It's been a while since I last checked in...almost three months, to be precise. We're now at the quarter-way point in the World Supersport schedule, so now seems like a good time to fill you in on the happenings of the first 3 races--especially now that I have something good to talk about.
Backing up a couple of months, I'll start with Phillip Island. Going into the first round of the championship, we found ourselves in a slightly different position than what we were expecting. Switching to Yamaha at the 11th hour threw everything up in the air, and all the guys in my team were working around the clock to get everything ready for round one. We had the test at Portimao, in which I learned very little with only 20 dry laps followed by two days of rain. So, the week before the Phillip Island race, we had the annual 2-day test, which was incredibly important for us. Apart from me having to learn everything about the bike, we had switched from the Ohlins suspension, which the bikes were supplied with from Yamaha, to Bitubo suspension, which I used last season. We knew based on last year's info that Bitubo make a good product but, as always, it isn't just as simple as bolting the stuff in there. We had a difficult test. I wasn't so concerned about my lap time, although it was definitely nothing to write home about, but it was more the feedback I was getting from the front end, and I didn't feel 100% happy that we were even in the ball park with the setup.
It's a difficult situation because with it being a new bike for me, I need time to get used to its feel. Having ridden bikes with soft chassis for the past 2 seasons, the Yamaha is quite a different piece of kit and definitely has more of a race feel about it. I generally like to work on myself before I work on the bike, and I was in the situation of knowing that it doesn't feel quite right, but also knowing that I wasn't fully used to it yet. In the final half-hour of the second day's testing, I went out of the pits pretty slow with a new rear tire to try and get a couple of quick laps in. I rolled around the outside of the track at the tight Honda hairpin to let a few guys by and then started to wind it up. Coming up to 'Hayshed Corner' I backed off quite early so I could pin it on the exit to spin the rear a little and get some heat in the right hand side of the tire. As soon as I closed the gas, the front folded on me and before I knew it, I was on my ass at a heck of a rate of knots! It was pretty dusty as I started tumbling but I caught a glimpse of my bike through the dust cloud, tossing through the air in front of me. It didn't look good. I got up, pretty much unscathed, but I couldn't say the same for the bike. It was a mess!
| I have never wrecked a bike like that, and I don't remember seeing one as bad. The marshals said it was 80 feet in the air! When it was brought back to the pit box, even Nori Haga stood staring at it for 10 minutes, calling people over to come and look at the state of it and taking pictures on his phone! |
I have never wrecked a bike like that, and I don't remember seeing one as bad. The marshals said it was 80 feet in the air! When it was brought back to the pit box, even Nori Haga stood staring at it for 10 minutes, calling people over to come and look at the state of it and taking pictures on his phone! I wasn't proud of it, and it really annoyed me because my mechanics had worked so hard back in Italy getting everything together, and I thought that they might get a day off to chill out on Wednesday before the race,, but there was no chance as they had a full bike to rebuild. World Supersport has adopted the 1 bike rule for 2011 and I was the first victim with a 130mph crash.
Between the test and the race, we chilled out for a couple of days, and I spent most of my time with Leon Camier and Leon's manager and our good friend, Andy 'Storka' Walker. We went sea fishing on Wednesday for Storka's birthday and all got horrifically sunburned (to the point of not really wanting to put a helmet on Friday!). Andy and I were lobstered as soon as we left the boat, which Leon got a great kick out of, but then, as we improved over the next few days, Leon's sunburn started to catch up with him, and he ended up with a great set of panda eyes! It resulted in a laughter breakdown every time we saw each other in the paddock over the weekend and, between us, we cleaned Phillip Island out of all their after-sun products!
After a couple of days off, we came into the weekend with fresher (and peeling!) heads and some better ideas for setup. Immediately on Friday morning I was much faster than I had managed at the test thanks to the changes. This is when I realized that, as much as I still needed to get used to the bike, it also needed to come to me by way of a different setup. We still had our problems, and we hit a wall as the weekend wore on. I went down again in final qualifying whilst on a good lap which left me on the second row of the grid. The grid position, I couldn't have cared less about. Yes, a front row would have been nice, but I was more concerned about the setup or lack thereof. Later that night, my mechanics made some phone calls back to Bitubo in Italy, which changed the situation. We had dug ourselves a bit of a hole with some over-complicated adjustments that we made early in the test the week before. The fork wasn't working in a fluid way, meaning that every time I hit a bump, it would pretty much knock the bars out of my hands, and I couldn't push the front end because of it. Morning warm-up confirmed that the changes worked. I got my confidence back in the front and felt we had a chance to fight for the win.
