Victorian Interclub Series, Broadford Sunday 25^th June, 2006

We finally ventured out again this weekend for the third round of the Victorian Interclub Series.

I drove to Broadford on Saturday with my wife Donna, had the bike scrutineered, and set up the pit bay in readiness for an early start Sunday morning. If this process isn't stuck too, you end up out in the rain with no pit bay and no power for the tyre warmers, almost a pre-requisite these days.

That night we ventured into the local pub for a traditional country pub bistro meal, and were not disappointed. Great atmosphere. A couple of people we know turned up to make it a bit of fun over dinner. Top stuff so far. We trundled off home around 9 pm and turned the TV on to sleep. I doubt if I made it to the first ad break before I was snoring my little heart out, tucked up inside a warm, cosy room at the Sugarloaf Motel in Broadford.

Sunday dawned icy cold, but at least looking like it would clear. It took a bucketful of water to clear the ice off the windscreen. We warmed the car up and arrived at the circuit about 7.30 am. Already the pits were a hive of activity. I signed on and unloaded the pit gear we didn't leave behind last night, and set the tyre pressures, fuelled the bike, and turned on the tyre warmers in readiness for the first qualifying session.

It had rained overnight and the track was saturated. As it was only about 3 degrees when first practice started, the water was going to take some time to clear. I wobbled around wheel-spinning everywhere for three laps to keep the officials happy and then pulled in, refuelled, and put the bike back on the warmers ready for the first race. The officials get grumpy if you don't suss out the track conditions.

Race #1, Preston over 500cc 5 Laps. Start position p10.

Starting from the third row of the grid was going to make it difficult to make up time with only 5 laps available, so a good start was critical. I used my normal starting technique, but perhaps due to nerves or maybe lack of practice - it had been 10 months since I last raced - I fluffed the start, wheelieing and having to back it off a tad to get it all happy and pointing in the right direction again. Note to self: Don't do that again you twat.

I entered Turn 1 in about 7^th or 8^th position, making up some ground as people tangled or missed gears. It was frantic as 20+ bikes jossled for a clear line through. I made up some places outside a couple of riders going up the first third of the turn, then tucked it tight out of the exit and got a really good drive on to the back straight. I was 5^th into Crash Corner as we all tried desperately to grow big ones and brake as late as possible into the turn. I might point out at this stage that the majority of the track was still damp, with turn one, and the turn onto the straight in particular very, very wet. Most of us were sliding about under brakes into Crash Corner. It was a bit scary, I must say. I made up another place and found my self in 4^th as we went down the hill into the chicane.

Turn 1 was scary stuff every lap after the start. The bars were tucking in every lap through there, with me just managing to dig the knee in, and hold enough power to get the back to go with it. I hate riding in wet or damp conditions, it's just sooo easy to crash. The fact that I have never finished (till today) a wet race also didn’t add to my confidence!!

I was getting superb drive from my little ZX6R out of here and onto the pit straight, but the two bikes in front of me in 2^nd and 3^rd, were very late on the brakes, with me catching them mid-turn but unable to get them into the turns. The guy in 2^nd was on a GSXR750 with a full race spec Hallam SBK motor. It fairly flew, though both myself and the guy in third were constantly catching him mid turn and exiting, only to have him absolutely hose us down the chute.

I was having a ball at this stage, trying to calculate where I was quicker and where I could get a run on them for a few corners to pull a gap. I was looking at 2^nd, the red mist clouding the visor. The guy leading had absolutely pulled a massive and unbeatable gap, so 2^nd was the best I could hope for, so I settled a bit for laps 3 and 4.

I was quicker through most of the turns than 2^nd or 3^rd, but just didn't have quite the power to draft them along the longer straights. But from Crash Corner back to the main straight, I knew that if I got past 3^rd into the pit hairpin, that I could do an over under on the GSXR through the left onto the main straight, and hopefully, he would not have a big enough power advantage to mug me before the line.

I got a sensational run down the hill and into the chicane, almost running into 3^rd but slowing it down and then really mega late apexing the pit straight exit and by 1/3 down the chute I had 3^rd.

2^nd was now on the menu for the old ZX6R, and some lapped traffic came into play. Which way was 2^nd going to go? He decided he was going to hold a tight line into the left and go around the outside of the lapped rider. I went the other way, with another crazy late apex and pulled it tighter than a fish’s on the exit and I mugged both of them. Woohoo 2^nd! Or so I thought... The guy on the GSXR just opened the taps, and I heard this growl as 190 (that’s what the guy reckons it's got!? He talked to me after the race.) horsepower nearly sucked my fairings off as he went past. So in the end it was to greet the flag in 3^rd place! The track was wet so I didn't bother with the lap timer, so not sure how quick we were running, but I would estimate by the bum watch @ 65's (seconds per lap).

Race#2 Formula 1B (basically under 600cc, mainly Supersport bikes). 5 laps. Start Position P16.

Grid positions were based on the series points for the year, so I got gridded waaaaaay back with those who either hadn't done the first two rounds, like me, or were not good enough to score points. It was a struggle to see the starter’s lights from way back where I was. But we got on with it.

The lights went out and we were away. This time I got my usual good start and actually made up some places, only to have some loopy numb nut wobble all over the track and park his bike in front of me and then proceed to brake into Turn 1. For those who don't know, at Broadford, even on a 200 HP Moto GP bike, you do not need to brake into Turn 1off the start. Grrr.

So I settled into making up ground. I had two guys on newer 600's in front of me and I must have been stuck back in something like 10^th place. I had no idea at this stage as there were bikes everywhere and none that I recognized. (That means I was waaaay back.) The track was basically dry now, with just a few damp patches through some turns and along the straights, but not enough to compromise grip too much.

I managed to pass a couple of guys around Turn 1 on lap two, and then made up another place on the next lap, so I must have been somewhere around 8^th I think at this stage. The pace with the three guys I was riding with was hot. I wasn't looking as we rode around, but I can tell you that my bike was walking all over the track, so I figure we must have been doing 65's maybe even 64's.

Lap 4 and I had passed the guys in front and now had my eye on 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th places. A top ten from 16^th would be respectable, I thought. At this point I was the first Pre-modern too. As I came over the crest on the back straight, there was still a little water. The bike’s back wheel hit a bump while almost fully extended and popped the rear wheel off the ground momentarily. The bike revved to the moon before the wheel touched back down and I clicked 5^th. Immediately the bike lost power, I pulled to the left and tucked down behind the screen to listen to what horrible noises it might be making, and sure enough, it had dropped a valve!

I hit the kill switch, and rolled back into pit lane. I was very disappointed. This is a motor that I had only rebuilt three meetings ago, and had been treating it with kid gloves only revving it to 12 or 13 rather than all the way to redline. I have another engine which has just been rebuilt and it's ready to go in, so I will hopefully make the next round at Winton. Having said that, I am happy with the day despite the mechanical DNF. The pleasing thing was my lap times. Lap 2 was a 63.7, lap 3 was a 63.3, lap 4 was a 63.0 and lord knows what the last one would have been had the motor stayed together!

Marty Thompson