Manfield, Fielding. April 2-3Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to Gary Worsley Suzuki, Fielding, for sponsoring me for the last round of the championship. If you are in Fielding or visiting, please take the time out to visit his Suzuki shop.
Well, my Superbike Championship aspirations finished on a dull note after the last round.
I finished the season ranked 6th overall.
I struck a mechanical problem on my Triple R Suzuki GSXR1000 during Saturday's qualifying, but not before I had secured grid 5. Saturday night the team replaced the engine with one a little down on power to my main engine.
The bike was handling great on its Ohlins suspension and Meztler tyres, but the lack of power told in both of Sunday's races.
That was despite two great holeshots from the second row to lead for several laps in both races.
Then another bike issue surfaced in the second race and despite trying to fix it, I was forced to retire.
There is always next year to improve and win the championship.
Thanks to Triple R, my mechanics, wife Jenny, family, supporters and sponsors throughout the year.
Hampton Downs, Auckland. March 26-27
While both mine and Robbie's triple R Suzuki superbikes survived the Christchurch earthquake, our results at Hampton Downs were not as good.
The weather played its hand on the Saturday with constant rain so qualifying was not too good and I only managed 7th on the start grid.
Sunday's first race was another tyre lottery and I chose wets and as the track dried out I dropped through the field to finish about 8th.
Race two was held up due to rain again and although it had dried sufficiently to allow me to use slick tyres I only managed a 7th place.
This has dropped me to about 8th overall in the championship.
Two good finish results at Manfield this weekend could still promote me up to a top three finish in the championship which is my goal.
Ruapuna, Christchurch. February 12-13
Temperatures in the high 20s meant some great qualifying times with both myself and Andrew Stroud dipping into the 1 min 30s.
That result put Stroud on pole and me on grid 2 for Sunday's racing which includes the NZ Grand Prix title.
The weather can throw up some interesting dilemmas in racing and today (Sunday) was no exception.
Race one in the Superbikes was dry and the racing close with Stroud and my Triple R Suzuki team mate Robbie Bugden controlling things from the front while I diced with Craig Shirrifs (also on a Suzuki) and Aussie Dan Stauffer.
Both got past me dropping me into fifth place, but as the race wore on I slowly closed the gap on Stauffer. Coming out of the sweeper for the last time I was right on Stauffer's tail and drafted up the front straight, pulling out at the last second to pip him for fourth place by one thousand of a second.
By race two, it had started to drizzle forcing officials to stop the 125 GP and restart the race after declaring it a wet track.
The drizzle eased and the track dried out, but when the Superbikes went out for the warm up lap it had started drizzling again so there was a 20-minute delay for the start of the NZ GP.
I chose to stay with slicks which was still a gamble as I got the holeshot from Stroud and lead for the first few laps, but then light drizzle started again and while the track looked dryish, it was still very slippery hence lap times dropped into the 1.36s rather than the 1.30 we qualified in the day before.
I finished the race in sixth, but more importantly I gained a few vital points by moving up the Superbike championship ladder to third overall.
Thanks to Ian and Matt for great pit work and keeping me focussed and competitive
Teretonga, Invercargill. February 5-6
Well, the pace is just as hot as last weekend in Timaru with less than a second covering the first 7 spots on the grid.
I am very happy with my bike despite qualifying 6th on the grid.
Qualifying was that tight that within a couple of first laps I was on pole and then got swamped by the others.My Triple R Suzuki team mate Robbie Bugden secured pole for tomorrow's two races.
Atrocious weather conditions meant I finished eighth in Superbikes race one.
The rain was heavy and the meeting was cancelled so race two did not happen.
At the end of the day I was happy with the result despite slipping to fifth overall on the championship table, but the weather meant it was ride carefully day and just gain valuable points.
Levels Raceway, Timaru. January 29-30
The 2011 NZ Castrol Superbike season is about to get underway with the first round being held at Levels Raceway, Timaru. Today (Friday, January 28) was unofficial practice and my new Suzuki GSXR1000 on Metzler tires performed well considering the team spent most of this week giving the bike a major upgrade from standard production for an extra 30hp.
Qualifying Saturday was certainly drama ridden.
The team could not figure out why my lap times were not being logged until I found out I had lost my transponder somewhere on the track.
Organisers rushed another one to the pits and I stuffed it down my leathers and basically had one flying lap to register a time.
It made me put everything into one lap to grab third on the grid for Sunday's two races. My Triple R Suzuki teammate Robbie Bugden has pole and fellow Australian Dan Stauffer separates us on the front row.
Sunday dawned overcast and cool with a lot of the riders struggling to sort suspension for major grip, me included.
My trade mark holeshot start failed me and while dicing with Andrew Stroud, Bugden and Stauffer for a few laps I had to settle for fourth, despite posting the second fastest lap.
In the second race I was again in the same bunch but again grip was an issue and for a few laps I was battling with Craig Shirriffs until I got a decent gap and went on to finish fourth. I ended the round reasonably satisfied and with valuable points in the bank.