Jia
Well-known member
My debut national Canadian Superbike Championship race write up here we go! Quick recap. I haven't ridden competitively in 4 years, my last time racing Shannonville Motorsport Park pro track was 6 years ago and I have only just shaken down the bike a week ago. The most recent race bike I rode before this was a 2005 Kawasaki Canada 636 with a stock motor 4 years ago...quite a far cry from this built beast of a Suzuki GSXR-1000!
A few weeks ago I did my very first ride on the bike - using the same tires that were on the bike when I bought it. The bike was last ridden by Trevor Daley at Canadian Tire Mosport Park National round last year in 2015. The setting of the bike didn't quite suit my style so I brought the bike to Accelerated Technologies to get some much needed suspension work, mainly to match my weight and to adjust some geometry. Afterwards I took the bike to test out the new settings at Toronto Motorsports Park last week on the 21st of May. I ran about 6 sessions and must have done about 60 laps.
Fast forward to the past weekend, I kept using the same tires all practice on Friday and managed to pull off the 1:12:333. The tires at this point must have had about 90 laps on them if not more.
When Saturday came I put a fresh new set of tires. To my surprise I didn't immediately feel better on the bike. In the past fresh tires would feel so much better. I think the Dunlop Motorcycle Tires are very durable but also my lack of seat time meant I was still re-familiarizing myself with how to feel tires out. The morning practice I was shocked not to lower my time but after practice and sitting down thinking to myself I realize I had much more grip but I was still riding like on used tires.
Come qualifying on Saturday afternoon I really pushed it and pulled off my 1:11:419. I was quite happy with that time. By the end of qualifying my right hand was very very sore. It was cramping constantly on the track after about 5 or 6 laps and this is most certainly because I have been off a race bike for so long. They are very physical to ride with the extreme braking and constant throttle control. It became very difficult to ride precisely and I was worried for the race on Sunday. The absolutely insane heat all weekend was a huge test for all the riders fitness, mainly cardio. In that sense I was actually ok because my other passionate sport I play is Badminton which is a extremely cardio heavy sport when playing at an advanced intermediate level but my arm strength was down.
Come race day now! All morning I was contemplating on whether I should run the practice or conserve energy and let my right arm regain some strength. Eventually I decided to go out last minute just to get a feel of the bike with a race fuel load and to do just one more practice start as I only did one prior. I went out on track with just under 5 minutes to go in the practice and timed it perfectly. I did 2 flying laps and was quite happy with how the bike felt even with so much fuel. On the practice launch having never launched a 1000 with so much power I took a total guess. I picked a rev and fed the clutch. That rev I chose seemed to work perfect so I said to myself "this worked well enough, don't go changing things around stick to this rev come the race".
Race time!! I have to say, i was quite calm and relaxed most of the weekend but the racer inside me got to me come race time. I was bit more tense and bit more nervous but my mind wasn't going as crazy as I last remembered. I was still much more relaxed than I thought especially being my first national. It must come with age.....
The race was full of everything you could possibly ask for in a dry race. We had multiple crashed, riders making contact, red flag and a restart!! Here's how it went down from my point of view.
Lining up on the grid we got held there for quite some time. Being a bit tentative I had the clutch pulled in and in first gear ready for the lights to go out WAY before I needed to ha! Eventually when the lights did go out I had for a lack of better words a brain freeze for about one second. I saw the lights go out and I knew what I was supposed to do but oddly my hands didn't move until a second later. My start was horrific. I was passed by multiple riders! ack!
I remember going through turn 1 and 2 as we were going 3 bikes side by side all I thought was get through these corners and don't do anything risky. With that in mind I got over taken again. But by the hairpin before the back straight I re-passed a few riders. After the first few laps the pack seemed to have settled down and I was quite lonely so I decided to just ride consistent and let play the steady game. As I knew my strength was low I could not afford to waste my strength with hard braking from the beginning as I would fatigue by half way mark and drop back. As the laps went by I saw riders in front of me run off, make mistakes and I was able to slowly climb the order. My plan seemed to work as it seems that riders were pushing too hard and possibly fatigueing and hence making mistakes. 6 laps in I was already 11th having started 14th and dropping several places on the opening lap. On lap 6 there was a bad crash and we were red flagged meaning all the racers had to go into the pit lane and wait to hear from officials if we were to re-start the race with few laps or just call it a day.
