This being my first race in the National Championship, I wanted to make sure I did everything right, from getting my racing license to preparing the bike to logistics. My friend Abhi helped answer a lot of questions I had the weeks before the race and last Thursday I left in a Volvo bus with bike to Coimbatore.
Friday morning was practice and I hadn’t slept in the bus, I arrived at 6am and went hunting for rooms, none were available due to some exhibition happening over the weekend. Luckily the folks at Park Inn recognized me and I managed an AC room (read expensive ). I was so tempted to fall asleep but resisted and arrived at the track very skeptical about my ability to make any use of the 1 hour practice time. I didn’t have a choice, Saturday was qualifying and race 1, I had to make this practice session count.
After completing the paperwork I idled around the pits watching the teams and riders prepare, I felt quite out of place with no pit crew or support, a lurker wandering around clueless. The weather was all cloudy with the rains constantly threatening to fall, it held up though with only the occasional drizzle. Preetham was nice enough to spend some time with me and answer some questions, he introduced me to another guy Ashok from Bangalore who was also racing for the first time on his TVS Fiero.
The first session went well, I was glad to see that the track retained its familiar feel and it didn’t take too long to get back on pace. The foot pegs were grinding like crazy though and I couldn’t go past 70% of my usual lean angle. The TVS guys helped fix that with a huge mallet and session 2 was much better. Despite the lack of sleep the adrenalin set in and got me through the day, there was no way to check my times and i had forgotten the Sigma digital Speedo at home so couldn’t check my speed either. I left to the room in the afternoon unsure of where i stood but glad i had made use of the practice time. I hit the sack and fell asleep almost immediately awaking once at about 7pm to eat dinner and back to sleep again. I awoke 6am Saturday feeling fresh and ready to take on the day.
After securing the huge 'cricket kit' bag with all my leathers and stuff onto the bike, i left to the track by 7:30am. As expected the weather was the same, mild drizzle and the possibility of showers but we were lucky this weekend, it didn’t rain. The day started with the high pitched screams of the mopeds and their enthusiastic riders going out on their 10min qualifying session. Soon it was time for me to go out and qualify, i had a plan to lay back a bit and set my time in isolation without being hindered by other riders so I left the pits last while the rest were arriving at C1. We all know what they say about the best laid plans, by the 2nd lap i had caught up with a group of riders, inexperience got the better of me and i decided to pass them and put in my fast lap, it was a bad decision. The pass didn’t come as easy as expected and the qualifying session turned into a race of sorts. I should have realized some riders don’t take lightly to being passed, qualifying session or not. I finally got past the group and on the last corner onto the straight i lost the front for a second at full lean. I somehow managed to hold onto the bike which settled after a minor tank slapper. I ran wide onto the straight in the process and was just thanking my lucky stars when another rider coming from behind rammed into my side. Both our bikes got locked, i couldn’t break away and my bike was being pulled down on its side at a 100kph. I had just about let go of the bars and was preparing for the inevitable high speed fall as the tarmac fast approached my face. In the next instant things changed, the other guys bike detached itself from mine and he fell with great force, in the process his bike pushed mine upright and to my utter surprise i was back sitting on my bike fighting a tank slapper. I got it under control seconds before i would have collided with the pit wall, thoughts of a friend who hadn’t been so lucky flashed through my mind as i continued on with my lap. The session was red flagged and on my return i saw the rider being taken to hospital in a stretcher, the medics informed me he was alright though with only a flesh injury to his knee. As an outcome I didn’t get to put in a fast lap and qualified 3rd on the grid with a 1:30 lap.
Race 1
The Race was a bit later and after a quick warm up lap out of the pits we lined up at our respective positions on the grid. Both the Expert and Novice riders for this class line up on the same grid for this race, the distinguishing between Novice and Expert is made after the race in the results sheet but for all practical purposes everyone races together. Overall i was placed 9th on a grid of 15 riders with 6 expert riders up front on the grid. I'm generally pretty comfortable with starts from my experience with drag racing but what followed was a bit of a shocker. by the time i had hit 2nd gear most other bikes behind me had passed me and I was pushed down to 15th place by C1, I hadn't missed a shift and the only other reason that made sense at the time was likely the jetting. I had it all to do making up those positions and considering it was a 5 lap race I didn’t have time to waste. I learnt soon that being fast was fine but getting past a slower rider who’s determined to block you is another thing, a CBZ Extreme in particular was a pain to get past, those extremes are fast, in fact in the expert class the race winner was on an extreme. By the 4th lap i was finally done with the other guys and on the tail of the 2nd place rider, unfortunately one lap wasn’t enough to get past and I settled for 3rd with a best time in the high 1:28's. I was glad to be on the podium and retired for the day with plans to fight for 2nd in the next race, knowing i had more pace in reserve if i could get a clear track ahead of me kept me optimistic.
On Sunday I arrived early despite the race only being later in the day, I hung around watching the races and made one small adjustment to the gear lever to allow easier shifts with the racing boots. The TVS group B 4 strokes were a sight to see, beautifully sculpted machines with very angry megaphone exhausts. These 160cc machines stormed the track running in the 1:17's only 2 seconds short of the Group C 2 strokes, amazing performance there, I believe TVS is targeting them to be as fast as the Group C 2 strokes.
Race 2
Race 2 began much like race 1 except this time i made an extra effort to maintain position at the start and only got passed by a couple of bikes before C1. Keeping in mind the race distance of 6 laps and the previous days experience i set out to make up positions as fast as i could. One of the faster riders had not participated in race 1 due to a puncture so i had an additional burden to deal with. It was soon just 3 of us fighting for 2nd and 3rd in our class, the leader of the novice class was a TVS factory rider running expert class lap times, he was leading by half a lap so as far as we were concerned it was just the 3 of us. After dicing for a bit and passing in the corners i realized I couldn’t make it stick because the other bikes were going past me rather easily on the straight. I realized my only chance was to slip stream down the straight, overtake into C1 and go for it in the corners to build a lead before the straight came again. It worked and i managed my last move into 2nd place on the last lap, i went into C1 as fast as i could with the front tire skipping and right on the edge of traction under hard trail braking, i kept my knee firm on the ground to add some support and was thankful when the front held its own as i got back on the gas, from then on i pushed hard through the twisty bits and finished with a lead of almost a second and a best time in the low 1:28's.
After the prize presentation it was time to leave on a long ride back to Bangalore because I hadn’t managed to secure tickets back on a bus. I left by 3pm and the ride was comfortable up until Salem when the rains started, I tried to wait it out for an hour but soon realized it wasn’t going to quit. A heavy drizzle maintained itself for 200kms all the way from Salem to Bangalore, that coupled with the pitch dark and alien made potholes on the infamous Dharmapuri stretch would have normally pissed me off no end, considering the good mood I was in though I plied on... occasionally screaming obscenities at truck drivers who couldn’t care less. I arrived home totally knackered, mumbling to myself and numb to the bone at 11pm, all in all a weekend of hard work that was well worth it and being the addicted nut that I am, can’t wait to go back again
These were the only pics i have to show for the weekend unfortunately
On the Podium
