from ... Chris PowerHi everyone, so the silly season starts again eh!
Maramarua was the setting for Round 1 of the Belray and
the weather couldn’t make up it’s mind. The off and on showers proved more
annoying than anything else and as the shotgun went off it was sunny
days.
Having just taken possession of the new 2012 Honda CRF450,
this was going
 to be the first ride for the new girl and I was interested in how
it would go compared to the old bike. And just like the old bike it fired first
kick, although i had to really check as it was so quiet compared to all the
other bikes around me. The start straight was very short and it ducked straight
into a creek. I shot into the creek in about 10th place and then emerged from
the creek in third. The track was a good mixture of fast open farmland mixed
with some very tight and tricky native bush. the laps were 18 minutes around and
I soon found myself in the lead dicing with Yamaha rider Adrian Smith. It wasn’t
long before KTM racer Jason Davis made it a three way battle for the lead midway
through lap two. Having not ridden since August, Smith led both myself and Davis
through and we both put the hammer down. Dave slid past me coming into a tight
off camber corner and we then played follow the leader for the next 40 minutes
and gapped the rest of the field – it was now a two man race.We both pitted at the 1hr 10min mark which is where the
dynamic of the race changed. Davis exited the pits a good 30 seconds before me
as my ‘quick filler’ was more of a ‘medium paced’ filler. Loosing sight of Davis
was not good and I tried to pick back up to his wheel. I was pushing a little
hard and had a small slid out on an off camber. When I remounted I could hear
something was wrong with the bike. It sounded like loose spokes which can happen
on a new bike. I pulled over and checked the wheels and found nothing wrong. But
the noise was still there when I got going again. I later realised when looking
down on a slow corner that my header pipe guard had broken and was knocking
against the header making the noise I was looking for.
I got back on the gas again but it was too late and Davis
had rode a great race taking the win. I was happy with second place as it was
the first ride on the new bike. I had only put on my own handlebars and run the
stock tires even.
The bike was good. It never stalled out on me and the
standard suspension was even not too bad for the bush. The new 2012 CRF450 will
be a good choice this season
I’d like to thank all my sponsors and especially Honda for
extending their support for another year. It’s always good when your team is right behind you 100%.
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Thanks again,
Chris |