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| Lydden
7th & 8th June 2003
Click here for Lydden Layout After finding myself on my @rse too much of late, which was
possibly largely due to what seems like heat sensitivity of the Michelins, I had
decided to change to Pirellis as they might be less sensitive, even if they
weren't, if I was on my behind again, at least I wouldn't be kicking myself for
not trying something different!! I ordered these tyres up, but they didn’t have the normal
SC marking on them (compound marking). I spoke to the supplier and he said
that they were definitely the SC tyres I asked for, they were just not marked up
when they left the factory. Took it in good faith that he wasn't having me
on and there was nothing amiss, but not totally convinced. Matt suggested
ringing Pirelli direct to see if this could have happened. They said it
would be strange, but not impossible. There are other manufacturing codes
on the side of the tyres that they should be able to cross reference to find out
for sure. When the tyres arrived, Matt phoned Pirelli and gave them
the code, they cross-referenced them and the rear was indeed an SC2 as required.
He didn't have access to the front tyre information, but lets face it if the
rear checked out, the front probably would too. So although slightly
dubious still, decided that I would use them, as they seemed to be genuine.
But I could really have done without this extra concern. Arrived on the Friday evening, with my new Pirelli tyres I
had forked out for wanting to get them put on. But on arrival the tyre
guys weren't doing changeovers, but would be early Sat morning. Got up at
6:00 to take the wheels and new tyres to them and then got back to the bike to
sort out other stuff that needed to be done, like brekie!!! On collection of the wheels, the bloke said "did you
get these tyres cheap mate??", I said "er, no, why?" he said
"they have no SC marking". I explained to him that I had noticed
that, but they did check out. Then he enlightened me to the following …
he said he had seen a spate of these a couple of years ago but hadn’t seen
them for a while. They are development tyres used by the pros. i.e. the
pros would have 7/8 different versions of a medium compound (SC2) and these
would be one of them. <gulp> so therefore these tyres could be
better than 'off the shelf' SC tyres … or worse!!! He said also "if
you look here" (pointing at a 4 figure number on the side of the tyre) they
were made in 2001. The first two figures represent the week of
manufacture, the final two the year. He showed me one of his tyres that
were summin like 1503 i.e. 15th week in 2003. They looked a different
colour too. My heart sank, there was me trying to get some new rubber to
help my confidence in the tyres, I was now being told that the ones I was about
to use were unknown in quality and over 2 years old!! That is all I
needed!!! Anyway they were on the wheels now and I had little choice but
to use them, they could be OK, even better than normal ones? … I
couldn’t fully convince myself though … I had taken the RD250LC with me too as Lydden is only a
little track and you don’t really need the 'big legs' as you do at some other
tracks, so ideal for the RD. Decided to change the gearing so it was as
low as possible. To get to the front sprocket you need to remove the gear
leaver mechanism and side casing. On removal of the linkage I noticed that
there was actually a fracture in the bit that clamps to the gearbox spline …
in short, the linkage would probably break, or at least slip when used. OH NO!!!
I hadn’t even got on the thing at it was bust!! More stress … there
was only about 30 mins before the R6 practice now (RD (YPM) practice was the
session but one after that). And I didn’t have a spare … so hurried
round the paddock to try and find someone that did … or someone that had a
welder … I tried for a while then gave up as time was running short. I
had borrowed a jubilee clip of a MZ racer I know, Richard Lee and was going to
try and bodge summin up so that I could get through practice, even if I could
only use one gear I had to get out as if you don’t do practice they won’t
let you race! I had to get ready and go out for the R6 practice, so I gave
Matt the jubilee clip and indicated what I thought needed to be done and left
him to it. Practice (R6)
Went out for the practice, it had been over a month since I had straddled the bike last and two years since I had been at the track (back in my Rookie year). I remembered I never could get the top corner (End of Pilgrims & Chessons drift) right. There are surface, gradient and camber changes throughout the corner and it is very long and wide, I have never gone round there thinking “yeah that's it, I'll use that line” … this was to be no exception. I spent the first 2-3 laps scrubbing in the new tyres and trying to familiarise myself with the track again, then I tried getting down to some work. It was difficult to judge my performance, but I seemed to be holding my own. I didn’t feel totally comfortable on the bike yet though (very green). Felt better and better as the laps went on, but still felt a bit raw. Practice (RD)
As I was
running in two classes or bike I also was allowed two practice sessions, i.e.
one on each bike. Matt had
successfully bodged the linkage such that it did change gear … well for now
anyway … I suggested a mod we could do to make it more permanent (drill hole
through jubilee clip for bolt) that would hopefully make it last the w/e, but
there wasn’t enough time to implement this now.