At this point my right hand was just ever so slightly beginning to cramp so the red flag played into my favour on that end as I had time to rest my hand. It was also scorching hot so I was able to drink some cold water and cool down as most riders were doing.
We got the signal that we were to restart the race with just 6 laps to do. At this point I knew that everyone was going to go balls to the walls as essentially the race has turned into a 6 lap sprint race. Everyone had time to rest and cool down and was ready to just put it all out there.
As we took our grid spots again, I was now starting 11th so I was on the outside rather than inside going into turn one. I thought this was worse, however, my start was awesome. I actually gained one or two places right off the bat! However into turn 2 I was already over taken very aggressively. I knew it! The riders were just going to ride 110% for 6 laps. I decided to push a bit but still ride to my own game as 6 laps is still 6 laps.
Again like in first half of the race, I saw riders make mistakes, running too deep into corners and I made easy work of them. On another lap I saw two riders collide sending one off the track into the grass giving me another place. Further up the field more riders ran off. I knew at this point I was much further up the field but I had no idea really what position I was at. When this thought came I just kept telling myself "breathe, big breathes, don't think what place you are, hit your apexes, hit your braking points, ride smooth, conserve strength".
Half way point and I was still doing my thing. On the second last lap suddenly there was a lunge from the rider behind me. I had absolutely no idea someone was that close behind me! I decided to push more to make some space but I was actually tiring out myself. I saw the last lap flag and that actually caused me to overthink things. I took turn 1 far too slow which enabled the rider behind me to get right up on me. I thought I took turn 3 defensively but half way into the corner I saw a wheel at the corner of my eye, I held my line but he got closer and closer!! I thought "no we are going to touch!!" I picked the bike up slightly and was literally just waiting to get clipped on the back by his front wheel but nothing happened. That really messed me up going into turn 4 which gave him another opportunity going into turn 5, the slow hairpin before the back straight. He passed me on the inside and I had stand my bike up, I slowed down more and cut back on the inside of him and we were on an all out drag race side by side down the back straight. S1000RR vs GSXR-1000. I got on the gas better than him and pulled him down the straight. I braked as late as I dared and took a defensive line but I actually misshifted! I only went down one gear instead of two and that messed my corner exit!
I knew there was one more place to pass and it was Allens corner. I was passed there several times in practice so I knew it was my weak spot. I took and extremely defensive line but overslowed down but I didn't see an overtaking maneuver from behind. At this point I was sure my position was safe, I lit her up going on the front straight and finished in 6th. At this point I actually had no idea what place I was. It was only when I got back into the paddock where my brother was waiting for me he told me I came 6th. I was grinning cheek to cheek in the helmet. I just yelled "SIXTH???" hahaha that's awesome!!!" And just went blabbering on about how I knew I was up in the order but not that much.
After watching the video my brother took I was totally oblivious of the huge pack of riders behind me for the race after the restart. I rode my strategy and it all payed off in the end.
All weekend I had to think of making the most of my national debut but also riding conservative enough not to crash or make mistakes. I knew I wasn't fit enough to push it 110% from lap one, but I knew the heat takes a toll on everyone. I kept my Saturday practice laps low, and my Sunday warmup laps even lower just to conserve my energy. I think it all paid off in the end as i actually set my fastest time in the race doing a 1:11:182 before the restart...and thus is how my first national CSBK race went.
Ever since I first raced in 2010 I looked forward to one day riding in the CSBK national series and now I finally did it!
I have to say thanks to everyone that I've met and come across that that have said supportive words to me since that first track day 6 years ago. I still remember many kind and encouraging words from complete strangers telling me to continue racing and still remember the very first trackday. Sixth place is almost like a win to me for a debut weekend and it will be a day I will always remember. Here's to more races in the future!
