Cadwell Park
What a weekend !!!!! from the moment we left we should have turned round and come home again. Rushing round all day Thursday to try and finish getting the bike ready and pack everything up and sort the caravan out to finally leave an hour late with my blood pressure through the roof. Then half way in to the 125 mile trip to Cadwell park the tire on the caravan decided to destroy itself and spray rubber everywhere. I looked across to my dad who was driving the van and whispered “your going to kill me, I forgot to put the spare in, its on the floor in the workshop” his face filled with rage as he realised he was going to have to drive all the way back to get it….. sorry dad my mistake. So we finally got the circuit at 11pm instead half eight. By the time we had set everything up it was a late night followed by an early start as I was on track for free practice at 9 am. Which was a slight struggle but I made it, only to manage four laps before following another rider who through up a stone which punched a huge hole in my radiator. By the time I had borrowed a radiator as I had no spare and fitted it, I had missed two sessions so I rushed out to make up for lost time. By this time given our luck so far we should have known it was not going to be a good weekend but I never expected what was install for me in the next session.
Mid way through the session I was relaxed and flowing and getting closer to the pace I wanted for the weekend. When I entered Charlie’s 1, on entry I dropped down one geared half missed the downshift and found myself entering a 90mph right hand bend with a bike underneath that was in a false neutral making horrible noises trying to find a gear and I couldn’t tip the bike in for fear of it suddenly finding a gear mid corner so it was the grass for me, which is where it suddenly came to my attention that they don’t handle that well on grass at high speed and we decided to part company. The bike ended up in the tires looking worse for where and I ended up in Louth hospital feeling slightly worse for wear too.
I had a displacement fracture of my collar which required an operation, a couple of screws and a couple of plates to fix it. That was Monday afternoon, this is Friday and I cant wait to get back on it, I am having laser treatment in Ipswich on Tuesday to aid the speed of recovery to the soft tissue damage and muscle damage and I will be back on the bike as soon as possible.
I would just like to take this opportunity to give a massive thank you to all the marshals and medics at both the track and hospital. Superb job. My Dad for everything over the weekend, Legend buddy !!! Mum and my girlfriend Rox for waiting on me hand and foot when I got home. AMC Racing for repairing the bike, all the well wishes of my friends and fellow competitors and a massive thanks to all my sponsors.
Qualifying ROUND 5
Friday free practice was my first time ever at the track, I have never done a track day or any testing at all at Silverstone, but every session on Friday I went quicker and quicker so I couldn’t wait to get out for qualifying as it’s the first opportunity to see what the pace for the weekend would be. First qualifying session I went out on new tires thanks to Tachbrook Road Motors few steady laps and then started to dial in the laps getting quicker and quicker still and put in a 1:08:601 which put me in 12th place. I was satisfied with 12th but my aim was top 10 and if I could put in a 1:07 I would be well in the top 10 as 600th of a second separated 5 riders from 7th to 12th. So I sat there winding myself up thinking where I could make half a second and gagging to hear the call for the 2nd session. Unfortunately the 2nd session didn’t go to plan, 2 steady laps to get the tires up to temperature then in my first fast lap I tipped in to the chicane on to the start finish straight as I felt the bike was from underneath me, I was gutted but the marshals picked the bike up I picked my self up unhurt and assessed the damage to the bike to which there was none that would stop me getting back out there just panels, crash bungs, lifters and pride. By the time I got back on track I knew I didn’t have much time maybe 3 or 4 laps so I knew I had to push 2 warm up laps to check the bike was ok and get the tires warm again and off I went, thanks to the new electronics supplied by AutoTec BMW I knew in the first to sectors I was quicker and on for a 1:07 as it tells me on my shiny new dash so I came down the back straight at 150 mph missed my braking point and sailed off straight into the gavel. So 12th on the grid it was for me.
Race 1
The weather…. in true British fashion it was lashing down with rain. The track was full of standing water and it was just dangerous with no grip on full wets and the rear off the bike wheel spinning and sliding out of every corner in morning warm up I was nervous to say the least. Any way I sat on the grid 3rd row in 12th the lights went out and I launched the bike as best I could with little wheel spin, I went into the first corner in fifth place and buzzing in my helmet all fired up when the worst thing ever happened when a rider in front of me went sideways and over the top I had no where to go hit him or his bike….. I clipped his bike went off the track but luckily stayed on but rejoined in last place, so I got my head down and manage to salvage a ninth.
