Moody claims valuable points in the second race
Feb 10th 2013 – The Eighth of February saw the 4th Race Day of the 2012-13 UAE Sportsbike Championship and after a 7 week break due the festive period and the Dubai 24hr race, the riders were eager to get back on track to resume racing.
During a test session the week before, the team suffered two setbacks as the engine and suspension developed major faults. Thanks to a rapid service by the teams suspension partner Nitron in the UK, the rebuilt shock and forks arrived back at ProBikes on Wednesday. Sadly there was insufficient time to rebuild the damaged engine, so the team’s main sponsor Duseja Moto lent us an engine out of their Triumph 675 demo bike.
Thursday 7th February saw the team use the 3 test sessions to set-up the suspension following the rebuild. Mahmoud started off using the settings recommended by Nitron and gradually adjusted them to suit the tires, track conditions and his riding style. The team left at the end of the day feeling confident being close to the optimum setup, with time available after warm-up and qualifying if minor tweaks were needed.
Friday 8th February dawned bright but cold. The Ten minutes warm-up passed without incident with the qualifying session commencing after a short break. As qualifying started, there were 4 or 5 riders all within 1 second of each other. Forget needing a blanket, a face towel would have covered them. Mahmoud put in the fastest class time to take the 600cc pole and 4th overall. Nice, albeit the demo engine was getting close to overheating!
Despite a decent start, Moody would crash out early in the race
Race 1 saw Mahmoud make a reasonable start but ended the 1st lap in 4th place, but with only 1 second covering the 1st four. Entering the last turn on lap 3 he overtook Joe Oxley for second place but sadly a slight touch from Joe’s front onto Moody’s rear tire saw both riders slide off their bikes but fortunately with no injuries. Mahmoud remounted and rode the bike back to the garage where the team sprang into action to repair / replace the damaged parts. The team had roughly an hour to fix the bike. Some gentle heat and not so gentle hammer saw the heal plate and foot peg bracket being a lot straighter than they were after the crash.
Crashing out in the first race, Moody keeps his head and takes a podium in the second
With the sound of the pit lane opening for race 2, Mahmoud was out to try his best but as he rode out of the pit lane he found that the right handle bar was too far forward. Sadly there wasn’t enough time for the team to go back to the garage, grab the tools and get back on the grid. Mid race saw Mahmoud up with the leaders and wrong handle bar position or not, he worked his way into the lead. Despite his best efforts, the overheating engine was no match for Joe’s Ducati as it was losing power and Mahmoud couldn’t carry the rev counter to its limits, still, a 2nd place finish was a great result and with it, a trip to the podium.
And so as the sun sets on the horizon, the team reflects on a day of hope, disappointment and joy. A strange 2 days for the racers with bike problems, crashes and 2 new winners (well done Rob and Joe) and with the time gap decreasing between the riders, you can be sure that the next race day is going to be a cracker!