You can see a bunch of my other posts with videos, photos and write ups at my fb page www.facebook.com/karlyipracing
Thanks for reading!
-Karl #AM 54
A few weeks ago I did my very first ride on the bike - using the same tires that were on the bike when I bought it. The bike was last ridden by Trevor Daley at Canadian Tire Mosport Park National round last year in 2015. The setting of the bike didn't quite suit my style so I brought the bike to Accelerated Technologies to get some much needed suspension work, mainly to match my weight and to adjust some geometry. Afterwards I took the bike to test out the new settings at Toronto Motorsports Park last week on the 21st of May. I ran about 6 sessions and must have done about 60 laps.
Fast forward to the past weekend, I kept using the same tires all practice on Friday and managed to pull off the 1:12:333. The tires at this point must have had about 90 laps on them if not more.
When Saturday came I put a fresh new set of tires. To my surprise I didn't immediately feel better on the bike. In the past fresh tires would feel so much better. I think the Dunlop Motorcycle Tires are very durable but also my lack of seat time meant I was still re-familiarizing myself with how to feel tires out. The morning practice I was shocked not to lower my time but after practice and sitting down thinking to myself I realize I had much more grip but I was still riding like on used tires.
Come qualifying on Saturday afternoon I really pushed it and pulled off my 1:11:419. I was quite happy with that time. By the end of qualifying my right hand was very very sore. It was cramping constantly on the track after about 5 or 6 laps and this is most certainly because I have been off a race bike for so long. They are very physical to ride with the extreme braking and constant throttle control. It became very difficult to ride precisely and I was worried for the race on Sunday. The absolutely insane heat all weekend was a huge test for all the riders fitness, mainly cardio. In that sense I was actually ok because my other passionate sport I play is Badminton which is a extremely cardio heavy sport when playing at an advanced intermediate level but my arm strength was down.
Come race day now! All morning I was contemplating on whether I should run the practice or conserve energy and let my right arm regain some strength. Eventually I decided to go out last minute just to get a feel of the bike with a race fuel load and to do just one more practice start as I only did one prior. I went out on track with just under 5 minutes to go in the practice and timed it perfectly. I did 2 flying laps and was quite happy with how the bike felt even with so much fuel. On the practice launch having never launched a 1000 with so much power I took a total guess. I picked a rev and fed the clutch. That rev I chose seemed to work perfect so I said to myself "this worked well enough, don't go changing things around stick to this rev come the race".
Race time!! I have to say, i was quite calm and relaxed most of the weekend but the racer inside me got to me come race time. I was bit more tense and bit more nervous but my mind wasn't going as crazy as I last remembered. I was still much more relaxed than I thought especially being my first national. It must come with age.....
The race was full of everything you could possibly ask for in a dry race. We had multiple crashed, riders making contact, red flag and a restart!! Here's how it went down from my point of view.
Lining up on the grid we got held there for quite some time. Being a bit tentative I had the clutch pulled in and in first gear ready for the lights to go out WAY before I needed to ha! Eventually when the lights did go out I had for a lack of better words a brain freeze for about one second. I saw the lights go out and I knew what I was supposed to do but oddly my hands didn't move until a second later. My start was horrific. I was passed by multiple riders! ack!
I remember going through turn 1 and 2 as we were going 3 bikes side by side all I thought was get through these corners and don't do anything risky. With that in mind I got over taken again. But by the hairpin before the back straight I re-passed a few riders. After the first few laps the pack seemed to have settled down and I was quite lonely so I decided to just ride consistent and let play the steady game. As I knew my strength was low I could not afford to waste my strength with hard braking from the beginning as I would fatigue by half way mark and drop back. As the laps went by I saw riders in front of me run off, make mistakes and I was able to slowly climb the order. My plan seemed to work as it seems that riders were pushing too hard and possibly fatigueing and hence making mistakes. 6 laps in I was already 11th having started 14th and dropping several places on the opening lap. On lap 6 there was a bad crash and we were red flagged meaning all the racers had to go into the pit lane and wait to hear from officials if we were to re-start the race with few laps or just call it a day.
