Interclub Rd1 2015 at Phillip Island F1A Class

Round 1 of Interclub is here and I am ready with everything… well yah sort of…lol

Got the SCX rear mounted and a used SC1…sigh.. a used SC1 as Russell stuffed up the front tyre order by RaceCenter. Daz managed to fit a near new SC1 at great price so situation was easily controlled…. Anyways, day is here and wifey drove me there so I was not tired with 2 hours of driving to Phillip Island. Good choice as I felt energetic during the day and not sleepy as I usually do when I am at Trackdays.

Novice Qualifying saw me reaching to position 2 easily in 1st lap only to do a big stoppie at Turn 10 (MG) at PI and almost overshooting the corner before managing to turn. The good, I didnt run off the track on the first lap of the day. The Bad: It saw me loosing a spot as someone else used the opportunity very well to overtake me.. lol. Later in the qualifying I got stuck behind a 400CC (benefits of being in a novice class, they all race together but in their classes) at Hayshed and couldnt make up my mind how to go around that due to less experience at PI. Result: Someone else overtakes me again.

Qualified 7th with almost rear loosing grip at times and some tearing developing. Times 1.50 but I did 1.48 on a previous track day so I knew I can do better.

Novice race for which I qualified 7th saw me doing 1.47 (new pb) was the best one. Race start wasn’t too bad either as I wasnt thinking about it and just did a normal street style start. It can be heaps better though. Lost 2 positions and then gained them back again but by this time, rear tyre was dead with no traction at T12 Siberia and I was sideways at T12 on each single lap.

Came in pits and yes…It was down to markers and totally shagged.

 

Spoke with few people and a decision was made to put SC2 for the next race F1A (Main Superbike Class with experts). Went to get SC2 from the car and I found that I didn’t have it there…!!! LOL

Wifey to rescue and she nicely bought me a new SC1 rear!! Yay!

Did the F1A Class race and came back with new pb of 1.46. I can improve even more but it would take track time.

Till then… Prepare for Round 2 @Broadford on May 24!

Siberia

BrenTune Maps and Review

Broadford is one of the track I ride and its a tight/technical track where gears 1-4 are used a lot. I decided to give BrenTune a go after I read about the restrictions in first 3 gears along with other benefits it brings.

Details on BrenTune for S1000RR (Opens in new page)

So emailed BrenTune when the Black Friday Sale was on in December and the communication was amazing even with the time zone difference. Asked few questions on how to load Tune etc and called to placed the order. It was all quick and done nicely.

I think it took 5 days to arrive from US to Australia but I was arranging a Android phone anyways and to be honest, 5 days is ripper time from US to Melbourne.
So all arrived, provided the details to Bren about the mods/bike usage and got the maps. Plugged in the MPF (a small device which is sent to you) and the phone and MPF shows all the maps via Phone.
Removed the PCV, connected the O2 sensors, Read the ECU and I think it took like 20mins to read and then like 3.5 mins to flash it with 98 map file.

Track Testing at Broadford: I was at Broadford next week and was super keen to test it. Took it out and could feel the bike adapting. It indeed needed 2-3 laps to relearn/adapt whatever it needed to but after 3rd lap it was a beast in lower gears. Felt smooth and aggressive at the same time. Dropped 1.5 seconds off pb by the end of the day and called it a day. It did take some time to get used to the increased thrust in lower rev range/gears but I was loving it. Quickshifter never had any issues before so i didnt notice much changes to it but its little better just by feel. I did try to use Octane Booster to boost the octane to 100 and run the 100map but didnt notice difference prob because of Octane Booster nothing doing anything lol

I was so impressed that the Power Commander V was sold the next day. Could have kept it but I know I am not going to put it back for long time and can use the money for tyres/Race Entries etc.

Phillip Island Test n Tune for Race Prep: Phillip Island was next as I am racing there next month for Interclub. I haven’t been there in 1 year so was still bit rusty on lines but It just punches out of the corners whenever I was on right line and was confident. Pushed the PB again to race pace for Interclub and it was awesome again coming out of slower turns. The top speed of 261kmph was improved as well on main straight from my previous time so there is definitely a gain in top range too. I can prob push it even harder when I am there next time to do right things everywhere..

Final Feedback: It does sound little expensive but gains are worth the money. Maps are suitable/designed for Australian Fuels/Race Fuels and the communication from Neil/BT is just amazing. You can choose the Fuel and map accordingly or can restore the original flash within minutes from the MPF+Android Phone if need be.

How to contact BRenTune: Best is to email sales@brentuning.com if you are in Australia

or call the number on the website.

http://www.brentuning.com/

I am usually regular at Broadford on a Black S1000RR with #18 on it if you need more details or have questions on BrenTune as I can explain few things myself.

Till then….. Ride Fast, Ride Safe!

