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PIT STOPS: There was
plenty of action in the pits, not driven so much by overzealous Scrutineers
rather the extremely hot weather, rider fatigue and in my opinion some very
strange and in some circumstances dangerous refuelling techniques! The necessity
to replace tyres appeared to be driven exclusively by individual Team Managers,
there were some very blistered tyres staying on some motorcycles a lot
longer than I thought reasonable.
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No.58: BENELLI TNT: (Pitted at
11.15am) The teams method of refuelling defied belief. A Battery Drill
(ignition source), and allen key wrench were used at each refuel to remove
and refit the 'entire cap'. The actual refuel utilised a full fuel container held over the top of a hot engine
with no spill protection cloth around the tank opening and the fuel
container itself offered poor fuel flow and no indication of flow, but more on that later.
Noise, yes this motorcycle topped the dB charts!! |
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No.19: SUZUKI GSXR750: (Trailered
to Pits at
11.26am) The AMCN entry was always handicapped with 750cc up against more
fancied 1 litre machines in the Superstock 1000 Class. Initial repairs
appeared successful but the bike returned to the pits with persistent water
leaks. Further images of No.19 below indicate the extent of leaks and
repairs... |
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No.51: YAMAHA R1: (Trailered to
Pits with No. 19 at
11.26am) Crashed, deemed non repairable and parked in the Pit Garage. |
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No.47: YAMAHA R1: (Pitted at
11.35am) Apparent overheating problems. Ultimately the Team suffered a crash
which rendered the bike a non finisher. |
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No.46: KTM 990: (Pitted at
11.54am) Routine, did I say routine, KTM should be justifiably proud of how this motorcycle
performed, finishing eighth overall and third in the Production Class. I
wondered how they would have went with the latest incarnation of the KTM RC8
and maybe with the addition of Shannon Johnson as lead rider!! |
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No.58: BENELLI TNT: (Pitted at
11.55am) The 'drill' team, once again the 'fuel cap' was removed, bike refuelled and a rider change, but the
TNT refused to fire for some time,
ultimately the team persevered and finished the race in 18th place overall,
fifty five laps adrift of the winning Fireblade. I simply don't understand
the 'fuel cap' issue, the stock TNT has a quick release fuel cap, all this
mucking around was time wasting and downright dangerous. |
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No.1: YAMAHA R1: (Pitted at
12.53pm) The event that cost the Cudlin Brothers critical track time. A
leaking fuel cap base gasket, very professionally replaced without panic,
the Team used ducted cooling air to keep the 'R1' happy after having blown a
head gasket on a similar machine during practice. Note that point about
ducted air, unbelievably some teams used 240V. fans to keep air flowing over
radiators during fuel stops, staggering! |
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No.19: SUZUKI GSXR750: (Pitted at
1.23pm) Heated discussions and obviously ongoing troubles for this Team,
one team rider openly suggested any further participation would result in
another crash given the amount of water leaking from the machine. The
'water' was NOT boiling, indicating the leak may have been from the catch
tank only. Note the liberal use of duct tape to keep the fairing intact and
the extent of water loss along the pit apron. Ultimately the team persevered
with ongoing repairs and completed the race, albeit in last place, 114 laps
adrift of the winning Fireblade. |
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No.36: HONDA FIREBLADE: (Pitted
at 3.48pm) With more than three laps in hand the Demolition Plus Team
performed their final refuel 'top up', out of the sun and a severe windstorm that
blasted across Oran Park after 2pm. Demolition Plus entire race appeared to run smoothly with no hint
of trouble and a subsequent review of their race strategy showed
professional team work, taking full advantage of Pace Car periods for fuel
and rider changes. |
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No.#: PARAMEDIC: HONDA FIREBLADE:
Paramedic, Wayne Hanava took a tumble on the way to a fallen Competitor, hopefully
this will not deter the introduction of a Paramedic/Travelling Marshall in
the future, it is a great idea. |
RESULTS: At 4.30pm
the flag dropped, no doubt to the relief of all Teams, the extreme heat played a
huge role in the race and the effort put in by the riders was fantastic.
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OUTRIGHT RESULTS:
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1st #36, Demolition Plus Honda Fireblade - 277 laps |
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2nd #63, Big Kahuna Racing Yamaha R1 - 274 laps |
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3rd #6, The 6 Hour Yamaha R1 - 271 laps |
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4th #1, Dean Evans Rev. Yamaha R1 - 271 laps |
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5th #10, Team Green Racing Kawasaki ZX10 - 261 laps |
SUPERSTOCK 1000cc:
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1st #36, Demolition Plus Honda Fireblade - 277 laps |
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2nd #63, Big Kahuna Racing Yamaha R1 - 274 laps |
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3rd #6, The 6 Hour Yamaha R1 - 271 laps |
PRODUCTION 1000cc:
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1st #10, Team Green Racing Kawasaki ZX10 - 261 laps |
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2nd #25, Bikesmith Yamaha R1 - 259 laps |
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3rd #46, Team Cessnock KTM 990 - 255 laps |
SUPERSTOCK 600cc:
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1st #11, Astute Yamaha R6 - 246 laps |
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2nd #66, Mick Cole Motorcycles Yamaha R6 - 246 laps |
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3rd #43, Team Havacrak Suzuki GSXR600- 238 laps |
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OUTRIGHT WINNERS - DEMOLITION PLUS |
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SECOND - BIG KAHUNA RACING |
THIRD - THE 6 HOUR TEAM |
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R.HOLLAND &
FIREBLADE |
2009 TROPHY |
JAMES SPENCE - PROMOTER |
MORE BEL-RAY SIX HOUR
2009 COVERAGE: Please continue my 'Bel-Ray Six Hour coverage' by
selecting from the following pages...
  
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