I thought I’d just go out do 2 laps and come back in, that way I
qualify as I have been out for practice. The RD was the R6 of its day, but my god have things changed!! I had suffered real bad front-end patter/judder when I took it for a test ride at Brands over the winter. I had since changed the fork oil level and grade to try and reduce the judder, but had not had the opportunity to test it. I had also tried to ‘sort’ the abysmal brakes. The bike really needed new tyres as the ones on it were over 6 years old. However when I set about trying to get some, I found them to be even more expensive than a set of R6 tyres!! And nearly double what the entire bike cost me!! So I thought ‘poke that, I’m only doing this as a 1-off and a giggle, I’ll run the old ones!’ From ½ way round lap one the gears stopped working so I
was stuck in 3rd, this was no real shock and I decided just to carry
on like that. Now a gutless bike
which is stuck in 3rd gear with sharp right angle and hairpin turns
and steep hills don’t really go … but hey I was out there.
As I couldn’t change gear the bike was never in the correct rev range,
too low for driving out of and around corners, too high for the straights. With
a bike where the front judders as it does, you want to be able to balance the
throttle to drive it round!! And a
gutless 2-smoke needs good tap dancing on the gearshift to make it go anywhere
… Consequently I was circulating at a snails pace.
Brakes were improved mind, they now gave the braking power of a wet slug.
Even though I was slow, the tyres still slid a few times and the bike as
a whole complained if cranked over in the slightest it seemed. Did a few laps struggling to keep momentum and having to
pull the clutch in on the straights to give the motor a bit of chance (rather
than keep it revving out where in too low a gear). I then heard a scraping noise and something hit my foot at
devils elbow, looked down and the linkage bodge had fallen apart and fallen off
so the linkage arm was hanging there, it was now dangerous to continue, so I
came in. Got back in to the pits and laughed at the bike telling
everyone what a pile it was!! But as the linkage bodge had given way, part of
the spline clamp bit that was fractured was now missing, I now had a serous
problem as there was nothing left too bodge!! I set about trying to find a
replacement mechanism by asking people round the pits again. After much running around and asking and getting pointed
in a dozen different directions I came across another YPM runner, but with a TZR
(couldn’t find the other 2 LC runners). The splines on the TZR were hopefully
the same, they looked it by eye. Luckily he did have a spare complete
leaver and linkage (the ball-joints on the rod had larger threads, so couldn’t
just nab the bit that was bust on mine, I would have to try and fit the whole
lot). It wasn't a straight fit, but a bit of bodgery (spacing) from Matt and
myself we got it to fit/work. Panic over, but never did get round to checking/changing the front sprocket!! Race 1 (Sat) YPM
Lined up on the grid in 28th out of 29 and really didn’t know what to expect from the bike as without gears practice was a bit of a farce. Did my practice start for the warm-up lap (first time I had ever tried to ‘get it off the line’) it totally bogged down. More revs next time I thought!! The bike was much better now it changed gear, but still totally different to what I am used to. Back to the grid still without a clue how the bike would
go and what the competition would be like, I hoped there was someone so useless
that even as things were I’d have some fun and also that I wouldn’t get
lapped too soon. The flag dropped
to say watch the lights, I revved up to about 6k and watched the lights, they
went red …. after the delay, went green.
I fed out the clutch, and off I went, the bike bogged down still and I
was loosing ground, the bike finally came ‘on pipe’ and I was away, well if
you can call it that … everyone pilled down Pilgrims, the twisty left -right
that goes down to the base of Chessons. I
made the conscious decision that I would barge my way in as far as possible here
as everyone had to ‘bottle neck’ round.
