Rockin' !

Sunday was equally as good as Saturday. The weather was dry and clear although a bit windy.
the racing starts later on a Sunday, which means a lay in bed....very welcome!
We were not due on track for our race until after lunch apart from a short warm up session late morning. Well very short for me as I ran out of fuel on lap 2. Best to get these mistakes out of the way before the racing.... what a dork!

I got a great start in both the races but, again, found myself slipping backwards down the order, suffering badly with clutch slip. The engine seemed to behave this time though.

Handling of the suspension wasn't too bad but we found that the forks need to be completely re-worked. All adjustment being at one end of the available "clicks". Another job for Steve Jordan!
The rear seems fine and the tyres performing excellently apart from a couple of rear slides coming onto the start straight. Just me I guess, trying to get the power down too early.That is something the sorted suspension should cure.I am having to wait too long to apply the power out of the corners while I wait for the bike to settle.With no testing before Lydden Hill for us (due to having to work), and the forks not due to be worked on until after the race weekend, I am going to have to race with the setup the way it is until the next round at Snetterton.

I had the help of Jeremy Hill over the weekend. he is an ex-champion and had retired from racing to concentrate on helping new racers, such as myself. We talked about setting up the bike as well as a multitude of different things. He really was a great help and I very much look forward to his help throughout the coming races.

Thanks Jez!

I managed to shave over a half second off of my Saturday times, finally recording a 58.290 time.A long way to go to the front guys, who are running times in the low 52 second area.
It will be very interesting to see the difference in my times, next time we go to Brands Hatch.

The first race of the day was interesting. Following Gyles on his Moto guzzi, I could smell burning fiberglass and soon realised it was coming from the bottom of his bike. He, as I, was having trouble with the catch tray grounding out early and severely limiting angle of lean. This was soon to become an even bigger problem for Gyles as the bike decked out, loosing grip, and sliding him off into the gravel. He was thankfully ok and back at the paddock he and Chris, set about fixing the relatively light damage, ready for the next race.He made it onto the grid for the last race.

Here he comes!....bugger!

The second and last race for us was a belter! I got away from the back but made several mistakes, missing gears and recovering from a rather nasty slide allowed Phil, who I had passed at the start, to catch me. Coming along the start straight, I knew some one was behind and close as I could see their long shadow in the low afternoon sun. I resolved to try to keep this mystery guy behind, riding defensive lines. I decided to have a peek over my shoulder and found to my delight that it was Phil. There's something special about racing a close friend. We spent a good 5 or 6 laps close together and by the last lap I knew that Phil was going to try something. Sure enough on the entry to Druids hairpin, I let the bike run wide by mistake and Phil ducked underneath me and got in front. There was little chance to regain the position as he was running a second a lap faster than me all weekend, but what a great end to the weekend!

Monday was so depressing. I guess all the adrenalin from the weekend was gone and I was on a big comedown. This racing lark surely is a big drug.

Thanks to Steve Spencer for sending me a new clutch and springs. That should sort the problem.With plenty of mods for the bike happening this weekend, we should be in reasonable shape for Lydden Hill.


This was one of the best looking bikes I saw at Brands over the weekend.

Addictive stuff

Addictive stuff this racing business. I can't wait for the next round at Lydden hill!
I thought that the weird feelings in my stomach would get less, now that I have raced....wrong, they are still there.
We were gifted some great weather for March, but rather cold nights in the van.Nice and warm for the racing though.
The first race grid of the year is set by the championship finishing positions from the previous season.Phil was to start from 8th and I was to start from 23rd.I really didn't have any expectations of where I would be by the end of the race and no idea of how the FZ would compare to the machinery around me.I just figured on finishing.I knew from the practice race starts we did at Mallory last month, that the FZ was good away from the start line, so I was hopeful of a good start. I was right. I wasn't too nervous on the line and felt well focused.I got a great start and blasted past quite a few guys, clipping some one's handle bars with mine as I shot through.

Phil # 61 and Tim "chunky" Churchill trying to find a way past!


The clutch slipping was a big problem and the engine was running badly and stuttering quite a lot.I soon found myself getting swamped by guys coming past as I lost drive out of most corners, especially the straights.
The race was over so fast it seemed like we had done only a couple of laps. A lot of it was a blur, but what a feeling of exultation for quite some time after.
I found from our timing sheets after the race that I had finished 21st. I was happy with that. I phoned my girl friend to say I was ok and she gave me my times from Mylaps.com website.I had been running consistent times, which was pleasing.


The second race for Thunderbikes of the day came as the last race of the day and again I got a killer start finding myself way up the pack.Halfway around the first lap, going into Surtees, a rider lost the front and hit the deck right in front of me. I picked my bike up to avoid him and had to take to the grass, loosing positions as I rejoined and coming out last. I managed to get myself back up to 20th and finished half a second behind Phil, getting back to the paddock with an even bigger feeling of joy inside. Great to get through the day in one piece!.

It was a long way back onto the circuit!

Saturday evening was a great fun.We had camped out with fellow Thunderbike racer Gyles Fairclough and his friend Chris.These guys had driven down from Scotland with the Moto Guzzi and a shed load of beer. We had some good food and some great laughs with tales of swollen bollocks and past biking stories.

Gyles's Thunderbike...what a beast!

Great people

One if the most wonderful things about this whole project has been the enthusiasm of other people.When complete strangers come and express their respect and enjoyment of seeing a 22 year old bike in the paddock, it gives me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. Racing a shitter instead of a cheque book bike is a great challange and it's excellent to get the feedback that we have got from loads of people.

thankyou all.

A great 1st race weekend!

What a fantastic weekend!
After a much more comfortable night in our newly modified van, and with the luxury of power and a heater, Friday practice at Brands started wet. I have never ridden on wet tyres before, so it was valuable experience. I was amazed at the amount of grip available and more amazed to be over taken by several guys around the outside of me with their knees on the deck!
The day got progressively better weather wise and dried out nicely. Phil's Laverda ran nicely but not so good was the FZ. The clutch was still slipping badly and the motor was intermittently running on 3 cylinders for much of the day. I found that giving the thing loads of hard abuse seemed to get all 4 kicking in and by the latter part of the day all seemed ok. Another problem was ground clearance, with the belly pan and back brake lever hitting the deck quite badly. I raised the lever quite a bit which helped as it felt too low anyway but the belly pan would have to wait for workshop attention back at home. By the end of the weekend it had worn a big hole. More getting covered in fiberglass resin then!
The front forks are going to need attention at some point soon, funds permitting. I may just have put up with it for the next race but they will need to be re-sprung and re-valved to give more adjustment as they are at their maximum level. The rear felt good though which is a big relief.

The most urgent thing to sort will be the clutch. The bike was loosing big time along the straight and especially up the steep hill into Druid's bend and pretty much anywhere involving hard loading under acceleration.
So after a very busy and exhausting day of testing, the nerves started to build, and having spent much of the day sorting things and worrying more about the bike than what was happening with my riding and learning where I was going, I wasn't too confident about the coming races.
I shouldn't have worried so much. The racing proved to be a massive high for me and a great relief to be finally doing it after all our long hours and hard work over the winter. Phil and I had a great time on the track and a great battle in the final race on Sunday. we met some great guys over the weekend and had some fantastic laughs.
I will have to write more over the next few days as there is so much to say and some good photos in the post. It's now rather late so I'm off to bed with some great memories of my first weekend of racing.