Burning Bike Trackday@Broadford 24.01.2015

Interesting day at Broadford today. Did my personal best of 1.03 so was pretty happy about it. It was a hot day and I was feeling tired. So, I decided to move to 1 group lower (Blue Group) in the last session to take it easy, practice different overtaking line. After 2-3 laps, I was slip streaming someone to T1 just to see him blowing the engine off just before “his” turn in point and dumping oil!!

It was thick smoke on my way and I couldnt see anything below. I tried slowing the bike down while waving the marshals but didnt really want to stop mid track or on the side just in case someone rear ends me. While looking for T1 run off area, I spot the rider in front me, completely unaware of his engine fuckup, take the turn and instantly dropping the bike in the middle of the turn. Wasnt surprised as it was expected when your rear wheel is drenched in oil. I stopped on the run off area, prob 1-2 meters from the edge of the track and looked at the crashed bike and the rider. The bike was on fire! Well… It was scary enough for me as I have seem some scary YouTube vidoes of similar things. I promptly put the bike in gear and went as far i could to reach to the Tyre wall and park it. It doesnt have stand remember!

Even though its not advised, I wanted to to run to the rider who was still lying down as it was burning and I wanted to move him before it fucking explodes. But saw the Ambulance and Recovery car coming there so left the work to the experts.

Came back into the pits and did a thorough examination of my bike. Front was sprinkled with oil, not too much but you know?

So glad, training myself to not target fixate helped a lot but feel bad for the bloke who blew the engine and broke his wrist and collarbone in the process. Good work by Champions Ride Days to put it out so quick!

Washed my bike at home and now its ready for Phillip Island on 10th Feb, 2015.

Interclub Round 4@Broadford 16/11/2014

To race at Broadford was the target of the year 2014 and I did as many trackdays I could just to enter and not finish last. lol I have been in touch with Darren at RaceCenter and he has been magnificent in setting the bike and providing guidance. Entering Racing was also because of motivation by Craig Lizars, a good friend of mine with super helpful nature and smile on his face.

With no ego to satisfy or super brilliant lap times I gave it a go. More so to experience it and see whats involved. It started with me enrolling for the Interclub Round 4 and getting a Sr license for the year. Bike was already set for trackdays so not much was needed. Did a coolant change to demineralized water…what a mess..anyhow, lock-wired it all and we are all set to go.

Decided to do the practise day on 15th November (sat) and camp there that night so I can avoid unpacking and packing and driving back next day. Practise day went well and at the end of the I changed tyres to new slicks. Who doesnt want fresh rubber!! Practiced Race starts whole day but couldnt really get it right.

Camping a day before usually is a good idea but weather wasn’t in favor. It started to get cold and it rained whole night. Ended up sleeping in car while enjoying the sound of rain whole night.

Got up and it was still pouring. I had wets so I rushed to Bridgestone guy there to get mine slicks changed to wets. Darren was kind enough to sell me used wets just in case a day before 😉

Changed and did the Novice Qualifying on wets. OMG….what a fun! Sliding the front was fun, sliding the rear was fun. Everything was fun. Did 1.10 as my best time in wet racing and it was amazing, almost unforgettable.

My race starts suck and i blame it to never practicing it. Lesson learnt. Qualified 5th in novice and did Expert Formula 1A qualifying in wets as well. Qualified 6th here with 1.10 again.

10:30am and now track was drying due to no rains and I had wets on! Bad idea to run wets in dry as they will destroy themselves before the race finishes. Next race was like 45mins away and we decided to change the tyres to slicks again. Darren to the rescue again and we changed it in 30mins while running between Darren’s van and Bridgestone guy who was already super busy. Warmer time on slicks before going out for race = 15mins. Brookes and Craig to the rescue again!

Anyways, decided to go out on cold tyres and mustered as much courage as I could. Race started and even though I started from 6th position, I was pushed to back of the grid due to bad start. Did I say my Race starts suck? yup! It wasnt end of the story, Bike didnt wasnt to turn at turn 1 on first lap, almost like I was going to crash. Made me quickly realized that I am on cold tyres. Exited the corner and TC lights were flashing everywhere, ignored it and rode it with TC.

Gained 2 positions and played catch-up and enjoyed it to the most. Amazing rush!! Adrenaline everywhere!!!! Finished 9th and came back. If you keen to see the video, click below and skip to 2 minutes mark. Its not fast as the experts out there but gives an idea.

Told everyone (Brookes/Craig/Darren) that TC was on during whole race and Darren pointed that I had mounted the front in wrong direction causing the TC sensor to be on opposite side. Mad!!!!!

Day finished and my name is on Computime now. Cant wait to do 2015 series which starts in March at Phillip Island. I havent been there in ages so might need a day before I actually race there. Thinking 26th Jan, Australia Day!