And it couldn't hurt if I had a collision on this bike at these speeds
could it?? … Made a few places on the brakes, but where I was up someone chuff
now and with nowhere to go, I had to pretty much stop, loosing all momentum, I
lost a couple of paces on the ‘power up’ as the traffic jam cleared.
Even at this speed the front was juddering like hell. I tried to get a bit of a run round Chessons and decided
my next barge point would be the ‘big stop’ at Devils Elbow, a 90 degree
left. Took a few people in here but
got totally smoked on the climb to North bend.
Where again I barged my way past a couple of people … the huddle was
such that we were virtually at a standstill round there and I tried to get good
drive down Hairy hill, but again got totally smoked! Entered Paddock bend, which the braking point for is on
the downward incline of hairy hill, yet Paddock is on a rise, therefore you go
essentially go through a pit and up again.
This is a pretty fast and bumpy corner, the front really started to
judder now, I was expecting it, so just pinched my cheeks and kept it turning,
the front didn’t tuck so I presumed I could do the same next lap … perhaps a
bit faster … I was pretty much at
the back now, bar one of two people I though.
The next few laps were a real hoot, battling with this guy on a blue TZR,
we would pass each other 2-3 times a lap. I’d get him on the brakes into
devils elbow, he’d make a pass up to North Bend, go wide and I’d tuck it
back under him, he’d pass me down hairy hill, I’d go round the outside at
Paddock, lap after lap. The bike was all over, front and rear sliding without
really prompting, front was like riding a pneumatic drill from the point you
entered the corner to the point you exited it, but I didn’t care. I was
getting to know which points I could push it and which points would induce the
slides if pushed too hard and although the front juddered like hell it was
amazing it never totally let go, but I was respectful of all this so, wasn’t
over doing it. At every point I felt I was braking too early, cornering too
slow, but the bike was still complaining so much I feared if I tried to push the
boundaries any further it’d bite me. I
did keep the better of him overall and crossed the line second from last????,
but didn’t care, I had had a momentous battle!! Race 2 (sat) Supersport 600
Well we were on ‘the real thing’ now, the time for
playing was over. 20th on the grid, row 5. On the warmup lap the bike felt totally alien again, the
RD had totally messed with my head. Got good drive from the line and took a few places into
Pilgrims, lost a few in the kafuffle/traffic round Chessons, made one back on
the run down to Devils elbow, but was too ginger through there and lost it back
on the drive up to North bend. Held
my own round Paddock and finished the lap probably a couple of places up
overall. Things then went quiet for the next couple of corners,
untill a guy went up my inside at North bend, but I knew if I took a wider line
in I’d be able to hold it tighter and either slip up his inside through the
corner or get better drive on the exit, I did just this and passed him again
down Hairy hill. Nearly a lap went
past without challenge, and on the drive up to North Bend I noticed a yellow
flag, knowing I couldn’t get overtaken and not knowing what the incident was I
only went in at 80% braking earlier than usual, that bloke however ignored the
waving yellow flag and went up my inside, naughty boy!!
The bike was still on the track about 2/3 of the way round North Bend,
presumably a highside. Tried to close the gap back on the passer a bit on the drive
down Hairy hill, and entered Paddock, where I could see another downed bike
where someone else had just gone down on the exit of that.
I tried to make a pass on the brakes into Pilgrims, but he went wide
meaning I had to avoid him and lost a lot of ground/momentum I the process.
I then took a bit of a breather round Chessons to re-compose myself and I
had probably lost 10 bike lengths by the time we exited Chessons.
I then got taken by another bloke on the run/brakes to Devils elbow.
