View Full Version : STANTHORPE ROUND 3
Just thought I would get in an make a thread for everyones reports and pics.
Will have full report up soon and some pics soon as well.
I think I am starting to get the hang of this supermoto thing, picked up the pace by a huge margin over the last couple of rides. :D :D Pulled out a 3-3-3-3 for 3rd overall in S1, on the podium with Josh 1st and Ross Taylor 2nd.
Pumped.
... Pulled out a 3-3-3-3 for 3rd overall...
Are you sure? I demand a recount. :P
Great work and congratulations! Lookin forward to some details and ride reports.
JB
MarkeeMark
08-09-2008, 07:45 AM
That's freakin awesome Joe Well done!
shane
08-09-2008, 09:09 AM
well done mate so where are your pics ??
There's a few pics coming hopefully! It was a good weekend with no major incidents. The biggest was probably Jovian knocking himself out, but he's ok.
The track was pretty sweet, but a bit of a funny setup. There was only really one proper bitumen corner, with all the rest being either onto the dirt or off the dirt. Not sure if dirt is the right word. It was decomposed granite, which held up really well in the wet, and was pretty challenging after being chopped right up.
We started out with wets on saturday, with intermittent light showers, very cold bitumen and a lot of dirt. Seemed to work well. I came away with two 5th's (I think) in S1, albeit a fair way off the pace! Joe was killing it! I didnt run the first C grade race, after being asked to trim the massive grid down a bit. Their race spread right out though and had some pretty quick guys, so I said bugger it and joined onto the back of the grid for the 2nd C race. Lots of fun, made it up through the pack to maybe 6th or so before binning it on the last lap and rejoining with 11th.
Sunday produced better weather and a mixture of slicks and wets were being used across the field. The warmup session in the morning saw the return of an electrical or fuelling gremlin to my bike, and I missed the first S1 race because of it. I did some work and headed out with C-grade but had to pull in mid race with a DNF. Conceding my weekend was over, I let my bike cool right off for the next hour or so, so as I might have a chance to get a full race in without my surging-when-hot bike ruining it for me.
Good idea, got to have a last bit of fun! Gridded up on the back row again, even left a couple of spots to get the inside run from the 6th row I think it was. :D Got a great start and made up about two rows into the first corner. Worked away at it and made it up to 6th again, but didnt fall off this time before the finish.
Anyway, lots more which I'm sure everyone else will fill in. Next race at Morgan Park for the Qld RR Champs. :D Just gotta get this bike sorted!
Steve, how come you dont take the "back up" kato?
I'll do my report tonight when I get a bit of time as I feel it may be a little verbose!
But as a quick summary... I HAD A BLAST!!!!
In the meantime, here's a pic that the sporties photographer emailed to me this morning (she was using my camera - I've got to get some perks!)...
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/Stanthorpe_01_md.sized.jpg
Any users can add pics to this gallery - http://www.vsmr.net/modules.php?set_albumName=QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
The Kato would've been good with all the dirt too. I'm doing my best to get used to the new beast, and trying to have a bit of faith in her as well. :lol2:
tambi
08-09-2008, 11:55 AM
Nice one fellas :up: looking forward to photos
well my weekend started and ended badly. Some scrutineer decided their was heaps of things which needed to done and redone to my bike. this resulted in me missing the practice and first race. I gridded up last with no knowledge of the track and pretty much stayed there all race. Day 1 ruined.
Day 2 sun came out and i was feeling good as i aleast had some knowledge of the layout and where i could improve. Got a few laps in and managed to pass a few in practice. With the confidence up i tried pushing harder in the dirt. this ended with me locking the front while standing up and landing head first unconscious. Was out for a bit and got taken off the track in the ambo.
Weekend over, sore head, broken helmet, 3 DNS and 15 laps of riding. Thanks to John for driving me home.
Congrats Joe on the results!!
It can only (touch wood) get better Jov! Sucked to see you down.
yeah it was pretty bad, first thing in my mind was whether i could feel my finger and toes. i wiggled them and knew it couldn't be that bad. I wanted to get up quick cause i knew the missus would be worried.
