Well, yesterday was race day, and what a long day it was. We left the hotel 10 am and and did not get back until after 2 am.
Dad (Grant), Stacey and crew chief Pat Milligan
Here’s how things went…
We had a 15 minute warm up before the first race. We changed the gearing so it was good to get a practice to decide what to use.
Before the race there is an out lap for grid formation and I found it very cool to get to experience it. They had a TV camera and photographers going through each row. We had ten minutes on the grid and they blew horns at different time intervals to let people know when to get off the track ,then a warm up lap and the race started.
In Race One, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was late afternoon so it was still sunny. I went out with the idea of getting a good start, staying on the inside of turn one and sticking with the main pack. Well that plan didn’t exactly work… The lighting system is different and I was waiting for all three lights to go on but only two light up and then go out. Mine was the first race so I didn’t see it working. I must pay more attention to MotoGP in future! So a bad start left me behind and I had to try and catch up. At Losail if you lose your momentum, you lose the pack. I managed to catch some guys and finished 13th in the first race.
Race two was better than the first. It was also at night. I got a better start and knew what to expect going into Turn One, but the others had a different plan and I got blocked. I passed a few more guys and during the race managed to drop another second off my fastest lap. I finished in 11th place, having a race-long battle with Gautam Matilvaganan from India, beating him with a draft pass to the line. The front guys here are very fast and race differently from what I’m used to at home. It was great experience and I think it went pretty well. I have to say a huge thank you to Pat Mulligan for coming over, becuase I would not have done as well without him.
As it was the final round of the Asia Road Racing series, there was a championship supper and award ceremony after the races. It was late getting started but we got something to eat and had a chance to chat to other people. There were a few speeches, video clips and the championship trophies. They also had a couple of fun awards that the fans voted for on Facebook.
Stacey would love to try out a Moto3 bike!
The top eight riders from the Asia Dream Cup were invited to the track on Monday to test Moto3 bikes. I will send an update on it in the final blog.
– Stacey
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