ASBK Round 2 Hidden Valley 19-22/4/2012
Northern Territory’s Hidden Valley held round 2 of the Australian Superbike Championship. I had some good results up there in 2010 winning race 1 and placing 2nd overall for the round. Last year I was on my superstock 600 in the supersport class, so it was a tough weekend, but an excellent learning curve none the less. Now that I'm on a supersport, and have a lot more 600 riding under my belt, I was hoping to step it up this year. It’s still my dad Robert and my self basically doing all of the set up, so this has been a big challenge in understanding suspension and also for me to be able to understand what the bike is doing out on track and to relay it back to my dad on where we can improve in set up. With unofficial practice on Thursday, then more practice on Friday, we took this time to try a few different set up’s to see what base we should go with. We found one that was working pretty well, and this is what we would run through out the weekend, with a few tweaks here and there. After Thursday practice, I had already improved from my best lap from last year which was a 1:13.6. Building my confidence into Friday I was improving each session. I finished the day in low 1:12’s with Christan Casella, Ryan Taylor, and Adam Senior hot on my heels.
Saturday was two 30 minute qualifying sessions. This was the first time we ran new tires for the weekend. It gave us a good understanding of what the tire wear was like for brand new tires, and how long they would last before they went off. In the first qualifier, I got a best lap of 1:11.8. I was really happy with that. I had bridged a gap to the riders behind me, with Adam Senior being the only rider behind me also into the 11’s. In the second qualifier, no one in the class went faster, with the track temperature being much hotter, and the tires also having done 15-20 laps in the first qualifier. This time put me 6th on the grid. I was happy with that considering the level of competition that was infront of me.
Race day was finally here! I had trouble sleeping Saturday night from all the mosquito bites, but mainly from my eagerness to get the racing underway. My aim for the two 17 lap races, was to try and get a good start, and tag onto the fast guys for as long as I could, as I find this is where I have the opportunity to learn a lot, being able to follow them for as long as possible. In race 1 I got a good start, slotting into 5th behind the fast 4 of Aark Triumph’s Mitchell Carr, Glenn Scott, Honda’s Josh Hook and Suzuki’s Brodie Waters. I stuck with them for a lap, but I was obviously slower in a few area’s, which is definitely something I need to work on. Chris Quinn got past on lap 3, and I rode a lonely 6th place. I got a PB laptime of 1:11.7. In race 2 I got an even better start, getting into 4, in front of the factory Suzuki of Brodie Waters. I managed to keep with them for the lap until Brodie passed me down the straight. I got into a good rhythm, with Chris Quinn passing me a few laps later than race 1. Ryan Taylor had also got a good start, and stuck right on my back wheel for the whole 17 laps, Fortunately I was able to hold him off and come home again in 6th. This put me 6th overall for the weekend, and 6th overall in the championship standings. I’m really pleased with how the bike has been going, I feel like i’m in a good position with the fact Dad and I are setting it up against the best factory teams in Australia. Thanks to everyone for their support and interest, soon I hope to have some highlight footage from some races emailed out to you!
Levi Day #57
