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MotoGP Roundup

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 19:52:14 -0700

We return from the holy island having had mixed experiences over the weekend.

Setup issues, race cancellations and budget constrictions all impeded our assault on the island, but on the whole we had a fantastic weekend.

Arriving bright and early Thursday we were greeted by blue skies and warm temperatures, lulling us into what turned out to be a false sense of security. We had the pleasure of being pitted alongside a bunch of great blokes and despite issues with space, we luckily spent the weekend with a bunch of understanding people who made every effort to accommodate one another. Thanks for making the best of it with us.

Friday was the opposite to Thursday, torrential rain, setup issues in first practice, and a turn 2 spill early in qualifying set the tone for the day, as after a marathon effort to get the bike repaired after the lowside out of southern loop and get permission to race after not completing a flying lap in qualifying, we learned that the afternoon's racing would be cancelled due to inclement weather and timetabling constraints. Positively, the setup in the frontend felt much more planted in qualifying until we came unstuck, leaving us feeling confident leading into what would now be our only race of the weekend the next day.

Saturday dawned and with blue skies and the sun's warmth radiating down on Phillip Island we were feeling confident. However, as though to illustrate a point, 20 minutes before the race the rain came down, and without spare rims or time to change tyres, we were forced to sit the race out.

We'd like to thank all of the sponsors who made this possible, Simon and Regine at Gilles Tooling/Shell Racing, Raj at ShockDesign, Jill and Pete at MotoWright transport, and all the others who helped us along the way. You know who you are.

Don't forget to check out the pics we are constantly adding here and remember to check out our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Vic Titles, Round 1

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:04:07 -0700

We started the second day with a lot more testing data from the first. First practice went will, running consistent 7's a few 6's and dropping into the 5's one.

In the first race we started a lot better than the day before, finding a notch in the pack to slot into and running with the pack for a while, eventually finishing in 12th place again, and in the final race for the day we moved up to 11th place, even though the bulk of the race was run in 9th dicing with the bike ahead for 8th, a combination of arm pump and some suspension issues meant the pace had to be backed off, and in spite of some tactical blocking, eventually two places were lost.

At the end of the 1st round FC Racing is in 11th place for the championship with 29 points.

1st race: Success!

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:12:52 -0700

We arrived early at the circuit to be greeted by cold air and dark skies, however by the time 1st qualifying rolled around the sky was clearing rapidly and temps were coming up. We ran 12th fastest out of the combined group of superstock and supersport 600 machines with a 1:06.17 that would ultimately place us 10th on the grid.

We had some stability issues in second qualifying and didn't match our best time from the first session, and so leading into the race we had to decide which way we wanted to jump to clear them up, as obviously going the wrong way would only compound things.

The call was made to drop 2 psi out of the tyres to compensate for the raising ambient and track temperatures, as by this point the sun had well and truly come out.

The bike responded instantly, feeling much more planted on the warm up lap.

We had some issues with the start of the race, some nervousness combined with lack of practice meant that our launch was lacking and many places were lost through turn 1, although immediately the improvement in the bike was evident, and we sought about making up lost time.

Our goal for the first race was to finish better than last and take the bike home in one piece, and we definitely succeeded there!

We finished 12th in the first race this morning, we're looking forward to the other two races tomorrow!

Vic Titles 2010: Round 1

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:45:12 -0700

We're counting down to the first round of the Victorian Roadrace titles at Broadford this weekend, which is also FC Racing's debut.

We've worked hard for the last 2 weeks on circuit, and indeed for the last 2 months in the workshop to prepare the bike for this weekend. We're feeling confident with the bikes setup and I'm feeling calm and ready.

Looking forward to see you out there!