Fuji 21-06-08
well, another drama filled day…..
got up to fuji on friday to get some practice in, got some old rains on, (BS rear, dunlop front) and headed out for a morning session in the rain. it wasnt bad the bike was feeling good, the rear was a bit flighty and much smaller than my usual tyre so i was geared a little short. still i snuck under the 2.00 mark with a 1.59.9 which is considered a decent time in the wet at Fuji. the forecast was for a day of rain so i was feeling good about things.,
shacked up in a hotel at gotenba and met fastbike at the gate at about 6.00.
shakened the bike and gear and then the dude showed up. it was time for qualifying, the light rain had just stopped and the track was good and wet. i went out following about 4 guys, snuck past one on pit lane, then onto the track. the track was wet with a few rivers but not too bad, first lap i just eased into it letting the new rubber settle, then hit the hammers. id passed all the guys in front of me on that first lap so i had a clear track from there.
my first recorded lap was a 2.00 and it went down from there, every lap a little lower, my pit board was showing my ranking, it started at 1 and when i pitted it was still on 1 with a best time of 1.57.4 Id secured a pole position by about .4 of a second with 13 riders on the grid. :bday: 
so then i floated around the pits revelling in my new status as the fastest guy at the track, when i should have been preparing myself for the inevitable.
it stopped raining, and gave a little more drizzle, the race before us was quite wet but drying fast, when it came time for our sighting lap it was a done deal i went into the first corner with my rains on on a dry track. i had foolishly neglected to prepare a set of slicks, despite having them there and a spare set of warmers 
stupid. but it didnt look like it should be dry. but the track wasnt completely dry with quite a bit of it still wet and off line still damp.
anyway just about everyone else wisely went to slicks (as i wanted to) on the grid and i knew my goose and my tyres were going to get cooked… i babied it around the warm up lap in order to save as much rubber as possible… red light… GO!! i got a good start and stayed neck and neck with an R1 but i couldnt brake where he could due to my tyres and i came out of the first corner in 5th, snagged 1 back into 3, got under another going around the bottom and 2 more into the hairpin, took the last guy with a nice block pass into the chicane and i was back in first. i held first for about 3 of the ten laps till my tyres started to really let go, i couldnt get the power down, the track was now pretty dry and the guys on slicks started their assault…
slowly but surely i slipped back until my pit board told me the next guy behind me was 19 seconds behind, i chilled out and rode the last 2 laps home to a 7th place, just outside the points and very disapointed, rueing what might have been if the weather could have been good (ie bad!!!), or i could have been better prepared. my best lap was a 1.55 and the winning lap was a 1.50, which is a few seconds from what these guys run in full dry conditions so i think the going was tough all over…
the other bad news of the day was my bike looks like it dropped a valve, from the start of the race it was clunking and backfiring badly, and the longer i went the worse it got. 
so its off to the shop for daignosis and most likely a rebuild.
thanks a million for your help fellas (Ant and Colin) it was great to see you guys there, and of course all your help was invaluable.
my next race is in august which works out well for my rebuilding….
over an out!!
tB 
