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| Brands Indy
5th (practice), 6th&7th March 2004
Click here for Brands track layout Practice dayAndrew and I decided to go for a practice day as it
is the first round of the season and although we did a de-cobweb
trackday, that was about a month prior now so the rust would be back. Andrew lives about 1.5 hours away from Brands, we knew
practice should start around 9am and what we had to do when we got there i.e. we
needed to get there in time to:- try and get a powerpoint (brands have a few
powerpoints in the paddock, which means you don’t need a genny … most handy
during the cold evenings (can keep heater on overnight)), sign on,
unpack, set up the awning … this in mind, we decided to leave at 6am to
give us plenty of time when we got to brands to sort everything out. It had been foggy in the morning of the day before and the
drive down in the morning it was pretty foggy, the roads were wet. Got there pretty much on schedule, arrived in the outer
paddock expecting it to be packed, it wasn’t really THAT busy, there used to
be powerpoints scattered around the middle area as well as the outsides, but it
seemed that the outside ones were the only ones there … hummm …. We wanted a
powerpoint so searched around the edge for one. Although not that many people there yet, the ones that were
there had fenced/taped off large sections where they were presumably saving
space for friends. This although
annoying is acceptable if it is a little patch, but these were blocking off huge
areas of prime real-estate, I am talking 3 power points/50m worth!! That is
plain rude/inconsiderate!! We did find a free powerpoint but it was down the far far
end of the paddock, we weighed up the pros and cons and decided a powerpoint was
more important than location so set up there. When we put the awning up we realised we had accidentally
left one of the ends at home … error #1!! But not a huge issue. After erecting the awning and unloading the bikes etc, time
was getting on, so we wandered up to go sign on. On the wander we noted that the
middle area was still pretty much empty. Then
to our horror we noticed some maintenance guys installing the powerpoint posts
in the inner area!!! Arrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! b4st4rds!!!, why couldn’t they have
done that last night, then we would have set up up here where we are much closer
to everything!!! We wondered if we should move, but figured we had just spent
the last hour setting up and to stick with what we had, but how annoying was
that … that marked catalogue of errors #2. First practice time arrived, but the fog had not cleared,
visibility was still down to about 50m, not surprisingly they weren’t letting
people out in that! … It was going to be full wet conditions, so Andrew and I
installed ‘wets’ on both our bikes. The disks on my dry wheel have done quite a bit of work now
so getting a bit worn, not shot, but the ones on my wets are still pretty much
like new, so had decided over the winter that perhaps I ought to change the
disks over sometime to get the best disks on the drys.
As the wheels were both out, this seemed like a good opportunity to
change the disks over. There are about 8 disk bolts per disk (i.e. 16 on wheel),
the fist 12 undid fine … then there was ~no13 … it started to undo then <errrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkk>
thonk! Yes the b4st4rd sheered!!! that marked catalogue of errors #3 … :’o(
.. oh for goodness sake!!! (or words loosely resembling that)
I have had many a bolt sheer in my time …. But this one was important
… it was on the brakes of my race bike on a very expensive wheel!!!
I got the drill out … used a centre punch to give the drill a ‘key’
and started the drilling …. <Twang> … there goes the drill bit!!! …
error #4 … b0llox!!! Out came the
next drill bit … I seemed to have got it pretty central so went up a size to
enlarge again. The idea is to just keep upping the size of drill bit
incrementally until you have drilled enough of the bolt material out to peal the
remainder of the bolt away from the threads. That was ok … next size …
battery went flat on the drill ….. <expletive> !!!!!! stuck the battery
on charge and tried attacking the bolt with a screwdriver to see if it’d come
out yet … it wouldn’t so left it and wandered round the paddock for a few
mins too cool off … Came back and re-attacked with drill as although obbviously not enough time to fully recharge, I wanted to get this done and it would have a bit more charge now … Drilling commenced, somewhere along the lines here I went off centre with the drill and was chewing the alli thread … panic set in … I may have fooked the wheel here!!! The story does continue, but digressing somewhat, I did eventually get the bolt out, but after chewing a section of the thread like that (i.e. it was now missing a section of thread on one side), I was uneasy about it all … I just whacked loads of thread-lock in there and did it up … it seemed to bite nicely, but I wasn’t 100% happy … it probably would be ok, but having a bolt come loose and jamming against the fork mid race is not a desirable thing … <shivers> … but it had done up hard enough to give me a good feeling I might get away with it and for me to give it a go. By about 11am (can’t remember exactly when) the fog had
cleared enough for sessions to begin. Where
we were located, it was hard to hear the tannoy or the action on the track DOH!!