Woolf555
08-09-2008, 01:59 PM
I know what you mean Jov. The same thing happened to me at Calder last year. Didn't quite get knocked out but I was pretty dazed for a while afterwards. Sore head and broken helmet as well but lucky for me no ambo trip. You were probably going a bit quicker than me though ;)
Sucks that you had a bad weekend Jov, missing practice and Race 1 on Saturday probably didn't help your preparations for Sunday. As we discussed yesterday I went past you just before you decided to slip into unconsciousness and thought all was good because your head was up, it wasn't until I saw the ambulance that I realised the severity of the situation.
It's a difficult thing when you see a mate go down like that but thankfully the sporties had plenty of corner workers and you fell off pretty much in-front of the ambulance! Hopefully you have more fun at Warwick in 2 weeks time.
this might sound a bit weird but i am even more pumped for next time. i feel more confident after this weekend.
She is a real sweetie Jov. She was holding back a tear or two!
I have just realised that was my M/C too ya bastard! :lol2: Make sure you shake all the dirt out of it.
yeah she was pretty upset after but she was great all weekend. She understands we crash sometimes
yeah about that...........................hahahaha when Shane sends me mine we can do a swap or something......minor details ;)
QLD SUPERMOTO CHAMPS – Stanthorpe: Round 3
Well, what can I say.... awesome weekend and to think I wasn’t going to enter.
Steve and I rocked up about 830 Saturday morning and spread out across the pits to try and save some room for everyone.
It was raining/drizzle all morning and pretty much all day we had showers. Changed to wets and got ready to go for first practice. First time I had been to Stanthorpe and only second time on the wets but after I cut some decent laps in the wet at Mildura a was looking forward to the wet race... just wasn’t sure about the dirt.
There was 2 dirt sections which would of had to be 45% of the track at a guess and there was not really any road corners so the extra power of the Aprilia didn’t really come into play, probably more of a disadvantage to me with the 2 dirt sections.
Practice went OK and having a bit more bike time and the practice at the MX track the other week with Josh and Ben the dirt sections was not a prob, I would even go as far as saying I went pretty good in the dirt now that I am getting more comfortable on the SXV.
This was only my second ever race in S1 so I wasn't expecting anything great. Got gridded up for first race and it was from points so I was in 7th because I didn’t do the Townsville round and had a bit of a bad run at Ipswich too.
Race1 (S1 & S3 were combined for all the races): Got a pretty good start up into 4th or 5th I think.... anyway made a few passes, and into 3rd with no real battles or anything in the first race and by that time Josh and Ross were gone off way ahead but there was quite a big gap behind me and I think one S3 rider went passed me just smashing it through the dirt where they obviously have an advantage but I would make it up with HP advantage the ape has on the tarmac. Finished 3rd
Race2: Stoked with a 3rd for S1 and got to grid up on the front row this time. Held my position and was trying to keep up with Josh and Ross but they were quicker through the dirt than what I was, had a bit of a battle with another S1 rider and thought I would get him down the straight but he had some crazy big bore husky (VDB’s Championship winning bike Steve tells me) that if anything edged away from me but once I got passed him within 2 laps I was gone and finished another 3rd.
Sunday warm up: It was dry when we turned up but overcast. Changed to a rear slick and did, (what is now my trademark groves hahaha) a fancy grove up of the tyre. Left the front wet on for practice because track was quite cold and a little damp.
After prac finished I decided to go to slick front and thanks to Jovian’s off (hope you are OK today) he gave me a bit more time to quickly get it on before the race started. Once I got the Alpinas on with the slicks the bike felt like a rocket. Going from a big 180 rear wet and tubes to the tubeless Alpinas with slicks was great. Actually got better drive on the dirt with the horizontal cuts of the slick than the wets.
Race3 Sunday: Got a very good start, if I held it open a bit more I would have had the holeshot but there was not much point trying to get in the way of Josh because he was a fair bit quicker. So was running 2nd until out of the first dirt section Ross got passed me in the dirt where he was quicker on the Honda and I ended up finishing 3rd again really just riding by myself with no battles but also finished in front of all the S3 riders by a bit as well so I was getting quicker through the dirt as the day went on.
Race4, last race: Got an even better start, probably a bike length but didn’t push for the holeshot because I didn’t really see the point again (‘harden up’ I hear you say hahaha) Still would have been cool to get the holeshot on Josh. Went 2nd onto the dirt and held off Ross for a bit longer this time and when he got passed me I was sticking with him, where he would go slightly better in the dirt I was making it back up on the tarmac. At some point his muffler fell off as well, then a few more laps in I dropped about 1m before the tarmac so that stuffed my chances of a 2nd place. Still ended up finshing 3rd though so was happy with the whole weekend.
