Race Report: 2006-01 |
Victorian Road Racing Championships, Round 1 |
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Date: 18th - 19th Feb 2006 |
Venu: Broadford, Victoria |
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Riders & Results |
Darren Sciberras |
Lisa Brothers |
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| Superstock | Supersport C Grade |
Formula 400 C Grade |
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Qualifying: |
1.02.6, 3rd | 2nd |
1.05.03, 3rd |
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Race 1: |
4th | 2nd |
4th |
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Race 2: |
3rd | 3rd |
2nd |
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Race 3: |
4th | 2nd |
4th |
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Overall: |
3rd  |
2nd
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3rd
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The off season break seemed to start only a few weeks ago but before we knew it the 2006 season was upon us. We had spent the off season preparing for the upcoming year with our new team member Ian Wilshire from TW-PERFORMANCE.COM.AU, our major sponsor for 2006. Ian will be working with us both at and away from the track this year, he brings a wealth of experience to the team and his contribution has already made a huge difference. Both bikes also had a freshen up with new suspension by Shocktek and a new exhaust from Megacycle. We must say a big thank you to the guys at Shocktek and Megacycle for their help, we appreciate the valuable time they have spent helping the both of us to go fast! |
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Onto our weekend and I would have to say that we were pretty well prepared for the first round of the Victorian Road Race Championships, so we were looking forward to a strong weekend from the both of us. Formula 400 was first up for qualifying, Lisa exited the pits on the CBR400 for her very first taste of competition in 2006. Like a duck to water she wasted no time and looked at home from the outset. Her familiar style of huge lean angle and massive corner entry speed was in full flight, she definitely wasn't holding back. The reward was a qualifying time of 1.05.03 netting her 11 th on the grid and the 3rd place C grader, a top first up effort smashing her previous PB by almost a full second. My turn to qualify and as soon as cracked the throttle onto pit straight for the first time, I started to struggle. I still don't know what it was but I couldn't get my head into gear and was feeling uncomfortable from the outset. Still qualifying is qualifying so I had to give it everything, which I did, almost crashing twice and having to take the bike for an off road excursion on both occasions. Even though bitterly disappointed with my performance and lap time of 1.02.6, I managed 8 th overall, 3 rd for Superstock (my main class) and 2 nd Supersport C Grade. Not too many people crossed entered from Superstock to Supersport C grade so we can't really read too much into my Supersport C grade results for the weekend. |
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Race time! Lisa's was definitely riding the best she ever has but her starts suck big time and I mean SUCK, an issue we need to address. Her 1 st of 3 races was spent making up lost ground, weaving her way back to where she had started the race, 3rd C grader. Race 2 and 3 were absolutely great to watch. Lisa had come of age, not only were her lap times great (PB of 1.04.7) but for the first time she looked comfortable dicing and almost swapping paint with the other riders out there. It was awesome, even though a bit nervous for me to watch. She was trading places with some pretty dam good riders up to 4 times a lap. Race 2 saw her be the 2 nd C grader home, a very impressive performance when you take into account the quality and experience of the riders she had to beat. She ended the weekend with 3 rd in Formula 400 C grade and yeap another trophy, well done Lisa. I was determined to leave my bad form from qualifying behind me and try to better my grid position in each race. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, I would struggle and feel uncomfortable all weekend. I just couldn't get my head around the problem and wasn't able to provide Ian with enough precise feed back to sort the problem out so we were pushing it uphill all weekend. Still I am not one for packing it in and giving up, especially after all the help and work Ian, Ken (Megacycle) and Trevor (Shocktek) had given me. I tired and tried to the point of almost crashing many times but always mind full of how important it was too finish and get valuable championship points. On more than one occasion I had braked so hard and so late that I had bottomed the front suspension and locked the front wheel into corners almost ending in tears as the bike violently shook it's head. It sounds messy but I was just trying to hang onto the guys in front. It wasn't to be, towards the end of the races I found myself fading and having to defend my position, sometimes pretty aggressively but fair. I did lose a position on a few occasions but I am proud to say that I made them earn it. As much as struggled we still managed to bag a healthy sum of points with 3 rd in Superstock and 2 nd Supersport C grade. Not what I was hoping for but with how much we struggled this weekend I think it was the best result I could have hoped for and I did bridge the gap to Lisa in the trophy count. On behalf of SD Racing a huge thanks to all that helped, especially Ian.My 2003 CBR600RR is now retired (and for sale) so my next race will be aboard my all need 2006 Yamaha R6. Stay tuned for what promises to be a ripper 2006.
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Jocks on the outside?? DON'T ASK! |
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