Welcome to the results page. Here I will post up my results for the weekend and a bit of a run down on how the weekend went.
24th May 2008 NDMX
First race in B grade at Nunnawading. Our race was combined with the A graders. Ok starts, ok races. Was a good weekend to just see where I was at, getting a taste of B grade ready for the next race day.
17th - 18th May 2008 Toolleen Open
What a write off! Travelled up to Toolleen on the Friday night. When we arrived i looked at the track, at it was awesome! BUT, it rained all night all day for the whole weekend! The saturdays practice seemed promising. The track was so wet you could just power through everything, no ruts, just slush. 1st race was a different story though. Everything was cross rutted, everyone was stacking. The winner was whoever could pick up their bike the quickest and get it started again. I bent my radiator when running into someone again! Didn't bother with the Sunday as the track was just as bad as the day before and I was only going to get a 4 lap race . . . not worth the hassle
20th April 2008 Blue Rock Gippy
This was my first senior race in the Gippsland Centre Series. Not a bad day over all. Only finished two races as in the last race I ran into a rider who fell down infront of me. As it took a while for medical people to come help him I took his bike off the track, warned other riders to slow down and made sure he was ok. Luckily all is good with him. In the races i finsihed about mid pack, with our races being split into two as there was 80 riders. Over all though due to a DNF my results were not that good.
5th April 2008
First race on the new bike at NDMX saw me hole shot and win every race. The day was pretty easy as my races did not require much effort. Next race day I will be racing in Senior B grade, which will be much harder and require me to race hard.
25th August 2007- club champs round 1
Today I felt really good in practice. The track was dry with heaps of mulch in the corners. In the first race I had a great start, coming 4th overall and in the lead of my grade. For about two laps I stayed in 4th and was keeping up with the A graders until I made a really bad braking error making my front wheel wash out. While struggling to get back up about 10 seconds after I stacked another racer rode straight into my back! I finished last or close to it. In the next race I felt really sore, especially my neck and back. When I finished my race I was worse than I was before, having a really stiff neck and a bad headache. I was struggling to concentrate and I decided not to race the next race. Better to be safe than sorry and I did not want to rule myself out of the next Gippy round where I would be better able to gauge my progress after such a bad start to the year!
August 2007
NDMX again this time in B grade. First B grade race on the 125. The track was alright, pretty slick in the first couple of races drying out towards the end. Terrible starts again and having A graders in the race didnt make them look any better! Over all finishing about 4th in my grade. Looking to work on my starts and getting more aggressive in the corners.
July 2007
Todays Nunawading round saw a great looking track after much needed work being carried out mid week.. The stutters were fixed and so were a couple of other areas. It looked great for racing but a little early rain made it a little slippy in the practice and first races. However I was set for racing. Practice was good, but as I said the track was a bit sloshy. A bad start in the first race meant I got filled in at the end of the straight and I went over the top berm in the first corner! Ha ha! I couldn't see a thing and tried to feel my way round the berm but just went flying over it! Luckily a guy had also stacked, not being able to get up in a dangerous position meant the race was restarted so I was lucky. However in all my races I struggled with traction off the start because of the wet track and my light weight meaning I was last in the first corner every time. Coming out of the corner I was making up 2 or 3 positions. My faster pace meant that I was able to pick off the other riders but left myself too much to do to catch the leaders but able to make my way up to 4th in each ride. Oh for another lap! Overall I ended up 4th for the dayWhich resulted in me getting 4th overall missing out on a podium by one point.
Despite the poor starts I am pleased with the weekend as the race pace shows that the training and track time are starting to pay dividends and I will definately be at the top again soon.
Another weekend of practice and hopefully a few hours with Taylor Potter will give me the stepping stone for the Club Champs coming up soon.
