Racing News |
Daniel Fraser Takes on SART Championship Round 3 Lew Job 2-Day Trial
As the King’s Birthday long weekend rolls around each year, it means its once again time to head to Robertstown for the Lew Job 2-Day Trial. 101 riders were entered to take on this year’s running of the event.
I left main control at 2:37pm on Saturday, the first section was set in the infamous Springhut creek, this year starting at the northern end of the creek. Leaving the control to start the section, I instantly knew we would be in for a good event; traction was at an all-time high and allowed you to put so much trust in the bike and your tyres. The first half of the section was tight and worked its way in and out of the creek. The section then crossed the road for a flat-out blast along the creek. 4th and 5th gear straights linked together by fast turns. This year’s addition of a steering damper was put to good use in this section. Section 2 was set along a dis-used road, the average speed would’ve been high through this section. It consisted of fast, hard packed straights along the old road that were linked together by turns on the side of the road. This was the type of section that feels a little dangerous to race blind. There were a few crests that were hard to anticipate where the track went until you had gone over the crest. Thankfully, I was able to make it through without any dramas. All the rain in the lead up must have missed section 3, because it was bulldust from the get-go. A stark contrast from the conditions of the rest of the event. It gave me flashbacks to the endless bulldust from the 24hr last year. The section started by working its way up a rocky hill and weaving in and out of some scrub. The track was already starting to fall apart, and I was almost caught out a few times. The section then dropped into a technical creek full of rock reefs which it followed along for roughly a kilometer.
The loop stopped in at the service point for a quick splash of fuel and to lube the chain before heading to the start of section 4. Traction was perfect through section 4, the flowing turns between the trees were awesome fun and made it easy to carry a ton of pace. The track worked it was up and over a big hill before dropping into a loamy creek. In year’s past, the creek has been used in the other direction but flowed much better this year and made it easier to predict where the track would go. Rocks were the theme of section 5, with plenty of pinecone sized jumbly rocks to contend with. The saving grace of this section was the dirt was still quite loamy. It started with some fast rocky straights before dropping into a very tight gumtree section. I felt pretty good through the tight stuff and the bike was handling well. The 6th and final section of the lap followed along Misery creek with the track popping out every so often to loop in and out of the trees. The section was rough and choppy from previous years but good fun nonetheless and I was able to carry good pace through it.
We then headed back to main control for a mandatory break before going out on the night lap. I felt pretty good dropping into section 1. Because it was flowy and open it was a good place to adjust to riding with the lights on. My pace felt good in the dark and I was fired up to put in a fast night lap. However, section 2 my plan unraveled slightly. I took off from the start control, along a 5th gear straight. Coming into the first turn I knew something was instantly wrong; I had no feel on the rear brake. I proceeded to jump up and down on it trying to “pump” the brake up to get some feeling back. I contemplated stopping to have a quick look but figured I’d lose too much time and would be better off battling through without the rear brake and sorting it at the end of the section. I had a few heart in the mouth moments trying to pull the bike up to make some of the turns in this section but luckily got through without crashing. Through this section, I was going through all sorts of ideas trying to trouble shoot what happened. It was strange as the rear brake was working on the transport section, so I was leaning towards having punctured the brake line on something. Hence not having any pressure at the lever. Thankfully, when I finished the section, I found it wasn’t that dire. The rear master cylinder bolts had rattled out and when I was pushing on the lever, the lack of brake feel was due to the whole assembly pivoting up. Overall, I was lucky to get away with that. Simply replacing the bolts sorted the problem and I was able to continue my race without any more brake issues. I’ll be making sure to use some thread locker on these bolts before the next one! The rest of the lap was uneventful, and I was able to tick off sections at a good pace. I had to be mindful in the bulldust of section 3 to avoid dropping into the rut left by the sidecars, as it was very deep and hard to read the terrain. I was able to almost catch the rider in front through section 6 and felt like I was really finding a good flow towards the end of the night lap. Checking the results after the first day, I was sitting in 4th outright. Without the brake issue, I would’ve been right on the pace.
I was motivated to push hard on day 2. I left main control at 10:37am and felt right into a groove. I felt pretty good in the tighter parts of the lap but struggled a little in the more open and rougher parts. Looking back at some videos after the event, I think I had my suspension set up a little on the soft side for the fast/rough stuff. Something I can look at refining before the next event at Clare next weekend. The rest of Sunday’s racing went well for me; I was able to stay competitive in all the sections. I lost some time in section 6 on lap 3 due to being lazy and trying to carry too high of a gear through a washout. The bike stalled and I struggled to get it started again. Thankfully It fired back to life without losing too much time.
Happy to secure another top 5, finishing the event in 4th outright and 4th in class. Everything is starting to click this season, and I can’t thank everyone enough for your support! I’m really looking forward to the round 4 at Clare next weekend!