I tried to get him on the drive to North Bend thinking he might have gone
wide at devls elbow, but he got good drive and held his line into North Bend,
stuffing me up slightly. By the
time we got to the bottom of Hairy hill he had quite a run on me and had caught
the other bloke. This gap remained approximately constant for the next lap
or so. Then they held themselves up by dicing and I started to make the gap back
up, I got back in touch again on the brakes into Devils Elbow and attempted to
make a pass round the outside, but it simply wasn’t quite there, however I got
great drive up to North Bend and took a different line to the other two. This
wider line I prefer as you can carry more corner speed, the rear of the two went
wide where he had to abort a pass on the front bloke and I had the run with my
different line, so took advantage and slipped it up the inside of him, stuffing
him up. But where I was a little cautious not knowing if he would cut back, I
had NOT gone in fully committed and lost a bit of momentum where I had allowed
some room for error and he got better drive down Hairy hill and took me straight
back into Paddock. I again lost some ground where I tried to pass him back into
Pilgrims and got pushed wide, again about a 10 bike length deficit on the exit
of Chessons, but I was determined to get good drive. This drive and late on the brakes into Devils Elbow saw me
right on their tails again. The
rearward bloke got held up by the front bloke which lost him drive up the hill,
I had a clean run through there though and powered up better than them both,
took my wider line again and attempted a pass round North bend on the rear of
the two blokes, but again not knowing what he would do I wasn’t full committed
and lost my advantage, I got alongside, but he did get on the power and kept his
place. Got him back the next lap into North bend buy taking the tighter line
this time and stuffing him up. We were 2/3 race distance now and fatigue was beginning
to set in, but I was well ‘in it’ and just kept going. Caught the front bloke and tried to pass into Devils Elbow,
but it wasn’t going to happen so I decided to abort and concentrate on drive
up to North bend to either make my move on the entrance, or on the drive out
down Hairy Hill. Unfortunately he
was faultless though here and I didn’t get the opportunity.
Came out of Paddock good though and successfully made a block pass into
Pilgrims. I was now pretty knackerd,
but decided to make a ‘big push’ for the next lap to try and make a gap,
then hopefully I could relax a bit. Unfortunately
I didn’t get the opportunity as they had evidently been able to match my pace
and the front one made a pass into North Bend. As we crossed the line the last
lap flag was out, I failed to make the pass into Pilgrims and yet again lost a
lot of ground in the failure. Took
me until the exit of North bend to get back on terms with him and decided I’d
try and get him on the drive out of Paddock to the line (My line was quicker
than his through this section). I
executed this plan, and got much better drive, although I got alongside him,
unfortunately he finished but wheel length ahead, had the line been a few meters
further on I’d have just pipped him, @rse! A bit gutted I didn’t make the place back, but a good
race none the less. I was totally
shot now though. The rear tyre had slid on a couple of occasions out of
North Bend, but luckily not too bad and I stayed on. Although not magnificent, the tyres were providing adequate
grip, but not totally confidence inspiring, which was a shame. Race 3 (Sat) Clubman 600
For some reason (later to be apparent) this race was held
in the middle of the day, normally the clubman races are held at the end,
however this was kool by me as I am normally falling asleep by the time the
races are normally due to start!! 3rd
on the grid, Front row. Got a good start and went well into Pilgrims, exiting to
Chessons in 3rd still and held this into Devils elbow, but was far to
cautious and didn’t bang it on its side hard enough making me go wide on the
exit and consequently lost a place on the way up to north bend.
Messed up my apex round north bend and had to pick the bike up so as not
to catch the kerb, this mistake lost me a place on the exit.
But for some reason I didn’t care, my heart wasn’t in it.
I hardly tried round Chessons and lost a good 15 bikelengths.
I did however get good drive out and a good run down Dover slope to
devils elbow, late on the brakes and probably made about 5 of those bike lengths
back. Bit I didn’t have the
energy or motivation to try and fight back, I had already resigned to just hold
this position, it was good enough. A few laps passed and nothing happened, then some one
stuffed it up the inside into North Bend, he went wide though so I stuffed it
straight back under … This made me pull my finger out of my @rse and put a
quick lap in, however he still made an identical pass the next lap this time
holding just tight enough line that I couldn’t safely pass, I tried
desperately to get the run on him on the exit and down Hairy Hill, but just
didn’t have the legs. Tried again
into Pilgrims, but again it wasn’t on. We
then went round Chessons, I was about 5 bike lengths behind and although slower
though there was getting good drive on the exit.
I then noticed his back end stepped out and then bit him back quick as a
flash and nearly highsided him, it started to come back but the force had spat
him out of the saddle and when he landed back on the bike it educed a lowside,
he and the bike cascaded off toward the grass.
