van Diggele
Fastest Lap: 1:10.884
As Garry had to retire his bike for the event he hit the race track on a bike which he had never ridden before, the spare Honda. The Honda was setup with road pattern for gears and suspension for a 60Kg person. The Honda is also a carby and 10 yrs old. As Garry hit the track there were many concerns due to the huge number of changes compared to his race bikes which are EFI, setup correctly and race pattern gears. Anyway, after a few careful laps Garry picked up the pace. The gear changes became smoother with the selection going right more often. Garry was quickly reeling in his competitors and managed to decrease his lap times every lap. At the end of the session with the revised riding style Garry managed to be the 3rd quickest of the riders in his class.
Quote
"Coming into the corners the first few laps the front would wobble significantly. Normally i push the front very hard into the corner and use the rear to steer out of it. With this bike I had to adopt my corners significantly. Weight had to be right back, back in the bike, power on the gas and slide the rear out significantly to keep as much weight of the front as possible"
"Awesome bike, it feels like steering a big boat around the corners... A few scary mistakes coming into corners with gear selections but a solid first outing. This bike is quick and if we sort out the front we should be able to lap consistently in the 9's."
Quote
"Coming into the corners the first few laps the front would wobble significantly. Normally i push the front very hard into the corner and use the rear to steer out of it. With this bike I had to adopt my corners significantly. Weight had to be right back, back in the bike, power on the gas and slide the rear out significantly to keep as much weight of the front as possible"
"Awesome bike, it feels like steering a big boat around the corners... A few scary mistakes coming into corners with gear selections but a solid first outing. This bike is quick and if we sort out the front we should be able to lap consistently in the 9's."
Race:
Starter: Colin Lewis
After a brief discussion it was decided the best person to start the race was Colin Lewis. It is important to get away cleanly with 40 competitors on the track. Colin is also a very aggressive rider especially in the first few laps when things are very tight. Colin had a strong session and when it was time to pit we were running in 10th position. Russel was the second rider and again we had a solid run. The first hour went very quickly without any incidents and we were in a strong position. It was decided to do approximately 30 minute sessions each.
Garry was the next rider out and with only 1 practice session on the bike significant setup changes were made. The pre-load on the bike was increased significantly (to the maximum) and other adjustments were made. Garry went out on the track and the changes made big improvements. Lap times were consistently faster than practice and with a lot of people on the track positions were increased. after about 10 laps a problem was noticed, under heavy braking, liquid flew up all around the front of the bike and onto the windscreen. Garry quickly pulled into the pits thinking a burst radiator. Scott was the next rider out and the team investigated the bike. It was determined the liquid was petrol and it was everywhere at the front of the bike. No where near the breather or overflow tubes. After pulling the bike apart it could not be determined the source of the spillage.
Scott finished his session and Colin went out next. Both Scott's and Colin's sessions were strong with no drama's. The team was in a very strong position and were just informed of severe weather warnings for the afternoon. It was estimated the weather would come in the next 60 minutes. It was decided to send Garry out again as we could not determine the source of petrol. We believed it was potential overflow from the cap and was not considered a major issue, however, if it continued we would retire the bike.
Garry was able to put up consistent fast laps and was lapping a lot of people as fatigue set in for most riders.
Quote
"There was one section, corner 4 and 5, a very tight section where you would be lucky to fit 2 bikes next to each other. I came up to a group of 4 riders quickly and made a move on the outside. I believed it was a little tight to make the move on all of them and was next to one rider waiting my turn. Out of nowhere a R1 came on the outside of me leaning on my bike, i was consequently on the bike next to me and he shot past almost taking out the 3 riders in front. A gap opened up and I followed in his wake overtaking in the fast corner 6. It was incredible tight the track with so many riders and mayhem, it was an unbelievable experience."
Garry was the next rider out and with only 1 practice session on the bike significant setup changes were made. The pre-load on the bike was increased significantly (to the maximum) and other adjustments were made. Garry went out on the track and the changes made big improvements. Lap times were consistently faster than practice and with a lot of people on the track positions were increased. after about 10 laps a problem was noticed, under heavy braking, liquid flew up all around the front of the bike and onto the windscreen. Garry quickly pulled into the pits thinking a burst radiator. Scott was the next rider out and the team investigated the bike. It was determined the liquid was petrol and it was everywhere at the front of the bike. No where near the breather or overflow tubes. After pulling the bike apart it could not be determined the source of the spillage.
Scott finished his session and Colin went out next. Both Scott's and Colin's sessions were strong with no drama's. The team was in a very strong position and were just informed of severe weather warnings for the afternoon. It was estimated the weather would come in the next 60 minutes. It was decided to send Garry out again as we could not determine the source of petrol. We believed it was potential overflow from the cap and was not considered a major issue, however, if it continued we would retire the bike.
Garry was able to put up consistent fast laps and was lapping a lot of people as fatigue set in for most riders.
Quote
"There was one section, corner 4 and 5, a very tight section where you would be lucky to fit 2 bikes next to each other. I came up to a group of 4 riders quickly and made a move on the outside. I believed it was a little tight to make the move on all of them and was next to one rider waiting my turn. Out of nowhere a R1 came on the outside of me leaning on my bike, i was consequently on the bike next to me and he shot past almost taking out the 3 riders in front. A gap opened up and I followed in his wake overtaking in the fast corner 6. It was incredible tight the track with so many riders and mayhem, it was an unbelievable experience."
Mayhem broke loose as the weather came early. It started to rain and 7 bikes went down, yellow flags came up. As Garry approached a group of riders the flags were raised. Mid corner they stood the bikes up (reaction to flags raising and overtaking rules) and Garry had to use his front brakes middle of the corner in wet weather to not take them out from behind. Obviously, next thing, Garry was sliding down the road, holding the bars into the mud pool next to the track. He was quickly up and hit the track again pulling into the pits. As the bike was considered safe Garry was send out again and joined the riders behind the safety car. In the mayhem of the heaven's opening up 2 riders had collected each other and the safety car was out. The tyres were changed for Colin's bike and Garry got called in to pit. In the next 10 minutes we lost many positions making some bad calls regarding strategy. The heavens closed and the track was dry, Colin came in and Scott went out again followed by Russel. The heavens played havoc with our strategy and again it started to rain. Colin went out again and finished the race. We were very strong in the wet weather with very fast times considering the huge down poor. Unfortunately due to the weather playing havoc we lost many positions. We ended up finishing 26th, in total CTD racing was happy with the results with the blokes having a great time. This race was for all of us to go out and have some fun. We weren't necessarily concerned with results and lap times as none of us had competed in the first round.
The weekend was great fun with drinks Saturday night, motorbike racing Sunday and having a safe weekend with not to many incidents. CTD racing finished 6th in the class which was disappointing but for the first ever endurance race for 50% of the team including GvD racing it was a very valuable experience.
The weekend was great fun with drinks Saturday night, motorbike racing Sunday and having a safe weekend with not to many incidents. CTD racing finished 6th in the class which was disappointing but for the first ever endurance race for 50% of the team including GvD racing it was a very valuable experience.
