|
|
|
| Snetterton
12th and 13th March 2005
Click here for Snetterton Track Layout Prolougue
Bearing in mind that it had been about 5 months since my
last time on the race bike, I had actually booked onto a trackday about a week
prior to this round with a view to using it as a ‘shakedown’. Andrew
although has quit racing now, is still allowed to do trackdays, so the idea was
to have my race practice and to have a bit of fun with Andrew at the same time.
My spanner man Matt was going to be riding Andrews spare bike too, so it was set
to be a right chuckle. However, there is a whole different story in it by
itself, but basically it never happened!!! We got there and the track was icy,
then it snowed!! So there goes all those good intentions of having an
opportunity to go on the race bike prior to the season start! So I would
have to just take the first round as a learning experience and try and stay out
of trouble. Not the way I would plan an attack on a season, but as they
say dung happens!!! Although I was not actually booked onto the official
practice day on the 11th, I decided to take the time off anyway and drive up on
the evening of the 10th in the hope that I would get a decent paddock space. I
had a few things I wanted to get done on the bike too, so it would be a good
opportunity to do that on the 11th. Arrived ok and managed to get some hard standing. Put
my awning up and well, batlled with that most of the next day when the wind got
up!!! I actually wanted to change the fork oil and the Brake
fluid on the bike, as well as get some nice new rubber. After having
several mishaps with cold rubber, old rubber and those rechid Michelin Pilot
Race 2s I bought in 2002, I have become a bit anal about my race rubber. I
keep my wheels/tyres wrapped up, partly to protect the tyres/wheels from direct
damage, but from UV light too. Now since being caught out with aged rubber (i.e. is
unused, but was manufactured a couple of years prior, but had been stored and,
well gone hard and gave little feel/grip!!) I know a little trick to see
how old the tyres are. There is a date code on the side, it basically
tells you the week number and year manufactured. I was after early 05
tyres here, or at the very least late 04. Managed to get some wets from
one of the stands that had good dates, but struggled to get some dry tyres that
were under a year old!! I had a slightly embarrassing situation where I
was hunting through their tyres for the latest ones. They supposedly had
only just got them in last week. Well yes they might be new to them, but
they were definitely old stock!!! At the end of the day I had little choice
here, I would have to go with what they had, I was a little miffed though!!
Not good for my mental state knowing I had some year old tyres if nothing else.
Annoyingly the used ones that were on the bike from the end of last season were
actually manufactured a couple of weeks later than the ones I had just bought!!! I also treated myself to an onboard laptimer. I have
wanted one of these for ages, but well, just considered it too much of a luxury.
I had lived to regret it a but though as many a time it would have come in handy
for pace making!! Anyhow, I had just spent about £500, what was another
£130 between friends??? As I had spent most of the day playing kites with the
awning, I hadn’t wanted to take the forks apart to do the oil, the internals
need to be kept spotless, and that was going to be hard with everything blowing
around!! Race Day 1 Saturday 12th March 2005
It had rained late afternoon and a little overnight, but
the track seemed to be largely dry. It was pretty windy and very cold
however. Morning Practice
As mentioned earlier, I had no idea how I or the bike would
go, morning practice is about 10 mins, that in real terms equates to getting out
there and then about 5 flying laps. A board was held up in the holding area to say “track
temp was at 1deg”, that wouldn’t be conducive to grip!! Things didn’t feel as alien as they had in the past, but
the steering seemed really slow/over damped. The steering damper was
wound right down mind however, so I presumed this was just how it has always
been and I am just not used to it. Another concern of mine was if the engine would be ok after
its winter rebuild/mend, it should be, but it was untested. It was blatantly
clear the first time I opened it up that all was well in the engine department