…. And the allocated timings were all to pot now where we hadn’t started on
time. So we were trying to judge
when it was time to go out by the movements of the other classes in the paddock
(we knew the MZs were on before us for example). Went out for what I thought was time, on my mile hike to
the collecting area I saw my group just coming back in!!! DOH … so I have
missed that session then!! that marked catalogue of errors #5!!! Got back to the collecting area … Andrew looked at me as
if to say “what you doing back?” I said “just had a nice ride round the
paddock mate!! Missed me session, your group is out now”. Put me bike on its stand and helped Andrew with his, took
his bike off the stand and tried to push forward out of the awning … I then
said “you are not going anywhere
mate!!” the bike refused to move, as if the brakes were on.
Perhaps something was put together wrong when we changed the wheels for
wets? We raised the front and the wheel span fine, raised the rear and it was
solid. … humm … after a quick inspection the rear was missing a spacer
(Andrew :o) ) and thus the swingarm had been pinched up preventing the wheel
from rotating … that marked catalogue of errors #6.
We disassembled and popped the spacer in and all was well, but Andrew had
missed his session. My session came round again and I set off … got to the
collecting area and noticed the session had already begun … DOH .. but I got
out this time. It was full wet, so
not expecting to be doing any heroic laptimes, did a couple of laps to settle in
then started to up the pace … 1:05 … that is slow, (have done 52s in the
dry) upped the pace more and put in a better lap … but was faced with the
chequered flag that indicated end of the session as I crossed the line … I got
a 1:03 on my laptimer … Didn’t catch much of that session then did I!! This was
getting frustrating now, what a waste of money this was proving to be!! Time passed … The track was drying now, so decided to move to full drys
… this was the one with the suspect disk bolt … The session went ok, dry line, but still damp in many
places, it was still well greasy round clearways, after a few ‘warnings’
there, I just took it easy round there. Think
I got down to 56s, 55s by the end. My first FULL session!!! Wow and it is only the early
afternoon!!!! Checked the disk bolt when I got back and all seemed well,
I’d still keep an eye on it, but that was a good sign that it might be ok
permanently. My next session came round,
whilst sitting in the collecting area, I for some reason looked down at
my forks … noticed that my right front fork seal was leaking ... problem #7
… oh for goodness sake, my heart dropped, how am I gonna get that done and
what next??? I was determined to do
this session, but realised I’d have to get this sorted for race day.
Although the leak might not be too bad at the moment, these things can
deteriorate quickly and I didn’t want it on my mind on raceday … besides I
needed to get through scruteneering!!! Managed to clean the fork up of oil and got the bike
through scrutennering. I had been meticulous in making rebuilding/servicing the
forks over winter ... but had used old seals (as they appeared fine and I
hadn’t had the forethought of getting new ones before I did the job) ... the
trackside stalls didn’t have a seal, but managed to get new seals from local
shop. However no one sold the same
Motul ‘Factory line’ fork oil I had used in building them originally, so
ended up using Fuchs (Silkolene) as that was all that was available, a good oil
I am sure and the same ‘weight’ but at the end of the day it was different
oil in each leg (couldn't be @rsed to do both!) ... I was p1ssed after all that
care I had taken to get things 'just right' over winter!!. Think I managed to get out for about 2.5 sessions in the
end over an entire day!! What a waste of money/time!! We have had bad days before, but this was right at the
start of a new season … the weather was miserable too … Andrew and I were
both wondering what the hell we were doing there!!
Andrew was getting nervous it was a sign of things to come.
