On day three, it was about piecing it all together. I was pretty certain which tyres I now liked and was getting more confident and learning more about the track every time I went out. I was also getting more comfortable with the four stroke and with the bike being a bit out of line on exiting the corners. Generally, on a 250, if you're out of line then you're on your a*se, so it was something I was gradually getting more comfortable with. I don't think these bikes are fast enough to spin up and start to lose time like a SBK or
MotoGP bike can be, but there is technique to sliding them a bit, or doing it too much and keeping the 250 style to keep driving. I am still learning. One thing that I will say is that 250 Aprilias teach you some serious throttle control!
I still wasn't entirely happy with the front end of the bike, even though it had got better and better over the previous two days. As I was getting faster and faster, the suspension constantly needed tweaking and, at the end of day three, we got it to a pretty good point, but not perfect. It was a bit harsh on the front end and, if we could get rid of this, then it would definitely be worth another good few tenths. I know it is a road bike, so it doesn't have the scope to adjust like a GP bike does, but I'm pretty sure there is room for improvement.
On my last outing, I got out with a guy called Josh Hayes, who won the AMA Formula Extreme Championship last year. FX is a very trick 600, even having traction control on the factory bikes, and we had a really good, fun dice. Getting in a slipstream at
Daytona is so important, more than anywhere I have ever been before. That's how races there are generally won and lost, by the guy who can cleverly gauge when is the right time to pull out and make his move from the draft of the guy in front. Hayes and me had a real good bash and, on one lap, we came on to the start/finish line, he slipstreamed me and we both looked across at each other for a good couple of seconds at about 170mph! It was awesome fun!
