2009 Vic Club Rd5 - Manfeild - September 26-27th

The anticipation had been building for the last two months and finally the day was here. I had purchased the K7 GSXR600 in late July and still hadn’t laid eyes on it. Chris Osborne from Ozzy Performance had been working his magic with the bike, converting it into 450 Formula 3 spec and I finally saw the bike for the first time on Friday morning. I picked it up on the way to the track to do a test day before round 5 of the Vic Club winter series. The typical North Island weather had greeted us and the weather forecast wasn’t giving us much hope of a dry track, the heavy overnight rain had left massive amounts of standing water and even ripped up a small section of the track through turn 2. The road repair guys were out there at 8am laying some new seal and doing the best to get us out on track. 

By around 1 the track was opened and it was around 90% dry, which did nothing to quell my nervousness leading into my first ride on the new beast. I trundled out of the pits and began my first tentative laps. Having only raced a 125 previously I didn’t really know what to expect. People had told me plenty about their experiences moving up from a smaller bike but I hadn’t really formed any expectations. My first impression was just how silky smooth the power delivery was, along with the handling it was just incredibly easy to ride. Compared to the purebred 125GP machine, which along with its knife edge powerband is built to attack every corner at maximum speed, the 450 did feel a little lazy but was just outright fun to ride.  

After half a dozen laps I came in with a huge grin and wanting to get back out there again asap. I made a few adjustments to the footpegs, bars and levers to better suit my needs and along with some riding tips from Chris and Glen, we were back out again a few sessions later. By now I had half got my head around the bike and was able to focus on working through braking points and gear changes. I felt as happy and smug as I did when I got a great car insurance deal a couple years back. Going from a two stroke to a four meant a big adjustment required in terms of down shifting into corners. The slipper clutch of the Suzuki made things a lot more manageable but it was a weird feeling that took a little bit of adjusting to. 

I managed two more sessions that afternoon every lap getting more and more adjusted to the new style required for the 450 machine. By the end of the day I was starting to feel at home and by the final session I had managed to get down to a 1.17.6 laptime. Still over 5 seconds off the lap record set by Glen at nationals in February but a good starting point. I knew it would leave me towards the front of the F3 grid for the next two days of racing. I made a few suspension adjustments on recommendation from the local Ohlins guru and headed to the motel for some food and a good night’s sleep. 

The next morning I awoke at 4am excited that I was about to race my new toy for the first time. I had never experienced this before. With the 125, it was such a complex piece of machinery that you really had to think through every single setting change and riding movement that it was such a tiring and laborious task. Whereas with the 450 you just put gas in and rode it like you stole it. No carburetion settings, gearing changes, pistons wearing out, oil changes...

To get some more track time I had entered in the F2 supersport class along with my main class F3. This was the first qualifying session in the schedule and we were out on track fairly early on. This session was interesting to say the least, it was so hard getting a clean lap in with around 45 bikes out on track, not to mention the fact that I didn’t have the power to pass the other bikes down the straight and most of them held me up in the corners. I pulled in after 6 laps because I was going to get myself in trouble and wasn’t really achieving much. Turns out my best lap was a 1.19.3 and this put me 26^th on the grid. I wasn’t too fussed though as formula 3 was the class I was focussing on and my grid position in F2 wasn’t too crucial. 

A short time later the F3 15 minute qualifying session was upon us and I made sure I was at the front of the queue so I could get some good laps in with minimal traffic. I got some good space to myself and when I did come across a rider I was able to quite easily pass on the straights and not be held up too much by them. I did 5 flying laps and after starting to encounter more and more traffic I decided to come in. I was fairly sure I had gone faster than the previous session and the time sheet confirmed that. I had got my times down to a 1.16.5 which also was the fastest lap of the session, giving me pole position for the weekend’s three races, one Saturday afternoon and two on Sunday. 

I decided to skip the first F2 race of the weekend; with pole position and my first race on a new bike the nerves were getting the better of me and I thought it was better to focus on my own class. I had also never attempted to do a race start so was going in blind so to speak. Soon enough we were called up for our race and we were sent out on the warm up lap. The 125’s were off the front so we had to wait a little on the grid before our start. The lights went red one by one and I lifted the revs to 12000 with the clutch just at the bite point. We were off and I got a not too bad start, I let the clutch out slightly too early, it would have been suicide on a 125 but the torque of the 450 just pulled away and I got the holeshot into the first corner. 

I got on the gas at the usual point and the rear slid a little bit, due to us waiting on the start so long my tyres had cooled down a bit and they weren’t at their optimum. I got on with the task and tried to ride smooth and was a little tentative on the throttle through splash. I took my usual high entry line into the hairpin and much to my surprise Neil Chappell came charging up the inside. Not wanting to let him keep the lead for very long I was on the gas as soon as possible, but the tyres were still not up to temp and the rear again let me know it. I set about Neil and managed to use the superior top speed of the 450 to my advantage and passed him coming onto the start/finish straight to lead the first lap. 

