December 19th, 2011
Hayden Fitzgerald - Race report, Manfeild
Tri-Series, Round Two, Manfeild, 17th December 2011. Weather: Mainly Dry with the odd light, short shower. Class: Formula One Superbike. Bike: Castrol Honda CBR1000RR
The team learned a lot more about the tyres this weekend and more about the electronic system that HRC uses. We went from tearing up tyres at Hampton Downs to getting a good wear at Manfeild during a test on the Friday.
In Qualifying I was getting frustraighted as I could not punch off the turns like I wanted to and no matter what we tried with the front suspension it always felt harsh under bumps. My lap times showed just how much pace we needed to find from now until the national season kicked off. Race One started off okay with a few spits of raing to put a few riders on edge and became heavier with just a few laps into the race. Soon the race was red flagged just after a rider came off.
With the track now too wet for slicks everyone had wet weather tyres for the re-start of race one. After the sighting lap I could see that the track was soon going to dry with the high head winds passing over the track but it was to late, the race was under way. A few came in after just a few laps and others came in when the tyres ripped to bits. The Bridgestone was tearing up but could handle the drying conditions well. This race was important to understanding the characterisitics of how the wet weather tyre pitched the bike into the corners and how it would cope with challenging situations.
Race Two was bone dry with winds stronger and colder, meaning a cold track. We started off okay but as the race went on I found it harder to maintain consistant pace so I used this track time to try twisting the throttle as hard and as quickly as I can out of Higgins’ banked corner to see what would happen.
Something I have been trying to get my head around to do on a 190bhp+ Superbike. Yup....she lit up REAL quick but was predictable.
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