I gave Speedway a go a couple years back, with my Uncle who is now creeping to the top (his 16yr old son swings for him now)
I didn't like it.
The wall didn't bother me one bit, it was the shadows of the other bikes that did my head in, not knowing where they were.
Our first start, I had no idea what I was doing. On my third attempt to grab the handle I finally got it, right before we hit turn one and finally coming down from a wheelie.
It was a rush knowing that to get around the corner, I had to 'pull' the bike. Otherwise, I felt like I was just sitting there collecting mud and hearing the grinding of the gutter.
Road is far more of a rush, being able to go both ways is fukn awesome! Holding on (or not!) against so many forces is something you just do not experience on the dirt.
Written by John Mushet
Superside RKBF1
The 2.4 mile Grand Prix circuit of Donington Park in Leicestershire would be hosting the second round of the FIM World sidecar championship on British soil for the first time since 2008 over the bank holiday weekend of the 23rd to 25th May 2014.
Held along side the World superbike championship at this round the British Formula One contenders were given an opportunity to compete as wildcards. With two former World Champions and British runners Tim ReevesGregory Cluze and Ben/Tom Birchall heading the World entry list, this was an opportunity for the Eastern Airways RKB Motorsport backed British contenders to show just how strong the entries are in the home championship.
No World Championship points were to be awarded for the British Championship teams and this would be a round within a round with a podium for the British teams and half points awarded for their own series.
The dates for this are not at the best time of year due to the Isle of Man TT so a lot of the British entries would miss the chance to be at Donington and some would even have to look for different passengers.
Eight team from the from the British series took the chance to compete. Roger Lovelock and Aki Alto. Andy Peach and Charlie Richardson. Sean Hegarty and James Neave. Rupert Archer and Shelley Smithies. Craig Nicol and James Connell. Stephen Kershaw and Rob Wilson. Gary Horspole had a change of his usual partner of Paul Knapton, who was in the Isle of Man for Sandor Faber, and Craig Chaplow had another partner change of Patrick Farrance who was also in the Isle of Man for Ashley Hawes. Not a bad change for Craig one World Champion passenger for another.
Even before the free practice on Friday there was drama for Kershaw racing. Stephen Kershaw having returned this season after missing last year due to a heart operation was informed that he would need to produce a letter for the FIM organisers from his cardiologist to state that he was fit to race dispute already having competed in the first round of the British championship earlier this year. It was not until 5pm that this was resolved and the relief was clear to see on the whole team.
Friday's free practice was a very wet affair. The rain had promised to come all day and it didn't let the teams down. Several of the sidecars came out on slick tyres and within a few minutes of the session starting conditions just deteriorated and many had to change on full wet settings. The Birchall's topped the session with nine laps and a best time of 1.57 secs, followed by Lovelock and Alto and Hegarty and Neave. Although Tim Reeves was out for several laps his transponder failed so he didn't registered a time.
Saturday's first qualifying was held in dry conditions and as predicted it would be a fight between Tim Reeves/Greg Cluze and Ben and Tom Birchall who completed 11 laps with Reeves coming out on top by only 0.7 of a second from the Birchall brothers. Showing just how strong the British championship is the next three places were covered by Peach and Richardson, Hegarty and Neave and Lovelock and Alto. Kershaw racing were in seventh place followed by a superb performance in eighth from Rupert Archer and Shelley Smithies.
Conditions changed again for the second qualifying. Just as the teams lined up at the Melbourne Loop to enter the circuit the heavens opened this time with thunder, lightning and hail. Again tyres had to be changed at short notice which again eats into the qualifying time. The standing water on the circuit became so bad that only four laps were completed before the session was red flagged. Taking pole was Reeves and Cluze with a 1.54 sec lap followed by the Birchall's and Peach and Richardson. Again the British teams qualified strongly with Kershaw racing in fifth, Archer and Smithies in sixth and Lovelock and Alto in seventh.
Sunday's race day conditions couldn't have been more different. With a dry track and warm conditions a good crowd was expecting a very fast race, and they wouldn't be disappointed.
From the off Reeves and Cluze took the lead from the Birchall's and Peach and Richardson and Hegarty and Neave. With less than half a second between them the Birchall's took the lead on lap six. Hegarty and Neave kept in third place but over 4 seconds back. Not getting away from Reeves and Cluze and never having more than a second gap the Birchall's broke the lap record on lap nine with a superb 1.34.7 sec lap. Reeves made his move on lap 12 and took the lead. This lead was never more than a half a second and at the chequered flag Reeves and Cluze crossed the line less than 0.099 of a second in front of the Birchall's with Hegarty and Neave in third 24 seconds behind the winners followed by Lovelock and Alto, from Steinhausen and then Hock. The next British team home in what was a superb display from the back of the grid was Scotland's Craig Nicol and James Connell who were delighted with thier performance.
The other five British teams had retired during the race.
After the race Tim and Greg were delighted with the win, in what was a hard fought victory over the Birchall's who lead the World Championship by 4 points from Reeves and Cluze. Even at this level the other teams in the World Championship have their work cut out to stop either of them from becoming the 2014 World Champions. The two next lock horns next week at the Isle of Man TT.
Hopefully it won't be six years before another World round is staged in Britain.
This is what a broken rear suspension arm that goes from the top of the tub to the rear upright on an LCR looks like
When this part breaks as you come up out of the dipper and hit the fast left kink, the rear of the outfit snaps right and you slide down the track sideways with smoke pissing off the rear tyre thinking "oh fuck I'm going upside down", finally it spins all the way around and you come to a halt and to your surprise notice the new swinger on his try out day is still there and doesn't seem too bothered by it
I won't attach the pic of what the inside of my undies look like
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Even I'm not that slack, the chain doesn't get that close to it, those marks were already there when we got it, might have been from where the rear upright broke at Wangas a few years back
The top arm from the rear upright to rear of the engine has a bit of a bend in it now as well so I'll have to get all get new arms made and I'll replace all the rod ends
Looks like damage from a flicked chain to me. Academic now though.
I wonder if stuff like this that gets seen at tech inspection, shouldn't be mandatory replacement.
Second fatigued part to fail in recent memory, Scrivy's torque arm wasn't obviously about to snap. But this has obvious previous damage.
Three other arms are bent, so we'll see about getting some new arms made, there's one original LCR alloy arm left so that'll get replaced as well, not that I'm expecting it to happen again but probably get some spare arms as well
I think I might strip the rear hub while it's out and crack test the axle and upright
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