which was a relief and I could then put that worry out of my mind. I had purchased an onboard laptimer and could see my times
going down lap on lap. My best time at Snetterton was a 1:13.49, but that
was in favourable conditions. I would be happy with getting 1:15s by the
end of the weekend, expecting at best 1:18s by the end of the first race. Although predominately dry, there were damp patches around
the circuit, the dodgiest of which was the ones round Corums, the extremely long
and fast right hander. I spotted this on the out lap and made a mental
note to not go off line. I actually got a 1:27.036 on my first flying lap, and had
knocked 5 seconds off that time in the following 3 laps before the end of the
session taking me to 1:22s. I Not fantastic and ~9 seconds off my best time,
however I knew for a fact I wasn’t even trying round Corums because of the
damp patches (if I went off line) and bearing in mind when timing people the day
before when they were having practice, the fast guys were only looking between
1:16-1:18s so I wasn’t too displeased all things considered. Supersport 600 Sat AM race 8
Start 20th finish 9th Started off 20th on the grid, row 5 inside edge (where I
would prefer to be). Bearing I mind it was presumably picked by random,
not a bad gird position, typical as I wasn’t rehearsed. When we were
sent off to the grid I realised ‘er I haven’t done a race start since last
season either!!!’. I gestured the fact I didn’t know what I was doing
to Matt who was watching on pit wall. Right I just wanted to keep my nose clean and get this race
we were waved off row-by-row one of the chaps on a row ahead of me when he set
off it was clear his engine simply ‘let go’. Bad for him, but one less
position I would have to make up for me!! Unfortunately on return to the grid they waved us off,
basically they needed to clean up the oil that the bike had dumped and were
calling an early lunch!! Doh!! Come on, I just want to get the first one out of
the way I thought!!! Can’t really remember much about this race, but was
pretty pleased, well in slight disbelief that I managed to come home in 9th, I
hadn’t really even been ‘trying’, a top 10 in Supersport is much harder to
get than that!! I could tell that others out there were ‘feeling’
their way round too, but at the end of the day I wasn’t going to argue with a
top ten for my first race of the season!! I had started off with lap time of 1:19.454 and by the end
of the race had brought that down to a 1:16.779, again happy with that all
things considered. I knew that a few laps would bring my times down, but a
1:16 was more (well less!) than I had been hoping for at this stage. Supersport 600 Sat PM race 19
Start 9th Finish 5th Got away from the line ok, dropped a few places, but
nothing drastic, just started to make a few places up and the race was red
flagged. To be honest I wasn’t overly bothered as I had hardly made a
brilliant go of it the first time round. By mid race, I managed to find myself at the back of the
lead pack though, there was plenty of gap behind, so I was almost gurenteed 5th
at this rate. I did try and have a nibble at Mr 4th into Russell’s on the
penultimate lap, but it wasn’t clean enough and I had to bail out. In
doing so the front slid slightly where I was offline, managed to get away with
it though I lost loads of ground and any real chance of getting another nibble
4th in the process. To be honest if I had really tried I think I
could have closed again, but I was happy with where I was, it certainly want’
worth throwing it all away over! My restart was a little better and I actually was holding
my own, as the race went on I started to make my way forward, again feeling it
was all a little easier than it should be, I had managed to get to 5th place, I
was quite astonished by that. But as I said to Matt on my return to the
pits “Can’t Grumble at that!!!” Also pleasingly My laptimes had come down further to a
fastest lap of 1:15.465, not bad considering how cold it was! Clubman 600-1000 shootout Sat PM race 24
This was the last race of the day, there had been a few
incidents during the day and the evening was drawing in. The officials
decided to not run this race as the light was fading. It was re-scheduled
for the first race Sunday morning. Day 1 Summary
Well I wasn’t expecting that!! Some pleasing results.
