Tark
31-03-2006, 08:29 PM
First meeting with me new home made team. Turned up on thursday noght after a 5 hour drive to get there at about midnight. Got everything set up on my own and managed to get to bed at about 2am.
Got up Friday morning to the sound of rain on the caravan roof. I got the bike out of the van and changed my wheels to the Wets. Then the lovely Sammy arrived and made me breakfast before I had my first session.
Too many different things to get used to so my lap times were poor. New bike, suspension, wet weather, gearing, new brakes etc etc not to mention not raced since August last year. No idea of lap times for the fridays practise but I think they were about 2 mins!
Saturday morning came and I was out in the first practise for timed qualifying. As there were 56 entrants and only 38 places on the grid I was a litle scared! It was still wet and I really didn't feel fast or comfortable. I was very supprised when I found that I have qualified in 15th Place with a 1.55 wet lap.
I was out in Race one after the other practise sessions and the track had dried! I was rushin like mad to get my tyres changed when I heard the last call for the F600s! With muddy part worn tyres, not checked tyre pressures, not changed gearing and no tyre warmers I rushed to the assembly area. Just as I was getting onto the track the rest of the field were on there way up coppice on there warm up lap. the starter waved me through and i sped round trying to catch up! By the time I got to the mountain section I had caught the back markers and joied them on my 15th spot on the grid. Gasping for breath as the red lights came on I realised I had never done a Race start on this bike! Setting off from the lights it was all revs and no go as I slipped the clutch like I was on the old GSXR! Dropping places like a brick I ended up finishing the race in 18th Place with a fastest lap of 1.42.
Second race on the saturday went a little more to plan as I had changed the gearing, got the tyre warmers on and managed to get to the grid for a warm up lap. My race start was still not up to scratch but i hung on and managed to finish in 11th place with a fastest lap of 1.41. This seemed like a fair result as the other guys ahead of me had faster lap times.
After Saturdays results I set myself a little target of a top 10 finish and a 1.39 lap time. I had never raced at Cadwell on anything other than the steelie and never namanged to get under a 1.40.
Sundays first race had a few little moments as I felt like I was trying to hard and not relaxed. Hit nuetral off the lights, and played catch up for the rest of the race. the bike was feeling good although a little chatter from the back end. Managed to get my gearing right for this race and finished 12 behind Lee Fletcher who was on WETs! Seemed very fast in a staright line but I just could not get passed round the bends. Only managed a fastest lap of 1.43.
Sundays second race was the last chance I had of reaching my targets. I was unsure of the Supercorsa tyres as I didn't know how much work they had done before I did 3 races on them. I dicided to fit a new set of Bridgestone 002 tyres and adjusted my suspension slightly. I was now running full rebound, compression and preload on my front forks! :unsure: . I got off the line well and managed to maintain my position and pulled off a few text book block passes. I tried to push the tyres to see what they were like and found them to be very good. The more I pushed the rear the more it chattered although it seemed to grip very well when applying the power mid corner. The work payed off as I got down to a 1.39 lap time and a position of 9th place. Very happy with the result and even more happy to find I was lapping as quick as the guys in the top 5. I got the 6th fastest lap time and noticed I was the first honda in 3 of my 4 races! I was shocked to find that there were no CBR600RR at the front of the pack. Even more happy that my 5 year old bike that I got for a bargain was still competative in the F600s.
I have planned to get my front forks worked as was not happy with everything on full and am currently trying to set the WP shock up on the back to help with the Chatter.
Overall I was very happy with the weekend and the setup of the team. found that i need to adjust suspension, get more comfortable on the bike and generally get back into the swing of things. Oh and I must remember to take rags to clean the bike next time! lol
Summary for those who cant be arsed reading everything:
Timed Wet F600 practise: 15th
Saturday F600 Race 1: 18th
Saturday F600 Race 2: 11th
Sunday F600 Race 1: 12th
Sunday F600 Race 2: 9th
Fastest lap: 1.39
Bike: Honda CBR600FSI 2001
Thanks and goodnight!