I just hoped for a better day tomorrow! Sat 6th March 2004 Round1
Powerbikes AM race
Start 21st end 17th As I was technically barred from doing Clubman6 this year
(they don’t allow top 6 2003 championship finishers to enter) I decided to do
Powerbikes as my support class, this has the added bonus that Andrew running in
the supertwins as his primary, has powerbikes as his support class too, so we
get to be in the same races again, just like old times!! :o) Well, this was to be the first race of the season for both
Andrew and myself, I had been prety relaxed about the prospect of the first
race, probably because so much other stuff had happened I hadn’t had much time
to sit back and think aobut it, but now everything was prepared and with about 3
mins before we were set to get geared up and go to the collecting area I started
getting butterflies … it had been so long since the last race, a long time in
waiting … what was gonna happen??? Was gridded the row behind Andrew, and could see him to my
right. I have never been a good
starter and had been told a new technique to try, I decided to experiment with
this on the warmup … as they started to wave off the front row for the warmup
lap, Andrew stuck his hand in the air … he had a problem with his bike … of
for flox sake!!!! Error #??? Is it
wort counting any more??? … I set off on the warmup avoiding Andrews and his
stricken bike. Came round to the
grid again and Andrew wasn’t there, they had either cleared him quickly or he
had sorted the problem. He joined
the grid soon after me … kool all must be well again, he must have stalled it
I thought (turns out it just stopped on him for no reason … the bike was
probably nervous :oD ). It was still damp in many places, but got a reasonable
start for me, the new technique working well. Cant remember much of the race, except for thinking that I
wasn’t getting as canned as I thought I might, I was actually not only holding
my own but moving forward in fact! Finished the race contented with my performance all things
considered, it put me in good stead for when things dried out more. Supersport 600 A qualifierStart 13th end 14th Dryer now, but with a few dodgy bits still round clearways.
Again reasonable start, lost a few places, but took them back gradually. On my travels I came up against ‘1-arm bandit’ he is
ruddy quick, but I did manage to get the better of him in the mid race and keep
in front. Powerbikes PM raceStart 17th end 17th The sun had come out now and you could feel the warmth in
the air, great, this is how I like it … lets rock!! I had got new tyres fitted over lunch and decided that
I’d use the opening laps of the powerbike race to scrub them in ready for the
afternoon Supersport race. It has
been so long since I have had new tyres (did the last 3 rounds of 03 on old
knackered ones and had the winter off then done the 04 trackday and practice day
on them!!) I couldn’t really recollect what they felt like running them in. With the prospect of new rubber (i.e. grip when scrubbed
in) and the fact the sun had come out, I was gagging to get out there and see
how it went! Lined up on the grid and set off on the warm-up lap,
although virgin shiny tyres, was surprised how good they felt from the off.
Finished off the warm-up and lined back up on the grid. I wasn’t particularly interested in getting a great start
as I wanted to stay out of conflict so I could take my own line/time to run the
tyres in. The lights went out and off I went, again, even thought
un-scrubbed, I was amazed how good the tyres felt and the feedback I was
getting. Still took it relatively easy ‘working it up’ for the
first 3 laps, but still running pretty hot really considering, these new tyres
were installing me with confidence. As the race went on I just got quicker and quicker, bike
feeling awesome, moving my way back forward thought the pack. Turns out I
actually beat my personal lap record by just under 0.5 of a second. Crossed the line happy with how the bike and I was feeling,
not particularly interested in results, but felt I had done pretty well
considering I had penalised myself on the opening laps and slipped backwards a
bit. Knowing I had done 52s made me happy, I had proven to
myself I was still capable of these times, which I haven’t done since 2002.