Instinct made me start to back off a bit, but then I override this as it
was making me go wide and nearer the incident and picked the throttle back up
and cranked it back over. Well that’s that place made back the easy way … and that was the sod who went up the inside of me under the yellow flag … ha! It did make me wonder how close I was to the limit round
there mind. Still kept the pace
pretty hot, but a bit more respectful round there for the next lap or two, then
I started to get a bit tired and with nothing to chase kinda lost focus and
slowed a bit. Then got taken into
North Bend, had a slide at the apex/exit and had to let him go, just passed the
start finish and the race was red flagged. Therefore Crossed the line in 6th
(thought I was 5th mind). I can’t say I was that gutted the race was red flagged
as I was getting pretty knackered and would have struggled to keep the pace for
the last 4 laps. Overall I was a bit disappointed in myself that I
hadn’t put more effort into it, I really hadn’t ‘tried’, why was I
lacking motivation? Race 4 (sat) YPM
I had 1 race to rest after Clubman’s and before this event. 24th??? On the grid. I gridded up and was pretty relaxed as we set off. Got and abysmal start and pretty much last into the first corner!! Spied the bloke I had done battle with in the last race and set to it. On passing him after a while I caught the next bloke … on passing him, I caught the next … blimey I was actually going forward!! I didn’t think I was trying that hard either, but ok I was fine with that and just kept hunting people down … the bike was complaining left right and centre, but as I had done some other racing now, I didn’t; mind as much if I binned it (wanted to at least get some racing done before I crashed). Was really enjoying making progress thought the pack and then it was red flagged. Pulled alongside another LC (350 though) bloke when we
were stopped/held and asked him if his front juddered badly.
He said yes … I asked if there was anything I could do, he said no,
they are just like that, but he suggested I REMOVE my Micron fork brace as it
seems to let the front do its own thing, improving things ever so slightly.
I said what are the TZRs front ends like?
He said ‘Lovely’ … I said can’t I just pop a TZR front end in …
he pointed out that that would be against the rules, therefore no.
DOH! He also said
there are some people that seem to have sorted the RD front, but he doesn’t
know how, most people never do (I suspect the ones that have must have re-worked
fork internals). The incident was cleared and we lined up on the grid.
This rider pulled alongside looking lost and asked me where 26th was
(we were gridded as we finshed therefore I was 24th) … it was a
bird … I was helpful :) and pointed out where it must have been (calculating
from my position). The race was
re-started, and I got yet another abysmal start (partly due to being
underpowered, partly due to not getting the ‘knack’ for the RD yet), but
this time I simply couldn’t be bothered, so didn’t even bother trying to
make room back, lost another place on the drive to North Bend, it was the same
bloke as I had duked with in the first YPM race, we swapped positions a few
times, over the few laps again, but my heart really wasn’t in like it was in
the 1st half of the race, I made it my business to finish in front of
him though, but wasn’t really that bothered had I not. Finished second from last! Shame as I was doing pretty well I the 1st half
(all things considered). That also
meant that that burd must have finished in front of me too .. Race 5 (sat) SS6
All races had been reduced by 2 laps due to accidents
meaning we were running behind schedule, can’t say I was that gutted as I knew
full race distance was going to be a struggle. 20th on the grid. Got an Ok start, but things were totally wired after
riding the RD again and it takes a bit of time to revert back.
After a couple of laps I was getting back to grips with it, but was
totally pooped, the 4 previous races of the day and lack of sleep had taken its
toll it would seem and I was totally drained.
My lack of tracktime this year was showing in my race fitness. After a few laps nothing had happened, and there was a
big gap in front, I was really tiring and decided to ease off even more so that
I could at least finish. A few more
laps passed and then I then got mugged into North bend. From this point I
started to go backwards, 1 pace at a time, but I didn’t have the energy or
motivation to do much about it. .
I even took the time to notice the name on the back of one of the riders
leathers that overtook me. It said
Linzi, strange surname I thought, must be foreign, oh well who cares, I’m
having you back into Devils Elbow, I was good on the brakes and tuned in … but
just didn’t have the energy so went wide on the exit … humm, ok that’s
enough for today I thought, and just let them go, bye then strange name.
