Overview
GvD Racing achieves strong results at the Island.
RACE REPORT - SUPERSPORT
2010 Australian Motorcycle Grand PrixTrack: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (Victoria)
Date: 15-17 October, 2010
Race Team: GvD Racing
Rider / Bike:
Garry van Diggele / Suzuki GSXR600 k7
The GvD racing team were extremely excited to be competing at the Island for the Moto GP support races. Having really only competed against Superbikes this year due to only a few 600cc competitors in Formula Oz it was a welcome change. Having no previous Island race experience and only one track day GvD racing was heading into the unknown.
Having repaired the bike after Wakefield Park round 4 the team headed for the long trip down when the heavens opened up. Wednesday’s night drive was a nightmare with an open trailer and a monsoon of rain coming down, suddenly the new fairings did not look so new. It turns out this was only a taste of what was to come in the weekend. Friday morning came up and after a nervous sleep Garry was ready to head to the race track to prove and test himself against the 600’s. Upon arrival there was a continuous down poor with heavy wind gusts. Having never ridden the track and no setting to go off the team was very apprehensive of a struggling weekend to come with constantly changing conditions.
The practice session was first thing in the morning. Gale winds, pooring rain and very changeable and unpredictable weather saw a rider off almost every lap. When Garry starting to get a move on, he opened up on MG, the rear swung around and down he went in the practice session. A very embarrassing situation as it was a simple mistake. The rear suspension was not squatting having been setup for tyres which run at 20 PSI not 36 PSI. The bike and or tyres simply did not squat and the first point of friction loss was the tyres with the road. Lucky there was no damage (except for a lost oggy knob) and Garry continued the practice session as if nothing had happened. Considering this was Garry’s first ever outing in the rain and no wet weather experience ever, we were happy with the overall results. A 2:05 in practice was satisfactory and with some setup changes, focussing on the rear a big improvement was to be expected.
The qualifier was 45 minutes later and with the rear changes and having engine bolt drama’s Garry headed out in the poring rain. We estimated that a 2:03 was enough for qualifying and without wanting to push the limit with limited wet weather experience we would be satisfied on ensuring we qualified. Few laps into the qualifier and Garry came in, 2:05’s not good enough… the very next lap he got his finger out and came in with a 2:01.5, the one after a 2:01:00 flat.. alright this will do with enough front end movement, suspension changes were a must for the race. After qualifier we noticed the right engine frame bolt went missing… No wonder the bike was moving around so much the engine was loose and way to much flex in the chassis was upsetting the ride an incredible amount. After talking to some people and the help of the support paddock and PTR we got a new engine bolt. A racer from the historic’s category helped the team fix the actual mount and thread as there were issues and made his own tool to fix the thread! Thanks to them we managed to get the bike ready on time for the race, only to have the next 2 races cancelled!! That’s racing. GvD racing qualified 26th out of a large field of 35 starting the day.
The 3rd supersport race was right on schedule and with the other 2 races cancelled it was a one race winner takes all. One chance to prove yourself and put yourself out there. Having never had a race start in the wet and only his 3rd ever ride in the wet, Garry was very apprehensive of the task ahead. After making changes to the front suspension, fixing the chassis Garry was confident of reaching his goal of a top 15 in the support race in his first ever supersport race in his very first race season even though the rest of the team were not. The red light went out and the moment arrived… standing still on the line and being gentle on the throttle Garry got passed by the whole field before the finish line... In last position Garry opened up and started to chase, by the first corner he had already gained 3 positions, southern loop another 3… The first lap completed Garry had sliced and diced the back field to 19th position from the worst race start completed by Garry this season. With an extremely slow opening lap of 2:14 a huge task was ahead of Garry. Putting his head down he continued to take the back field apart gaining 1-2 positions per lap. By the 4th lap Garry was in 14th position and settled down not being able to spot the riders in front of him or behind him. Every lap his times improved with an overall best lap, the final lap, of 1:55:09.
An excellent result was achieved by Garry with a 14th position finish for his first ever supersport race. The team was ecstatic with the result. We would like to thank all the people who have helped out, Garry would like to especially thank the Steve Thibou from Motorcycle Rim Stickers for the help in the weekend especially wet weather riding help. We would also like to thank the Laverda Race team from historics for helping us fix the engine mount. Without them we would not have participated in the actual race. A thanks must also go out to Phill Taiton for giving us a spare engine mounting bolt whilst they were busy with there own drama’s and changing conditions. Garry would like to personally thank his family and girlfriend for the support and belief in him this weekend providing encouragement in bloody scary conditions.
Garry van Diggele - #49
I am absolutely ecstatic with the result I have achieved this weekend. This is only the second time at Phillip Island with the first being a simple ride day testing some suspension setup changes on very old tyres. I hoped for a top 15 result but when the weather came in I thought I had no chance. I have never ridden the bike in the wet, practice or racing, so to simply qualify was a good result.
The crash at practice was simply due to the rear end being way too hard for the conditions and tyres. In qualifying I could feel the whole bike and frame move under me... off coarse this ended up being the engine bolt. We also found out that the front was too soft and changes to the suspension made a huge difference.
I’m actually a little disappointed with the result if we look at the lap times. For more than half the race I was by myself, I could see no one in front of me or behind. I have never ridden when there was no one and I relaxed on the bike and rode at a comfortable speed. In terms of competition it is extremely difficult to ride without any visual indicators of how you are going. I had no pit board, no visual confirmation of rider position etc. this is definitely a race where I learned a lot.
If it wasn’t for the start and a few electrical problems during the race I could have easily run with the 4 in front of me, the person who finished 13th was only 7 seconds in front of me. This gap was achieved in the opening lap. I was advised to be very gentle on the throttle and I simply accelerated very softly to ensure I didn’t crash on the line, next thing I know is that I am in last position. I was held up on the first lap by the riders in front of me and was overtaking in every corner. The spray from all the bikes was simply scary and incredible. It caused my electronics to feel like the ignition was retarded, the bike would not rev pass 12K revs and I almost pulled the bike into the pits. By the end of the second lap this cleared up and I think the bike has a water/electrical problem somewhere. I must admit, I love racing against 600’s, its some of the best racing I have done to date.
This result could not have been achieved without the help from everyone especially the support from my dad and girlfriend. I could not ask for a better pit crew for support. I must thank a couple of race teams to help solve a few issues and provide guidance. Thanks to Steve Thibou from Motorcycle Rim Stickers for providing help on wet weather racing, Wetty from Wet4U Racing for checking my engine quickly after the Wakefield crashes, PTR for providing me with an engine bolt and most of all thanks to the Laverda Race team from historics class for helping us fix the engine mount and thread.