At this point my right hand was just ever so slightly beginning to cramp so the red flag played into my favour on that end as I had time to rest my hand. It was also scorching hot so I was able to drink some cold water and cool down as most riders were doing.
We got the signal that we were to restart the race with just 6 laps to do. At this point I knew that everyone was going to go balls to the walls as essentially the race has turned into a 6 lap sprint race. Everyone had time to rest and cool down and was ready to just put it all out there.
As we took our grid spots again, I was now starting 11th so I was on the outside rather than inside going into turn one. I thought this was worse, however, my start was awesome. I actually gained one or two places right off the bat! However into turn 2 I was already over taken very aggressively. I knew it! The riders were just going to ride 110% for 6 laps. I decided to push a bit but still ride to my own game as 6 laps is still 6 laps.
Again like in first half of the race, I saw riders make mistakes, running too deep into corners and I made easy work of them. On another lap I saw two riders collide sending one off the track into the grass giving me another place. Further up the field more riders ran off. I knew at this point I was much further up the field but I had no idea really what position I was at. When this thought came I just kept telling myself "breathe, big breathes, don't think what place you are, hit your apexes, hit your braking points, ride smooth, conserve strength".
Half way point and I was still doing my thing. On the second last lap suddenly there was a lunge from the rider behind me. I had absolutely no idea someone was that close behind me! I decided to push more to make some space but I was actually tiring out myself. I saw the last lap flag and that actually caused me to overthink things. I took turn 1 far too slow which enabled the rider behind me to get right up on me. I thought I took turn 3 defensively but half way into the corner I saw a wheel at the corner of my eye, I held my line but he got closer and closer!! I thought "no we are going to touch!!" I picked the bike up slightly and was literally just waiting to get clipped on the back by his front wheel but nothing happened. That really messed me up going into turn 4 which gave him another opportunity going into turn 5, the slow hairpin before the back straight. He passed me on the inside and I had stand my bike up, I slowed down more and cut back on the inside of him and we were on an all out drag race side by side down the back straight. S1000RR vs GSXR-1000. I got on the gas better than him and pulled him down the straight. I braked as late as I dared and took a defensive line but I actually misshifted! I only went down one gear instead of two and that messed my corner exit!
I knew there was one more place to pass and it was Allens corner. I was passed there several times in practice so I knew it was my weak spot. I took and extremely defensive line but overslowed down but I didn't see an overtaking maneuver from behind. At this point I was sure my position was safe, I lit her up going on the front straight and finished in 6th. At this point I actually had no idea what place I was. It was only when I got back into the paddock where my brother was waiting for me he told me I came 6th. I was grinning cheek to cheek in the helmet. I just yelled "SIXTH???" hahaha that's awesome!!!" And just went blabbering on about how I knew I was up in the order but not that much.
After watching the video my brother took I was totally oblivious of the huge pack of riders behind me for the race after the restart. I rode my strategy and it all payed off in the end.
All weekend I had to think of making the most of my national debut but also riding conservative enough not to crash or make mistakes. I knew I wasn't fit enough to push it 110% from lap one, but I knew the heat takes a toll on everyone. I kept my Saturday practice laps low, and my Sunday warmup laps even lower just to conserve my energy. I think it all paid off in the end as i actually set my fastest time in the race doing a 1:11:182 before the restart...and thus is how my first national CSBK race went.
Ever since I first raced in 2010 I looked forward to one day riding in the CSBK national series and now I finally did it!
I have to say thanks to everyone that I've met and come across that that have said supportive words to me since that first track day 6 years ago. I still remember many kind and encouraging words from complete strangers telling me to continue racing and still remember the very first trackday. Sixth place is almost like a win to me for a debut weekend and it will be a day I will always remember. Here's to more races in the future!
You can see a bunch of my other posts with videos, photos and write ups at my fb page www.facebook.com/karlyipracing
Thanks for reading!
-Karl #AM 54