I was now going extremely slow into Chessons (compared to what I
should/was) and had lost a good 20 bikelengts over the next lap or two in them.
I just pootled along (in relative terms) until I crossed the line,
amazingly I wasn’t overtaken … how big a gap did I have over the next
person? I had crossed the line in 19th???
I had struggled from the start of the race to the end with being knackered and
had decided just to go for a finish pretty early on and conserve energy. Sunday
It had rained all night so the track was wet, but it was
warming up now and the track was drying. The
rain had also made for a sleepless night where it was drumming down on the
trailer roof (where I was sleeping). I
could have done with a decent nights sleep really! Even though we were up bright and early expecting play to
commence at about 10am practice hadn’t even started by then … it didn’t
start till 12:00 … eh? … obviously a Sunday thing when hadn’t been
informed/know of. Anyway we decided
to watch race 1 and when listing to the commentator introduce the day he said
there was to be 21 races today … er I had counted 24 on the programme …
wondering what was going on I went straight to the race office and enquired.
To cut a long story short the race had been held at the end of the
previous day, i.e. both the w/e Clubmans races were held on the Sat, none on the
Sunday as it was starting at 12:00. It
suddenly became clear why the Clubman I did was unusually held at midday.
I had misread the schedule and thought it meant that Clubman was middle
of Sat and end of Sun. Although if
you looked carefully the information was there I simply didn’t decipher it.
It was just not explicit enough for me (or any of the team) to notice.
What a blunder, I had consequently missed my Clubman race, that is the
championship I am trying to contend, all those valuable championship points lost
just like that. I was not a happy
boy and this put me on a real downer. :’( Race 1 (Sun) YPM
Got a poor start and simply couldn’t be bothered, spent the whole race on my Todd, until I was actually lapped 1 lap from the end. Race 2 (Sun) SS6
Well we were gridded as we finished the last race on
Saturday. I lined up on the grid in
19th?? I was far from fired up and so relaxed, I
casually gazed over to the competitor to my left (Pos 18??) <tango style slap round the face> fugg me it was another
burd!!!!! … it suddenly dawned on me Linzi was actually a way of writing
Lindsey (she looked pretty fit from what I could tell too) not a foreign blokes
surname … I’d inadvertently been beaten by a burd in that last SS6 race the
day before … oh that is just great!! I
hoped at that point that I’d beet her this time (now I knew) else I’d never
live it down! That motivated me a
bit and I got an ok start, breaking about even by the end of the first two
corners. Out braked someone into
Devils Elbow was actually slightly in front, but decided against cutting across
them as I didn’t want them to collect me and left them some room … I
didn’t have to offer them it twice … they made a bit of a gap then I started
to get dialled in and picked the pace up. But
just didn’t have it in me to close the gap, held this gap at a pretty constant
for several laps then started to close. I
could feel myself starting to tyre already, I was evidently still tired from the
day before and the lack of sleep. Then I saw some yellow and yellow and red (oil) flags on
the run up to North bend, someone dumped it ½ way round and I went in slow, I
actually took my eye off the ball slightly ‘rubber necking’ and had put
myself offline, on collision course with the inside kerb. I picked the bike up and concentrated on the job in had
again. It had now been ages that I had been riding on my Todd
and I was kinda relaxed and just putting laps in, with endurance in mind, i.e. I
was wanting to pace myself as I was so far behind the person in front that I
wasn’t realistically going to catch at this rate and I hadn’t seen
anyone’s nose either, so presumed probably a big gap behind too. Another few laps passed, then I was unexpectedly passed
going into Paddock … oh, there was someone there … and guess who … Linzi!!
She had gone in there what seemed well too tight, so I resumed my normal line,
expecting to pass on the exit, but she did manage to turn it tight enough to
defend the line on the exit, but did stuff me a bit as I knew we might collide
if she went wide and I was alongside, so backed off a bit just in case.
I lost quite a bit of ground round Chessons where I was running out of
energy, but got good drive out and was late on the brakes into Devils Elbow,
then the rear stepped out and the front started to tuck at the same time, I
picked the bike up and let my sphincter resume normal diameter.
