The 2012 Motorcycling New Zealand Superbike Road Race Championship . Round 5 Taupo Raceway Taupo March 24-25.
At 5am we were heading off to Taupo in the dark avoiding hedgehogs along the windy lanes full of excitement with the prospect of three full days of messing around on motorcycles ahead of us. We were prepared for the prospect of a wet weekend, as we approached Taupo the verges and fields were strewn with the debris of fallen trees, obviously there had been a significant storm in the week. We arrived at the track in the rain, conditions were cold and a little windy, but there were signs it would clear up later. Terry and Jamie Gallway were already set up in the pit garage and helped us unload and set up in somewhat of a relaxed manner. There was a friendly buzz in the air and the excited anticipation of the arriving teams, as they stepped from their vehicles, was palpable.
A quick brew and then down to business, trye decisions, warmers on, fuel up and then team talk. See “Heat Exchanger Update”
The weather dried up and Blayes was out on track, the bike was running well after a week of fettling. Blayes was running lap times in the 1:45 bracket on 15/48 gearing racetech tyres at F27, R29 with the stock pipe, Mobil Racing 4T 10W40.
Saturday AM, dive into the shower, great to have hot clean showers on site, thanks to Taupo Motorsport Park. Breakfast cooked on the side of Terry’s trailer, bacon butties with HP sauce and hot tea, wicked. Blayes went out for first practice with a grin on his face and was quickly back scowling.For some unknown reason the bike had decided to go into Limp mode and would not rev over 12000 so we swapped to the Gallway’s 2007 bike. Blayes Qualified with a 1:41.416 It was a successful day and Blayes was happy to be constantly improving his performance.
After diving into Taupo for a takeout we returned to the pit garage to spend a wonderful evening with friends chewing the fat, listening to an array of amusing race stories from the people who drifted in and out of the garage during the evening and finished off seated around the laptop watching the 2011 Ulster Grand Pre with all of us exclaiming at the antics of Guy Martin and the Dunlop brothers. Then unable to stay awake any longer we bedded down in the back of the van, listening to the hypnotic drumming of the rain on the roof We finally surrendered to erehwon .
Sunday Am, awoke to abysmal weather, we were definitely looking at a wet race. On with the wets and a 2 lap scrub in which Blayes enjoyed. The rain poured down for the first races and by the time we were out on track it had subsided and there was blue sky on the horizon. The boys went out on a wet track. Jamie was doing fantastic moving up to 5th place ahead of Jaden Hassan and then the track quickly started to dry out which took it’s toll on his tyres and he slipped to eighth. Blayes was running really well and thoroughly enjoyed being out in the wet on the Dunlop wets which gave amazing grip. Race 2 was dry Blayes had a good race and finished happy a little less tired this time bringing the bike home with no incidents yet again. Unfortunately our team mate Jamie had the unfortunate and very frustrating experience of his heat exchanger blowing on the first lap. Fortunately due to the fact that the boys re-sited his catch bottle on Saturday evening he was able to see the problem occurring and managed to pull off track avoiding a crash and spilling an oil hazard all over the track, well done Jamie.
All in all a most enjoyable way to spend a weekend, we made some good friends and are looking forwards to next season with our bikes sorted.
The official points showing Blayes’s placing after competing in two rounds only.
Superstock |
|
Jake Lewis |
217 |
Johnny Small |
179 |
Dan Ornsby |
166 |
Mike Lee |
107 |
Dan Kempthorne |
58 |
Blayes Heaven |
30 |
Cameron Jones |
29 |
Stewart Smart |
26 |
Paul Koot |
22 |
Andy Stewart |
13 |
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