In Race 3 I got a good start, then was
slipstreamed back to 6th at one stage, losing
the front group of 3 very quickly. I managed
to get clear of that second group and into
4th, and was about 5 or 6 seconds behind
that front group. With no slipstream I thought
it was highly unlikely I’d reel them in, but after
pushing hard for a lap I saw I had gained a bit
so I put my head down and slowly got closer.
Going into the penultimate lap I knew I had
to get the slipstream for the last lap to be in
contention, and I finally got there. I pulled out
down the back straight just so they knew I
was there. This made them push harder and
make a few little mistakes. Again, I knew it
would come down to the last straight so I was
TAUPO
ROUND sEVEN
Final rounds of the Gixxer Cup and NZSBK
Nationals all wrapped up in Taupo. The
weekend started off with practice on the
Friday as usual. I cut my lap times by 15
seconds, which I was really happy with. The
engine was starting to splutter slightly under
braking which was a bit worrying as other
riders were experiencing similar.
On the Saturday morning we had
patient although I could have got through
quite a few times on that last lap.
One of the other riders had slipped away
as the two in front of me started to make a
few mistakes. Coming out of the last corner
I gunned it again, staying in the slip as long
as possible before pulling out at the right
time and I popping through to 2nd. That
meant I got 1, 2, which gave me the overall
win. I found out afterwards that I got the
class record lap by 0.7 seconds over the next
fastest, which I was absolutely rapped with!
And to top it all off I received a $500 cheque
for winning the overall for the weekend. What
an awesome weekend! Thanks heaps to Barry
Jelaca and Mouse for spinning spanners.
qualifying and my goal was to be in the top
four. I was stoked to get 3rd, leaving me in a
good place for the races. Race 1 was pretty
average I managed 3rd in the end after a bad
start and dropping to 7th at one point, but I
made a few passes and opened a gap on the
second group. I wasn’t able to reel the front
group in and settled back for a safe 4th. But
after the race there was a weigh in for one of
the riders who ended
up being under the
weight limit, which put
me up to 3rd.
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