Brands Hatch 8/9th March 2002

 As neither Andrew nor I had thrown a leg over the race bikes since last season, we decided it best to do a practice session the day before we were due to race at Brands. The morning of the trackday was a nightmare and very disorganised, we arrived in plenty of time, but due to an organisational mishap with BEMSEE and Brands, the paddock had been double booked. Ques were stupid and we decided to set up outside the normal area, they eventually opened the paddock to us all and we were then told we needed to move (although not right then) we had got all our stuff out and were really quite miffed off by it all, but decided to move to beet the rush later (i.e. to secure a place in the paddock). So although we arrived in plenty of time, we were now well behind schedule and rushing to get everything done.  

We had decided to give the spare bike a session each at the start of the day to a: give it a run and b: to conserve tyres on our 1st bikes whilst in the early sessions, where we were more getting back into the swing of things than trying to put in decent lap-times.  

I hopped on the spare bike ready for the first session. Even pulling away it felt a bit weird and the first turn (still in the pits) the front just *dropped in*, I thought 'Jeez this is weird, has it been so long?' Anyrate no time to mess about the first session was up, the whole journey to the collecting area from the paddock I was thinking 'how the hell did I used to ride this thing it feels awful!!' Andrew and I lined up and we both found the bikes very alien. I checked the front tyre pressure (good old press with thumb method) and it seemed low, but not flat, I figured that it would heat up after a few laps and essentially 'pump up' a bit. The guy showed us out to the track and we set off. First turn was Paddock hill and I knew the tyres were stone cold (never use warmers for trackdays) and the front was low pressure, tipped it in and it *dropped in* really sharply, I picked the bike up and thought oh my is the pressure making a big difference or am I really that sh1t after my winter lay-off? .... this is going to be hard work!. Took the rest of the lap fairly carefully and didn't really enjoy riding the bike, Andrew soon cleared off into the distance and I was being passed by loads of people. The session ended and I headed back to the pits disheartened.  

First thing I did was check the tyre pressure. Hot it showed 14.5psi this meant probably 10-12psi cold, Andrews was showing 17.5!! (normally run between 28-30psi!!!!). In all the rushing we had not got round to simple things like checking the pressures. Out came the foot pump and I inflated all the tyres to 28 psi. 

Due to all this and other faffing about (still trying to catch up from the backlog of things we were trying to get done, like put up the awning) we were nearly late to our next session. We donned our gear and set off, the bike felling much better at the front after pumping the tyre up. On the journey to the collecting area I hit traffic, namely a bloke on a trail bike, after about 20meters he decided to be helpful and pull over and stop, I was following about 5meters directly behind and had to therefore steer round him, next thing I know I was sliding sown the road on my @rse!!!! The rear had simply slid away. It seemed really strange as there didn't seem to be any oil down or anything ... I suppose a combination of me being a bit 'het-up' and rushing, coupled with cold tyres and being keen on the gas was what did it. Andrew was not far behind, he didn't see the event, but certainly saw me on my arse and *his* bike lying there on the ground, he just pulled alongside and was silent, I told him to get on and not to worry about me. A woman (one of the officials) was asking me if I was ok and saying things like 'You are not going out like that you are too het-up' Although she was genuinely concerned and just doing her job, I felt like telling her to f**k off and saying "Look the bike is p***ing oil out of the casing and the clip-on is bent, I can't ride the f****g thing even if I wanted to!!!" I refrained from expressing my thoughts as like I said she was only doing her job. I pushed the bike back to the pits with my tail between my legs and feeling a right pr**k!! (Tipping the bike on its side so not to leek oil everywhere). 

To put it mildly the day wasn't going too well! Andrew finished his session and returned. I had already got the bike in bits trying to replace the casing. I had been wondering what Andrew had to say about it all and was a bit sheepish on his return; I could tell he wasn't impressed! I just shock my head in disbelief at what had happened and I think he could tell I was feeling enough of a cu*t myself already to really have a go at me. He later said he was a bit annoyed and stated that if I dropped one of *his* bikes whilst racing, then that was just one of those things, but to drop it in the pits was inexcusable (he was quite right and it made me feel even worse about the whole thing).

The next session out and I decided to go out on my No1. bike, mainly because I hadn't had enough time to fix the spare. I really really didn't want to dump this one, so took it real easy to the collecting area.  

The session started and off we went, cold tyres and a bit nervous after the events in the pits I took the first few laps real easy, the bike however felt much more as I remembered it handling wise, but it had a new engine in (Andrews spare engine he got with his 'Tuned' bike) this was certainly energetic, bit had a bit of a lag on the throttle, from the closed position, it was almost as if the cable was loose or it had a turbo. I would open the throttle a bit (to balance in the corners) and nothing would happen, a little bit more and whoosh, I thought 'don't like that', but knew it could be ridden round with practice, and the extra neddies/keenness of the new engine certainly outweighed this problem. Came in this time feeling much better and a bit more positive about the whole thing. Andrew was complaining that his bike was running a bit wide in the slow corners and asked if mine was doing the same thing, I said no, mind turns in fine, but the front seems a bit *loose* and drifts a bit round paddock hill and clearways (the fast right handers), but I said I put this down to the tyres I was using (ones deemed too knackered for racing, but I was using them to save my 'good' tyres) and consequently I wasn't pushing to hard at those points. I suggested we swap bikes for the next session to compare handling. Andrew agreed, rubbed his bikes tank saying "Don't worry I wont let him hurt you" and then looked up and told me not to drop it ... I had to chuckle and said I will do my best not to (in my head thinking I better f'ing not!!!). 

