Round 1

2009 ASBK
YRDT Rnd 1 – Phillip Island VIC, February 28 – March 1

RACE REPORT: YRDT Round 1 of the ASBK series @ Phillip Island, 27 Feb – 01 Mar

Following several months of testing & preparation the YRDT crew were pumped to be joining the World Superbike spectacle at Phillip Island over the final weekend in February.

Friday was a day of extremes for the ASBK Supersport class with an 8.30AM practice and a 5PM qualifying session. The 8 hours in between gave us plenty of time to admire our fantastic new Sharp Racing Accessories equipment, specially designed for racing applications. There was no way in the world we could have squeezed all of our stuff into the 3x3m bay without the use of a Sharp tyre warmer rack & work bench – thanks Murray for your support. We were later to find out why the Sharp SP-R range of paddock stands are the weapon of choice for race mechanics the world over – no really they are THAT good!

With the threat of bushfires around his home head mechanic Dean Oughtred was forced to sit out Friday’s festivities and take up a post on his roof with a garden hose. Fortunately for the Oughtred clan the fire threat passed and the castle remained intact! The human ratchet Rob Hill (“Hilly”) was left to carry the burden of two men during the day and made it look easier than it was.

By the time qualifying came around Christan had a fair idea of what he needed to do to get on the front two rows, but some minor handling issues with the bike were preventing a fast drive out of Turn 12 and through Southern Loop. Christan qualified in 9th position of the 30 starters and found himself starting from P1 on Row 3 for the weekends racing.

Following a dash up the highway to collect Dean we finalised our race plan for the weekend with a view to testing a couple of different setups under race conditions to help determine our future direction. Race 1 on Saturday commenced around lunchtime & with a few minor setup changes Christan managed to pilot the R6 through the 8 laps, bringing the beast home in 7th place. The final laps of the race saw some competitive race craft between Christan and fellow Reece Bancell Memorial Scholarship recipient Cameron Keevers.

With a short break for a debrief and a gourmet chicken wrap courtesy of the lovely ladies from YRT’s Catering Team Deano & Hilly went to work in Jekyll & Hyde style to effect the planned changes to YRDT’s number 1 bike. Not content with 7th place it was clear by looking at Christan that a new level of red mist was descending on the young man from Ballarat and that the second race of the weekend, which was also the first points race for the ASBK Supersport series, would be something for bike 16 supporters to remember.

The red light went out around 5PM on Saturday and yours truly was starting to resemble a father in a waiting room. In fact Hilly was having more fun watching me pace between the YRDT lap board and a nearby computime screen than he was watching the actual race! It soon became evident that the strategy would pay off with Christan finding more than 1 second a lap improvement on the previous race pace. An engrossing battle ensued between fellow R6 pilot Scott Charlton and Suzuki rider Troy Herfoss. Chartlon receives an honorary YRDT “you’ve got b@#*s of steel” award for racing with a badly damaged right hand following an incident during qualifying. Having said that Christan chalked up the first points of the season in what is sure to become a great & friendly rivalry when he crossed the line in 5th place – equalling his career best result.

The 5th place was an awesome start to the points scoring effort for 2009 but Christan quickly reported some difficulty in launching the R6 off the line. YRDT’s gun mechanics stayed back on Saturday night to change the clutch in readiness for what was honestly a ridiculously scheduled race at 8AM the next morning.

With a few of Christan’s close supporters sharing their company with the team on Saturday night there was certainly a very positive buzz about what is to come in 2009. Christan also fielded several phone calls from supporters unable to make the round before calling it an early night to “visualise an attack” for the following morning. For the rest of the gang the evening’s excitement continued with a Jet Li kung fu movie.

Sunday morning was a rude awakening for all of us. The early start must have been the reason why Christan spent some extra time “meditating” before his morning coffee. The weather conditions were equally as confusing with a sort of rainy-dreary ambiance waiting for us at the track.

So Race 3 kicked off with dry tyres on a patchy track and with the new clutch fitted Christan was hoping to be up with the front runners. It seems the tea leaves weren’t going to have the race pan out that way though and a combination of low RPM on Christan’s behalf as well as a jump start from a competitor resulted in an 8 second deficit after 3 laps.