Thanks to Gold Coast Aprilia/Suzuki, Gimoto leathers, all the Aprilia boys for good company and Jovian and Paul as well..... Gordon, Steve(Devo), other Steve, Ben, Josh, Steve again for stickers and his Dad for a place to stay and Alpina Italy for sending me those sweet wheels. Also to Steph for doing the photos of the days which we should have soon !! Can’t forget the M/C Sportsmen for running the show.
Great weekend.
Gordon did well agian in the Vets and good work to everyone else, even though poor Jovian had a bit of a shitter and also the 2 steve's bike trouble were not so good.
You must be loving your first race hey Paul !?
Your other mate that was there on Saturday should have some pics as well hey Steve ??
i saw u needed some time Joe so i stayed down and i watched out of the corner of my eye till u were ready
A+++ for your acting Jovian. Eating dirt and slobbering on yourself is really going above and beyond for your art. :lol2:
anything to get joe's name on the truck!!
shane
08-09-2008, 04:59 PM
yeah she was pretty upset after but she was great all weekend. She understands we crash sometimes
yeah about that...........................hahahaha when Shane sends me mine we can do a swap or something......minor details ;)
you still have not sent me your address :shock: :shock: :shock: its taking up space on my bench waiting for to be sent :) :)
tell me how you want it sent and i can do it tomorrow
MarkeeMark
08-09-2008, 05:28 PM
Awesome report Joe and Jov bad luck mate I'm glad you're ok, just don't let anyone catch you talking to yourself out loud cos they will eventually lock you up! haha
After much cajoling and convincing I finally decided that my FIRST EVER race (not counting primary school sports day) would be at Stanthorpe - far away from the familiar surroundings of Ipswich Kart Track. Problem was, I decided this on the Tuesday before the race! A few phone calls and much filling out of forms saw me joining the "Motorcycle Sportsmen of Qld" and a promise from MQ that my Senior National License would be in my hands by Friday!
The next few days were filled with preparing the bike (mostly nervous obsessive compulsive cleaning!) and 5hitting myself when I thought about how I was going to fck up the start! It didn't seem too much of a drama until the license finally turned up as promised, then I knew there was no chance of making any excuses, the race was on for number 314 (Pi multiplied by 100 - I like to eat a lot of pies!)
I checked out the rider list on Friday night and noticed that my mate Tom, a new addition to the IKT scene had decided to enter, it was to be his first race, so I was happy to see a familiar face with a similar level of experience!
I met Tom in Brisbane at some ridiculously early time on Saturday morning and this saw us arrive early in a cold and rainy Stanthorpe - We went straight to the nearest Hardware store to buy a couple of Gazebos - They were hardly factory style but hey, what did we expect for $39!! (anyone want to buy a gazebo - only lightly used? :D ). Once set up together and secured with a generous amount of zip ties our pit was looking pretty good!
Looking around there were a lot of familiar faces which helped to quell the nerves, everyone was happy to answer stupid questions and pass on words of encouragement and advice.
Next step was sign-on and scrutineering for the bikes and gear, this proved pretty straightforward for me... unfortunately Jovian wasn't so lucky, ending up with a HUGE list of things to drill and lockwire on the CRF. By the time the rider's briefing came around, the butterflies in my stomach had morphed into albatrosses! The standard disclaimer "motorcycle racing is dangerous...you may be killed or injured..." seemed a bit more relevant than when read on the back of a GP ticket.
After a fair bit of deliberation and question asking, I decided to stay on slicks for the first practice session, it wasn't raining anymore so the track was only damp but it was still bitterly cold - If it was really scary, John, the tyre man had a huge stack of wets in his trailer.
Now, at this stage I'd like to point out that my dirt riding experience amounts to 2 gentle 4 hour trail rides and 2 hours on a quad bike in Namibia - none of this in the last 4 years! I figured that I'd better make the most of practice to figure out what to do in the dirt section which seemed to comprise most of the track apart from the straight and 2 pure road corners. First up was the 180 right hander transition from the straight to the 1st dirt section - most people seemed to run the corner really wide so they could hit the dirt upright and on the gas, I did the same and it worked! woohoo! The Tabletop was next, it took a few goes to understand it but I had a rough idea about what to do... coordination and information overload was the main problem at first!