He wasn’t having any of that and came back under me into turn one. I was still a little hesitant on the throttle but was slowly getting into the race better. I followed him for another two laps and finally managed to pull off a pass on the middle straight and keep him behind me into Higgins. By this stage I had managed to work my lap times down to mid 1.15’s and looking at the timing sheets this was enough to keep Neil at bay. For the remaining laps I just had to keep my concentration on smooth lines and getting past the back markers with minimal hold ups. I had a few looks over my shoulder in the final few laps and could see Neil and was comfortable with the gap. I finished the 12 lap race with a 2.6s lead and completed my first win in the first race on my new bike. I was quite happy to also have the fastest lap of the race with a 1.15.4. So the day ended with a good result, still plenty of room for improving but I was headed in the right direction. 

I awoke on Sunday morning to a gloomy and drizzly day; the weather forecasters had made the trifecta with three days in a row being wrong! By the time we got out to the track it had however begun to clear and the track dried rather quickly to be mostly dry for the first round of races. As per the previous day the morning’s race would be another 12 lap affair. I again took my position at the head of the grid and waited for the 125’s to lead off.

This time I got a much better start, holding the front wheel in the air for what seemed like half the straight but was most likely 2 or 3 meters! I lined up for the first corner and this time had a little bit of competition for the apex. Paul Buckley on his SV650 had been late on the brakes but I knew I had the exit to beat him to turn 2. I let him take the early apex and I came back up the inside. My faster corner exit gained me the advantage into turn 2 and I kept the lead out of the hairpin. I knew the first two laps were the most important and I had to keep consistent to ensure I made a gap back to Neil and Paul. I kept my head down and it was a fairly unspectacular race, I was kept busy by back markers towards the end but I bought it home an improved 4.2 seconds over Neil in 2^nd place.

Since I was feeling so much more comfortable and relaxed on the bike, I now decided to take my position in the final F2 race of the weekend. I was on the 7^th row of the grid and thus had a lot of bikes in front of me. Never the less I still managed to pass 2 or 3 bikes in the run down to the first corner. The next half lap was chaos, I was unable to take any of my normal lines to try and negate the speed deficit I was giving away to the 600’s and was suitable demoted a few positions. I finished the first lap in 21^st and set about trying to get into some semblance of the rhythm I had in the previous races. By lap 3 I had managed to get up to 18^th and claw my way up to a group of 4 riders. From memory it was Martin on his CBR600 along with three other guys on a ZXR600, R6 and Ducati 748. It was quite surprising how little ground I lost to them down the straights, being around 30hp down on the other bikes I had to ensure I got my cornering right so I didn’t lose too much ground down the straights.

At various times I managed to pass some of the guys but I was never able to get clear of them for more than one corner so I could try and break a gap. It was some very entertaining and exhilarating racing and something similar to riding my old 125 with the bigger bikes. By the last lap I had managed to get up to 16^th but going into the first corner I was slightly surprised to be passed by two bikes on the entry which completely put me off my rhythm. I decided not to push it on the last lap after someone ahead had a problem mid lap, bought it home in a quite satisfying 17^th position. I had also managed to improve my best lap time of the weekend to a 1.15.1. Having the faster bikes to dice with was really helpful to see where I could improve and the lap time showed that. 

So the final race of the weekend was upon us and after the F2 race I was feeling confident I could improve on the previous two races. I again got a cracker of a start, momentarily holding the front wheel above the ground and got through the first corner clean this time. I put my head down and ensured that none of the other runners had a chance of putting a move on my. My aggression showed in my standing lap of 1.19.0, a whole 2.5 seconds faster than the same lap in the mornings race. I continued to be aggressive and on the third lap the bike told me to calm down a little, the rear spun up a little coming out of splash and slightly threw me out of the seat. I calmed down my riding a bit and was a little more careful on the throttle. I stayed consistently in the mid to high 15’s for the remainder of the race (bar a few lapped riders) and came home at the end of the 10 laps with a 9 second lead. The weekend had ended on a high and a much improved performance over the previous two F3 races. 

Overall the weekend was an astounding success, pole and three wins is more than I could have ever hoped for. The bike was fantastic and it just shows how competitive the 450 concept is. Chris Osborne is a genius and in my opinion has put a big jab in the arm for F3 racing in NZ. I can’t wait for my next opportunity to get out on the bike. Finally I need to put out a big thanks to my sponsors, Shoei Helmets, Teknic Leathers, RK Chains, Afam Sprockets and Silkolene Oils. Also a big mention needs to go to Two Wheels Unlimited in Alexandra for helping me out with parts and accessories for my bike and Alexandra Panelbeaters.