A very cold day greeted the National BEARS circus at Eastern Creek, with a freezing southerly wind playing havoc with many riders, and keep us all cool!
Practice 1: Best lap. 1:47.875, ultimate lap: 1:47.218
With only 8 minutes of practice I was stoked to see a time only .3 of my best lap last year with the 800 engine aboard. The track was cold and a little slippery in places, overnight rain had left the track clear of any rubber.
Qualifying: Best lap 1:48.068, ultimate lap: 1:46.607
Again only 8 minutes to bank a lap. This time I was facing big problems in turns one, four, and twelve with wind, which had picked up considerably since practice. At several stages I found myself blown off line, scariest being in turn one with the light weight bimota moving six meters off the apex. Ahhhhh... Frustrated I could not got quicker, but happy to see my sector times where improving. Now to put them all together. My time put me 13th on the grid, with a favorable run toward the first turn.
Sorry here is the track map, in case you have not had the joy of seeing Eastern Creek. This is taken from my data logger.
Race 1 National BEARS- 5 laps
A fun race. I got baulked on the start, by a rider a head of me stalling his 1098 Ducati. Damn near rammed him, before dodging to the inside of the track toward the pit wall. This boxed me in a little, but I got a great mid corner run from turns one to two. I guess I was about 10th here. The faster guys on 1098 and Aprilia RSV4s all got away leaving me to play with Andrew Smart and Rick Fitzsimmons, 1198 and 1098 mounted respectively. This was great fun and encouraged me to try some different lines about the place to get past them at the back of the track. Andrew had an awesome line onto the front straight, which I followed, and could nearly hang in Ricks slipstream to the start/finish. As I said a fun race.
Result: First in F3, 10th outright, Fastest lap 1:46.712, Best rolling lap 1:46.679, Ultimate lap 1:45.458
Race 2 National BEARS - 5 laps
This race was much more fun. I got a blinder of a start, and got to sixth place into turn two. Ahead of me where Jon Riley and Bill Shanahan both 848 Duc pilots. I was seriously considering taking them both around turn four, but some part of me was saying "no you are not racing them!" so I gave them some room. Lap three I posted a 1:46.2, then both Smart and Fitzsimmons came past me on lap four. Pissed off I gave chase and managed to gather Rick up at turn two. I led all the way to the straight, where Rick used the 1098 grunt to run me down before the line. Great fun, and the last lap was a 1:45.980! Nice!
Result: First in F3, 10th outright, Fastest lap 1:45.980, Best rolling lap 1:45.617, Ultimate lap 1:45.043
More tomorrow I hope. Here is a quick comparison between my fastest 800cc lap and my 1070cc lap. I am being lazy in turns five, seven and nine. I would like to get these right.
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| Lap to lap comparison, Red line my best ever lap on the 800 engine in 2010, black my best so far on the 1070. |
Race 3 National BEARS - 5 laps
The first race on Sunday was a ripper. I got a lightening start, and found myself in sixth place behind my garage mate Jon Riley and Bill Shanahan. I kept with them well around the back on the first lap. Coming out of turn nine Bills bike threw its chain, and both me and Jon dodged around him to carry on. The quicker bikes came past me on lap three, and I decided to keep back and watch the fun. I set a new top speed, of 233kph, assisted I am sure by a lack of wind today.
Result: First in F3, 10th outright, Fastest lap 1:45.777, Best rolling lap 1:45.126, Ultimate lap 1:44.564
Race 4 National BEARS - 5 laps
I was hopping to break into the 1:44 bracket in this race. I got close but once the faster top speed bikes got past I was not prepared to dice hard with them. Several of them were lightening quick down the front straight, but slow around the back. Slow enough to be erratic in lines and track position. It was fun to watch from a distance, but I did not want to get tangled up in it. Lap three saw F1 points leader Marc Belestro fall in turn three, and Jon Riley fell on the final lap in turn three. Both unhurt thankfully. I set a PB on lap three, and a new top speed of 237kmh and a sustaining 190kmh around turn one. Happy to finish the race in 9th and take all my points for the nationals.
Result: First in F3, 9th outright, Fastest lap 1:45.250, Best rolling lap 1:45.048, Ultimate lap 1:44.217
A great weekend for me and Mike. The Beta EVO is finally where it should have been at race one this year. We will strip the bike down now and prepare it for Phillip Island in December.
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