JUNE 2007
Having recovered from my broken elbow I am now back on the road to race fitness but two injuries on the same arm in a short space of time have meant little or no gym time and very little practice. The Nunawading round was not too bad except for some bad starts which prevented me from finishing on the podium. The actual racing was not too bad and I was soon on the pace at the small jumpy track. Unfortunately Blue rock was much worse. Reduced to two rounds because of bad light I needed to make an early impression but failed drastically in the start and trailed in well behind the leaders. The second round was a little better with an agresive start but once again the race fitness meant that eventually I was caught by the majority of the field. It is quite evident that my fitness isn't where it needs to be for me to be running up the front where I want to be, finishing a bit of the pace in both rounds. Time to get back into training now that my arm is pretty much fully ready for some weights. More time with Taylor Potter will get my track craft and confidence back up. Here's to a better end to the year before I move up to Seniors next year!
APRIL 2007
Not a great start to this year.
21/04/2007 Gippsland Centre Round 2 Korumburra
Having decided that it was going to be some time before I was able to handle the 125 due to the elbow injury we concentrated on the 85cc for this round. Unfortunately the black cat that has followed me around this last few months will not go away!
Race 1 saw a reasonable start ruined in about 100 meters when the rider next to me lost control over a rut and basically lifted and moved across me. I entered the last few yards before the turn with only one hand on the bars and one foot on the pegs. Despite exiting the corner in last position I managed to fight my way through the pack to finish just outside the top 10 and hoped for better luck in the next race.
Race 2: All I want to do is get some races under my belt to increase my race fitness and to kick start the year. This was not going to be the case this weekend as once again I did not manage to get round the first corner before the bike was basically trashed. I had entered the corner in about 3rd or 4th place when I came together with another rider. The bikes became locked together and as we tried to separate them the other rider saw fit to try to ride his bike apart from mine. This resulted in a damaged right hand radiator, trashed tank plastics, torn seat, trashed rear plastics, brake lever broken in three places, damaged throttle and two buckles torn off my boots. Yippee!
With a very second hand throttle and a rapidly patched up bike I managed to get out for race three but the heavens had opened turning the track into a mud bath that was hard to ride even with a servicable bike. Basically I just made up the numbers for this race and got back to the pits feeling very sorry for myself.
Still onwards and upwards! We learnt a fair bit and got some more track time on the 125cc. I now know that at this stage the priority is to get to the corners first and keep myself out of trouble.
14/04/2007 Blue Rock 2 day Open
When I saw the track it seemed like it was going to be a great day to get back into racing. Lots of undulations and some good jumps to get my season off to a start.
85cc Race 1:
Got a reasonable start and entered the first corner mid pack. Unfortunately we had made a bad call on the gearing as the bike had no pull up the hills and despite holding my own in a staright line I could not keep them behind me on the uphill sections and lacked drive from the corners. As a result I finished well down and came into the pits very disappointed to say the least.
85cc Race 2:
Having put two extra teeth on the rear I flew out of the start and was soon up challenging for 3rd place. I felt as though there was room for improvement and started to put some pressure on those ahead of me. However entering the third lap I seemed to lose 3rd and 4th gear which meant that I had very little chance of gaining any more places. Unfortunately I missed a gear and went wide into one corner, lost loads of places and never recovered from that. Off I went into the pits even more despondent than the first race. Bad results on the 125 (see below) meant that I was not exactly having the best of days.
85CC Race three
After some investigation into the missing gear issue and being to select all gears on the stand we decided that it was more than likely a combination the new gearing and not enough agression with the gearchange.
I shot out of the start and entered the first corner in around 6th place. Choosing a better line than others I gained a few places and completed the first lap in 4th place and gaining quickly on the front three. After the start finish there is a small ski jump which I hit with the intention of cutting inside the 3rd place rider but unfortunately he chose the same line whilst I was in the air! The result was that I went over the bars in an attempt to avoid hitting him full on. I came off worse with a cracked helmet and a dose of tunnel vision. I tried to remount but only went straight to the pits when it was obvious something was wrong. Dad took one look at me and marched me off to the medics where I was put under observation, diagnosed with concussion and spent 1/2 hour on oxygen.
And so ended my return to racing for that week.
125 cc races:
It is quite obvious that I am far from fully recovered from my elbow break. Despite some good starts I could not manouvre the bike at all in the corners when a little agression was required. I did not finish in the top half of the field at all and will need to work on my elbow strength and upper body in general to become as competetive as I would like to be before the end of the year. My Karate and Fitness instructer has worked out a training regime for me and I have undergone some remedial therapy on the elbow joint in order to make things better.
