Toby Summers
hits Aussie part 2.
TOBY SUMMERS RACE REPORT
AUSTRALIAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIPS,
Coffs Harbour, NSW, RD 5, April 23rd
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Our man Summers ventured back across the
ditch last month. Armed with the knowledge he picked up on
the last trip, Summers set out to up his pace another notch
(which has been plenty fast enough back here) and see just
how quick he can punt that Moto Xtreme Yamaha.
Toby tells us how it all went across the ditch.
Fri 21st: Picked
up the Ssangyong Rexton from Ssangyong’s Sydney office
and set
off on the long drive north. With my dad over from England the drive didn’t
seem so
long as we had a lot of catching up top do. We drove 4 hours then stopped
the night
in Port Macquarie.
Sat 22nd: Arrived just south
of Coffs Harbour at 12pm. The sun was shining which made
everything very picturesque. The setting was an amphitheatre style circuit
built around
a lake and surrounded by trees. The undulating track was tight and twisty
- just up my
street. The dirt section seemed short, probably only 20%. I used Avard’s
YZF again and
needed to be prep it before I could ride. I changed the brakes and air
filter and fitted a
new chain. S2 had 3 10-minute practice sessions, which went well. It felt
good to be
back on a tricked up motard and on an equally fast technical track.
Sun 23rd: Today I
was going to be running in 2 classes. In addition to the
S2, Avard
had
organised for me to run as a non-scorer in the Vet class (which I
was 5 years to young
for!) just to gain some extra track time. After practice yesterday
I was feeling pretty
good. I was running a Dunlop super soft tyre on the front and a Bridgestone
soft on the
rear. I chose to go out last in the first qualifying session to get
a clear run of the track,
which paid off, in lap 3 I got a 1.08.64, which put me in 10th, the
top guys were getting
1:07’s. I didn’t improve on this and held my position,
which put me on the inside of the
fourth row (3 to a row). I was able to use the first Vet race as
extra practice, which set
me up nicely for the first S2 race.
For this first race we were held for 10 minutes
on the grid while the national anthem was
played. The Husqvarna team came out in force with tyre warmers, generators,
umbrellas
and refreshments for their riders Herfoss and Cini, needless to say,
mine and the rest of
the field’s tyres had a chance to cool off! After 2 warm up
laps we were finally ready to
go. The lights went out and it was mayhem at the first corner. I
managed to gain a
couple of places and then hold that position for most of the race.
After 10 laps I finished
in 8th place and improved on my lap time from qualifying to 1:08:25.
Troy Herfoss won.
After having gone straight over the finish
line and back to the grid for the 2nd Vet race, it
was all chaos when I returned to the pits. The tyres needed changing
and the brakes
needed bleeding, my four pot-braking calliper was not up to two races
back to back and
incomparable to the six pot Beringer set-up used by all the top guys.
I was getting a set
of used Michelins from Herfoss which I could have once he’d
run the superpole. With
only a team of 2 it was a hard push to get everything done before
my 2nd S2 race. Infact
with only seconds to spare I shot through the gate and was told I’d
have to join the back
of the grid – no parade lap – gutted!
I tried my luck
and rode straight onto the 3rd row
anyway, no one noticed! Relieved and pumped the lights went out
and as before it was a
mad crazy dash to the first corner, I was slightly concerned about
my cold tyres but not
wanting to lose out too much I held on and went for it anyway.
First couple of laps I held
9th place then the small group of 3 I was leading started to close
on the group in front. In
about lap 5 I went to make a move in the dirt section and got taken
out up the inside, I
almost held it but then found myself on the floor. Engine still
running I jumped back on
and rejoined in 13th place. I then held this place for a disappointing
finish. Bennett won.
Another great weekends racing with a definite improvement on lap
times from the last
round and 3 wins in the Vet class. The final round is in Queensland
at the end of June
where I can hopefully improve some more. There are a couple of
road race meets here
in NZ between now and then so I’ll be looking to improve
my tarmac speed, for sure the
only place I’m losing out in OZ. I would like to thank Russell
Burling and Chris Michelle
at Ssangyong for the use of the Rexton, again a super comfortable
ride that made 12hrs
travel bearable, Utopia goggles, Motoxtreme, Mark Avard for the
use of his bike and my
dad for bailing me out when the cash ran out.
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Fellow Yamaha pilot Mark Avard (centre) and
Summers (right) discuss post race interveiw techniques.
With competition like Mark Avard and Troy
Herfoss, Summers has been getting a measure of his own talent
on an international scale. The placings may not seem too big
a step but the lap times tell another story. Toby was a second
a lap closer to the winners and with a bit more 'tarmac time'
under his belt back here, things are looking good for
Queensland! Good luck and we look forward to seeing how it
comes together for SM Summers.
Toby and a number of other top Supermotarders
can be seen racing at this weekends road race meeting at
Taupo.
See Toby takes in Aussie rounds (1)
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the top racers who have been doing a bit of Supermoto.
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