Media Release Our Le Minz 24 hr experience Vmoto Gold Coast completes Le Minz 24 Hour. This is a short account of their experience in the big race.
Brendon Well we have done it, completed 24 hours of racing on the new Matrix 50. We took the bike off the showroom floor, filled it with Shell SX2 2 stroke oil, pre delivered it, took off the mirrors and we had our race bike.
The race started out well with Adam starting the race and setting a solid pace. An hour later it was rider change time with Brendon taking over and the rain starting its 12 hour shift, Tim took control an hour later safely guiding the Matrix to the three hour mark.
The rain remained constant until the early morning with a dry line appearing and the pace picking up. It was also under this "cover of darkness" that all three of the riders tested the structural integrity of the Matrix by crashing. It should be noted after three crashes the Matrix had not even broken an indicator lens (Which were still fitted to the bike).
During the night it was discovered that while leading our class (LA) we had managed an average lap speeds of 48 km/h which meant we were exceeding our maximum allowed speed of 50km/h just about everywhere. We had a choice, either face disqualification for being too fast or jump up to the unrestricted class. Easy decision.
Our only drama was a cracked exhaust header pipe caused from being crashed, well you can probably imagine how loud the bike became making us quite unpopular with the solo riders. (We thought we were helping them stay awake). D'arcy went to the shop, grabbed the unrestricted pipe for the Matrix and fitted it to the bike during one of the compulsory 10 minute stops. The bike was again quiet and the solo riders offered a smile of appreciation.
The morning arrived bringing with it some much wanted sun and dry, also some unwanted side effects with all our riders commenting that after an hour on the bike going flat out we were suffering "concentration lapses". As an example we would be happily racing down the straight at up to 75km/h then arrive at the corner/hairpin and completely forget how to ride. Yes that is correct, forget how to ride! Imagine arriving at a hairpin corner in the rain and not remembering which brake is the front and which one is the rear, this happened to all of us.
At the end of the race we had achieved our objectives of getting to know the Matrix better, proving its reliability and having a great deal of fun.
A thank you to the organisers and fellow competitors who made the event worth while. A special thanks from Adam, Brendon and Tim to D'Arcy for providing the opportunity and to Ray/Tiny from Hammer Road (The Hum Vee man) for his support, we could not have done it without you!
For more info call Brendon at Gold Coast V Moto on 07 5532 1928
published 24/10/2006 |