Gippsland series 2006
21/10/2006 Gippsland Series Round 8 Rosebud
I had heard
a great deal about this track. It's jumpy and it's sandy.....very very sandy. As I walked the track I thought that the track looked awesome and would really be fun to ride. I was sadly mistaken.
I had no luck at all. I just couldn't get used to the track. Having never ridden on such deep sand I was lacking in some track craft and I stacked on every race, but then again so did a lot of the field.
So I ended this season on a low note, but on the upside I learnt a lot in these few rounds which will stand me in good stead for next years full season of racing. This season has been a big learning curve and I can't wait to get back and racing again next year.
14/10/2006 Nunawading Club Championships Round 3
Coming into this round I was one point ahead of 3rd place, Ben Staff. All I needed to do was finish ahead of him in every race.
In the first race our age group was mixed in with the younger ones. I had a reasonable start coming about 4th into the first corner and I held this position to the end of the race ending up 3rd in my age group. One position ahead of Ben Staff. So far so good!
In our second race we were split up from the younger guys and raced by ourselves. I had another OK start and was just behind 2nd place. I hadnt jumped the back double before, but I was really keen to do it. On the first lap only one rider jumped it. On the second lap as we were approaching the jump, I just thought to myself "Go for it." So I did. I followed the other guys over it. It was a bit sketchy for the first couple of times but got the hang of it on the last lap. I ended up 3rd and once again one position in front of Ben.
On the last race of the day, I went into the final race confident. But on the first lap I went down and bent a bolt that holds the bars. With this and bent forks to contend with I could not make back any ground and ended up 5th in the final race.
Unfortunately, Ben went on to win that race, which in the overall standing pushed me down to 3rd in 'B' grade which is still very good for my first year of racing having started in 'C' grade in March. I think I can be proud of what I have achieved with less than 12 months of experience.
7/10/2006 Gippsland Series Round 7 Yarram
After my first ever round in Wonthaggi and a good showing in the second round of the club championships we headed off to Yarram in a good frame of mind.
Walking the track in the early hours of Saturday revealed a very muddy surface and it was clear this was going to be another huge learning curve.
Despite this practice went very well. Myself and the bike felt really good throughout and I looked forward to a good day.
The start gate was a little strange as they had decided to have a very short run up to the first corner meaning a good start was needed to make sure I did not leave myself too much work. I picked an outside gate for the first race and lined up for the start.
Despite a very crowded first corner I settled into about 8th place and remained there for a while until superior track knowledge allowed a number of riders to pass me, however as a few people stacked I finished up gaining a few places and finished 10th.
Race 2 was a far better experience as I had learnt a few lines and felt confident that I could improve my position as I had done the previous round. A good start and clean first turn saw me exit turn two in 5th position behind the more experienced riders and four clean laps meant that I did not lose any places and came home comfortably having tried a few more lines on the rapidly drying track.
Unfortunately race 3 was not going to go to plan.
I had chosen a gate towards the inside and had convinced myself that I was going to make a good start. The gate dropped and away I went into turn 1. I made myself as wide as possible to prevent being shut out and came out of the tangle in 4th position carrying a lot of speed out of the turn which meant I passed one rider to enter the next section of the track in 3rd position, feeling comfortable and determined to maintain the speed I had picked up in races 1&2. Unfortunately my race came to an abrupt halt in the shape of a huge high side after the next sequence. The bike started to slide and I tried to keep the power on steady to ride the rut but it just snapped sideways and offloaded me unceremoniously onto the dirt (see injury report). I managed to pick myself up but the forks were twisted and I had no idea where my front wheel was facing! I carried on to the end of the race but the ruts are hard to ride when the wheel is hard to place in the right part of the track.
So a last place in the final race put a dampener on the day, although I was happy overall and know I can be up at the front if I can keep out of trouble. I look forward to the final round of the series in Rosebud and hope that I can cap the year off with a good round.