I got away well and was in the lead group from the start. From lap 3, I started spinning and sliding at the rear quite a lot and was having to be extra-cautious to stand the bike up to try and find more grip. It was a mentally draining race because, even though I was running up the front, I was working my ass off trying to find grip in the long left-handers. I was riding around thinking of how slow it felt and how much better the rear set-up could be! I had focused so much on the front of the bike that we probably didn't work as well as we normally should have, and the rear setup got left behind. I could hardly open the gas without spinning the rear, and I was doing all I could to keep in touch as I knew it would come down to a slipstream race on the last lap. With 5 laps to go, I felt a strange vibration from the rear of the bike. I wasn't sure at first, as it could have been a number of things but, when I realized it was only doing it on the left-hand side, I knew it had to be the tire. I tried to baby it home but lasted another two laps before it fully deflated. I pitted for another tire but lost too much time and ended up crossing the line in 17th. It was disappointing, to say the least. Phillip Island is notoriously difficult on rubber, and there were 2 other guys that also had problems in the race, so we knew it was just a case of bad luck. The frustrating thing about it, apart from losing a bagload of points, is the whole build-up before the first race. I train hard all winter to get ready, my mechanics work their butts off to get everything prepared, we sit on a flight for 48 hours to the other side of the planet and come home with nothing to show for it. It's a hard pill to swallow. But, it's a good thing it's a long season. And although we didn't get a result, I felt like I learned so much about the bike during the race so I was happy with that side of things. We were far too stiff at the rear, which is why I had to work so hard to get traction, and I think this was the most positive thing I could take from the race. We made big mistakes with setup but learned from them and will use that knowledge for the rest of the season.
It was a long flight home. 48 hours in economy is not a good environment for a bike racer coming off a weekend like that. I was happy to get home, although I got ill pretty much as soon as I stepped off the plane. For the next few weeks that we had off I did some light training but struggled to shake the flu I had picked up. I mainly pottered around home on my trials bike and drove my kart, which is still on song, I'm happy to report.
I was looking forward to Donington for a number of reasons. First, I had some ground to make up on my rivals and after quite a few phone calls to my mechanics Lucio and Marcus, we had a much better understanding of where we should put the bike for a base setting. I have great memories of Donington, as it was the first GP track that I ever rode, and I have always had pretty good results there. Craner Curves is a pretty special part of the circuit, and even though I hadn't ridden there since 2006, it soon came flooding back on the first lap of free practice.
The weekend started off on the right foot. I was much happier with the bike. What we learned in Australia had been put to good use, and I felt as soon as I rode on Friday morning that it was more my bike. We made tweaks throughout the weekend but ended up changing very little setup wise, and I tried to work on my riding style a little bit. After Friday's first qualifying, I was 5th on the grid, which I was happy with after spending the session on used tires. On Saturday, it was freezing cold. My mechanics thought it was very funny to poke fun at the English weather and joke about needing a ski pass to get out on track! Only three of us improved in the second qualifying session, and I came within a whisker of taking pole from my teammate but wasn't too concerned as my race setting was pretty good, and I was fastest in that particular session by 0.4. It was also my first front row in WSS. You could say qualifying hasn't been my strong point!
Race day was, again, cold. I got away quite well and swung to the outside when everybody bottlenecked up the inside into turn one. I came out in second right behind my teammate. Two laps later, I was still in second but 2.5 seconds behind Scassa. It was my plan to work into the race as there had been quite a few cold-tire crashes down Craner Curves, and I'd had a couple of moments myself. I didn't think he'd pull quite as much time so soon. I told myself to get to work before he buggered off! Slowly, but surely, I started to chip into his lead, but he didn't come back easily. My bike was working fantastic in the slower part of the circuit, but every lap, I was losing a few tenths to him in the faster part of the circuit. With about 10 laps to go, I was in touch with him, but we were both right on the limit, pretty much matching our qualifying times lap on lap. What I was losing in the fast section of the track, I could just about close up again in the final slow section but was never close enough to have a proper stab at the pass. With two laps to go, Luca made a small mistake, and I had a good opportunity to pass him into turn one but decided not to show my hand too soon. On the last lap, I wasn't quite as close as I was the lap before and made a halfhearted run at him again into turn one. I was coming from quite a way out and questioned the maneuver as soon as I started it. I grabbed a handful of brake so I didn't hit him, which gave him a gap that I was unable to close for the rest of the lap and followed him home for second. It was a stupid mistake to second-guess myself like that, and it ended up costing me the race so I was really disappointed with myself. 20 points was better than no points, but I think I could have passed him cleanly if I'd fully committed to it. It was something that I have again learned from.
