Jamie Masterson: Down & Out then Up and At Em!

Ok folks, hold on tight and keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times cos this is a bumpy one!! This weekend saw the return of the Adelaide Masters to Mondello Park for yet another shootout between some of the fastest National and Clubmen riders in the country. We kicked off the show on Friday afternoon with a bit of much needed testing after a few late nights back in DLM Racing HQ. New suspension setup all round (again) but this time we knew it would be the business!! After a few small tweeks here and there to both me and the bike it wasn’t long till I was down in the low 58s.. plenty good for any test session and i was very confident that I could bang another second of that at race pace….

Saturday morning, I was quickest in free practice but when qually came around I just couldn’t get a clean lap in and ended up 5th… was a bit disappointed but there was less then half a second between the top 5!! (this is gonna be a close one)!! Time for race one!!!

It lashed with rain 30mins before the start of the superbike race and I was delighted! But then it started to dry and tyre choice became an issue. I ended up taking a gamble on a set of worn wets. I got a good start as usual and got clear of the scrapping behind me, then I was on the rear tyre of championship leader Evan Delaney and had to break with him because he doesn’t need an excuse to get away on his own! Once I knew we had a good gap over the other cup riders, I started attacking him- showing him the wheel in different places..(just incase he thought he had it sown up). He knew who the wheel belonged to soon enough as I only jammed the bike down his inside into Dunlop to take the lead of the race! It didn’t last long though ‘cos we must have swapped places at least 10 times in the last few laps. We even clashed bars and I thought I might have to be picked out of the pit wall- I even bent my front brake lever leaving me with only a rear brake to stop me for turn one. I thought “Now its on!” and I’m defo taking this win! Got me lever sorted and pushed like mad. I caught back up and sized him up for a last lap last corner corner move. Even if he only left me an inch of tarmac my, DLM tuned machine was being rammed down his inside which is eaxctly what happened and we dragged to the line and I won by 0.10 of a second and finished 6th over all in the national race. Definitely the best race I have ever competed in in my whole career!!!

Race two, which was on Sunday morning, was equally eventful but in a bad way!! Got off to a great start and hit the front early. I saw championship leader Delaney down in the first turn but because I obviously left my brain back in the garage, I never thought of pacing myself and taking a handy win. Ah no, I had to fire the bike down the track in turn 3 with me sliding behind it!! Real sensible stuff! Picked the bike back up, didn’t even check to see if there were wheels on it let alone brakes and belted away after the pack. With fibreglass and the remains of my screen flying off, I somehow managed to bring it home in 5th.. not too bad but still very annoyed with my schoolboy error. Nevertheless, more points in the bag!

Race 3 was a bit of a mental challenge after falling in the previous race and front end confidence wasn’t the May West. I got boxed in at the start and circulated in 6th place for a few laps, just following the riders in front.. After a brief ‘chat’ with myself between turns 2 and 3, I pulled the pin and was on a passing frenzy!! Got right onto the wheels of the leaders and had the pace to win but unfornutaly a red flag had the race stopped and my second place got relegated to a third.. lucky for some!!!

The Adelaide Masters Grand Final was straightforward enough, I started on pole and finished first after a short 8 lap sprint but I was knackered from the earlier races and was really suffering with a sore wrist from my tarmac surfing earlier on! Was just happy to see the flag and take the win (and the cash!)

3 podiums and a lesson learned is a good enough weekend for me!!! Signing off at this ‘cos my wrist is killing me!!! Watch this space!!

Oh and a big Get Well Soon to BJ Toal!!

Over and out

Flash # 22