Having passed a couple of riders on Lap 3 Christan set his focus on catching 7th placed Jamie Stauffer but was unable to do so with the time available, finishing in 8th place to take 7th overall for the first round of the ASBK Supersport Series.

YRDT are very happy with this solid start to 2009 and are looking forward to improving more throughout the year. The next round see’s the team travel across the Tasman to Symmons Plains Raceway on 3-5 April.

We’d like to thank everyone for their support in helping us complete Round 1 including, Agmek, Dynoverks, YRD, YRT, Jake @ Roost Industries, Link International, Monza Imports, Frank Pons, Ian Irving, Rob Hill, Andrew Hallam, and of course the YRT ladies who are definitely the best caterers in the paddock!

Click here to view the official press release from Round 1.

Best regards,

Chris.

ASBK Supersport Top 10 following Round 1:

1. Bryan Staring – 45 points
1. Judd Greedy - equal 45 points
3. Ben Attard – 35
4. Jamie Stauffer – 33
5. Troy Herfoss – 32
6. Scott Charlton – 30
7. Christan Casella – 29
8. Cameron Keevers – 28
9. Dustin Goldsmith – 21
10. Jake Horne – 21

2008 Formula Extreme
Round 1: 14-16th March
Eastern Creek Raceway NSW

Round 1 of the Australian Superbike Competition’s Formula Extreme Cup kicked off over the weekend of the 15th March at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway. DRT’s K8 GSXR1000 looked the part with major sponsor Pro-Coat taking pride of place.
Going into Round 1 DRT had completed additional testing at Eastern Creek, Winton and Broadford. Friday practice at Eastern Creek showed the bike needed further refinement to be where we wanted on the starting grid at race time. DRT welcomed Rod “Rocket” Simpson to the team to help in the pits on Friday and he and Dean worked hard to arrive at a setup for qualifying on Saturday.
Saturday’s first qualifying session provided DRT with some early success, qualifying 6th with a competitive 2nd row grid placing. Unfortunately in the second qualifying session Dean was unable to find the track space needed to better his 1.38 in Q1, relegating him to 10th on the grid out of the 37 rider field. Chas Hern posted a 1.36 to take pole in Q1 before a spectacular high-speed crash at turn 1 entry.
The much-anticipated start of Race 1 on Saturday afternoon was full of excitement with Dean charging through the pack to make up several positions off the line. Throughout the race Dean worked hard to keep up with the locals on a track he hadn’t raced on before, eventually finishing in 8th place. Determined to improve on this result during Sunday racing DRT worked into the night to make some major changes to the bike’s geometry.

Dean was happier with the bike following the Sunday morning warm-up session and again managed to get a flying start in Race 2, this time moving up 6th spots from 10th to 4th going into Turn 1. A massive near highside at Turn 2 left the door open for a three-bike freight train relegating Dean to 7th place by the end of the race.
Race 3 was a sordid affair with two re-starts as a result of serious crashes. Champion’s Ride Days Scott Osborne was taken to hospital after a big crash at Turn 5 as a result of another rider clipping his rear wheel; DRT wishes Scott a fast recovery. Unfortunately that crash ended the race with Dean declared 5th at the half way point – which meant only half points were awarded.
Overall the weekend was a good result for the team considering Dean was on a new bike and track. We learnt a lot about the Suzuki K8 GSXR 1000 setup and we are confident that we can greatly improve on this in Round 2 at Mallala (SA) on the 19th and 20th of April.
We wish to thank:
Pro-Coat for their support (thanks Rod), Krooztune (thanks Dave & Marty), Dynoverks (thanks Pete), Oleon (thanks Shane), Rod Simpson, Keith Muir Photography, and the team at Chas Hern Racing for their comradery over the weekend; DRT and Chas Hern Racing have agreed to help each other throughout the season with the aim of giving each rider the best chance possible on the day – the spirit of cooperation between the two teams was very evident at Round 1 despite the competitive nature of road racing!

FX Cup standings after Round 1:

Best Regards,
Dynoverks Racing Team

Chris Hutchins-Sach
Team Manager – Dynoverks Racing