After Donington, we had two weekends off. I spent one week training at home on the bicycle and MX bike, and then I headed to Stoner's house in Switzerland for more training with a bit of karting and downhill mountain biking thrown in for good measure. I was only there for a few days but we had a good time. It's the first time I've done downhill mountain biking and it was pretty addictive, but I was begging for an injury! Those bikes with that amount of suspension travel are so forgiving, and I felt like I was being enticed to go harder and harder! Casey was pretty handy on them. To be honest, there's not a lot that he isn't good at so there is a good level of competitive banter between us and the other guys when we all meet up. The karting, though, was a different matter! Growing up on a kart circuit, I like to think I know what I'm doing on four wheels. I get great pleasure out of Casey telling people that I was the one who taught him how to drive when we were younger because he's pretty handy at it nowadays and gets out with the pros quite often in Italy. If we do general-hire karting, I use the weight card quite a bit. I'm only 10-12kg heavier than him but, when the karts are a bit slow, it makes a difference. So, I was quite excited when we turned up at the place in Switzerland to be told that they had some proper karts for us to drive. I was about one second off Casey in the hire karts on a 1min 45sec lap, which I pretty much expected. I guessed we would be a good match for each other in the proper karts. The lap record stood at 1:33.5 so we were gunning for it. We had two 10-minute sessions, and at the end of the first session, I did a 1:34.0. In the second session, I cleaned up my driving a bit and got down to a 1:33.0. Casey finished up with a 1.33.2 so we were both right on the money and went 1-2 for the new track record! A couple more sessions, and I think we'd have pushed each other down to mid 1:32's, but we left it at that for the time-being.
After Switzerland, I was home for a few days where I got in a couple of bicycle rides with Mike Laverty before once again packing the bag for Holland. Assen is also a circuit that I'm pretty fond of. I'm not sure it fully deserves its 'Cathedral' title anymore after the changes that were made a few years ago, but it's still a good circuit. We rolled up with exactly the same setup as we finished up with at Donington and didn't touch one click all day on Friday. I was fastest in the morning session and then slipped to 5th in the afternoon, but I already felt that I had good consistency for a Friday. For Saturday, we made a few tweaks and improved the bike a little. Qualifying was going well. I improved on my Friday time very early in the session with what felt like a pretty average lap. We then worked on the race setup until the final 10 minutes when we slotted in a new rear tire. On my first flying lap, I was up to second on split time projection about halfway around the lap. Through the fastest corner on the circuit, a 140mph 6th gear right-hander, I closed the gas a little less than normal and as soon as I hit the brakes to setup for the next left, the front folded. I held onto it for a while but it went past the point of no return and I had to let go. I slid on my back for what felt like a day-and-an-age, and my bike disappeared into a dust cloud. I got up and, just like Phillip Island, I was thinking "Sh*t, that was fast but somehow I feel OK!" Everything felt fine apart from my left hand that was burning a bit from slapping it. I felt I had gotten off pretty lightly for what was the fastest crash of my career. I looked at the bike quickly before I was ushered onto the marshal's scooter, and it didn't look too bad. Upon the bike getting back to the pit box, I realized my first impressions were a little off...it was wrecked. Not quite to Phillip Island standard but bad enough that it would require another full rebuild overnight. I wasn't so fussed about being 6th on the grid but more annoyed for giving my mechanics a sh*tload of work...again. We did have a bit of joke that now I would be using the 2011 bike as, thus far, we had just been using Crutchlow's stuff from '09!
The next morning, I arrived at my pit box to see some bleary-eyed mechanics. They didn't get finished fixing the mess I left them until 4:30am. And even after that, they went out onto the track using their mobile phones as flashlights to see if they could find the dash that had gone missing. They eventually hit the sack at 5am--that's dedication. There was only one option for me after the lengths they had gone to and that was to repay them with a win. Any other position would not have been enough. I was fully expecting to notice a number of small differences with my brand-new bike for morning warm-up but couldn't believe it when the only thing that felt any different was the clutch lever being a little too high. Everything else was exactly the same! I know it sounds like it should be, but I cannot remember one time when I jumped on two different bikes and have them feel the exact same. It just doesn't happen. There are always slight differences or things that one bike does better or worse than the other. To have them feel the exact same even after a full overnight build from the ground up is why I have so much confidence in my guys!
