Hi everyone,
Here is a quick run down of the first round of the NZ Superbike championships held in Timaru this past weekend.
Mum and I drove south during the week in a diesel van thanks to Glen Bishop, which was a bit cheaper than our gas guzzler and we arrived at Baywatch motor Lodge on the Thursday, preparing for a big weekend ahead.
This year I am riding my Honda rs125 for Team Race Supplies, again in the 125cc category. Most of my competitors from last year have moved up to 600cc supersport bikes so my main competition this year is from young up-and-comers and the visiting Australians and one Malaysian rider.
Our weekend started out well as we had a really good set-up from previous testing which gave me some confidence for the 3 races coming up over the weekend.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing as a small electrical fault in qualifying left me stranded in the middle of the track with only one flying lap completed. This put me in 11th grid position and with a lot of work to do in the races ahead…
Race 1 on Saturday I managed to pull off some exciting passing manoeuvres to take the lead by on lap 3 and pulled away for the win, yay!
Sunday morning brought an overcast day and race 2, where I got a better start and was in fourth by the 3rd corner.. not bad from the 3rd row of the grid! I kept steady and managed to take another race win.
By race 3 I was feeling a bit tired and didn’t have a very good start to the race, but I knew if I didn’t give up and kept steady I could catch my team mate Jake Lewis in the lead, and still have some energy left to pull out a quick last lap. Unfortunately I made a small mistake whilst behind him that sent me off into the grass and I tipped over. It was only a very small crash but I couldn’t get my bike going again to complete the last lap.
After the DNF I am now sitting in 3rd in the championship standings – atleast there is a long season ahead and loads of points up for grabs.. maybe I should have realized that during the race!! I just want to win races so bad. I’m sure the hard work will continue, and pay off over the next two weekends and we should be able to close the gap in the championship standings.
Big thanks to all my sponsors for making this year possible: Baywatch Motor Lodge for the awesome accommodation, Blue wing Honda, Race Supplies, Carcolors, NGK, HJC helets, Sidi boots, Bridgestone, Celtic leathers.
Also thank-you to Mum and Dad, and my new team, Tim and Kev for all their work leading up to and over the weekend.
Until next time,
Avalon.
