I was up at 6:30am to get ready and head off to the Phillip Island circuit. Luckily today would be a dry clear day and the circuit looked amazing in the morning light. After the obligatory forms were filled out, I got my gear, met my bike for the day and waited for the briefing to start. The briefing was all the standard sort of stuff about safety and it’s not a race day etc etc. After that, there was a draw, where anyone who stayed overnight the night before at The Waves apartments in Cowes go into the draw to win a free ride day. And, yep. I Won. I don’t know when I’m going to use it, but it was nice to win. My response of “Oh Booyah!” when my name was called got a laugh from the crowd, which was also amusing.
My first session out on the track I was following a guy from “California Superbike School” who just goes around at a steady pace and then after two laps you are on your own. Once we were on our own it was typical track day stuff ie; everyone is a hero down the straight, but their penises shrink significantly under braking or into the corner. I passed a few people throughout the session. I’m still not pushing it though as I have never ridden an 06 GSXR600 before, nor have a been to Phillip Island, hence I’m still getting used to my braking points, what lines too take and what gears to use. I can say however, that after one session, the circuit is amazing, and absolutely brilliant fun to ride. It’s flowing and fast and has some nice changes in elevation. Like a longer Wanneroo raceway with more left handers. The view out to Bass straight is quite spectacular and sometimes I had too remind myself to keep my eyes on the track. The session was over far too quickly and I returned to the pits with a big smile on my face.
In the session after me, a guy had a Ducati D12RR out on the track. For those who don’t know, this is a $120k road bike, that is effectively a road going MotoGP machine. This thing was an ANIMAL (although the guy riding it was pretty slow, I guess he’s thinking about the fact that it’s nearly one of a kind, so if he crashes it, it’s all over). I got some video, not that you can see much, but hopefully you’ll be able to hear the immense growl this thing puts out. Much more to my liking than the sound of the F1’s or V8’s.
In the second session I was getting a bit quicker and starting to get more confident with the speed and braking points. Halfway through the session there was a bird that somebody had hit right at the entry to turn 1, which is where you’re probably going about 190km/h, so avoiding that bird the first time was a little hairy. After the session the first timers went out and did some counter steering practice. Damn, I steer poorly at low speed.
The third session was mint fun as I was behind someone on a red R6 that was pretty much at my pace. I was a later braker, but he had better mid corner and exit speed, so I could never get past him. We carved our way through the field through the course of the session, lapping a few bikes more than once. I went up to him after the session ended to tell him how much fun I had, and he agreed that it was a brilliant good time.
Possibly he pushed it a little hard though as in the fourth session on about the third lap he binned his R6 coming out of turn 2. It looks as though he got on the throttle a little early and ran wide on exit. As of the end of the third session I can now comfortably get my knee down on turns 2 and 6. Unfortunately these are both left handers, so I’m gonna have to work on going quicker in the rights. Turn one is probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike as you are braking down from about 240k/h and taking the corner at about 180km/h. Freakin crazy fun!
In the fifth session I stayed behind a guy I’d met named Mike who was on a 675 and wanted to know how far away he was from putting his knee down. I stayed behind him for two laps but he kept slowing down for slow people, instead of passing them. His best was about an inch and a half away, and after sitting behind him for two laps I went by and set about catching the guys who had passed me in the time I was staying behind him. I’d caught them a few laps later and then continues to work on my pace and lines. I got my right knee down on the turn 4 hairpin, which was very pleasing and then before I knew it, the session was over.
In the last session I was going as fast as I could. I didn’t get passed by anyone and passed nearly everyone in the group. I got my knee down on the Honda Hairpin right hander, so 2 out of the four right handers I was getting knee down action, and was very pleased with this. It was balls to the wall fun, and again, before I knew it, the session was over. I came into the pits and got out of my gear. I was happy with all of it except the AGV helmet. It was crap. The 06 GSXR600 was perfect, and if I was staying in Australia I would definitely upgrade from my 400 to a 600.
I said my goodbyes to the staff and some people I had met and took my stuff out to the car. I saw a dude going through an accident report for his Aprilia RSV (about a $25k bike). He had seen the chequered flag for the end of the session, and that had taken his mind off the braking point that was coming up, and he had then gone into the sand. It was his first ride day at Philip Island and he had binned his bike in the last corner that you are doing any speed, in the last session of the day. Cruel.
I then made my way off the Island, stopping to take a few photo’s along the way, and headed towards Frankston, where I am catching up with a bunch of people that Woo and I met in Japan.
I met up with Chris, Bowen (whose first name is Chris), Chom, Sheryn and Emma in Frankston. It was quite amusing when we met in Hakuba as it meant there were four Chris’s. Due to that fact, I will elaborate. I am Taylor, Woo is Woo, Chris Bowen is Bowen and Chris as in, “Chris and Em” is Chris. We went out for dinner in what must have been the most exclusive restaurant in Frankston as they told Chris they were full, yet when we managed to get in there the place was three quarters empty. The service was quite good though and the food was nice, although I did eat far too much. Not a new experience for me, unfortunately.
After that I came back to Chris and Emma’s and we continued drinking while we talked shit for a few hours and then played Guitar Hero (Chris is very good) and then Streetfighter 4 (Chris is not so good) on xbox360. I had decided to stay the night in Frankston (scary I know) and play golf with Chom and Chris in the morning as Chris had the day off the next day, and it seems like Chom doesn’t do a whole lot anyway, so he was confident he could take the day off also.
I ended up getting to sleep at around 1:30am. It had been a full day. I had met and fallen in love with a new mistress that I would not see again for many years. I guess I’ll just have to find a new one in Europe. Shouldn’t be too hard.
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