The final round was at Phillip Island on 3/4 December 2010. I went into the meeting 20 points behind Glen Bauder, my major competitor for the title.
Race 1
The new exhaust pipe changes certainly have effected the bottom end, and my normal launch RPM just barely gets me mobile… Damn. It feels like the entire field passes by turn one. I over take four by the exit and another two before the drive to southern loop. Ahead of me Paul Coleman is struggling to get his Aprilia Tuona turning well. I get out driven to Honda by a 675 Triumph and am not close enough to attack on the brakes. Ahead I can see my title rival Glen Bauder steadily making progress away from me. A bad drive out of Siberia and Tarquin HOR on a 675 passes me in the Hayshed. Keeping the gas on out of here I repass him with ease on the entry to Lukey heights. I try to line up a wide tight move on Coleman into MG, but this does not come off, with the db1 not turning how I'd like under brakes.
First time over the line and Glen is three places ahead as Tarquin and then Dean Yagen overtake me on the run into turn one! Damn. I was leaving room to sweep around Tarquin into turn two, so now I do the same to the pair of them running super hot into the southern loop. Nice. I get the drive perfect down into turn three and Honda, leaving them in my wake. Coleman has started to catch Glen, and I set out to chase. By MG I am on the back of Coleman with Glen another five meters ahead. My drive from here is shocking and by the start finish line, I am three hundred meters back.
Using the only advantage I have, light weight. I haul them all back braking late into turn two. Ahead five bikes all fight for position. I follow them and place myself for a dive down into MG, where I over take Coleman and John Cardury (675). Cardury uses the power of his 675 Triumph to outdrive me to turn twelve. Down the straight I loose another two places as Coleman, and Mark Henderson (Ducati 1198) over take me using their extra grunt. I slide up the inside of Mark in turn two. Mark over takes out of two, we hold position until ahead in Honda I see Paul Cane being passed by Coleman. Damn that puts three riders between me and Glen. Getting a great drive out of the Hayshed I take Mark on the way into Lukey and Cane down into MG. Nice!
The start of lap four see's Mark and Cane overtake me at the end of the Gardner straight, I have lost six hundred meters to Coleman and Glen. Again I overtake Cane into MG, Mark is starting to carve through the guys ahead of me and making a nuisance of himself by overtaking all and sundry, bringing them back to me as we hit turn twelve for the second last time.
This whole horse power thing is starting to shit me, as Dean Yagen and Cane again blitz me down the shute into turn one. I ride around Dean in turn one, to see a massive gaggle of riders in turn two! The melee ahead has caught a back marker and they are everywhere trying to take advantage. I clear the back marker out of two and get a great drive down into Honda, overtaking Tarquin on the brakes on the way in. Meanwhile Cane jumps Glen into Siberia using the extra urge of his Ducati 916. Leaving me right behind Glen. I get my best drive all race out of Siberia and grab top gear for the first time into the Hayshed. Bloody fast but it pays off as I carry more pace than Glen into Lukey heights overtaking him mid corner. Finally I get a flawless drive out of MG and turn eleven and take the line three tenths of a second ahead of Glen! Awesome, five points back in the championship.
Lap times: 2:03.994 1:53.211 1:54.120 1:53.422 1:54.350 1:54.076
Quickest: 1:53.211
Race 2
It feels good to be ahead of my title competitor on the grid as Glen and myself take our places on row six. Learning from race one, I put the bike at six thousand RPM and give the clutch a quick fan to get the bike moving. Brilliant! I jump ahead of my row only to be overtaken by most of the field again in the run down to turn one. I keep a tight line into turn one using a late transition to two and manage to slip by Glen by the exit of two. In the sprint to turn three I get passed by Dean Yagan and a 675. I pass Dean on the run around three, and line up the 675 for an outside dive at Honda. As I am tipping in the 675 suddenly lifts to allow a diving Mark Henderson through. Holy crap, all three of us run wide. I recover quickest and drive under the pair of them running the 675 wide and reach Siberia first. Good one! Ahead I see John Price struggling to get his 595 Triumph turned into the Hayshed. Using a late apex I catch him in Lukey and pass him at MG. Excellent I am in the lead of the F3 field.
For the rest of the race I dice with John Cardury, Paul Coleman all the while wondering where Glen is. All the while the note of the engine is changing, and I can hear a exhaust header leak. Something is going wrong with the new pipes. I sneak a look down at the pipe under my right foot that looks good, and reach a hand round behind me and can still feel the exhaust in place, yet the noise from the engine is now deafening.
I cross the line ten seconds ahead of Glen and take another 5 points from his lead. In the pits I see that the rear exhaust pipe has broken the muffler where it was clamped on. Mike King and I work a few little running repairs with bits borrowed from all and sundry. Thanks to Jon Iles for the hose clamps.
Lap times: 2:02.539 1:52.957 1:52.449 1:51.711 1:53.956 1:52.755
Best lap 1:51.711 : 1:51.397
Race 3
The exhaust fix seems to have produced a massive flat spot at 7000rpm. I get a good launch yet find myself getting blitzed on the run down to turn 1. Lucky I get a break in the traffic and ride around most of them in southern loop. I pass Glen and force my way past Mark Henderson into turn 4. This is going great even thought the engine definitely dies dramatically at 700rpm. Down the Gardner straight the first time I get absolutely slayed… Damn! Still I keep ahead of Glen into Honda and I stay that way until lap 5. As I come out of Honda the bike gives a big misfire. What?? I check behind me for traffic. I'm clear as the engine signs on again, then off. I coast to the tyre wall and nearly fall in the mud next to it. I get a bad sinking feeling I have ran out of gas, flipping open the gas tank that is quickly confirmed. The blue sky is quickly joined by the blue air around me. As I realise my race is over and its my fault, the repair on the exhaust pipes has distracted me. Its a long push back to the shed. My first DNF of the year!
Back in the shed I realise that the championship is over and go and congratulate Glen. For 12 years we have been racing against each other, and its wonderful to see him take the title.
Lap times: 2:04.001 1:54.539 1:52.622 1:52.890
Best lap: 1:52.622
Race 4
Lap times: 2:05.100 1:55.805 1:53.488 1:53.052 1:52.973 1:52.903
Best lap: 1:52.903
Wrap up: 2nd in the title was a good result. 1st was possible if we eliminate our own faults. Both mechanical and my race mistakes. Bring on 2011 and maybe a bigger engine! The flat spot at 7k we found to be the air/pressure sensor coming loose!
