Harrie's first ever race

[harriebird]

well it was fantastic, i am feeling very pleased with myself!

full race report (nothing compared to Perilous's I'm afraid!) to follow - gotta do some work in the mean time :grin2

qualified in 24th out of 31 - best time 1.05.98

first race - crap start but made up my lost places and finished 24th, best lap 1.04.58

second race - slightly better start, made up a couple of places and finished 22nd. best time 1.04.98. the race was red flagged after 6 laps which was a shame as the next group of 3 or 4 riders was in sight and i was gaining on them....the full race is 10 laps.

my belly pan is scuffed (quite badly), yet again my pipes are ground - properly this time, but..............

I. GOT. MY. KNEE. DOWN. ON. CLEARWAYS. :clap :skip :jumping2

just once mind!

it was great to meet trouty, and Graeme (daddy bear) got a 2nd in the 2nd race so that was a fantastic result and we all had a great weekend.

one of the guys crashed badly in the 2nd race (causing the red flag) and has broken his leg in several places - so get well soon Jon :cuddle

a great weekend all round - roll on Mallory on 20th May! :laughboun

[Perilous]

Well done Harrie. :)

First one over. I take it you know where the ladies is now then.:grin2

Do your ear lobs hurt from grinning then?

[Pants]

:rockon :rockon :rockon Well done

[Perilous]

Well now I've had time to actually read the thread properly even though a second at Brands Indy is a vast difference, 6 seconds off a seasoned Brands regular like Trouty isn't bad at all for first go.

Nice one. Well done.

If the Monster is anything like the Cagiva Rupture I rode at Snetterton then you have to hang off the thing like a suicidal chimpanzee to stop the belly pan and stuff dragging on the floor so if you were scraping the exhausts and only knee downed once it sounds like you need to start practicing your chimpanzee impressions.:grin2

[harriebird]

it's a long way down for some of us too!

i'm not sure i'll be able to get my knee down again tbh, i had just a little fraction of a second to think on clearways, and thought, **** it's nearly down, i'll just try a little bit more, and there it was! a teeeeeny little kiss, but a definite scrape!

:skip

[r6paul]

Nice work Harrie! Good luck with the next race too!


one of the guys crashed badly in the 2nd race (causing the red flag) and has broken his leg in several places - so get well soon Jon :cuddle

Yer, i chat with his brother on msn. He had an op on it this evening and is on the mend.

[Shorty]

Well done indeed Harrie!

[DoodleBug]

Well done Harrie, was a very good beginning! Good luck for the rest of the year.

As for getting your knee down on clearways, thats nothing! Try getting your elbow down on Paddock Hill, I got both down at the same time ;)

[troutslayer]

Harrie did superbly and brought it home safely as well, top performance chuck! You should be really proud of what you achieved out there.

the official trouty race report is now available at www.curzonweb.co.uk

[harriebird]

there are a few photies from our ducatisti snappers at

http://www.ducatisti.co.uk/album_cat.php?cat_id=9&sort_method=pic_time&sort_order=DESC&start=0

I'm number 6 :grin2

the one of me appearing to run out of track is at clearways - i was going really wide as i was finding i could pass people coming out of the bend. however i was getting wider and wider which was a bit scary.

at one point i was about an inch from leaving the track, so the next time round i started weighting my outside peg (thanks to ricky and stu for that tip and explaining it brilliantly, stood me in good stead :cuddle ) which helped no end.....

[DoodleBug]

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j259/doodlebug99/litlrg.jpg

Caption required!!!

[harriebird]

oi wait for me i'm only little?!

[troutslayer]

harrie: "cor! i'll get 3 seconds a lap just from the drag!"

[Perilous]

Help, help I'm being chased by an Ewoke.:grin2

[stu600cc]

Isnt stu and Ricky great!

[DoodleBug]

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j259/doodlebug99/ewok.jpg

I couldnt resist, sorry Harrie :)

[Perilous]

:grin2 Is it you right out wide in this one.

http://www.ducatisti.co.uk/album_pic.php?pic_id=2103

Sorry banter aside I try to encourage eveyone but if it is then I'm sorry Harrie but your talking total twaddle, you don't need to weight the peg you need a map.:grin2 :grin2

the one place in 400s everyone generally excepts I'm untouchable (unless I miss a gear:grin2 ) is the exit of Clearways so I do know what I'm on about before a brands trackday 1 miniter comes on to shoot me down. :grin2

To end up out there on a 50hp bike you have made a serious mistake way back where you turned in after Surtees.

The bikes inside you would have to be mega slow if your are going out there (yes I realise that was the widest one) to overtake.

Even though they are looking to be running a bit wide both of those bikes are at the point where they can get upright and be on full throttle. You on the other hand ,as well as taking the long way round on the worst part of the camber and on the dust are going to have to be off the gas where Clearways kinks in for the straight. On the right line any bike below an inline 4 600 won't even know the kink is there.

Rather than get baffled with science by the finer points like weighting the upper ped, (there's a reason the CSS school leaves that until level 3;) )which is supposed to be done on the ball of your foot which of course adds the issue of changing gear while lent over in Clearways I should pay a lot more attention to lines first. That's where your biggest gains will come at the moment.;)

If I sound a bit harsh then I don't mean to be and just to put it in perspective. When I was a Rookie at Cadwell Alan Russell said to me, "do you want some constructive advice?"

When I said yes he said, "your lines round the Mountain are crap.":grin2

Mind I reminded him a few years later when I beat him there. :grin2

I spent an evening in a restaurant at snetterton being told by my sponsor how crap my line is round Druids at Brands so don't worry we all get it. :grin2

Never the less though Harrie, once again well done. There's thoses that do and those that talk about it and find excuses not to just get out and have a go. :) (and some of us who should be old enough to know better.:grin2 )

Is just being sat on the start grid better than two hours on a track day or what!:grin2