As far as I was concerned I had achieved that goal and the weather could
do what it liked now. I also thought to myself “what the hell have I been doing
running knackered tyres for so long??? New ones are awesome!!!” … mental
note … don’t scrimp on tyres, they are worth 2+ seconds a lap!!! Supersport 600 finalStart 28th end 24th Where they have dropped the two championships (Nationwide
and KoC) for 2004 and just have the one, there is now an abundance of 600 riders
that can’t get spread between the two. BEMSEEs
solution was to run two 600 races at each round to accommodate the numbers; fair
enough. The format was
‘qualifiers’ in the AM and then a Final in the afternoon for the top guys
and a ‘Non Qualifier’ race for those that er … didn’t qualify (so they
still got a race). I actually like
this concept, but it means that you are essentially racing against the top 40
odd out of 80odd riders if you make the final ... i.e. there are no sloth's in
the finals!!! There was a crash on warmup lap, a bloke went down two
bikes in front of me, looks like the geeza just gave it too much beans on cold
tyres and it tried to spit him off … he eventually lost the buckaroo fight and
went down, for what was a fairly lame crash (on the downhill from Druids to
Graham hill) it was messy. The bike
hit the tyrewall and ricocheted/cart-wheeled off, smashing it to smithereens,
the debris actually coming back on the track and hitting the riders bike who was
in front of me!! I could tell this
was going to take some time to clear, so just cruised back to the grid. Took 10 mins or so to clear, had 2 laps re-warmup, but
still a little cautious that tyres were cold/not fully up too temp. Appalling start, slipped back to 34th and then
moreso by the end of the first lap … that was rubbish!!! … however, once I
got going, I really did get dialled in, Druids being my strongest part of the
track, taking people round the outside there. Can’t remember much detail about the race, but took a few
more hundredths off my personal lap record (which I had only just beaten the
race before!), felt I was working the bike well round Druids, but didn’t
really feel as if I was pushing it. I
was actually making a conscious effort not to push too hard round clearways as I
had had a few slides there and it was a bit damp and I didn’t want to get
caught out. Saturday summeryAlthough the Supersport start was appalling, overall I was
happy with how I had ridden and didn't really give much of a stuff how I got on
on the Sunday … I had proved to myself that I was still capable of 52s. Also
that I was running that comfortably and taking it (relatively) easy round
clearways as it was still a bit damp/greasy in places. Had I had a few
more 'clear' laps 51s were on the cards on that day ... that means 50s in
perfect conditions ... with the new motor ... who knows 49 and top 5s might even
be on the cards??? I enjoyed the powerbike races ... it is annoying getting held up by the thous though ... especially when you can't go off line (damp). Sunday 7th March 2004 Round2
Had rained the night before so the ground was damp, but it
was set to dry out a bit before race commenced. Checked the tyre pressures as I do at the start of every
race day and found out that I had set the pressure incorrectly on the rear wheel
... to bead the tyre the tyre man had put 45psi in which is fine as he said make
sure you let it down to correct pressure ... I normally run 29F 28R ... I
thought I had let the rear down to 28 ... but evidently had only let it down to
38 by accident (must have misread gauge on sat)!!! Catalogue of errors #?(oh god
I have lost count)!!!... which makes it even more surprising how good they had
felt the day before considering the rear was over inflated by 10psi!! just shows
how bad the tyres had got that I was running before I got the new ones! Powerbike AM raceStart 17th Finish 18th. Dry tyres for this one. Can’t remember much about this
race, but got back into the 52s so obviously feeling ok, looks like I held my
own, probably loosing a few places on the opening lap then taking some back
during the rest of the race. Supersoprt B qualifierStart 12th end 14th It pisked of rain soon after the Powerbike race and it
continued to stay wet, so full wets for the AM Supersport race, involving yet
another wheel change!!! I am not really that keen on racing in the wet, I don’t
really have much (race) experience in the wet and just don’t feel I can push
it as hard as I do in the dry as I am not sure where the limits are, just that
you can’t get away with much mistake wise!! Wet races for me are just getting out there and
participating/learning and letting everyone else do the falling off, I don’t
expect to do well. For this reason I didn’t try anything heroic into the first
turn, just picked a spot and wet round. As
the race progressed and things calmed down, I started to settle in, feeling
where the grip was, looking at the laptimer the times were falling 1:03, 1:02,
1:01, 0:59 … wow I am sub 1 min, 59s isn’t setting the world on fire, but I
had never done <61s in the wet before, at this point I actually started
enjoying it as I felt I was holding a reasonable pace and not riding scared,
also people were no longer pulling away, I was actually reeling some in.
I even had the confidence to go round the outside at Druids. For my efforts I was rewarded with a 14th place
and championship points :o) Pretty pleased really. Especially as the tyres were
now on their 3rd seasons!! Think
next full wet I’ll get some new ones and see how I get on, especially after
seeing what a difference the new drys made to confidence. Powerbikes PM raceStart 18th end 14th Unsure if going to stay wet enough for wets, Hurriedly
changed rear to dry and got warmers on as dry line appearing, but left full wet
on front just in case. Just before race was due to start it was clear that it
was dry line enough for full drys, wets would overheat in no time.