Race 2
The weather had let up and had stopped raining but the track was still saturated another flying start on my R6 into the first corner in 4th when the same thing happened a rider in front of me had a massive high side but this time I didn’t have to shut the throttle as he slid out of my way lucky lucky lucky. Can round in 3rd but the pace of the leading two was really really fast in the conditions and after a few big sideways moments and slides trying to run at there pace I decided to back of and take the points as in conditions like that a front slide would be so easy to end the race and rear slides were so frequent that you never knew if the next one would be uncontrollable I was passed by lap six and found myself in fourth taking the chequered flag, which I was absolutely made up with as my aim for this season is results inside the top ten so a fourth at a track I have never seen before and in terrible conditions was amazing, I went in sitting 14th in the championship and have come away in 8th inside the top ten.
Qualifying ROUND 4
Cadwell is my favourite track and I have been looking forward to going there all year and for once the weather was quality all weekend. In Fridays free practice I was 2 seconds quicker than last year on a faster bike so I was happy with my pace, I qualified in 12th which I was disappointed with as I wanted and hoped to do better so in the second session I went 2 seconds quicker but so did everyone so twelve it was for me, but even so its my best qualifying session yet.
Race 1
Flying start as soon as the lights went out and fought my way to seventh through the first few corners and on to the back straight all a bit close but rubbing is racing. By mid race distance a lot of riders were starting to stuggle but due to my had work off track I manage to go lap 10 before I started to tire, I lost two places in 2 laps which I was gutted with but ninth was still inside the top ten which is my aim this season. In my race there is a junior and senior race but the championship is overall, I managed to finished third in the seniors and got my first ever MRO trophy and first time on the podium in an MRO race, a place I had never thought I would see this season so I was going to struggle to get my smile into my helmet for the second race.
Race 2
Another awesome start which bumped me up from 12th but on the first lap at the end of the back straight I made a slight mistake which cost me dear as I hit the brakes on the crest of the hill whilst moving across the track to defend my line which lifted the back wheel in the air and sent the handle bars snapping violently side to side but some how I manage to keep the bike on the track only losing a few places I battled hard chasing the lad in front but just couldn’t catch him I finished 10th overall and 4th in the seniors so overall it was my best weekend so far with points. Every time I ride the new bike I get faster and I think I am finally getting to grips with racing in the MRO and the standard of competition, as at first I think I was a little intimidated by the pace and experience of the other riders but the more I race the better I do and the more confidence I gain.
Qualifying ROUND 3
At least this weekend there was no rain for qualifying, over cast and cold but this is England I suppose. We had more new rubber on the bike thanks to our sponsor Tachbrook Road Motors so maximum grip was there to be had with just the cold track temperature the only concern. We had changed the gearing on the bike and also altered the front suspension settings in free practice on Friday so I was happy with the base set up of the bike. I went out and put in consistent low 1.17’s which I knew wasn’t quick enough but no matter how hard I pushed the lap timer still said 1.17 so I came into the pits for a quick rest and left enough time for an out lap, and a fast lap. I was frustrated as I felt I was pushing but the lap time wasn’t quick enough but on my last fast lap a broke into the 1.16’s which left me 17th on the grid. I couldn’t beat that time in 2nd qualifying but someone went faster so 18th on the grid yet again.
Race 1
More new rubber thanks to another sponsor Arch Motorcycles. 18th Row 5 just looking at 17 bikes in front of me, thinking I am coming through this lot when these lights go out cause I hate being back here, but also amongst them 17 bikes was an absolute wealth of experience that doesn’t come by magic over night. The lights went out and I got a flyer after 2 corners I was up into 11th place and I was quietly pleased with myself after my starts at the previous round but I knew there was a long way to go so I got my head down and put in the most consistent race of my life I think. Every lap was between 1.16.04 and 1.16.50, My Dad’s commitment to my racing playing a major part in this having me out doing 5 mile runs 3 times a weeks despite my protests and moaning, so instead of my lap times slipping at mid race distance due to fatigue and tiredness they just kept getting slightly quicker and my fastest lap was in lap 11 when normally I would be exhausted so Thanks DAD!!! I lost 1 place on lap 9 and then on the last lap I made a mistake down shifting at the end of the straight, going down too many gears which resulted in having a bike that wanted to go sideways instead of straight but I managed to get grip of it but ran in deep and lost another place and came home in 13th.
