Saturday / Sunday, 3rd/4th October 2009
Round 8 &ndash National SS600s, Mondello Park
New highs this weekend
Arrived down to a wet and miserable Mondello early enough to find our tent which we set up on Friday, couldn't stand against the weather conditions and had collapsed in on itself. Quite funny at first, but then we realised we had no where to hide from the rain. Thankfully the rain started easing off, but the track was still soaking, so the wet tires were quickly put on in time for free practice.
After a couple of laps, the session ended and I was back in again. I wasn't getting much grip from the rear when getting on the throttle so Steve from Bridgestone had a look at my wets and said they were for the bin, so a new set were fitted and we were ready for qualifying. This was a horrible session as I spent more time out of the seat, than I did in it. Every time I tried getting on the throttle mid-corner, she'd spin up and go sideways on me. I tried being as smooth as I could, but I still kept getting shot out of the seat. Disappointing to see I was 14th fastest with a wet time of 1:04.912. I've gone much quicker than this in the wet before.
We wrote down all the suspension settings and went over to Steve from NDM to get some help. At first he laughed at the settings I was using and gave me some advice on what to change, which we did.
Afer qualifiying, it started drying up pretty fast. But it wasn't until then that Iain realised he forgot the spare set of Dunlops. Thank you to Leonie for bringing them to us at the track. Iain quickly brought them with my wheels to Dunlop to change over, then Iain and Dave, and Zane got them on the bike with the tyre warmers. Dave also stiffened up the bike for dry settings again. When we were being called for Race 1, the warmers had only been on for 5 minutes so I knew I was going to have a very dodgy first few laps.
Lights went out for Race 1 and I got a terrible start with the rear spinning up on me. I knew the tyres were stone cold so had to pussy foot around for the first 2 laps until there was a bit of heat in them. By the first couple of corners, I went from 14th back to 18th. Circulated as carefully as I could until I started getting more feel to push harder, and my times dropped immediately. Some laps I got by 2 people at a time, other laps I'd get by one. When I finished the 10th and final lap, I had gotten up to 10th position overall (3rd in the SS600 Cup). Surprised to see I wasn't too far behind the ISB champion, Brian McCormack. After getting the time sheet for the race, I was delighted to see I beat my personal best laptime with a time of 56.539.
I went back over to Steve with a few questions about how the bike was handling, and he gave me more advice which later went on to help me destroy my best time again.
Our 2nd SS600 race was suppose to be run on Saturday afternoon, and with the sunshine we were getting at the time, as well as the busy schedule we had on the Sunday, I was looking forward to getting back out. But for some strange reason, The Clerk of the Course decided it'd be a better idea to postpone the second pre-97 race and our SS600 race until the morning, after the free practice. Silly decision in my opinion as all the racing was finished by 4.30pm Saturday afternoon. There was still plenty of time to run the remaining races and the weather was on our side. Big thanks to Zane for coming down on Saturday to give me a hand. Any time he's there helping me, barely anything needs to be done to the bike. You must be my good luck charm lol
Free practice on Sunday morning consisted of two flying laps. Shortly after that, we were called for our second SS600 race of the weekend. I got a fairly decent start away from the line, but found myself behind traffic fairly soon. Guys I wasn't that much quicker than, so found it difficult at times to get by safely. The 10 laps seemed to fly by as I picked off a few people lap after lap. Near the end of the race, I caught Declan Swanton. Apart from Anglesey a couple of weeks ago, I've never been quick enough to run with him so I was a happy bunny. Come the end of the 10th lap, I finished in 7th position overall (2nd in the SS600 Cup), 0.4 seconds behind Declan. I didn't have the pace to get close enough to him and make an overtake stick. Again, I destroyed my personal best lap time with a 56.026.
A couple more tweaks to the suspension and it was time for the Mondello Masters qualifying session which was 30 minutes long. At the time, my plan was to go out and do bursts of 5 or 6 laps at a time then come in so I wouldn't tire myself out. After the first couple of 'sessions' out, I was lying in 16th position. Happy with this, we changed the setup again and I went back out to see if I could better my time. When I came in for the final time, I had completed the guts of 21 laps in total, but I had improved my position to 13th with a time of 56.296. Delighted to see myself ahead of Declan, Robbie Lanigan, Ali Kirk (SS600 champion) and other top class racers.
A new rear tyre was fitted and it wasn't long before we were called for the third and final SS600 race of the weekend. Got a great start off the line again and the laps started flying by as I took a position here and there. By the last few lap, I'd caught Declan again and was trying to get close enough to try an overtake. It wasn't until the last lap of the race where I was right on his back wheel. Going around the long left hander behind the paddock, I knew my last chance to put a pass on him would be into Dunlop on the brakes, and try out drag him to the line... but I never made it that far. I tried holding a tighter line on the second last corner to get the line up into Dunlop, but I hit a few bumps, and the front washed out on me and that was my race over.
Back into the paddock afterwards, I saw I'd beaten my best time yet again this weekend with a time of 55.860.
Gutted I wasn't content with the position I was in, as I was lying 6th overall when I came off.
My last race of the day was at 4pm for the Mondello Masters. Huge thanks again to Dave and Iain for repairing the bike in time for this, and also thanks to my dad for driving Iain back out to Newbridge to get the spare body work. They worked flat out to have the bike practically perfect in time for being called for the Masters.
We did the opening warm up lap and took our place on the grid where the tyre warmers were put back on whilst the top guys got interviewed by Mondello Park. Another warm up lap and we were all set to go. Got a fairly decent start away from the line and put my head down. Within the first few laps, I got ahead of a few people and went as hard as I could. I didn't have my pit-board with me this weekend, so every time I got onto the start/finish, I was looking at anyones pit board to see how many laps were remaining. I didn't realise that Emmett pulled in, and the lads were holding out his pit board for me, with my position, times and laps left haha. I never noticed what position I was in, but knowing how many laps were left was great. The race felt like it went on forever and with a couple of laps remaining, fatigue started setting in. At this stage, my only plan was to finish the race. Gary Robinson then went by me and shortly after him, so did Brian McCormack. At the end of the second last lap, Gary put his hand up and pulled into pit lane. Happy days for me as I wasn't going to be able to fight back for that place. The last lap, was the hardest lap I've ever done around Mondello. Every muscle in my body was aching from the amount of laps I've done over the weekend. Worked it out to be in around the region of 65+ at 100%.
Crossed the line in 9th position overall. Absolutely delighted to get that result for the Absol team. I think I was the first 600 across the line, but McCormack might of been out on his 600 instead of the ZX-10R. All the other bikes ahead of me were 1000cc machines.
That wrapped up my weekend on a serious high note. The last race weekend of the year will be back in Mondello Park for the Celtic Match races. I'm hoping my times and results this weekend are good enough to be selected for the Irish 600 team to race against England, Wales, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Hopefully you can make it down to support me.
Thanks for reading,
Cheers,
AJ