Italian weekend - Sunday 3 July

Sunday, 3 July, 2011

The Italian track day at Killarney arrived. I slept lightly listening to the rain fall overnight and hoping that the weather would clear. My track day kit was set out the night before together with a final check list to make sure that I take everything for what promised to be a full day at the Killarney race track. A quick look out of the front door in the early morning brought good news. Stars were visible in the morning sky just before dawn and this held the promise of track time.

I decided to check out the road conditions in front of my home while my bike was idling and warming up and the first thing that I did was to step in a puddle of water! Fortunately my raceboots did not take on any water as I swiftly withdrew my foot and added a mental note to concentrate at the track and to avoid puddles.

The early morning ride to Killarney on the freeway was relatively traffic free and the last 6km to the petrol station was on reserve. This was great since I could fill up my tank just before arriving at the track. The petrol attendant asked if there was a big race at Killarney since by this time Ducati bikes were streaming past. I explained that it is more of a track school and also learned that he does not know who Valentino Rossi is, but he could tell me a lot about local soccer and that he is a Pirates fan.

The Ducati and Eurobike camps were setup when I arrived at Killarney and the Monster energy drink truck and entourage were also present. An interesting bike on display was the Aprilia Tuono V4 and another eye catcher was the Ducati Multistrada 1200. There were also Ducati Streetfighter, Hypermotard, ST4, Multistrada, 999, 996, 848 and Monster models at the track. Pure eye candy. Sadly there were no MV Agusta bikes (I guess that they only come out in summer). I did however spot a vintage Moto Guzzi lurking behind the pit garages and following the action.

A wide variety of Ducati bikes supported the event 

A riders' photoshoot was held on the track with Ducati and Monster energy drink grid girls in attendance. Thereafter we went on a sighting lap behind an Alfa Mito safety car and gathered for a briefing by the marshalls. Concensus was that the track day would progress although the track was still damp.

 Alfa Mito safety car

I entered in the slow group since my bike does not have the top speed of the full fairing and bigger capacity superbikes. We were out first and it was quite a treat to get practice time on a damp track as opposed to public roads which are much more treacherous. The track soon dried out completely when the sun came out and 3 more good sessions were held. The bananas and USN B-vitamin drink that I brought with helped me to keep up the energy levels. Concentration was further boosted by complementary Monster energy drinks.

Damp track with clouds over Table Mountain

I'm sure that this event will grow from strength to strength and the figures should grow since I know that there are more Italian bikes standing in garages. However I enjoyed the open track selfishly since groups were far smaller than on the all bike track days. The track is a great place to learn in my opinion and I believe that most track day bikes are looked after lovingly and that they are kept in tip top shape (bikes must past scrutiny and worn tires, brake pads, loud exhausts etc. are not accepted).

Some tips were learned on the day and a quick raffle was held before the MotoGP started. The Italian bikes had a tough day at Mugello, but Rossi did well to worked his way up to 6th place.

The Western Province marshalls not only did a great job on the track, but also hosted the barbeque after the MotoGP. I got home after a full day of biking and am looking forward to Mugello 2012 and hopefully a Rossi win!