During both of the Round 3 Races, I was positioned 7th on the grid out of 12. On the start of the first race, I got a good start but then hit neutral going into 2nd and lost a couple places. From there I just maintained 8th place. Since there was no one behind me or in front for a bit, the track was basically mine and I could try out riskier moves. I took advantage of this to try to put in some good laps and I knew where I needed to improve. Corner 1. It's a very fast left hand turn and I've always been rolling off prior to the 4th brake marker (They start at 4 and go to 1) and then braking. This corner takes balls to do at 160KM/h leaned way over. I managed to stay full out until the 4th marker and started braking from there. Each lap I tried going slightly deeper. It's hard to gauge when you're doing 260km/h. ;) In the process of practicing that corner, I managed to get the best lap time of my career. Not that great in comparison to the experts on the track hitting the 1:16's, but it keeps getting better.
Lap 1 - 1:41.424
Lap 2 - 1:36.994
Lap 3 - 1:37.773
Lap 4 - 1:36.773
Lap 5 - 1:37.772
Lap 6 - 1:34.814
Lap 7 - 1:33.088
Lap 8 - 1:35.685
Result - 8th
For the second race, I got a bad start and didn't have the revs up on the bike to have that normal rocket start. Because of this, I tailing behind someone who did their braking early for the corners, but not early enough to make a safe pass. I could see the pack in front of us disappearing slowly. Because I was stuck where I was, I wasn't able to stay with the pack and possibly move up a couple places. It took me a few laps to learn their riding style and figure out where I could make the pass. Finally on the 5th lap, just coming out of the chicane, I gave it all I had. I knew I needed to pass. They broke early and I stuffed it on the inside just before the bus-stop (Right, Left, Right). It was a little hairy, but it worked nicely. Probably scared the crap out of the other rider, but I'm sure they knew I was on their ass. ;)
Lap 1 - 1:42.539
Lap 2 - 1:36.761
Lap 3 - 1:37.749
Lap 4 - 1:37.362
Lap 5 - 1:37.080
Lap 6 - 1:34.661
Lap 7 - 1:34.881
Lap 8 - 1:34.867
Result - 7th
Although the second race I stayed the same place as was gridded (vs dropping one in the first race), It was nice to see that consecutive lap times can be accomplished once there's an open track. And I know why I didn't hit or beat the 1:33 of the previous race. After the first race I decided to drop the tire pressure by 2psi in both the front and the rear. Not sure if this was a mistake or not, but I was dragging my toes on corner 3. ;)
So after this weekend I still remain in 13th place for the Novice Championship with a total of 25 points. For Round 4, the bike will have on a new set of tires. Pirelli Corsa III's. From what the guys have been saying, it's a great tire and should stick like glue. Lets hope they improve my times just that much more. :) They will also have to last until the end of the season, which is 6 races if I do them all. :S
Also, there should be some video of my next races. I finally figured out where it can be mounted and is solid. If only I thought of this last Saturday before the races. lol