16/09/2006 Nunawading Club Championships Round 2
The practice jinks has certainly got it in for me at Nunawading. Despite a perfect track and bike I could not get a clean lap! I wanted to get some confidence in the new gearing we ran at Wonthaggi round but I seemed to come upon the slower riders at the worst time. As I had set off mid-field I could not get a clean run. I need to work out a good strategy to ensure a clear track wherever possible.
A good start in the first race from gate 1. Entering turn 1 in fourth place I passed two people over the first small table top to settle into second place behind Tyrone Guthrie (#373) who had already pulled a small gap to rest of the field. I had wanted to set off after Tyron to improve my lines and speed but I was being given some close attention by Ben Staff (#204) and was more concerned about keeping my position. As a result Tyrone was well on his way to the first of three victories by the time I had shaken off Ben and I came home in a comfortable second place.
A disasterous start in race 2 saw me in an all too familiar last place. I had tried to roll start and rolled too far. I do not know how but I accidently hit neutral when I tried to stop the bike rolling forwards. So when the gate dropped I had a whole heap of revs and no gear which meant I was going nowhere fast. A panic selection of first gear instead of second resulted in a big lift and off I went after the rest of the field.
Despite the small field it was made up of the faster riders so I had to work hard to get up to fourth place by the end of the race. I was gaining well but would have needed another lap to catch up to third placed Ben Staff so I wound up fourth.
Race three was a much better start (thanks for the humourous hints lads!) and I again set off after Tyron. I had really wanted to get out in front of him to make him work hard for his three wins but he was in a different world today. Once again I needed to see off a challenge from Ben Staff to ensure that I finished second and despite a more determined effort from Ben I once again trailed Tyrone to the line.
Two second places and one fourth gave me second place overall in round two of the championships. With Tyrone winning the first two rounds and with one more to go the rest of us are now fighting for the minor placings in the overall chamionships. Another solid round next month should see me on the podium, but with Ben Staff and Josh King (#313) both going well I will need to be on my game.
09/09/2006 Gippsland Series Round 6 Wonthaggi
Originally I had decided that I would not race in the Gippsland series until next year. I would do one year on the KTM SX85 before moving up to seniors on a 125cc machine. However my reasonable results against other riders competing in this series prompted me to take in a few rounds at the end of 2006 to gain some experience and we decided to take part in our first round at Wonthaggi.
Because of the early start and the near two hour drive myself, Chris "Skeet" Milk (#567), our two mechanics (Dads) and my Mum, travelled down the evening before. This meant that despite our initial nerves and relative lack of sleep we were pretty fresh on the day.
Driving into the pits I began to realise just how big these meetings can be and an entry of over 40 "C" grade riders for this round confirmed that. A decision was made by the organisors to split the grade into two groups of 24 riders. However because of a number of no shows my group was down to 21 riders.
Practice went well and I soon got used to the track and the new gearing we had decided to try out (thanks to Hayden Harris and his dad for the info!) and I was soon tackling all the sections with confidence. However corner 8 was a little beyond my reach as it is a huge step up that only the higher grade riders were achieving on the day.
Race 1 went well despite a huge lift after a reasonable start. The start straight was very boggy with a few dry patches and I think I picked up a heap of grip which along with the new gearing nearly caught me out. Entering turn one in about 15th place I managed to take a clean line round the outside in turn two which meant I picked up a number of places. Throughout the next 4 laps I kept a tidy line and having passed a few more riders I finished in 9th. Not a bad start to my first MA round.
Race 2 was pretty much the same. I managed to get out of the gate cleanly as did most of the field and again after a clean tidy race I was back up to ninth position by the end. So two ninth places in my first rides of the series had me in a good frame of mind for the last race of the day. I had had two reasonable races despite avarage starts and had to battle for positions throughout the race.
Race 3 started out really well! I knew I could be quicker than some of the other guys around me and needed a good start to be up with the leaders. This was proved when I came out of the first corner in a good position to attack. Running in 5th place and ahead of the riders I had been chasing earlier in the day I set off after the guys in front. I comfortably held that position until the second last lap, where I went to make a move for 4th position, but evasive action taken to avoid a fall meant that I had to take a slight detour which would have been fine if there wasn't a hole just big enough for my rear tyre. By the time that I was able to free the bike I had already lost 6 positions finishing the race in 11th.