The next part was a flat rutted turn with a slight berm on the dirt straight exit onto the tar - I struggled with this in practice, my body position was all wrong which made the front feel scary and I couldn't get any drive - My road racing influenced lines didn't help much either. Back in the pits I got a lot of advice from a very knowledgeable friend which when applied gradually throughout the day saw me almost enjoying this section!
A short section of tar led on to the second dirt section with an easy kicker and a sandy left hand berm which I never truly got to grips with, a tricky uphill right hander took us back onto the tar where a left kink and a 90 right had us back on the home straight. Looking at the track on Google earth it seems it was probably about 50/50 dirt/tar in distance but the difficulty ratio was probably 90/10 dirt/tar - it wasn't really possible for a road rider to make up much time on the tar, one or two places at the end of the straight with demon late braking perhaps, but it was hard to keep them behind through the dirt! Especially when it was so comfortable to lie down in!
I decided to stay on slicks for the race, the tyres weren't sliding on the bitumen and I was pretty sure that my performance in the dirt wasn't something that could be cured with new tyres - unless they were knobbies! The scrutineers decided they didn't like numbers that Steve had made for me to my design so I quickly remedied that with a black paint marker! Thanks again for the stickers Steve!
First race and we head out on the formation lap... all the while I'm thinking hope they don't black flag me for "wasting time on the sighting lap"! I was trying my hardest to get round to the grid quickly! My grid position was easy to spot... no previous results and an untimed practice meant I was on the back row next to Tom. When the Red lights came on, I can't remember being nervous as I prepared for the lights to go out... clutch at biting point, a bit of throttle, front brake on, weight over the bars trying to stare down the lights! Lights out and I didn't fck up my first start! I made up quite a few positions off the grid but those positions didn't last too long once we hit the dirt section! The race was pretty uneventful, I'd told myself before the race that I was under no pressure to perform and I treated it more like a practice session, I passed a few riders (admittedly they were on the ground!) got passed a lot of times and kept it upright to the finish - I have no idea where I finished but I'm pretty sure it wasn't any higher than my starting position! I was stoked to finish safely and the nerves had subsided to a normal level!
Race 2: I can't remember much about apart from a rubbish start, feeling a bit more confident and binning it at the entry to the first dirt section - Front brake + lean + dirt + lack of skill = Lie down! The bike was still running and I wasn't hurt so I jumped back on to finish the race - once again, no idea of position!
Sunday morning dawned overcast but no rain! A track walk confirmed that the track was dry and the dirt section had been groomed nicely. Novice practice was unfortunately red flagged when Jovian got a little over enthusiastic on the second dirt section. It was a worrying time sitting on the dummy grid watching the ambulance hoping that it didn't take Jovian away.
Race 3: Went OK, better start this time but still loosing a lot of time on the dirt, I passed a few riders (some of whom were actually still on their bikes!). I had a reasonably spectacular lie down when I completely mucked up the berm, stalled, overbalanced and ended up having to dive off the top of it! I landed with a forward roll and quickly got my still running upside down bike off the berm! Remounted to finish somewhere toward the rear, happy to finish and learning every lap!
Race 4: I got what I thought was a great start until I saw Steve come past me so fast I feared for my stickers! He must have made up at least 3 rows into the first corner! Passed a few riders, became confident on the first dirt section - in this race I don't think I was really losing time to the majority of the other riders through there. But I still rode like a gumby on the second half of the second dirt section which didn't help my progress. I managed to have a lie down in the dirt on the penultimate lap when I moved off-line to let a faster rider through but remounted to finish, once again towards the rear!
I had a great weekend, my results were less than spectacular but I did what I set out to do - finish every race safely and learn - I certainly learned a lot!
Congrats to Joe and Gordon for their respective podiums, thanks to the Sporties and volunteers for putting on such a great weekend, also thanks to all who offered advice, encouragement and answered my [stupid] questions. Well done to everyone who made the effort to get out there and race, it was great to finally be on the other side of the fence, the only problem is now I think that I might be addicted!
Great report Paul, pity I couldnt make it otu to spectate.
So whens the next race?
