The following pics were taken on the 24/2/08 at Queensland International raceway. This was the first time the 2000 Red Bull bike was ridden on the race track by its new rider Brad Gross. The day was spent dialing in the suspension and jetting. We ended the day with a good base setting with which we'll take to Eastern Creek for the Barry Sheene Memorial race meeting on the 21/3 to 23/3/08...
In the next few weeks we will be fitting a stage 3 tuned top end, I will be building some new titanium pipes to our own design to help make the most of the tune..As well we will be organising alternate gear ratios and spare parts....
MiCoProducts - Barry Sheene Race report 21/3-23/3
AS you are aware we contested the 2008 Barry Sheene Memorial race meeting at Eastern Creek with the 2000 Red Bull bike courtesy of its owner Tom Dermody. The rider was rising Australian 125GP star, 17 year old Brad Gross.
The race for us started at Queensland Int raceway 1 month before hand when the bike and rider were given their 1 st real test. That day ended confidently with a good base setting with which to take to Eastern Creek.
In the following month we rebuilt the engine using a Stans Stephen stage 3 tune. We also had alternate gearing made and most importantly made changes to the suspension and the power jets which we fitted to the standard RZ500 carbs. (A technical article will follow shortly on this on our web site).
Friday the 21 st March was an open practice day. Due to the rain we only got 2 practice sessions in. The track time was spent running in the new engine and adjusting the suspension. (It is important to note here that we made the early decision to treat this engine as you would a GP engine. AS well as building 500GP replicas I am also working with young Brad on his TZ125 GP bike as he attempts to win the OZ 125 national championship)
By the end of Friday, the engine was run in, and pulling 10,500 RPM at the end of the main straight. The bike does run easily to 11000 RPM but power does drop off, so other than holding a gear threw a corner there is no need to rev it that hard. With the tuned engine and more importantly the new carb set up the bike makes excellent torque and pulls very cleanly without almost any hesitation. Before the Queensland practice we spent a lot of time and money on the dyno fine tuning the carb set up.
Moving on, Saturday arrived bright and early but wet. We had 1 qualifying session in the morning and the 1 st race of the weekend Saturday afternoon. We fitted wets for the qualifier and Brad qualified an excellent 4 th . Bear in mind that we are racing in the new era 2 class which is for all bikes built pre 1995 and includes some very quick and exotic 750, 916 & 1000cc race bikes.
The first race was soon upon us and I felt like I was sending my first born out to do battle. When the flag fell Brad was nailed on the start line from behind which broke the stop on his brake lever. Fortunately he was still able to use the brakes (after having to keep his fingers on the lever the whole race). Brad quickly got into 4 th place. By the end of the race Brad had reduced the margin to just under 2 seconds to 3 rd place.
This was an absolutely incredible result on a completely hand built motorcycle with a 24 year old engine. The sound and speed of this thing down the straight was just unbelievable and brought me back to the days when Doohan, Rainey, Schwantz and co. were carving up Eastern creek. Without the broken lever who knows what may have happened. As you could imagine we went home that night very pleased and very excited about the next 2 races.
Sunday dawned and the sun finally made an appearance. We got 2 quick laps in early morning to scrub the Bridgestone slicks in. The first race of the morning beckoned. We warmed the beast up and Brad went out for the sighting lap. Unfortunately not only for us but for everyone who went to the meeting just to see our bike, Brad crashed at turn 9. We still aren't sure what happened but it is most likely due to oil which was left after a previous race incident. It was a terrible shame as with the results of the previous day anything could have happened. The most important thing was that Brad is fine and the bike, although needing some repairs, will be back in action in a couple of months.
Firstly I would like to thank Tom Dermody who not only let us use his bike for the weekend, but also flew Brad to the meeting and paid for the never ending supply of fresh tyres and race parts. Secondly we would not have gotten the excellent result without the incredible efforts of Brad Gross. He is a fantastic young rider who is not only very fast but is also very good a setting up a motorcycle. With a bit of luck and financial support Brad will take out this years Oz 125GP National championship. And last of all I would like to thank all the people, both racers and fans, who came into our pits over the weekend and showed interest and joy at seeing 500Gp bikes (although replicas) out on the track again.
Once we round up some pics I will post them on my site….
Cheers
Mick
