Ryan Hampton - Race report, NZ SBK Champs Rnd 1

We had an engine failure after 2 and a half laps on the Friday practice, which was not the start that I had hoped for, luckily with some help from Pete from Bluewing Honda we my engine sorted and back in business by 11am the following day, thanks to my mechanics Mark and my dad, I rode my spare bike for the remainder of Friday practice.

Qualifying

I struggled in qualifying due to the fact that I’d only had one session on the new bike after we’d got it back to the track so I’d had virtually no development time, I qualified 11th.

Race one

I got a flyer of a start shooting though right up to 4th to turn one but Stroud and Moir got around the outside of me as I followed Craig through the first corner, I fought hard to keep as close to the pointy end as possible, I was still adapting to the new bike but found a few areas I needed to work on. One thing I was very impressed by was how strong the Bridgestone fronts felt under hard braking, there were numerous times where I left my braking a little late going into turn 1 where I thought that they’d start to feel like they were on the edge but not once did they let me down, even when I missed the apex and had to trail brake on the sidewall they still performed, needless to say I am very confident in them after what I experienced, I finished 7th.

Race two

We had the GP start again for the NZ GP title, so heaps of photos were taken, a few interviews then we were into it, I got an ok start but got boxed in at turn one so fell back a bit in the field. I just started to find a rhythm when I saw a cloud of dust and Stroud walking off the track which was a rare sight we completed another couple of laps before there was a big accident coming onto the straight where the race had to be stopped.

Race two (Re-start)

There was controversy over whether or not Stroud was allowed to restart which held things up on the line, everyone engines were overheating, mine included. We got an extra warm up lap to cool the motors down. I got another reasonable start and tucked in behind Ray Clee and John Ross, they were having their own battle and I was banking on that ending in some contact in the later stages of the race so I tried to stay as close as possible. I found that I could pull them in through the infield but they’d get away from me coming onto the straight, I tried to adjust my lines but still seemed to struggle getting on the gas, this is something we’ve spoken to Robert Taylor the Ohlins agent from Kiwi Suspension services NZ and we have a few ideas to try for this weekend to get my Castrol Honda dialed in. I really started to gel with my bikes combination I wished it was a 15 lap race as I knew I had the fitness to keep on going but due to the restart it was only a 10 lapper, as frustrating as it was to be gaining on them every lap then lose it in one corner it’s something I learnt over the weekend that I need to work on so it’s a positive, plus I was lapping consistent 1:32’s which I’ve never done before, my best time was a 1:32.455

I finished in 7th place again which put me at 5th place overall in the series equal with Craig Shirriffs.

Again I would like to say a big thank you to the following for the help and support, Castrol, Hampton Honda, Bluewing Honda, Smart collision repairs, W.Whites wholesale, Teknic leathers, Shoei Helmets, Five gloves, RK chains and sprockets, Eurotred NZ, Bridgestone tyres, Foto CD by Dallas Alexander, SPY optics, Powerbar NZ by PRV.

Ryan Hampton NZ SBK #9