Finally home. Damn Costa coffe on way home to stay awake and now im wide awake
Was a bit wrecked from Donington yesterday (i'll update that shortly). Only had 2 days at Oulton before. 1st one before i crashed it and it was a std road bike with only a few dry sessions, then had that day on 15th where it was a monsoon all day.
Sun came out today so was keen to get my head down and learn the track. Most of the morning sessions were a bit crap. Either red flagged or big clumps of traffic. Took a run down the pitlane to try and get some clear track but all it did was switch my head off and it took me a coulpe of laps to get going again and by then session was over.
Was having trouble getting it turned through the faster stuff at Cascades, Island and Druids. Shock was bottoming out so played with the rear preload a lil bitty and managed to get it dialed in alot better. Wee issue with tyres, my warmers heat to 80deg, but comparing them to the HWW ones on a guys bike in our garage they're not getting as hot as them. I was setting rear at 26 off warmers expecting it to go up 1-2psi. I've never done a full dry trackday in decent warm weather before so been used to chily days and cool tyres. Ended up with a bit cold tear, checked pressures after sesh and rear was up at 32!! Dropped them and rechecked after every session and it cleaned up a bit but tyre was shagged by then after two days and was moving alot out of Lodge trying to get drive up over Deer leap.
Had a bit of a moment after i'd wound on the rear preload, got a clear lap and got my head down and promptly turned it hard into cascades and ran right onto the inside kerb and had a bit of a bounce about going lock to lock with dangling feet.
Kept being too lazy on brakes into Hizzy's and Lodge, can be later into those. It lifts the rear off the ground so need a good lock on the tank and progressive tug at the lever. Any time i got in late enough i'd nip the brakes bit too much and lift the rear and it was off putting having to wait till it stopped wagging its arse before i could turn. Found some new gears to use for Island and Druids that help calm the bike and smooth it out a bit. Was rushing the chicaine beore Hilltop and ending up too slow at apex of right. Found a better line in and sorted that out in last session.
Obviously wasnt timing , but had set a target of 1min 53's and ended up hitting 1min 54's with loads of 55's and 57's in traffic. Thundersport Streetfighter guys were there at the weekend and were hitting 1min 49.9's at the sharp end. Need to get nearer that, and feel ok coz i know where i can pull a few seconds off that. Got my SACU test on sunday then it's time to boogie. A 1min 54 would have qualified me 5th out of a grid of 24 bikes.
Bike is down on power compared to the sportsbike guys but it's a riot to ride. Really suits me and feels natural so gonna stick with it. Came away disappointed at first but had a talk to myself and feel pretty happy coz i know exactly what i was doing wrong with my riding and with the lines/braking markers/gears. As long as we know what's wrong we can fix it right Need to be alot more consistent.
Got out with clear track in last session i did and laps were, 2:00:421, 1:57:040, 1:56:678, 1:56:452, 1:54:982, 1:54:564, 1:55:017. So look like its chipping away nicely. Made progress, learned more shite about setup, and didnt crash.
Good to meet Fuel. We talked tactics and he got some good laps at the end, very smooth and bike looks very well prepped, real nice.
Skip dodged off work and nipped up for a look, always good to see him.
I'll upload vids once i get time to edit them.
Photos were superb. Actually bought a disc this time!!
Wee wrestle over Deer Leap
