December 15th, 2011
Jeremy Holmes - Race report, Hampton Downs
The Tri Series kicked off in the weekend with the first round at Hampton Downs.
The circuit is located between Auckland and Hamilton, and features an array of corners and some great elevation changes which always make for interesting setup and great racing.
Having only raced at Hampton Downs once, 2 years ago, I came to the track with the intention on getting a good setup for the upcoming national series.
Qualifying got underway, and I was struggling to find a good setup with under steer and lack of front feel being my main concern. We stuck too it and managed to find a setup that would get us through the race. My final position was 10th out of the 22 strong field.
Race 1 got underway, off the line I got a great start, however I got stuck behind a few slower riders. Lack of track starts at Hampton Downs meant I backed off too early into turn 1 and a few riders got by and I got held up a little. Once past them I concentrated on catching back up. I worked my way up to 7th position where I finished the race.
Race 2 was a similar ordeal and was fairly uneventful, I bettered my starting position once again, but it was largely a lonely race with the under steer issue still plaguing me, running me wide through a lot of corners. I finished the race in 9th position.
Although I struggled through the weekend, the team got some good data and suspension settings organised. It was great to be back at Hampton Downs after having such a long break, and having the competition at such a high level is great, it really pushes you to ride harder.
Special thanks to our major sponsors, Castrol, Blue Wing Honda, Southland Honda, Bridgestone, Teknic, Shoei, Sidi, Five, RK, Orepuki Tavern, Ohlins, Parkside Panels, Lyon Engines.
Next race is round 2 of the Tri Series this coming weekend at Manfeild raceway in Feilding.
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