I got away pretty average when the red light went out, but a couple of gaps opened up for me in the first lap which meant I was up to 3rd pretty quickly. I passed Lowes through the quick right where I crashed and set out after my teammate. Through turn 7, I went from 0-100% of gas pretty quickly, and my bike felt like it lost power which allowed Luca to stretch his gap. I missed the apex at the next two corners and must've looked like a right amateur as my brain was thinking about what the loss of power was all about. In the second of the double right-handers before heading back to the pits, it did it again, but once again, it cleared. This gave Scassa a lead of 0.7 so I put my head down to close it up. Within a lap, I was right on the back of him after setting my best lap of the weekend. As soon I got there, I was comfortable and it seemed when I was a little smoother on the gas, the bike was acting normally again. I followed him for a lap and decided that I should just have a go and see if he can hang in behind me. I passed him into turn one and I felt good leading straight away. Three-quarters of a lap later, the red flags were out so I looked back to see I had opened up about a 1 second lead. I got back to the box to see the replays of Lowes crashing whilst attempting to pass Luca. It was about as aggressive of a highside as you can get from a 600...nasty!
After 20 minutes, it was time to go again for a 16-lap restart. This time, I started second on the grid as that was my position the last time I had crossed the start/finish line before the red flags came out. I got the holeshot, my first in World Championship racing, which I was pretty pumped about. So much so that I went into the first corner smiling to myself and thinking about the "Butterfinger holeshot award" that they used to give in Supercross and came out in completely the wrong gear, what a prat!! I didn't feel that I rode well for the next two laps but stayed out front and just started to find my rhythm when the red flags came out again. It's a frustrating thing to have happen but it doesn't bother me, as rider safety is always paramount. Plus, I feel like I've been well-trained in that situation from racing in AMA!
Third time lucky...I again made the holeshot but didn't wander off with any stupid train of thought this time! I got my head down straight away, and I immediately felt like I had my rhythm. I could hear bikes behind me for the first few laps but they became quieter lap after lap, which was music to my ears! I didn't check my pit board until half race distance and I was pleased to see I had 2.2 seconds over Foret but was conscious not to relax and to keep my mind on the job. With about five laps to go, I had a few seconds' buffer, which was growing by the lap and I caught myself thinking that it could be enough. It didn't seem right to start thinking like that so I carried on in the same rhythm, as I felt like I was more of a danger to myself if I started to back off! It's a weird feeling and, even though I was doing lap times within a few tenths of my best, it seemed to be happening pretty easily. It wasn't until the very last lap when I really did back it off and started to cruise. At the risk of sounding like I'm making excuses, I've had that many stupid issues over the years when I've felt like I've been in a position to win. There were four occasions last year alone where I felt I could challenge for the win but three of them, I had issues that were out of my control, which meant I either didn't finish or had to nurse the bike home. The other was at Valencia where I wanted to get a first podium in the World Championship so backed it off for a safe 3rd.
I was taking no chances on that last lap; I started short-shifting between gears and rolling around the corners like someone doing their road license! I wouldn't have looked too out of place with a yellow bib! I was fully prepared for the bike to start conking out or a flat tire, etc., as that stuff seems to follow me. But it didn't happen and boy did it feel good! It was my second professional win in 10 years (not counting the victories at home on the kart track!), but my first proper win since BSB 125cc at Donington Park in 2001. I didn't get to see the checkered flag first at Daytona 2008, so it's hard for that one to feel like a true victory. There were times when I did question just what I had to do to win a race but I also knew that, when I have the right package like I do at the moment, things would fall into place.
Also from a championship standpoint, I am back in the hunt. Lowes and Scassa, who seem to be the strongest rivals so far, both failed to score, which puts me 3rd in the points, 5 back of Scassa. I couldn't be happier at the moment with my team and my bike. Things have come together for us in the last 2 races, so I look forward to seeing what the rest of the season brings.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Oulton Park to watch the second round of BSB then off to Italy on Wednesday for Monza this weekend. Last year, we struggled for speed around that circuit, but I don't expect to have that same issue this year. The little blue bullet should be just fine on the straights.
Wish me luck.
Chaz
