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For the first time at Winton on
May 31 and June 01, the Australian Superbike Championship (ASC) had made
provision for juniors to participate in its national series. And it wasn’t just the opportunity to be
housed in the same pit paddock as the factory teams – the chance to ride in
front of a large number of spectators, too, was something I was really
excited about.
The junior ranks had a field of
fifteen entrants, comprising of: eight Metrakit 80s, five Honda CBR150s and
two Moriwaki 80s. A meeting open to
all Marques, I opted to mount my 1991-built Moriwaki MH80 – a bike that was
built before I was an itch in my dad’s pants.
Unfortunately, Friday’s schedule
excluded the juniors from official practice. Still, it provided a great opportunity to
watch what the big boys do.
A very different environment to
the MRRDA series in which I was use to, I awoke on Saturday morning not
really knowing what to expect.
As I had never raced my Mega
Motorcycles Moriwaki 80 on the 3 km circuit, I didn’t have any previous
data in terms of ideal gearing and tyre compounds etc. On top of this, the organisers had made a
decision to omit official practice, opting to integrate practice into two official
qualifying sessions. This made qualifying
very difficult. Nonetheless, I
managed to plonk my MH80 on the second row of the grid, in position five,
with the front row being an all-Metrakit affair.
I managed to hook an awesome
start in race 1, where I was able to lead, but was passed during lap two of
the six lap race. Experiencing tyre
issues, I could only manage to bring my trusty old steed home in 3rd
place, with Adrian Di Giandomenico taking the win ahead of Joel Taylor.
We made the decision to go to a
different compound Dunlop rear tyre for race two, hoping for better rear-wheel
traction and drive. As I didn’t have
another tyre, it was Teknic Honda’s Paul Free who kindly made a hoop
available to me for purchase. Fortunately,
our choice of rubber steered us in a positive direction.
With another gnarly start, and
improved traction at full lean angle, I took victory in race 2. I went back to my motel that night
knowing I was capable of better times, though.
Sunday was mad. Although the juniors had only two more
races ahead, it gave me and my mates the opportunity to watch the
Supersport and Superbike races – those guys are incredibly talented.
Going into the second and final
day with greater track knowledge and a new-found confidence in my bike,
enabled me to secure another two wins from two starts. And nailing the 80cc lap record in the
final race with a 1:40.249 was really pleasing too.
I’m now looking forward to the
second and third, of this three round series, which will be held at my home
track (Queensland Raceway) on July 11, 12 and 13. QR traditionally attracts a large crowd –
and they’re going to love seeing the Super’s fang through the whoops at
turn one!
www.RyanDymond.com
Ryno
#11
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