March Update

Hi everyone! It's been a busy few weeks. I've managed a few track days, running the bike in and getting familiar with the MotoBreakers Kawasaki ZXR-600. The weather hasn't been ideal, with a few ride days cancelled due to snow, but it's been good to get some wet testing in. I rode at the official BSB Test Day at Brands Hatch on Tuesday. This was my first day working with my crew cheif for the year, Alan Cook. The track was wet all day, but dried out a little toward the end of the day. We remained on wets all day to test out the life of them and to see how the wore on a partly drying track. Superstock 600 and Supersport 600 were all in the same sessions. I was very happy with how the test went, developing our wet setup and placing the second quickest time overall in session 4 and the fastest superstock time. In all the other sessions I was consistently in the top 5 stock bikes. We have been able to take away plenty of good data from the test. With the first round of the year just on two weeks away, the team is working hard getting the finishing touches done to the bikes. Bring on Round 1!

Had a great time riding a Manx Norton 500 at the recent state titles at Macnamara Park. It is a Ken Mcintosh built Manx with the motor built by Jerry Somerfield. Michael Skeer the owner was very kind in letting me ride it! I already had the 500 classic lap record at mac park at a 1:21.1 on Jerry Kooistra's Rapid 500 Honda CB72. Jerry and I cop a lot of crap from people that the bikes are so much faster than everything else in the class. While this is true (they are rapid!) they don't handle anywhere near as good as a Manx! This was evident because I broke the lap record to a 1:18.9! To take 2.2 seconds off my own lap record on a different bike I think proves a good point that its not only on the Honda's that I can be competitive on and that anyone riding a good Manx is on a more than competitive bike. Perhaps that I should be the one complaining to everyone that my bike doesn't handle so well! But it's fine, the Manx and Honda are both fantastic bikes to ride, both having their pro's and cons. Now I get ready to face Cameron Donald who will be riding the exact twin of the Manx I raced, At the Phillip Island "Island Classic" at the end of this month. I'll be on the Kooistra Honda's and I really can't wait to ride the newly resurfaced track! Then on the sunday night I jet off to South Africa for two rounds over there with my British team, in the South African Sunshine Superbike Series. Just for some pre-season training and getting to know everyone. I'm really looking forward to this season and have so much coming up!

Hope you enjoy the ride!

Levi Day #57

Pre Season Update 20/2/2013

After a good first round of the South African Sunshine Series at Zwartkops, Kyalami didn’t go quite so well. The track was great, I really clicked with it straight away and was doing competitive lap times on the first day. The competition was much tougher here with guys like Lance Isaacs (ex World Superbike Rider) showing their skill on the 600’s. I qualified 10th overall and 4th 600. Unfortunately on race day there were two fatalities and a few critical injuries. Total disbelief at the crashes that happened and my thoughts and best wishes go out to the families and friends of the riders taken, and to the riders with critical injuries. R.I.P Marco.

Without going on about it to much as it’s not a subject I enjoy talking about or sharing with people. After Kyalami I flew into the UK on Monday the 11 of Feb. Team Owner  of Moto-Breakers Racing and Boss for the year, Shaun Rose picked me up and has kindly supplied me with a car for the year. I spent the week down at my girlfriends house in Colchester. Her family have been involved in bikes for a number of years, so Katie’s father and I spent one of the days at Snetterton, one of the tracks we ride at this season. It was just a car track day, but it was good to be able to walk around the track and get the general Idea. I’ve been straight into the training, picking up some great assistance from personal trainer Mick Matthews, who will be keeping me in shape all year long!

The Kawasaki ZX6R that I will be racing this season, arrived yesterday. Alan Cook from Road and Racing Performance has built the bike for the team. He is our crew chief and my head mechanic for the season ahead. I can’t wait to get cracking on track with him and the rest of the team, getting the bikes set up and getting plenty of bike time. We will be out on track soon, running the bike in and for me to start learning all the new tracks. I’m really happy to finally be here and focussing my energy into the goals that I want to achieve.

Thanks everyone for their support!

Levi Day #57