Race 2
It had just starting spitting and been deemed a wet race but we opted to go with dry tires same as everyone else as it wasn’t soaking it was just damp. 18th Row 5 again, Not as good a start as race 1 but was up to 14th or 13th. After about 5 laps things became interesting as I entered Coram bend which is 4th gear knee on the floor 100+ mph corner everything felt right going in, I was fully committed then half way round, the track was soaking wet. I was committed so had no choice but to hold my line and speed which led to the rear tire spinning and the bike sliding sideways at 100+ mph. it was more luck than judgment how I didn’t end up upside down and sore with another repair bill on my hands but I was still on the bike (BONUS!!!), so I had a deep breath a sigh of relief and carried on. Then the rain really started to come down but only on the back half of the circuit, so it was difficult to judge where was going to be dry and where was going to be wet and how much you could push dry tires on a wet race track, which a few people found out the hard way, but I was just riding to the conditions and pushing as hard as I felt I could in the tricky conditions I started to gain on people and over take people and got up to 8th when the race was stopped on lap 8 due to it being deemed too dangerous to race as we were all out there on dry tires
Qualifying ROUND 2
The weather was lovely all weekend we had everything from gale force winds, to rain, hail, snow…oh and a little bit of sunshine thrown in. The first qualifying session was an absolute disaster due to a mistake being made at the tire truck when they fitted completely the wrong size rear tire which totally altered the bike and our suspension set up and I was really struggling to get the bike turned in to the apex, which left me 2 seconds of the pace and in 18th place on the grid, but apologizes were made and the correct tire was fitted ready for the second session. THE SECOND SESSION WHICH WAS LATER CANCELLED CAUSE OF THE WEATHER!!!! So 18th place on the grid for me.
Race 1
Here I was again with it all to do again from 18th place on the grid. I found myself looking at the lights willing for them to change as it felt like they were on forever. When they finally went out I got myself into a right mess, dropped the clutch and up she came so I clutched it to bring the wheelie down (see photos) and then she bogged down so I clutched it and the front end came up again but not too bad this time, I think I came off the line nearly last my worst start ever I was gutted, but I rode a sensible race with no mishaps and came home in 14th.
Race 2
We had made some changes to the bike for race two made the gearing slightly taller so could carry fourth through the cranner and it would be little smoother down changing into the old hairpin. I was sat on row 5 in 18th place looking at the 17 bikes in front of me thinking I had been dealt a raw deal in qualifying and I was going to change that as soon as these lights go out. I got a good start so much better than the morning and after the first lap I was up into 10th which is where I stayed till lap 8 when I was under pressure from a rider behind and made a mistake into coppice run really wide and lost 3 or 4 places but I kept my head up and started the chase but could only manage to get one place back and finished in 13th.
Overall I has highly disappointed with the weekend it was the first time I had been to Donington and was really looking forward to it but lack of track time to get a good final set up and poor qualifying due to circumstances out of my control led to me being slightly off the pace and not getting the top 10 results I want so much but I would just like to say THANKS to all my sponsors, friends and family that came to support and help in the horrific conditions.
Qualifying ROUND 1
Qualifying was all new to me and didn’t really go according to plan as I found it difficult racing against the clock instead of other riders. When I race against other riders I push myself more, but against the clock its was difficult to gage my pace, so we have invested in a pit board and lap timer for round 2. I qualified in 23rd out of a grid of 35 riders. Which I was disappointed with because I knew I could lap faster.
Race 1
We had an ok start but the adrenalin was flowing and we were determined to push hard and get through the pack and up to a respectable position, in the early laps I was making up places and going well I took 1.4 seconds of my best lap time and lapped in a 51.6. by lap six I was up to 5th. But lap seven I paid the price for pushing to hard and crashed out at druids. I lost the front end and the race was over for me.
The bike was not damaged too bad, just panel damage and the exhaust was bend but the crashed bungs did there job, I on the other hand was suffering from a broken thumb and was a bit battered and bruised.
Race 2
I was sore, really sore but thanks to excellent support the bike was fixed so there was no way I wasn’t riding it, it was raining hard and we were fired up, again started 23rd on the grid and I was looking at the lights ready for them to go out and the ciaos to begin as we were determined to salvage some good out of the weekend. I rode a steady race and finished up in 8th place soaking wet battered, bruised and broken but with some points under my belt.