Got up Friday morning to the sound of rain on the caravan roof. I got the bike out of the van and changed my wheels to the Wets. Then the lovely Sammy arrived and made me breakfast before I had my first session.
Too many different things to get used to so my lap times were poor. New bike, suspension, wet weather, gearing, new brakes etc etc not to mention not raced since August last year. No idea of lap times for the fridays practise but I think they were about 2 mins!
Saturday morning came and I was out in the first practise for timed qualifying. As there were 56 entrants and only 38 places on the grid I was a litle scared! It was still wet and I really didn't feel fast or comfortable. I was very supprised when I found that I have qualified in 15th Place with a 1.55 wet lap.
I was out in Race one after the other practise sessions and the track had dried! I was rushin like mad to get my tyres changed when I heard the last call for the F600s! With muddy part worn tyres, not checked tyre pressures, not changed gearing and no tyre warmers I rushed to the assembly area. Just as I was getting onto the track the rest of the field were on there way up coppice on there warm up lap. the starter waved me through and i sped round trying to catch up! By the time I got to the mountain section I had caught the back markers and joied them on my 15th spot on the grid. Gasping for breath as the red lights came on I realised I had never done a Race start on this bike! Setting off from the lights it was all revs and no go as I slipped the clutch like I was on the old GSXR! Dropping places like a brick I ended up finishing the race in 18th Place with a fastest lap of 1.42.
Second race on the saturday went a little more to plan as I had changed the gearing, got the tyre warmers on and managed to get to the grid for a warm up lap. My race start was still not up to scratch but i hung on and managed to finish in 11th place with a fastest lap of 1.41. This seemed like a fair result as the other guys ahead of me had faster lap times.
After Saturdays results I set myself a little target of a top 10 finish and a 1.39 lap time. I had never raced at Cadwell on anything other than the steelie and never namanged to get under a 1.40.
Sundays first race had a few little moments as I felt like I was trying to hard and not relaxed. Hit nuetral off the lights, and played catch up for the rest of the race. the bike was feeling good although a little chatter from the back end. Managed to get my gearing right for this race and finished 12 behind Lee Fletcher who was on WETs! Seemed very fast in a staright line but I just could not get passed round the bends. Only managed a fastest lap of 1.43.
Sundays second race was the last chance I had of reaching my targets. I was unsure of the Supercorsa tyres as I didn't know how much work they had done before I did 3 races on them. I dicided to fit a new set of Bridgestone 002 tyres and adjusted my suspension slightly. I was now running full rebound, compression and preload on my front forks! :unsure: . I got off the line well and managed to maintain my position and pulled off a few text book block passes. I tried to push the tyres to see what they were like and found them to be very good. The more I pushed the rear the more it chattered although it seemed to grip very well when applying the power mid corner. The work payed off as I got down to a 1.39 lap time and a position of 9th place. Very happy with the result and even more happy to find I was lapping as quick as the guys in the top 5. I got the 6th fastest lap time and noticed I was the first honda in 3 of my 4 races! I was shocked to find that there were no CBR600RR at the front of the pack. Even more happy that my 5 year old bike that I got for a bargain was still competative in the F600s.
I have planned to get my front forks worked as was not happy with everything on full and am currently trying to set the WP shock up on the back to help with the Chatter.
Overall I was very happy with the weekend and the setup of the team. found that i need to adjust suspension, get more comfortable on the bike and generally get back into the swing of things. Oh and I must remember to take rags to clean the bike next time! lol
Summary for those who cant be arsed reading everything:
Timed Wet F600 practise: 15th
Saturday F600 Race 1: 18th
Saturday F600 Race 2: 11th
Sunday F600 Race 1: 12th
Sunday F600 Race 2: 9th
Fastest lap: 1.39
Bike: Honda CBR600FSI 2001
Thanks and goodnight!