His bike seemed to handle better than mine with none of the front end 'drifting' problems mine had, it was very sure footed and the engine didn't seem to have the 'lag' mine did. Within a few laps I was loving it and got my head down a bit, traffic was a bit dense, but still getting some pretty clean sections. Andrews bike is fitted with a laptimer so I could tell how the session went. Started off with 58s, then down to 56s for a few laps, then down to 54s, with the odd 55. 54 was only about a second off the pace I was doing there at the end of last year, so I was fairly content. I got back to the pits and said to Andrew that his bike was sweet as a nut and if he asked me to swap the bikes for the year I would. Although I was happy with mine his was even better!!! Unfortunately he turned me down. I should imagine Andrews 'problems' could be down to his extra weight (now nearly 4 stone heavier than me) and that he was riding with a mankey wrist (broke it badly skiing and it only came out of plaster a week before) also he hasn't ridden ANY bike since last season, yet I have been riding my commuter all winter.  

The rest of the day went well with my confidence growing, although I didn't have a laptimer fitted to my bike, I think I was consistently the 52s maybe even less if I was lucky! Could see where there could still be room for improvement too, namely on the brakes into paddock hill and I just couldn't get clearways right. Still My fastest time last year was 00:53.27, so I was at least back on the old pace if not better.

Andrew was lapping in the 54s at the end of last year, but was only really achieving 56&57s now, which I think was respectable considering his now swelling wrist etc. 

Race Day  

The AM practice is a different set-up this year with similar class bikes only allowed on the track at any one time, with 10 mins out there. This is better in the respect that you don't get bikes like MZ250s out at the same time, which the speed differential made them a real hazard out there before. The down side is that you have to be ready for your 'slot'. I nearly missed mine as scrutinering took so long. Had different tyres than in practice yesterday, a brand new rear tyre and using the front from the end of last year, which had been part worn from the last round at Brands in October 2001. Took it easy at the start as I hadn't had time to put the warmers on and it was a spanking new rear tyre, got into it a bit, but the traffic was terrible, rookies (orange jackets) causing chaos. After a couple of laps of scrubbing in/tyre warming, I started to try and get-it-on a bit, this was ok at the most, except a big slide coming out of Graham hill, probably down to cranking it onto the still non-scrubbed bit of rear tyre. This and the near misses from the Rookies made me feel a bit uneasy for the start of the race. 

Race 1, Clubman 600 Start position: 10th. (Andrew was 11th!!)

Not a bad start position considering it was drawn out of a hat (I presume), Row 3, next to Andrew with 42 riders (11 rows) on the grid. This was my first race of the year and I had been telling myself not to do anything daft and just try and get into it. We had two laps warm up/sighting (normally 1), this amount of tracktime made me fairly confident in the temp of the tyres. The lights went green and we were off, got a bit of a wheelie and had to back off, loosing ground, but late on the brakes, prolly broke even at the first corner going round in about the10th I had started. As usual I let things settle down for the first lap or so, but was surprised to see very little of the usual madness, perhaps this was down to these riders all being more experienced than the Rookies I had started against last year.

 After a bit I started to get my head down and reeled a few people in, nothing spectacular, really. I had a bit of a moment going into Druids hairpin, where I tried to out brake 2 bikes and nip in the inside, unfortunately I couldn't quite make it stick safely, so I ended up with the bike on its nose doing a rolling stoppie with the rear overtaking the front, the bikes turned in right in front of me, I was heading for a T-Bone! I let the brake off and turned the bike in, the rear planted down surprisingly well and I banged the bike on its side and got on the power, to my amazement I only lost about 2 bike lengths during this manoeuvre, and managed to get this back at the next turn (Graham hill). After disposing of these two soon after, I hunted the next bloke down, a few laps passed an I thought I was running in about 7th or 8th, and looking at the 6/7th place man, had a couple of opportunities to overtake but aired on the side of caution as I wanted a clean race and it wasn't worth the risk for the sake of 7/6th place. Finished the race and returned to the pits content, but hardly excited as I had not really 'pushed' it, but I had achieved my goal of bringing the bike home and finished in a respectable position. As soon as I got to the pits Matt C said "What the hell were you doing fella??? why didn't you have that bloke, where's your aggression??? you could have had him easy" I explained about it not being worth it for 6/7th, he said "no mate, that was 3rd". First of all I said "year right" he blabbered on for a bit more then realised he seemed to be telling the truth. I had unbeknown to me been taking it easy behind the 3rd place bloke. I said, "Had I know that I would have pushed it to get past! I could have had a podium finish (and trophy)" now I was really gutted.  

