SENTUL TRACK DAY

2008-03-07 and 2008-03-09 

Friday (March 07, 200 is a public holiday. Being a long weekend, some Ducati Riders who were still in town,  warmed up their bikes and did some practice rounds in Sentul International Circuit, arround 45 Km from Jakarta.  Besides the real racer from R15 Team that day, at least I could see 8 Ducati bikes including 3 units of new Ducati Superbike1098 (Setiawan on 1098s, Ochi on 1098 and myself on 1098s). The other 5 Other Ducatista  were Eko on Ducati Superbike 996, Steven on Ducati Superbike 748, Milan on Monster 400, Saiful on Monster 400,  Satar on Multistrada 1000DS. Other brands of bikes were also present that day. A group of  Cagiva and Aprilia bikes as well as some smaller capacity bike like the 150 cc CBR were also present and gathered here to perform endurance and safety testing in one of Asia challenging motor racing track.   

I did not set any kind of target for today ride, except to ride and enjoy my 1098s more on motor racing track especially on the turns or corners.   

This is the report. 

Bro Milan gets prepared and his Monster 400 is ready:

  

Satar’s Multistrada 1000DS is also ready:

 

Ochi came with a Nissan Serena and unload his 1098 from that car:

 

I still need to finish some business calls before entering into the track since it was not a public holiday on the other parts of the world:

 

Setiawan, was on a warm up. Just take an easy and safe ride several rounds on track; he was enjoying the ride on his 1098s:

  

Ochi also have some relax warm up ride and enjoying corner to corner on his new 1098:

  

I was still trying to adjust myself and the bike. It seems to me a little suspension adjustment still need to be done because I could feel some bumpy period for a while just after the corner.

  

While Eko, seems comfortable and was looked very cool on Ducati 996. See him knee down in some corners:

  

Eko manage to ride several laps…

    

But then, he felt down at the ”Small S” just after overtook me on R4. It seems to me that he did not entering the first corner on that Small S too fast, but he lose the grip on his front tire.  Hm.. I can’t imagine if that happen on a speed corner. Likely Eko does not fatally hurt, although one of his fingers needs to be taken care of by the doctor in the hospital. He could ride his bike again 2 days later. 

This is a good lesson. Do not tolerate with any safety parts and gears!! At least we have to always make sure that the tires, breaking system and safety gears are all in a good shape before we ride.

 

On Sunday (March 9, 2008), Ahmad Jayadi, the Indonesian National Supersport Champion, get a chance trying and enjoying the 1098s and commented “ Wow… this is very nice bike, very slim and easy to ride. It also has more than enough power.” I showed him only ride safely and did not open the throttle widely. Hm.. I was wondering how if he ride on a real race?

  

I also manage to ride and practice with Didi (Black R6). But, yes, skill does not lie. At some steep corners I still feel difficult to closely follow him:

  

After a while, Ochi seems get a better feeling and more comfortable with his 1098:

     

I am in action on my 1098s:

    

Take a break on the mid day. It is quite exhausted ride for an amateur rider like me. I start feel more comfortable but still need to have several more practice to bet better on the corners.  

Come back home just after mid day, my wife and 3 children have been waiting for me for a walk at Pondok Indah Mall, not too far from my house, until late afternoon…  

What a great weekend… 

The End.