: Jet-lag and family life

Back in the office again now after two weeks away for the test and race at Phillip Island in Australia. The first round of the season is immediately the furthest away and longest period away from home so we have that behind us now. Coming back to Europe means dealing with jet-lag and getting used to every day family life again.

We have two kids, both boys aged four and six, and for sure they don’t understand the concept of jet-lag! Anyway it was good to hug and fool around with them again -  priceless moments… The weather is still quite bad in Holland, still freezing at night, but the boys can’t wait to go on their MX bikes again, so probably one of the coming days I will be running after them again at a close-by track. It’s my best (and only) fitness exercise.

A real shock to deal with this week was my dad being rushed to the hospital on Thursday morning at 3.30 am with internal bleeding. He is in the middle of cancer treatment, but the chemo and radiation apparently made a tiny hole in his aorta. It was a very tough day at the hospital with emotions bouncing from floor to ceiling all day, but luckily the doctors did a good operation on him and by midnight he was in the recovery room and we could speak with him again. The coming days are still tough for him but at least we can look forward positively again.

It’s a little strange to pick up normal office work with the jet-lag, but the day at the hospital made it even more strange. It kind of makes you realize in a very hard way what the real priorities in life are.

Anyway, all the material has returned to our workshop on Friday afternoon and the mechanics will all start on Monday again to unload the crates and make things ready for Portimao. We’re looking forward to that not only because testing went well there, but also because of some disappointment after round one.

In WSBK we just couldn’t get the bike working to its maximum with the base settings. However, Jonathan’s ride in race two, from last to sixth, did show we got it right in the end… For Max Neukirchner we really have to find something ‘out of the box’, as Jonathan’s settings definitely don’t work for him. We are all so convinced he can do the job, so we are very determined to put him in the position to do it.

In Supersport, the result was not too far off, considering the problems we experienced with tyre wear. Also both riders had to jump to their second bike after they BOTH went down on the oil spilled by one of the Triumphs. Kenan took a pretty bad beating, especially on the ankle which he broke at the beginning of January. He minimized the damage overall by taking third. Compliments to Michele Pirro, not only for a fast lap but also for showing some real impressive stuff during the race. It’s such a pity the deflated tyre brought an end to his podium aspirations.

Getting our heads into gear now for Portimao!

Ronald 10K8

WSBK: Japanese adventure

Hi everyone,


I’m writing this on the Shinkansen, which is a bullet train headed from Tokyo to Nagoya. Tomorrow I have a day full of media engagements around Nagoya so I will be very busy. Keith also arrives tomorrow morning as he stayed back to do a race in Ireland but in the end it got cancelled.


Last week I had my first ride on the TSR Honda. To be honest I was impressed with how easy the bike was to ride and the machine setting of Akiyoshi was not so bad. I had three sessions on the bike and only 30mins in the dry so I feel that we still have a lot of learning to do.


After the test I headed back to Tokyo to meet with the Honda head office guys and go out for dinner. They took me to a typical Japanese restaurant then a small tour around Tokyo. The next day I headed back to my Japanese data engineer’s place to spend the rest of the weekend with him. My data guy from Ten Kate Honda joined us as he came out for a little holiday.


Yesterday we visited the Honda Collection centre at Motegi and also visited the famous Japanese temples in Nikko that were pretty cool to see. It was up early again today and back to Tokyo to the HRC headquarters for some meetings and then back to Honda head office. To be honest I was hoping to leave my alarm clock at home but it has had to wake me up every morning so far.


One thing about Japan is that the easiest way to commute is by train so I am pretty much over trains right now. The weather is so hot and humid here and is definitely worse than previous years. It is so uncomfortable that even the Japanese people are complaining.


I hope that the race is a little better but I am not holding my breath. Our WSBK races are around 40 minutes and I have to do four 60 minutes stints at full race pace. The thing about the Suzuka 8 Hour race is a proper race to the end and not your typical endurance race.

I’m going to get back to some the finale of 24 again as it’s been a while since I finished that series, so another time won’t hurt! My itunes have been keeping me sane this trip!


Speak soon


JR

01-01-1970 - Monza reflections

01-01-1970 - Brands Hatch beckons JR

01-01-1970 - Island reflections from Doha

WSS: Racetracks and family
It was good to get home to Turkey after the race in Phillip Island. I was a bit upset about the result at first, but then I thought about Michele, who came home with no points at all and I thought that third – with the problems that we had – was not a bad result.
I spent a lot of time training with my friends and doing some mountain bike races. Ronald (ten Kate) has now banned me from training on motocross bikes after I broke my ankle before the season started, so I must stick with the mountain bike. But it’s OK – I love to ride and it keeps me in good condition.
I also went to check on the progress of my racetrack at my home town of Sakarya. It’s been a dream of mine for four or five years and I promised the local government that, if they would help me build it, we would make a track where I can help to train some young riders for racing motorcycles in Europe.
So, I bought the land and the local council is taking care of the buildings and the asphalt, which is the most expensive part – probably more than 100,000 Euros, even though the track is only 1.2km long.
But I designed the layout myself and it has lots of corners and will be used for karting and supermotard racing. I have already bought myself a very fast kart in Holland! The track should be ready in about June, so I’m really looking forward to seeing the project finished at last.
Being at home in Turkey is the best way to prepare for the next race – I am surrounded by friends and family and it makes my mother very happy. After losing my two brothers to motorcycle accidents, she doesn’t like me to be away too long. And, although she doesn’t like me racing, she knows how much it means to me and I know how difficult it is for her.
Everything is going well so far in Portugal, and the team is working really hard as usual. I spent a few days at the workshop in Holland before the race to see the work they are doing. Last season was difficult with the new CBR600RR but it got stronger as the season progress and now we know how to get the best out of it.
Hopefully, the race will go well tomorrow and I can get a good result for more championship points. Then I will return home to Turkey before the next round at Valencia. Apart from anything else, my sister had her first child last weekend – a niece for me – and I have only seen her on MSN so far. It will be good to meet her in person!
Best wishes for now, and I’ll try to get a good result tomorrow here at Portimao.
Kenan