However I had focus for the second Clubman race. 

Race 2, Champion of Brands Start position 36th (Andrew 37th)

 I had actually applied for the SS6 race, but I obviously didn’t get a place so I was put in this race so at least I got a second one.  The Champion of Brands is as the name implies and therefore you race against all sorts, from GP250s to GIXER1000s.

 It had lashed it down so full wets were in order.  Andrew and I had been faffing around on Thursday trying to get some new wets sorted as the old ones were well past it.  Ended up with some Metz Rain.  I wasn’t too concerned about doing well in this race as it wasn’t a championship I was interested in.  It was to serve as an excellent opportunity to ‘explore’ the new wets. Race started and off we went, Andrew charged off as he normally does in the wet and within 2 laps he had a fair lead, then I managed to slowly reel him in and got past him on about lap 4.  I was amazed at the grip the Metz provided over the AVONs that we used last year, there was no real unexpected upset at all, I still feel I could have pushed them harder had I had more time to experiment.  Finished 18^th. Andrew was 30^th IIRC.

 Got back to the pits and Andrew said he felt the backend was loose …. I though I could smell the excuses coming a mile off (Andrew is normally better in the wet) … After investigation the wheelbearing had gone, as the other bearing is a roller bearing the wheel was merrily sliding back and forth mullering everything in its path.  That boy is mad!

Race 3, Clubman 600 Start position: 4th.  

I was on the front row of the grid on the inside, my grid position was still damp from the rain earlier (in shadow from pit wall), yet the other 3 were in the dry, I moved as far left as I could, but still very much in the damp. My start was far from the greatest, but went round the 1st corner (Paddock hill) in about 7th, happy enough with that, let a lap or so go past holding my own to warm the tyres up then set to it, passed a few riders then had a bit of a battle to get past a couple more, then realised I was sitting in 3rd by about the 3rd or 4th lap. Kept the pace going and settled in a bit there, then I could see the lead guys ahead (about half the start-finish straight ahead) I though what the hell, lets give it a go! ... over the next 2-3 laps I managed to get to within about 8 bike lengths of no2 (1&2 were right together) at this point I realised I had a very real chance of winning this race and I think that panicked me a bit, I ran wide at Paddock Hill, but managed to keep it on the track (just), unfortunately I lost loads of ground to the lead two. This made me re-evaluate what I was doing and I though 'jeez I am in 3rd, that isn't a bad result, I am on the podium lets just sit this one out and not worry about trying to catch them again'.  

I eased off and sat by myself for about 3 laps wondering why I hadn't seen a 'nose' and why this was so easy, I felt as if I wasn't really trying (in relative terms) and just trying not to make a mistake and throw it all away. I was resisting the temptation of looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was there (this is an ideal way to crash!). Problem was I had no idea if the people were right behind me or I had a massive lead over Mr 4th place as I hadn't seen any sign of anyone for quite a while (apart from a few backmarkers I had lapped) so I presumed that I was fairly comfortably ahead. Last lap flag went out and I thought I haven't been challenged at all, oh f**k I think I am actually going to pull this off .... no sooner had I thought that, I had someone slip past at Druids hairpin, with another chap right behind him, I instantly responded and tried to go round the outside of the chap that had taken me, but I was in the damp bit and he was in the dry, we were side by side my bike began to slide, I had to concede, I thought never mind I am really good out of Graham Hill I will get him back there. He held the line really well and forced me to stay in the damp bit so I couldn't outbrake him into Graham hill, However I got good drive out of there and was alongside him down the straight, I saw a back marker ahead and thought 'oh no not now!!' .... I decided to go under the backmarker (better line than the other bloke if I did this), the other chap had to go round the outside, the backmarker tightened his line and I could see he was cutting me off, I didn't really want contact, so I had to ease off. The other chap and the second one both flew past round the outside of the backmarker, the backmarker then started to go wide opening the door for me to go, I got the power down and tucked in hoping I could get at least one place back before the line ... unfortunately not, I actually finished 100th of a second behind the now 4th place bloke.

 I was totally gutted!!!!!!!!!  

After being comfortably in 3rd for 2/3 of the race to loose 2 places on the last lap and end in 5th ... I can't really describe just how low I felt.  

Still that is racing and it shows you cannot be too complacent. It is all *ifs* and *should's*, but had I decided to keep a slightly hotter pace (i.e. not drop it so much) after deciding to back off, those two would never have been in a position to challenge me. Also had they 'shown me a nose' I would have know that I need to set a faster pace and picked it up a bit. Finally had that backmarker not been there then I might have been able to get 3rd back on the last corner. THAT'S RACING!!! 

Race 4, Champion of Brands Start position 18th

 Again not bothered about this race particularly, but pretty pumped up from the last race so was willing to give it a go.  First corner was bedlam, essentially got pushed off the track, well ok, still on the tarmac, but with nowhere to go, must have ended at the back of the pack because of this one corner. Regained confidence as the race continued, overtook many, but didn’t even bother seeing what position I got at the end.  

Roll on Silverstone and the rest of the Clubman Championship, just hope Brands wasn't a 'flash in the pan'!!