2015 is the second year of competing in the annual Phillip Island Classic in the period 6 500 on a 1990 Honda VFR400 and period 6 250 production on a 1990 Honda CBR250RR courtesy of Team Tiger and for my club Motorcycle Sportsmen of Queensland. Last year was a steep learning curve at PHILLIP ISLAND and I had an off hurting my shoulder on the last day resulting in my last 3 races being DNS. This year I was determined to stay on and improve my lap times and be able to run in the top 10 in both classes.
Friday was the start of qualifying and I went out on the 250. There was a lot of traffic and many riders I’m sure was there first time on a race track as they had no idea of what flags meant or how to leave a race track when entering the pits. The weather was perfect and I managed to qualify in 12 pos. On the VFR400 I qualified 10th. I was also using a different tyre – Pirelli Supercorsa treaded. I had been using the Pirelli Superbike slick, so was not sure how the wear and grip would compare. Other members also competed in both events shown below.
Jeff Duke reconnecting the batteries and the rest of us removing the bikes from their crates.
My bike nearly ready ,just the windscreen to go. Honda vfr400rr.
Gary Dickson removing race stands. Space was a premium.
Only six more to go!
L-R:Mojo, me, Wadi, Gary and Holly. Unpacked and ready to race all in 3hrs.
The beautiful Phillip Island Circuit looking towards Bass Straight.
Gary Dickson (73) Riding the Carrollraceteam Honda vfr 400rr.
Simon Dickson (6) Honda cbr 250rr.
Mojo Webb (777) Honda vfr 400rr.
Wadi Nadzri (828) Honda vfr 400rr.
First race Saturday for the production 250 was a 4 lap event. I have had trouble with the starts on these bikes before getting the right revs /clutch combination but finally got it right and got a good start. It was a bit hectic at the first turn with about 30 different lines being taken and I’m sure some really didn’t know where to go. After passing a lot of riders between turn 1 and 2, I settled down and tried to get a bit of a rhythm going.Keeping the revs up on these bikes is paramount and corner speed. Each lap I felt more at ease and slowly kept increasing lap times, except when slowed by riders who were leaning into and then standing the bike up in corners not sure where the apex was. Of the 4 races over the weekend I finished in position 7th, 19th, 7th and 12th in the Period 6 250 class coming home 5th overall.
For Period 6 500cc class I was starting in 10th position for the weekend, starts were critical to getting in the lead pack, but my starts were a bit ordinary and I would get caught in a pack of slower riders for the first few corners, before I could work my way past. Once past I was able to concentrate on catching the riders who had usually made a good 3-4 seconds gap by the first lap. My weekend really went well as I had reduced my lap times from the previous year by over 2 seconds and the only scary time was coming into Lukey Heights, where I was confronted by 3 very large geese sitting in the middle of the track. In the 4 races over the weekend I finished the races in positions 8th, 9th, 5th and 9th,with an overall placing of 7th. Five places up from last year. Father and son Gary and Simon Dickson were riding my other 2 vfr v400’s, Simon beat me by 2 places and Gary, still nursing some injuries from an earlier crash in the year came 14th. We all came back in one piece and a great time was had by all. Cannot wait till next year.
Period 6 500 new era:
Period 6 250 Production