So an early start to get to the circuit for friday practice to allow us to finish building Phils new FZ along the way. As it turned out, we would still be working on it on race day and unfortunately, Phil missed the 1st race while he battled on making the catch tray legal.After next to no sleep for weeks, phil made it out for race 2. It was clear straight away that it needs work on the suspension and chassis.
Friday practice went well. Session 1 and it was clear to me that the front was way too hard. I made good progress that morning, running in 4 sessions with each getting the front nearer to the mark.
Rain and some snow stopped play for the afternoon and although it would have been an advantage to get some running on a wet track in case of rain during racing, I decided there was no benefit to getting the bike set up and I didn't want to wander from the route I was on, thinking about wet riding.Plus the added risk of a crash and the sleep and energy factor.
Jeremy Hill came to lend a welcome hand and cast an eye over what I had been doing and I was glad to find I wasn't far from the mark and heading in the right direction.
I had lost a front sprocket in one session. This happened last year. Food for thought and investigation.
A new big gun and an old.......pistols at dawn?It was great to see my pit buddy Gyles and his new MGS01 Moto Guzzi out for the weekend. What an awesome looking bike! I was sure he was going to do well over the weekend on the monstrous black beast.
I felt properly prepared for the racing and was secretly upbeat about the prospects of some good results.I had been keeping or passing guys I had not been able to get near at Brands a month ago. Looking at the times from last year in the heat of summer, my new pb was a second faster. The track and air temps were low and things should generally be faster in the heat of the summer.
After an 11th place last time out at Brands, I was pleasantly surprised to find my self gridded 10th for race 1. This time out, I got a good start and was into turn 1 in a decent position.
The bike felt so much better than last year and instead of braking at the 300 metre mark at the end of Revetts straight, I was able to brake at about 150. It was much more stable under brakes and into and through the turns. Exactly what I had been hoping for. A massive improvement and it showed in the results. A new personal best lap time and my highest finish so far of 7th.
Now to go faster!
Corums CurveA couple of small adjustments to suspension in an attempt to cure a slight chewing of the right hand side of the rear and I was really up for it.
For race 2 I took the finish position from the last race to the grid and was starting 7th and this time finished the race one better with a 6th. I was ecstatic at the results of the day and very much looking forward to doing better in race 3 and 4 the next day.
Saturday evening and we had double cause to celebrate and I allowed myself a beer or two. Gyles had gone from 17th on the grid to an amazing 4th place in race 1 and to top it all, as I was riding back to the paddock I caught a slow Gyles, grabbing his elbow and gesticulating the question " where did you come? ". He simply rose one finger. I quickly forgot my 6th place and screamed in my lid all the way back to the paddock. I could see it was going to be a while before it sank in to his head that he had actually won. Pure delight to see a guy that has become a real good friend, win. Well done you northern git! hehehehe...... That Guzzi is something else! not forgetting some tallent to get it to P1.
After another freezing sleepless night in hotel transit, the weather was looking better than the showery day we had before, although we had escaped the rain. I was really hoping we would again.
I finally clicked riding in the rain at the last round and was actually sad to see the chequered flag but it is a pain in the arse. Changing tyres, getting wet, and all the other mess it causes in our paddock camp so really I'd rather it was dry, and I was not to be let down by the weather today.
sisters?Day 2 and a good looking day weather wise.
Thunderbikes were to be the first race of the day at 9 o'clock, meaning an early rise and after another cold, restless night, I was wishing we were last race.
Race 1 and a 6th place grid slot. I was hoping to get a strong start. It would be interesting to find out how the big guns ahead of me would get away. If I could do well here, I figured they would help pull me along and away from the guys behind.
It worked well for a while at least. I got a good start and went into the first turn in 3rd place. the two infront were gone out of turn 2 like rockets leaving me behind and as I blasted down the straight, I had pulled Phil Read with me. He got me going into Russles Chicane at the end of the lap.He went in a little hot so I attempted to square the exit of the corner to get on the gas early and get behind him. It was too much gas, too soon on tyres that were not quite hot yet. The rear came round, gripped and sent the front of the bike into a tank slapper that threw me onto my head.... bollocks! According to a spectator, there was no-one behind me.
The bike was reasonably ok and with some hurried repairs and help from quite a few people ( you know who you are. Thanks guys), I was out for race 4 and starting from the back of the grid.
Race 4 and we were held in the collecting area for about 15 minutes while the officials decided wether to call a wet race as rain loomed. By the time the grid was formed, with the vast majority of the guys on slicks, tyres were stone cold. I decided caution was best employed for the first couple of laps especially as I was planning a blast through the pack. I wanted to get a decent result to ensure a good grid position for the next race at the next round.
Things went well and with a retiring Ducati helping me get clear of 7th and 8th place, I found myself chasing 6th place Tony Rand. I was catching him too but probably not fast enough to take the 6th from him. With 2 laps to go, entering the right/left of the chicane, I felt my foot slip from the peg and a split second later I slid out of the race.
A loosened crank end cover has sprayed the left hand side of the bike and tyre with oil.
Minimal damage to the bike and none to rider was a bonus to a disastrous day.
Mean while Gyles had a 2nd place finish and topped off in race 4 with another win and a new lap record, which was truly amazing given the colder conditions. Only the top 4 riders getting lap times in the 1:15s, they really were fast.
I was very happy with progress this weekend. Despite the crashes, a big jump in progress has been made and a lot of positives are taken from the whole weekend, even including the crashes. They have been a good lesson.