02/09/2006 Nunawading Club Championships Round 1
Deja Vu! Practice was a none starter! Despite regular cleaning and maintenance the gremlins struck again and the bike had absolutely no power. The best I could do was to get back to the pits to remedy the problem before racing started. The carburettor bowl had already been drained prior to the meeting, the fuel was fresh and the spark plug only one meeting old but the engine was not sounding right at all. With no chance to find out exactly what was causing the problem we replaced the fuel, drained and flushed the carby and replaced the spark plug. As an absolute precaution we also reverted to the stock breather hose in case it was a fuel starvation problem.
I was a little tentative to start with in the first race following a less than brilliant start but once I knew the power was back I started to make my way through the field and managed to get from near the back up to fourth place. I finished the race confident that the bike was back to it's best.
Lesson learnt in second race ...... Let the gate drop before you go! What a disaster. Full of confidence after the first race I tried to out smart the starter and paid the price of starting the race in last place and with plenty of ground to make up. I set off with a clear track in front of me and rapidly made up ground by riding harder and faster than I had done in the first race. With the room to move I could pick the faster lines and soon made up the ground to the tail enders. Picking them off one by one I again managed to fight my way back to fourth position once more.
After the disappointment of the second race I was determined to have a better third race and was pleased with my start. Entering the first corner I held the power on longer and got the jump on a few riders and came out in third position. After a short battle with the rider in second place I managed to pass him but could not shake him off. An error in the last turn before the canteen straight allowed him to pass me and the chase was on once more. One lap later I had regained the position and my determination to maintain my position meant having to tackle a series of jumps on the back straight that I had not managed before. I just wound the throttle open and nailed the sequence meaning I had plenty of room to make the last lap a little more comfortable finishing second.
Two fourth positions and a second gave me third place overall leading into the second round on the club championships in two weeks time.
15/07/2006 Nunawading Race Day Round 6
What a horrible race weekend. When we got there it was raining and dark and there was talk of just calling the race off there and then. Luckily the racing went on. Unluckily we only had one race and then they called it off, after everyone got muddy and wet. Too bad that the weather won this race day. Finished the regular club season in third posistion overall. However this was mainly due to being able to carry my "C" grade points over to "B" grade when upgraded. I will have to go well in the Club Championsip rounds to consolidate this position.
20 and 21/05/2006 Nunawading Race Day Round 4 and 5
This weekend was a 2 dayer due to there being no race day in June. Both days went pretty well finsihing mid pack all weekend.
On Saturday the track was perfect, no ruts, smooth and really grippy. It was flowing really well and felt awesome to ride.
I did the step on step off rhythm section which was daunting because I have seen many people stack and hurt themselves on it. Once I did it, it was easy.
Sunday was pretty much the same, except the track was really dusty in the corners. On one race I found that out the embarrasing way. Last lap, last corner, coming out of it, I accelerated hard to try and pass two people on the inside. I just spun out and got passed by two other people, finishing about 8th.
Besides that the weekend went pretty smoothly. It was a fun weekend.
29/04/2006 Nunawading Race Day Round 3
I was looking forward to this round of racing. Couldn't wait all week. But when it came to the weekend I just wasn't all there.
To start off my bike wouldn't start at practice. Turned out that I fouled the plug. Dad seems to think it was because I hadn't ridden it in a week or two. So I had to do practice with the C graders instead of the B graders, after a panic plug change.
So instead of trying some new lines I was forced to pass the slower riders to try give myself some room. Good practice in passing though I guess!
In the races I had some pretty bad starts. First race I had the worst start. I was at the back of the pack the whole way. I was getting held up by some of the slower racers that I usually beat, but I just couldn't pass them. Didn't come last though, only because someone had a fall on the last lap.
Race two was just a little bit better. Had a reasonable start putting me about mid pack. Made one pass or so to finish about 7th out of 12.
In race three I was a bit tired and finished near the back of the pack. So this round was just one of those weekends where everything went wrong, over all finishing this event pretty badly.
Looking forward to being back on the bike this weekend and getting some much needed practice. Going to try some second gear starts with a smaller sprocket to get some grip and some more further development of the new spring rates.
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