At that point I decided that perhaps I better let her and what pride I
had left go before I binned it trying to get her back needlessly.
Crashing thorough male pride and tiredness and consequently rocking my
confidence any further would have been stupid … I did a wheelie on the way up
to North Bend as a sign of arrogance yet defeat. I
did the rest of the race at about 70-80%, which was enough for me not to have
any scares, but I was hardly hanging about by normal standards either.
Linzi was now out of sight, I would have had to have ridden at the same
pace I had started the race at to have kept in front, but as I said I didn’t
have it in me, she beet me fair and square. Race 4 (Sun) YPM
Started 29th???
on the grid and got my usual poor start … I just can’t get away from the
line on that thing, that coupled with it simply being underpowered compared the
others makes for poor starts at the mo. Was
nice and aggressive into Devils elbow and took three people into there, but got
smoked on the exit, loosing 2 of them back into North Bend and the last one on
the exit down Hairy Hill. Took one
back (that same guy I had diced with before) into Pilgrims.
Managed to get the next one again 2 laps later on the brakes into Devils
elbow. Took me about another 8 laps to hunt him down the next
bloke, it was painstaking work, I’d gain on him and then get a big slide and
loosed ground again, but overall I was gaining, slowly but surely. Gaining,
gaining, gaining, but the laps were going down, would I get him in time??
He had got caught up dicing with another bloke allowing me to make some
more ground, 2 laps from the end I was within spitting distance… I tried to
make a pass out of North bend, as I was carrying more momentum, but just
didn’t have the legs when he got on the power. Tried again at Paddock, but
again just not quite enough speed/room. On
the last lap I took the pair of them on the brakes into Devils elbow, but got
out gunned up the hill to North Bend by the front of the pair and lost that
place back. I had to get him back round North Bend, then suddenly a blue
flag was waved, I had carried enough speed and on a good enough line to attempt
a pass, and instigate the move … I had just got my front wheel level with his
rear, then the bloke rolled off and sat his bike up, and headed wide, nearly
taking my front end out, luckily I reacted in time and managed to pick my bike
up so as to avoid the collision. I
thought he had just bailed it where he though he had overcooked it, I had lost
all my momentum, and banged it down a gear getting back on the power, the
leaders scythed past the mess this bloke had made with us both strew across the
track hardly moving (the worst thing he could have done) I managed to get enough
drive to complete my move … thought a bit different to how I had planned I was
actually in front, I took a tighter, more defensive line into paddock than
usual, and managed to hold them off until the line!! Yeay!!! Race 4 (Sun) SS6
Start?? From start to finish I was tired, it had been a long w/e
and just rode the bike with the ‘finish’ in mind, if people took me I
didn’t work to hard trying to get them back or defend. And yes Linzi did eventually pass me at about ½ race
distance. It is amazing just dropping a couple of seconds a lap can make all the
difference fatigue wise over race distance, and how 'off the pace' it puts you!!
Finished?? Summery
Converting between R6 and RD made riding both harder.
Probability be easier to convert between the two if I had more experience
on the RD and at the track … I didn't have time to work out 2-sets of braking
markers/gears etc … essentially doubling the number if races also took it toll
and undoubtedly had a negative effect on my results. Need to work on RACE
fitness (although I could do more fitness wise, gym work seems never to fully
prepare you) and get some practice, obviously the two would go hand in hand.
Also I have never really have liked Lydden (got to grips with it) and
never gone particularly well there. Having said that, it would seem my best lap
was only ~2.5 seconds off the lap record for a 600 there set by Shakey Burns
himself, the front runners were within a tenth of it. I am very disappointed I missed the second Clubmans
through a communications thing and it will have a negative effect on my
championship standings, I can't afford to be loosing points needlessly. The Pirellis did get me round, but as I said before not
confidence inspiring. I’ll be
having words with my supplier, so it doesn’t happen again!! The RD is a nightmare to ride with the dodgy front end
and current tyres, but it is also a right giggle, I love being the underdog and
I rode that thing as hard as I could get away with, I even ground the engine
casing away a bit on the RHS!! :) Andrew has a new bike too, he has got rid of that nail of a raptor and got an SP1 … it is gorgeous, AP brakes the lot!
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