The weather was great, and the whole weekend was fantastic.
After the last visit to the circuit, pushing the bike to it's limits and occasionally, beyond, I was struggling to understand how to go faster this time out.
Phil had fitted new front brake pads and re-packed the exhaust can, to get the thing within the noise limits, just before his trip to Cadwell. This made a big difference. I found during first practice that the motor revved out along the big Snetterton straight, a lot better than last time and I could brake a lot later too. Added to this some set-up help From Jeremy Hill and the result was much better racing and a whole second a lap faster than last time.
There was a worry that the weather was going to be crap, but it couldn't have turned out better. Hot! just the way I like it.
The usual Saturday morning routine of up early to get the bike through it's race M.O.T and get signed on before prepping the bike ready for the first practice and race. Thunderbike were to be 3rd session out on track, so no time to mess about.
It had been 2 months since I last rode but i got straight on the pace, well, my fastest pace anyway.
I was to start from 16th on the grid for the first race, and was confident of a good leap away from the start. I was not to be disappointed and found my self 7th by the end of lap 1. I was waiting for the usual swarm of bikes to come past and was surprised to let just 2 come past on lap 2. I could hear someone behind and after a couple of bad exits from Richies corner, I was caught and passed by Gyles on his BIG BAD ! MotoGuzzi and new guy Ian Leah on his nice Ducati 748. From there on, I had the perfect view of the battle going on between these 2 guys. One that would continue all weekend.
This was the picture for much of the weekend. Ian, Gyles and myself.Gyles was keeping up his traditional Snetterton stomp and was flying but Ian was getting the better of him down the straights only to then hold Gyles up and myself, through the corners. The two of them swapped and re swapped places with me pinned to their tails for the rest of the race, and with Adam Palfreman on his Suzuki SV,pinned to my tail. Ian managed to get in front at the flag and finish 9th. Gyles was 10th, myself 11th and Adam 12th. There was just a second and one tenth between the 4 of us at the finish.
A lap time of 1:19.359 was over half a second faster and a new personal best.
The racing was to heat up, as was the weather and the lap times!
Race 2 and a 11th place grid slot was next up and I was hoping to get infront of these guys at the start this time and stay there.
My start was bad and I found myself having to slip the clutch like crazy to stop from bogging down as I watched the big black Guzzi get into turn 1 infront. I knew there was not a lot of chance of getting past and especially as Mike Baxter came howling past onto the back straight. He was flying from a 16th place starting position and soon took Gyles. Try as I might, I could not get close enough to Gyles and as my regular neighbour in the paddock, it was like trying to catch and pass your team mate!
I could feel someone getting close and could hear the boom of a couple of v-twins close behind.I just kept my head down and rode as hard as I could to keep them behind. The big booming sound over my howling four cylinder scream got louder as we went through the 1st turn, Richies but then quieter as we headed down the straight out of turn 2. I was having trouble getting through the bumpy second apex of turn 1 and on the gas along the short straight to turn 2, but getting out of 2 and along the straight well enough to drop the guys behind. I remember it happening lap after lap for what seemed like an age, and thinking, they're gonna get me in a minute!. On lap 5 , Adam came past but I managed to get him back on the next lap and keep him there for the rest of the race.
As Gyles pulls away, Adam reels me in for a close inspection of my arse for 8 laps!This time it was Gyles in 10th, the myself 11th, Adam 12th and Ian close behind. Less than half a second between me, Adam and Ian. Gyles meanwhile, had latched onto the back of Mike Baxter's beautiful 748 with what must have been a grappling hook, and disappeared off into the distance some 9 seconds ahead. I had gone 3 tenths slower this race but it felt like 5 seconds faster. That's the pressure of having booming v-twins right up yer chuffter!
It was a great race for me, as was the first race and a whole lot better finishing position than I had hoped or imagined. Fantastic. Now all I needed was to work out how to get out of Richies faster. Time to look for Jeremy, but not before I had worked out how to fix the front sprocket nut that now, was laying in the belly pan on the slowing down lap. As it turned out, all the thread had been completely stripped away to a polished finish! It's a wonder how the front sprocket stayed on.
The great thing about Yamaha machines is the interchangability of parts from one model to another. Once back in the paddock, we were all wondering how a sprocket nut for a 22 year old bike in a paddock full of modern machinery, was going to materialise. After a bit of asking around I was pointed in the direction of Sam Bishop who runs big modern R1 and R6 yamahas.
Would you believe that a 2006 R6 uses the same front sprocket as a 1985 FZ. Thank the gods of speed for Yamaha! And thanks to Phil for doing the work to fit it all back together.
Jeremy had stopped in for a look at my back tyre. There was quite a bit of chewed up rubber on the right hand side. A couple of clicks on the rear shock were decided upon to help the rubber and to hopefully help through Richies corner. I had the tyre turned so the lovely looking left hand side of the tyre was now on the right, which should give up more grip as it was looking almost new with there only being two short left hand turns at Snetterton.
I had had an absolutely fantastic day of racing, with the throttle pinned all day and feeling physically great too, and with the nut problem sorted and a good chat with Jeremy, the next day was looking good! I was really looking forward to more of the same!
