It had been a long time since I last had a chance to twist the throttle of the Ozzy 450RR. Since my engine blowing up at the Burt Munro racing at Teretonga in November I had been very busy organising the replacement parts and building the engine in readiness for Round 1 of the 2010 Castrol Power1 New Zealand Superbike Championships. I had finished my first ever engine rebuild, with plenty of much appreciated advice from Chris at Ozzy Performance, and on Monday evening the bike finally roared into life.

The Friday practice day was first and foremost about proving my engine was working ok and secondly to learn the track on my new bike. The weather and track conditions were good and we were out on track around 1030 for the first session. I took things easy just to ensure the engine was ok and nothing was amiss. We got another 3 sessions during the day and I gradually improved to a 1.41.7 laptime. I knew I would need to find another 2 seconds if I wanted to be up near the top 3 for race weekend.

Saturday dawned cold and overcast, the forecast was for rain developing during the day but for our first practice session it was dry. The track was cold and the times showed this, I managed a 1.42.8 lap which placed me 6^th out of the 16 bike field. However only 0.8s off 3^rd place and I knew I could go faster in qualifying which was about two hours away.

After some helpful advice from the Ohlins suspension agent I made a few small changes to the rear shock and got ready for qualifying. I went out and the changes to the rear gave me a bit more confidence and after 6 laps managed a 1.41.5. This was good enough for 6^th on the grid, a solid starting position and I knew I still could find another 1-1.5s in the race. There were two pro twins in front of me and I was determined to beat both of them and had a good chance of a top 4 placing.

About 20 mins before our race was up the forecasted rain started to come in and a very light drizzle started to fall. It was not enough to contemplate running wets and didn’t even settle on the ground, it would however reduce grip and make the race rather interesting. On the warm up lap I could see the rain on my screen but the track didn’t seem to be too bad, I was still confident the weather wouldn’t change the race too much.

I got a good launch off the line and was up to 4^th going into the braking zone for turn 1. I was however a little too tentative and was swamped by some of the others. I was relegated down to 7^th coming out of this corner and lost another 2 places going into the hairpin. I took the remainder of the lap to get a little more up to speed with the guys in front, knowing it was a 10 lap race I had an opportunity to make up some of those places lost in the first lap. By lap 3 I had got down to a 1.44.7 and was keeping the gap at least constant to the bunch of riders that were 3-4 seconds ahead. I was still riding quite cautiously but trying to bring down the gap when bam, no warning I was down and sliding along the ground. I had lost the front on entry to the right hander of the esses after the hairpin.

So that was the end of that race for me, I managed to pick my bike up and surveyed the damage. Remarkably there was next to no damage at all, just some scuffing on the fairing, bar end and footpeg. The case saver had done its job perfectly, with the replaceable slider being ground down halfway and no damage to the engine side at all. After the race I made my way back to the pits and we cleaned up the dirt and made a few repairs to what needed to be done, ready for the races on Sunday.

I opened the curtains on Sunday morning to see a rainy day was on the cards. Having never ridden the new bike in the rain I was going to be in for a very challenging day. We had 3 laps of tyre scrub straight up after riders briefing which would give me the opportunity to at least get a feel for riding on the dunlop wets. I set out very cautiously, tentatively leaning the bike over a little further each corner. The crash was also playing on my mind and after the 3 quick laps I had managed to get down to a 2.07 second lap, probably slower than the streetstock guys would go, but none the less a starting point for the race.

The persistent drizzle had continued up till our race and after a cautious warm up lap I lined up and waited for the lights to go out. Again I got a good start, the power of the 450 really comes into its own through 3^rd and 4^th gear, if only it was dry! I was relegated fairly quickly through the field, everyone else having more experience than myself in wet conditions. By the end of lap 2 I had dropped back as far as 12^th but wasn’t too concerned about that. I knew I wouldn’t be able to run the pace of the front guys so I just had to pace myself and increase my pace as I gained in confidence.

My first flying lap was a 2.03 and I gradually worked that down to a 1.56. On lap 7 I managed to catch up to one of the guys that had passed me at the start and used the superior power of the 450 to make an easy pass down the straight and keep him behind me for the remainder of the race. I crossed the finish line in 11^th position with a fastest lap of 1.56.7. I guess that is all I really could have hoped for in the end, I didn’t come last and was gradually improving. I needed another 4 seconds a lap to be running around the 4^th-8^th guys, which I know is definitely possible with a little more time on a wet track.

Race 3 was very much the same as the previous race. The track was a little wetter in most parts but the entry to the final turn actually had a dry line, very strange. I managed to start lapping at a faster pace from the get go and continued to lower my laptimes throughout the race. After the field had cleared out on me I could see a SV in the distance, it was Daniel Kempthorne. It took me about 3 laps to manage to reel him in and then I had a good battle for a few laps trying to make a pass. I eventually got by and kept my head down, knowing that he was well accustomed to riding in this weather, being a regular at the Vic Club winter series!

After 9 laps the race was over and I had finished up a much improved 9^th place. I didn’t better my race 2 laptime which slightly puzzled me but that’s just the nature of wet weather riding. Looking at the times through the field some guys went 2 seconds faster, some went 2 seconds slower. So that bought the end to the first round of the 2010 championships, a slightly disappointing but valuable learning experience. It’s Teretonga this weekend and by the looks I may get another chance to test my wet weather riding skills, as usual in that part of the country!

Finally I want to say a big thanks to my sponsors, my bike is looking great thanks to the paint job by the guys at Alexandra Panelbeaters and signwriting from Alexandra Signs. Along with www.motorbikeparts.co.nz, Shoei Helmets, Teknic Leathers, RK Chains, Afam Sprockets, Silkolene Oils and Two Wheels Unlimited Alexandra.