2007 Race Season
Contents
1. The Rider
2. Reports
2.1 Australian Superbike Championship April 20th - 22nd 2007
2.2 Australian Superbike Champoinship Eastern Creek Round 1 2008
The Rider
Garage Motorcycles sponsors Paul Radford #47 on his Aprilia Factory Tuono in the Pro Twin Series and various other local races.
Reports
Have a look at the reports written by Paul Radford, to follow his progress so far......
Australian Superbike Championship April 20th-22nd 2007
The objective;
To score points towards the Yamaha solo points trophy, the B & C grade perpetual trophy which was donated by Kathy Horsman in 1976, and to be the 2nd rider since that date to win it twice. It currently sits in my loungeroom.
The challenge;
To take a stock standard 2004 Aprilia RSVR (courtesy of Garage motorcycles) and make it race legal with only two days notice.
Modifications;
We did all the usual things to make a bike pass scrutineering, lockwiring, draining of coolant etc.
Dave fitted a set of re-cored standard mufflers and re-mapped the ecu to suit.
We changed the brake fluid in favour of some Hi temp stuff and changed the front pads only to an affordable sintered pad.
Fitted a smaller front sprocket 15T, all suspension was standard, tyres were Michelin slicks and thats all we did.
How it unfolded;
Each day at the ASC gave us only two sessions on the track.
Unfortunately I missed the 1st session which was not good because I had not ridden on of these at the track before and set up time is always vital with an unknown quantity. In the second session I could only manage an appaling 1min18sec but was starting to settle in.
Saturday-qualifying
We had made some small geometry changes overnight relating to the difference in tyre size and profile between the factory fitted tyres and the slicks we
were running. I was starting to feel more comfotable on the bike and qualified with 1minute and 15seconds which, placed us 10th on the grid. The grid consisted of 4 classes; Pro twins, Nakeds, Naked lites and forgotten era. There were only 6 pro-twins.
Race 1;
Got an average start and lost two places by turn 1. Becoming more used to the bike I regained those 2 places to finish 10th
overall(6th pro-twin). Best lap was 1min13.960sec
Race 2;
Still an average start but becoming more confident in the bike. Pushed hard and came away with a 4th in Pro-twins.
Race 3;
I was getting faster on the bike, but the interstate riders were getting used to the track. I did my best bearing in mind that our other ultimate goal was to finish in one piece, as the bike wasn't mine! Finished with a 5th in Pro-twins with a best lap of 1min12.954
Conclusion;
The RSVR is fantastic straight out of the box being as it's the geometry and suspension that makes a great track bike, not the horsepower,
and I think we've demonstrated that. Many thanks to Dave and Marylou Nees and the rest of the team at Garage Motorcycles!
Paul Radford #47
Australian Superbike Championship Eastern Creek Round 1 2008
Without having done a single lap at Eastern Creek Raceway I fronted up for Round 1 of the ASC with my Aprilia Tuono Factory in February (14th-16th).
It is of course dressed up as an RSVR Factory for the purpose of competing in the PRO-TWINS class.
I set the suspension/geometry up with a wild guess to suit a fast and flowing track which worked out well with only a couple of minor adjustments being made over the course of the weekend.
First practice on Friday was interesting as I had no one to follow for several laps.
The track didn't always go where I thought it would, yet it's wide and flowing so I knew I would come to like it. In the second session I had some riders to follow and the lap times came down.
I found myself settling in quite nicely, but it takes time to adjust to the style of track, remembering that this was my first tiime riding outside of South Australia.
In the two Qualifying sessions (one Friday and one Saturday morning) I was running around 12th outright/8th PRO-TWIN.
Race 1: Starting from 12th on the grid I got a great start but lost what I had gained by turn 3.
I rode the bike to finish, not to win as I was keen to show that I could successfully learn a new track quickly. Mid race I passed a couple of riders but toward the end they passed me back and so I finished where I started-in 12th.
Race 2: Another Great start but got the same treatment again. I was getting faster and dicing with other riders and passing on the straight, but I was getting passed back again in the more technical sections. Finished 12th. the lap times had fallen and best lap in race 2 was a 144.790
Race3: Yet another great start, however a fellow S.A rider nearly caused a crash halfway through turn one with a crazy line change that almost took out Nakedbike rider Beau Mckenzie, pushing him wide and scaring the rest of us back a bit. I caught back up and got passed Beau Mckenzie and Andrew Gott early and left him behind after chasing him all weekend.
After swapping positions with me several times Beau eventually left me on the last lap to leave me finishing 11th outright, 7th PRO-TWIN.
I was quite pleased with myself for not crashing and achieving a fastest lap of 143.865
Next National event: Mallala Round 2 of the Australian Superbike Championship.