My laptimes had come down and I felt that I had been moving forward through the
pack ok. If anythign it all seemed a little too easy, I am normally worked
really hard for my positions, especially when it gets to the top 15! Still I
will take it if and when I can get it!! Day 2 Sunday 13th March 2005
Luckily it has stayed dry over night so by the time race 1
was called any dampness that remained from Friday afternoon was all but totally
gone. The day was brighter and less windy, not as bitterly cold as the day
before, but still had a chill in the air. Clubman 600-1000 shootout Sun AM race 24 (postponed Sat
race)
Start 27th Finish 15th Starting well back here, my task was to try and get a fair
ways forward, I was actually quite hopeful as I had been going well the day
before. Got an appalling start and went backwards, being that far
back it was bedlam into turn 1 and 2. By the time I came past the start
finish again I was supposedly 3rd from the back so I had dropped about 10
places. As the race went on and things calmed down, I began to get my head
down and make my way forward. I had made quite a few passes, but I
wasn’t sure where I had finished. After looking at the results it was
evidently 15th. Well at least that is in the points!! Bearing in mind my
start I had to be content with that. My fastest lap was a respectable 1:15.584. Supersport 600 Sun AM race 8
Start 5th Finish 7th Made an average start, still lost a few places though.
But when the race settled down I started to regain some of them. One thing
that went through my head during this race was “Ahh the pace has quickened, I
am being made to work for this”. The pace was noticeably more rapid than
the day before. Fastest lap 1:14.598, that was a second a lap quicker than
what I had managed a 5th on the day before!! Supersport 600 Sun PM race 19
Start 7th Finish 3rd There was a bit of a panic before this race! I’ll set the scene: So a little flustered, but pleased to have made it out there,
7th on the grid. After the warmup lap I checked the front sprocket nut
seemed tight, it seemed fine so I just put it out of my head and watched the
lights. I got an appalling start, all wheelies and no drive!!! I went
backwards!!! I managed to take a couple back on the opening lap but I had
basically fallen back to 13th or so place on the start!! Well that has knackered
that I thought!!! Knowing I had made a balls up of the start, I made a
conscious effort to try and get back as many places as possible as soon as
possible. I tried counting the bikes in front and realised that I had
managed to get up to about 8th fairly quickly and I relaxed a bit as that was a
bit more respectable. I had settled in and got comfortable, I then
realised I was moving forward quite well/easily, I got to about 6th and though,
wow I can still see the leaders, I am comfortable here, lets push on a bit and
see what happens. Next thing I know I have caught Mr 5th, dispensed with him.
took Mr 4th, pleased with that, Last lap flag was out, I’ll just sit here, I
could however see Mr 3rd ahead, I thought to myself, I am happy with this
position, but lets see how much I can close up on him. I took gobloads of time out of him on the brakes at the end
of the backstraight and through the esses and I was in range come the exit of
Bombhole. I thought, “what the hell I line myself up round Corum and will have
a pop into the Russels (the final chicane), not going to go daft thought as a
4th is good going. I got the run on him and started to go round the
outside round Corums, I had been strong into Russels all weekend, but was
expecting for him to simply break late and stuff me up, game over, fair enough.
However to my surprise he broke what I considered a bit early, almost as he had
submitted, I thought, “well, fair enough, I’ll have that then!!!” Made sure I was clean through Russells and powered to the
line, burying my head in the tank and swerving slightly just in case the bloke
was going to get me on the power. My god, er, I had just got a 3rd, a Podium, er, how did
that happen??? A little stunned still … I then thought “cool” and a big
grin came across my face!!! I bashed the tank and shook my head, I shook it so
hard I actually began to see stars!!! My dfastest lap was a 1:13.700, that was also the fastest
lap of the race (and fastest Supersport lap of the weekend as it happens I didn’t want to get too excited just in case I hadn’t
actually got the 3rd there, you know like there was actually a bloke way ahead,
or they wanted to give me a penalty, or a mistake had been made!! I waited on
tender hooks waiting for the official results to be published. … Wow
sure enough it was official!!! It felt great, I had longed for a supersport podium, and
never got anywhere near, then suddenly when I wasn’t expecting much, I managed