But there wasn’t enough time to change my front and get heat into it
for the race, so stuck with the wet front. There were quite a few people in the collecting area on
full wets, I know this was the wrong choice and as the race went on they’d
slip back. Others were out on
slicks or cut slicks. So so start, was conscious that I had a mismatch of tyres
and wasn’t sure how the front would behave in the (essentially) dry, so
wasn’t willing to push too hard. The only other 600 that was competing in Powerbikes too
went down after a couple of laps, on the brakes into druids, he was on full wets
… A couple of the people who were out on wets retired giving
me a place on a plate. Took the thou in the closing laps that I had been chasing
all race, but had just never got the run on him until then, due to his extra
power and yellow flags at my strong/his weak points. I then crossed the line, thought I saw last lap flag, so
presumed last lap kept it pinned for the next lap and steamed across the line
tucked right in on full. I was
totally tucked so I was as fast as possible, just in case Mr thou got good drive
on me … when I crossed the line I presumed I had gone past finish flag so sat
up and backed off … went round paddock at a semi leisurely pace … then round
druids … thought it strange that none of the marshals were holding out yellow
flags (normally do that after finish line/flag) … but no one had overtaken so
it must be the finish?? … humm … then out of Druids … vroooom … the thou
I had been chasing all race and passed just over a lap ago blasted past at full
race speed… sh1t!!! … that couldn’t have been the chequered and this is
actually the last lap!!! I had worked hard to take that place from him on less
than ideal tyre combo … I got my head back down and proceeded to chase with
only1/2 of a lap left!!! Got on his tail though clearways and started hooking up
earlier than I had been … I noticed he was not getting on the power as much as
he had before … and wandering a little, he may have ended up going across my
nose cutting me off if he continued to go wide, but I through caution to the
wind and kept it pinned … I got the run on him and blasted past on the outside
of him on the exit of clearways and nailed it to the line … I had obviously
done enough as he didn’t pass on the power … WOW, can’t believe I got away
with that!!! … what a balls up! But also prety cool that I got him back like
that :o) Would have gone better with both Dry tyres, but there you
go that is racing and tyre selection, it can be a gamble and
you win some you loos some. I
did however knacker the front wet as it was too dry for it and it had cooked
:’o( Supersport 600 Final28th on the grid finished 30th. Pulled up to collecting area and it was just me and 1-arm
bandit in there, I was actually gridded next to him and had a little chat.
Where the front leaver normally is he has his clutch and he has a thumb
operated front brake. How the hell he does all that and twist the throttle with
just one arm I have no idea. He
does take peculiar lines, but that is to be expected I suppose, it also makes
him really hard to pass and he takes up unusual parts of the track. Rubbish start again where I got bulked into the first turn
and just didn’t feel confident in the tyres.
After sitting in the collecting area for ages the tyres were cold, that
combined with the fact that I had had the wet front dry rear combo in the last
race and had to be a bit reserved due to that, the bike didn’t feel quite
right any more/different again. Went backwards for the first lap, took me about 3 laps to
get any confidence/heat in the tyres and to readjust, but by this time, it was
too late, I had slipped back so far and although I was faster than the riders in
front it was difficult to pass as the track really only had one proper dry line,
and overtaking obviously meant risking it by going on the damp stuff!! I did try, and took a few people that I could, but this
race was a write off. Got about ½
way though and realised it was a lost cause, so just decided to ‘bring it
home’ so I could fight another day!!! Overall summery
Well although the results are slightly disappointing in the
Supersport Finals, I was pretty pleased that I could consistently get back into
the 52 when the track was dry enough, this is a good indicator that I might be
back ‘on the pace’ this season if the conditions are right!!
I knew I wasn’t taking clearways at full pelt as it had nearly bitten
me a few times where grip wasn’t that great (damp and greasy patches),
and I have been harder into Paddock hill, but I was not going in with
full zest as there were damp bits on the braking zone and damp bits around and
at the bottom, so if you went off line (made a slight error) at full zest then
you could end up regretting it. So
definitely more to come when conditions are beter! I want to get the new (more tuned) motor in for Snetterton
as I am still running the old motor at the mo!!! Roll on Snetterton!!
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