Here is where an idea struck me. It won’t change anything much but at least it would shave a couple of seconds on the back straight I thought. I approached DSK Benelli as a customer and they were surprised and happy that I was actually thinking of racing the 899T. I said ‘give me a 1130R’. Luckily the bike was in Delhi for a track test and I had it in my garage for the race.
It wasn’t any less heavy but it had 15 Bhp more. What could that possibly mean? I had to wait for the practice and the qualifiers to find out since I just couldn’t afford any more expensive track days. I did 2.29 on practice day, which was quite slow!
There was another thing I could do. That could act both as a placebo and have an actual positive effect on my timings – get better rubber. I sourced the Pirelli Super Corsa 2 V2 and saved it for the race day.
The qualifying on the race weekend came. I wasn’t doing any better on the 1130R. The bike was even slower than the 899R. The 1130R was actually slower on the straights. How could that be? The answer was in the ‘Power Button’ on the Benelli 1130R console. Apparently when the Power Button is not lit up is when the bike is churning out the complete 135 Bhp, when it is lit it is only 110!
Spot the odd one out!
2.29 on the 1130R in qualifying. I was disappointed.
On the race day I had brand new tyres – the Pirelli SC2 V2. We had a warm up formation lap where I got to warm the tyres up a little bit the old fashioned way. All the 35 odd bikes came into the grid formation. Both the CC classes were racing together. It was going to be mayhem when the lights go out. And it was. In front of a 5000 plus cheering crowd all of us launched our bikes. I gained a few positions by the time we hit the first corner, a right hander. The fastest 1000CC guys were already gone. Then came the back straight – I managed to hit 230 kmph while the 1000CC guys overtook me like I was sipping tea on a road side dhabha. I was infuriated. At the end of the back straight on the 1st lap (of 8) someone fell. A green ZX10R smashed and rolled on the ground with sparks and bike parts flying all around. I was right behind in his line, but thankfully since I was slow I had some time to adjust my line. If I was on a 1000CC superbike I would have crashed into him at well over 200 kmph. The guy was Deva and he was fine. The bike apparently wasn’t.
All of us again went into a formation lap with now 7 laps remaining. The rest of the laps were a struggle, tiring me every lap. However, I found my rhythm and left the slow riders behind and the fast riders were already ahead of me. I was alone on the TNT1130R on the track. Just as I was about to end my 6th lap the two flying Sikhs lapped me on the ZX10R and a S1000RR! They were the fastest of the fastest here. I saw the chequered flag as the race ended. I wasn’t too keen on seeing my results as I was expecting around the same performance as the qualifiers.
Full house!
Race Time! Photo : Asif Z.
However, to my surprise I did a best of 2.23 which was quite good considering both my relative inexperience and the bike I was riding. The Pirelli rubber did play its part as did the adrenaline. I was placed 11th ahead of a few superbikes like the S1000RRs etc. That was a good 6 seconds improvement from the previous qualifiers day.
Game on! Photo : Aditya Bedre.
Photo : Sunil G.
Photo : Sunil G.
Photo : Sunil G.
Photo : Sunil G.
Photo : Aditya Bedre
Photo : Aditya Bedre
Did 2.23. A seconds improvement on the race day!
It was a great experience. However, I still wonder how fast I can go without breaking my self imposed condition of not falling down or risking any bodily injury which might put my ‘real’ touring career on hold even for a day. You can’t go fast without shedding your inhibitions and allowing yourself to fall since that is where you learn your true limits and boundaries of your skills and your bike.
What if I had a bike like the Triumph Daytona 675R or a Ducati Panigale 899 with race tyres? I think I should be able to do 2.17 or even lesser with some diligent track practice days.
A few months down the line and a bike like the ZX10R could either slow me down or make me even faster at 2.14 or so. That’s 9 seconds off a bike like the 220 kg 135 Bhp naked street bike Benelli 1130R. Wishful thinking? Who knows ? But my oh my! What a fantastic bike the Benellis have proved to be! I am so excited to tour and do more stuff with the insane looking 899 on the turf it belongs!
Wish List: Triumph Daytona 675R . Photo: Sunil G. BIC
Wish List: Ducati Panigale 899 . Photo: Ducati (ZIC, Zuhai International Circuit)
P.S: Congratulations to everyone who participated and to those who came on the podium! Also thanks to Ikjot Singh Bhasin, DSK Benelli and Pirelli.
Some more pics on the next page
