After the big crash last Friday there was some work to do and parts to get if I was to race this weekend. Big thanks to Glen at Just Fairings who made me a new tailsection and front guard in four days, the guys at Colemans who got me all the Suzuki parts I needed and Kerrie at MSW who repaired my leathers (again) in four days.Also big thanks to Gavin and Shaun for checking out the damage and all the offers for parts to get me going for this weekend.
: So with the bike looking reasonable, and probably working very well, it was just a case of whether I could get into my leathers and boots given I still had some swelling from my albeit relatively minor injuries.
Got to the track at 7.30am and found there were already a large number there. Parked opposite our pit and it turns out that I’ve parked next to Mark, a guy I used to race model cars with 15+ years ago and hadn't seen since then! Got setup in the pits and hadn’t forgotten anything so all good so far. Scrub session saw most of my new rear tyre scrubbed in the almost 1 lap given. My first time on the bike since the crash and the bike seemed fine, though I wasn’t sure where I should brake at the end of the back straight! Only problem was that the wound on my knee was extremely sore when stretched, as it is when riding a bike with high pegs. Didn’t help that my newly repaired leather were tight too!! (as you’d expect)
Robert Taylor came over and increased my fork oil level to stop the forks bottoming out and the rear coming up under hard braking at the end of the back straight. This worked well. Least I’ve learnt something from this experience.
Practice/Qualifying – Went out last and tried to get a clear lap, but couldn’t and only managed a high 1.46 putting me 4th. My knee was a real distraction, and I wasn’t keen to move it, so I got out the topical anaesthetic I bought the day before, put it on liberally, covered it with a piece of cut up plastic bag and held it on my knee with duck tape. This and a bit of pre race stretching meant the knee was wasn’t a problem the rest of the day!!
Race 1 – Lined up on the outside of the front row, watched Gah and Johan jump the start then get a poor start myself to be around 8th coming out of turn 1. Get past someone into two, then another into five then coming out of seven and past Frederick when he went too wide coming out of the A1 corner. Not too bad to be fourth on the road after lap 1. Was catching Luke and followed him on lap 3 but there was no way I was going to get past this time. Finished 4th on the road and 3rd after Gah was penalized 20sec for the jump start.
Race 2 – Much better start as usual (I need too much time to warm up) and I’m 5th out of turn 1. Frederick is ahead of me and struggling with cold tyres on the R1.I get round the outside of him on turn 3 and we’re side by side into four, giving each other room, but I back out, having another go coming out of 7 and the A1 corner. Next lap he goes wide on turn 3, I think to make sure I don’t go outside him, but I get him with more speed and brakes between 4 and 5 By now Luke and the 2 Ducs are coming out of turn 7. Spend the rest of the race trying to catch them and get some reasonable lap times in, but make no impression on the leaders. Finish 4th on the road, but Johans Clubmans B so I finish 3rd in A. Still don't know the difference between Clubmans A and B!
All in all a good day. Good to catch up with the guys and definitely worth the effort put in to get the bike ready in a week. I didn’t have to pull the bike apart on the day and stayed upright. Had some good dicing with Fred and that was fun!! So some reflection after the crash, and I don't know how seriously I'll take this racing game, but it's a huge amount of fun and the guys and gals who do it are a great bunch, so I'm looking forward to the next round at Manfeild, hopefully with the bike looking nice again!
Thanks to the organizers and helpers for a really great well run day especially given the large numbers.
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Originally Posted by Tony.OK
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