to pull one out of the bag. To be honest I was a little bewildered, I
didn’t feel I had worked that hard?! I was sat in the pits with my Trophy and thinking to
myself, right, it doesn’t get any better than this I have one more race to go,
but perhaps I better quit whilst I am ahead, I am on a real high and I’d hate
to have an off in the Clubman to put a downer on the weekend. But hey, I was there, it wasn’t long to wait, I don’t
have to be a hero, just go round and see if I can get another top 15 to try and
get a point or two to aid my standing in the championship for next time. Clubman 600-1000 shootout Sun PM race 24
Start 15th Finish 1st It wasn’t quite dusk, but the sun was low now and the
temperature had dropped. Now I wasn’t going to be a hero here, so just sat calmly
on the line, revs were up lights went out. Oh MY GOD I got excellent
drive!! I was flying, and I got into the first turn well, without getting bulked
really. I counted the bikes in front as I went down the backstraight,
1,2,3,4,5,6,7, or is it 8, my got I am in 8th odd place here!!! Now that is a
start, I still didn’t want to go mad, but I thought, hey I could make
something of this. Against the ‘thous I was always going to expect
getting overtaken down the bacstraight at a track like Snetterton and sure
enough a couple came past, managed to take one back on the breaks mind. As the race continued, I had settled in, I suddenly found
myself in 5th, wow dude, you are not doing to bad here!! I was in the
breaking zone at the end of the backstraight and I noticed carnage ensuing in he
esses, basically the two front guys had taken each other out. There was
now mud and bikie bits all over the track in the esses Humm er, I had instantly
promoted to 3rd. Er wow another podium, er, neat!?!? A little dazed
still I thought that I Best get round to the line before it is red flagged!! The
two guys in front of me had gone through the carnage now bet for some reason
were faffing about, I guess they presumed the race would be stopped. But
there were no red flags out, so the race hadn’t been stopped yet, well
sod it I thought, gpot my head down and zapped past the what was now 2nd place
bloke. With the momentum I actually was on new Mr 1st in no time, well it
was rude to not take 1st !!! I rushed to the line keeping an eye for red
flags, but nothing, I guessed the guys I had over taken would soon get back on
it after I passed and it was no surprise when one of them tried to pass at the
end of the back straight, I just made sure I broke really late and they
conceded. I managed to keep him off for the rest of the lap. Right
this is it Nick, tried to be clean and get a gap, however come the end of the
straight I had a bike trying to get past either side!!! No way I thought and
broke as late as I could!!!! I indeed managed to hold them both off gingerly
went through the mud patch and nailed it again, managed to hold them off through
Russell’s. Crossed the line, the last lap flag went out. Right,
now just hold it together here nick, you might actually win this, worst case is
you will get 2nd or 3rd (presuming you stay on). Took a look behind me as I shot off down Rivvet straight,
cool, I had broken them a bit, there was a bit of a gap, crossed my fingers that
I wouldn’t get a surprise at the end of the straight, but they hadn’t passed
come the breaking zone, and I broke nice and late. Went through the mud patch on
the exit of the esses with care again, then kept my head down, I raced to the
line moving near the pit wall so at to zoom past/close to matt, I wasn’t going
to look, but I knew he would be watching!! I crossed the line not really being
able to grasp what had just happened … Fastest lap 1:15.107, which although it was slightly
different conditions now, lets face it I had ridden faster!! Again anxiously waited for the results, but sure enough a
win!!! Summery
Wow what a weekend!!! From the real low that I had on the
Friday to this, it all made sense again. I had been striving for so long
to get another podium/trophy, and wow, two, just like that!! I was
realistic however, this would be a hard one to follow up, and things normally
get more intense as the season goes on. Also the next round was Lydden and
that is probably my weakest of tracks. Still, who cares, I had done what I
had done!!! I floated all the way home!! I am actually finishing writing this nearly a week after
the event and it still brings a grin to my face just recollecting it!! Roll on Lydden, I am not expecting anything spectacular
there, I just hope it goes incident free and that I don’t get to depressed if
the results don’t come in! I am not foolish enough to think it will be podiums
again, but top tens would be nice!
|
). 
Surely this one would be taken away
from me??? Where is everyone else??? 