Cheers brian
Ozmoto
09-09-2008, 03:29 PM
:needpics:
SlickNCGhia
09-09-2008, 03:46 PM
so many lie downs...this has got me a bit nervous for tt lol. great read
megahead
09-09-2008, 04:33 PM
that was awesome paul,
i liked jov's and devo's accounts as well
and remember if you dont fall off then how do you know where the limit is?
good stuff fellas 8) :D 8)
i fell off but i don't remember where the limit is
megahead
09-09-2008, 04:36 PM
i fell off but i don't remember where the limit is
thats ok try again next time :P
:lol: :lol:
There is NO LIMIT !! (I'm doing the 'OK' hand signal hahaha... no more of that please)
u gave me one at the start of the weekend...........u bastard!!!!
http://www.do2learn.com/picturecards/images/imageschedule/okay_l.gif
Wobbly
09-09-2008, 05:09 PM
Awesome paul - excellent to see you getting out there and having a go.
Unlike other fat, lazy pricks. Like me. :D
You gave it to me first Jovian haha.
Oh yeah, good work for your first race Paul, see you at practice Friday night eh?? Who else up for IKT friday ?
Hope we have pics soon !
MarkeeMark
09-09-2008, 06:29 PM
Awesome write up Paul, well done mate, glad you had a blast!
Nick don't stress to much about TT it's way less stressful than an actual race and most of the laying down all us novice racers did was in the dirt sections.
They have one at TT but we'll prolly use it later in the day and if and when we do it's very, very simple.
Jov - I gave you an OK sign at the end of Sunday practice when I saw you standing dazed and confused in the infield of the track... did I offend you :lol:
I'll be at IKT on Friday night - who else?
all things goin well i should be
Some pics I pulled off my camera - I believe Steph has the photo CDs in the post but these are just a few from the last 2 races that were left on my card.
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/devo_2.sized.jpg
Devo
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/joe_1.sized.jpg
Joe
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/Maico_1.sized.jpg
Gordon
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/linden_1.sized.jpg
Linden Magee
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/josh_1.sized.jpg
Josh McFarlane
Thanks mate. Yeah I think I should have my CD tomorrow.
I just checked the Aprilia website too and us privateers didn't even get a mention in the press release !!! We were supposed to, that would have been cool.
I thought you would be in it Gordon and Steve Anderson for S2 should have been in it ??
shane
11-09-2008, 08:00 PM
great pics
no one cares until ur name is on the truck
tambi
12-09-2008, 09:33 AM
Looking good :up:
Got my photo CD I had to post this image...
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/sportsmen_075.sized.jpg
First Race, trying to run the inside line on the dirt, a general lack of any dirt skills caused the back to step out of the rut resulting in Highside! I managed to stay upright but nearly got t-boned by a Yamaha as I was perpendicular to the track! All fun! :D
shane
12-09-2008, 09:47 AM
yuk look at that soft sand they need to get surfaces like this YouTube - Supermoto 2008 XTRM/AMA Tooele Utah or there is not point running dirt sections
haha cool pic. I haven't got my pics yet... I have been hanging all week.
Maybe I will get em at practice tonight, maybe you can find out for me Paul ??
Yeah it was soft deco/sandy stuff, good for 2 wheel drifts :lol:
Wobbly
12-09-2008, 09:13 PM
What a sporting profile :D
Here is some from Stanthorpe finally thanks to Steve for emailing me them and Steph for taking them. Show us yours too Steve ! Bring the CD for me on Sat night if you can, I've been going crazy waiting hahaha
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/072_G.jpg
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/080_G.jpg
Here is Jovian having relations with his bike.
http://vsmr.net/albums/QLD-Rd-3-Carnell-Raceway-Stanthorpe/IMG_2636.sized.jpg
Turn your fuel off Jovian!! :lol:
Yep, I'll have it with me on Sat.
MarkeeMark
25-09-2008, 09:49 AM
LOL Nice pic Jov!
Flash
25-09-2008, 12:30 PM
WTF are you doing to your poor bike Jov??
WTF are you doing to your poor bike Jov??
looks like spooning to me!
Jov wasn't happy with the scrutineers that day.
Wobbly
25-09-2008, 02:26 PM
He's drilling speed holes in the cylinder block.
Factory secret :-$
hahaha bloody race officals...............
Happy snaps.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2891757499_8ec16de1cf.jpg
All the photos were from this corner, 20m from the pits, lazy photographer! :P
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/2892592640_7d912bc2f1.jpg
In loving memory of my tank stickers which lasted 2 days. :lol:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/2892588854_1f34f8c7dc.jpg
Ahhh, Aprilia.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2891744863_8ae9c11052.jpg
Playing in the sand pit.
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