NZSBK Sidecars Manfeild

[Warwick]

As always the journey begins with a visit to Daves place to for a look over of the outfit and loading up

Divvo had hooked up the quickshifter but for some reason it didn’t want to play the game and after ****ing about with it for a bit decided not to bother and we tossed everything in the Mighty Transit

All loaded up and the plan was to meet at Colins to hook up the trailer and we’d be on our way about 8am Thursday morning as he’d loaded up Moby Dick (the white whale)the night before

On the road and I think something had crawled up Daves arse and died as Colin was just about choking on the noxious gas emanating from him, I’d spent enough time around him to build up somewhat an immunity and we’d stuck Colin in the centre seat so he could be our ***** which meant he couldn’t even get his head out the window

On to Picton and smooth sailing across Cook Straight and a stay in Welly for the night, up early and on the road as we were going to do the Friday practice

Arriving at the track we found the Bron crew already set up on the concrete slab, so we unloaded and set up next to them

Now Colin had come up without even entering and not knowing if his normal swinger would be here for race day, he can run a supercomputer but can’t organise a **** up in a pub (from now on he will be known as propeller head), so some random guy (thanks Tony) stepped in so he could do the practice day, Drew was about 30 minutes to late to get that spot and a ride for the weekend

As the forecast for the weekend was for good weather we decided to save the $100 test fee and not worry about practice, so we checked over the outfit gassed it up, tyre pressures so it was all good to go for Saturday

Up nice and early and back to the track, we breeze through scrutineering and we’re all set

Practice 1
First session we’re running in some brake pads so we do a easy few laps and pull back into pit lane to let them cool off before we head back out for another four laps to punish them a bit, coming into turn one and Stacey/Louise are parked across the track after having a little spin, end of the session and we’d done a 1.20 which had us in P4 but we knew we’d go much faster in the second session

Back up on the stands and another check over, check the gas usage and then it’s back to waiting, Stacey/Louise have have clutch problems and the bikes being pulled to bits to sort it

Propeller head has got Tony on Moby Dick for the day as Paul can’t make it, now Tony has done a bit of bike racing in pre82 but his sidecar experience is a few laps on a “have a go day” and yesterdays practice but he’s doing just fine and loving it

Qualifying 1
We’re dialling it up a bit harder and going in deeper under brakes, harder on the gas on the way out; we do about 4 laps then pull in for a break and check our times which are starting to come down then head back out for a few more, at the end of the session we’re fairly happy to find our best was a 1.17.074 which is our personal best and a second quicker than the previous year but still left us in P4

By this time with the trouble Stacey/Louise had been having our stands had been stolen by them after there own stands collapsed so with the outfit on the ground we give it another look over

Propeller head/Tony and Moby dick have got down to 1.26 from doing 1.30 and is also well happy with his first visit here

Race 1
The Bron crew are hard out trying to sort Stacey/Louise clutch and as we roll up to the line they’re nowhere to be seen, lights out and we get a flyer, we go around Adam/Stu who were gridded in front of us and have Steve/Denny just inside us, into turn one we’re looking around the outside but Steve/Denny are getting a bit loose and it’s looking dodgy, through splash and to the hairpin we’re right behind them and then they open the throttle and motor away down towards Higgins, a lap or so later both Adam/Stu and the Lawrence’s come past, we hang with them for the next few laps but they slowly pull away, we’re as fast as everyone through turn one and round through to the hairpin but they seem to have a little bit more off the hairpin and pull a bike length or two every lap, we’re hitting the corners harder than ever before and speeding a fair amount of time on the limiter but we’re not quite quick enough

¾ race distance and Stacey/Louise come past after being late up and having to start from pit lane and we follow them into turn one Stay is hard on the gas smoking the rear and leaving a 15 metre black stripe down the track, chequered flag and we’ve come in 5th and more importantly finished in front of Pete/Jono to take back a point or two and another personal best lap of 1:16.386

Looking for that extra edge I wander off and fit a new set of tyres for the next days racing, thanks to Red and Triple R for the lend of their tyre machine

Sunday

We go out for a few easy laps in the scrub session and to let Propeller head/Tony follow us around so they can get both an idea on some lines around the place and so Tony can watch what I do and where I do it

Race 2

Stacey/Louise are on their grid this time and either our start was worse or everyone else got better as there’s a big bunch jostling for position in turn 1, we’re back into 6th with Pete/Jono just in front, we carry more speed through the corners and just about give him a nudge a couple of times but he’s got the legs down the straight, finally we both hit turn 1 nose to tail he’s a bit wide and gets a bit sideways and Divvo turns it in tighter and on the gas earlier and we’re through, we drop him off then notice we’re gaining on Adam/Stu but with a couple of laps to go and Pete/Jono parked up at the hairpin Dave backs it off as a vibration is making itself felt, Propeller head/Tony are parked at turn 1 after getting tagged from behind by Tracey/Sidecar bob when Colin got a bit sideways in a braking duel, so we cruise home for another 5th and another PB 1:16.194

Up on the stands and Beau is called over, they decide it’s a gearbox problem and well go out in the next one anyway, gas it up, check it over

Race 3

We get dicked on the start and even Burt/Rat are giving us a hurry up but we shut them down into Higgins under brakes and set off after Pete/Jono, it takes a few laps but we get past them and keep it nailed to drop them off, I’m surprised the gearbox didn’t decide to jump ship the way Dave was punishing it and the vibration has gone from only appearing in one gear to being in pretty much all of them, I’m getting pretty tired by this stage in the day and my forearms are starting to pump up so I’m pretty happy to see the white flag and even happier a lap later when it’s chequered and another 5th which I think with Pete/Jon dnf moves us up to 4th overall for the series and we got another PB 1:16.005 so not quite the 1.15 I was hoping for but close enough to keep us both happy

A big thanks to Steve Bron and crew, especially Beau who give us a lot of help and support at each round and the VMCC for a very well run event and Jo who makes sure I have everything with me to go away (even if I miss Valentines day)

The gearbox comes to bits this week for a look over and we’ll be all set by the time Pukekohe comes around