Race Report - Round Six - Cadwell Park, 9th October 2005

Race Report - Round Six - Cadwell Park, 9th October 2005

The previous round at Brands Hatch had left me feeling very low, not
only with the
performance of the bike, but also with the feeling that I just didn't
have what it
takes to race a bike. With my recent redundancy, although I was very
happy to have
left the company, it still plays in your mind that they fired you
because you were
no good, and this too was making me feel depressed. The only way I
could get out of
this temporary hole would be to go at the next round with all guns
blazing and just
try my best.

Things on the job front were looking good after the last round at
Brands, as I had
put my CV out to a few agencies and had been for a couple of
interviews. Even though
I didn't want a couple of the jobs I had been to interview for, it was
good practice
to get back into interview techniques for when I found one I did want.
Having interviewed
people for positions at my previous job, I knew the kind of limits on
how to play to
the interviewer and come across as best I could. One of the positions,
less than
ten miles up the road in Essex, came back after one interview with a
job offer. It
was nowhere near the right amount of money, and the position wasn't
ideal, but it
worked as a great confidence booster and gave me something to fall back
on should
another iron in the fire not lead to anything.

Meanwhile, back in the garage/workshop, I had stripped the Keihin
flat-slide carbs
off the bike as I was convinced that these were the cause of our
performance problems.
Mark had agreed with me, but wanted to get them jetted correctly rather
than replaced.
Unfortunately I really didn't have the time or money to do this, nor
the inclination
either. One thing that happened in the pits after the racing at Brands,
but which
I didn't want to mention until now, was that I had chatted with
Charlotte, the other
half of Alan and his team of bikes, as she had said that one of their
620 engines
would be available at the end of the season. Given that it had already
been sorted
with countless hours on the dyno, I more or less agreed with her there
and then that
I would buy the engine off them at the end of the season. Having talked
this over
with Mark, he agreed it would give us a very good fighting chance at
next season,
and give us plenty to do over the winter! Given that this engine is
putting out
over 65bhp, it's already 20% up on my current 674cc engine and would
require minimal
effort (at the time of writing this before we attempt it - I reserve
the right to
alter my judgement later...) and as I would reuse my excellent
suspension, race fairings
and the like, it made good financial sense.

So the Keihin FCRs came off the bike and I had been down to TecMoto to
pickup all
the spare parts that they had laying around the workshop that came off
my bike from
one point or another. Refitting the carbs was an easy task as I had
already done
this a couple of times before when cleaning them up originally. The
hard bit is
getting everything else out of the way - tank, battery, CDI boxes,
airbox, etc -
which can be a right pain. The carbs dropped straight back on and I
refitted
everything that it needed.

The first thing I realised with the original carbs back on was that I
had to refit
the choke cable, and hadn't noted the routing of the cable. Luckily the
cable is
quite long so it had no problems laying in an acceptable path up to the
bar. You
may remember that I struggled to refit the throttle cables and get them
routed
properly, and although I vaguely remembered how they went, I couldn't
get the
damn throttle to "snap" shut - a scrutineering failure. No matter how I
positioned
the twistgrip, oiled the cables and the twistgrip, it just wouldn't
snap back
right. I really wanted to take it all apart, but I had a telephone
interview
scheduled for the wednesday after Brands, and that ended up taking all
afternoon.

The telephone interview went so well that they called me for an
interview the next
day at 10am, which I was quite happy to do. Realising that the first
thing I had
done when I got home on the day I was made redundant was to just chuck
my "work"
suit into the wardrobe, made me realise that all the suits I had were a
bit manky
and would need, at the very least, dry cleaning if not throwing away.
So at 4.30pm
on wednesday I found myself heading over to the outlet centre to pick
up a cheap
suit to go for an interview the next morning. Luckily, I still had the
shirts
which I had ironed back in August ready to go. One cheapish suit later
and I was
back in business.

The interview went well the next day. I arrived at 10am and met five
different people
from the business, who all asked me questions about what I did before,
which was
a very close match to the position they had, and what I would do in
certain situations.
Then it came to the killer question - why did I want to leave my
current job. This
is where it got tough, as I had to explain that I had been made
redundant a month
before, and give a story about cut backs and downsizing that didn't
make it sound
too much like they had just fired me. I knew I could do the job, but it
felt like
being made redundant would be a stigma. One of the people who
interviewed me commented
at this point that they already had someone who had worked at my
previous company,
and they too had been made redundant. It turned out that I actually
knew them, so
this made me a bit more optimistic. I left the building nearly three
hours later
and sat on the train on the way home feeling pretty optimistic.

The next day, a friday, I got another call from the agency saying that
they wanted
me back in for another, and final, interview on the monday. The agency
said that
as long as I didn't **** this one up, the job would be in the bag. This
time it
would be an interview with another 5 or 6 people and a technical test.
Those words
really worried me as I hadn't done a technical test for my last
position, but I had
for the one before that - nearly 8 years before! Then I started to
worry about
what they would ask me, so I spent the rest of the weekend trying to
swat up and
remember as much as possible about how it should be done, rather than
the way that
it does get done! This (getting round to the point...) meant no time at
all out
in the garage.

Monday arrived a bit too quick and at 3pm I was back in for interview.
The reason it
was later was because I would be interviewed be some people from the
office in
San Francisco, California, and they would also do the technical test.
We kicked off
with an interview with more people in London, and then I got handed
over to the
technical test from San Fran via video conference. I had a sheet of
questions and
they were all typical aptitude type questions, one of which the
classical Microsoft
question of "Why are manhole covers round?". The rest were programming
type
questions and then a practical test of programming ability. The guy
explained that
there were two questions and code needed to be written for both. The
code for
question two was shorter than question one, but that question one was
easier. That
meant that most people fell into the trap of figuring out question one,
but then
didn't have enough time for question two. So far, only two people had
managed to
successfully complete both questions out of the dozens that had taken
the test, so
just do as much as you can. Did it go well? Lets just say that now
three people
have successfully completed both questions ;-)

Having left the interview at around 6.30pm, I was pretty confident that
I hadn't
fucked anything up, so I had a few beers that night in hope of a good
offer. The
next day I got the call I wanted from the agency - they had offered me
the job
on the full whack of pay they were offering, which was a 20% payrise,
and they
wanted me to start on monday; in less than a week! Oh, and they'll be
flying you
out to the San Francisco office for training in two weeks time for two
weeks, ok?
Well, actually no it wasn't ok. That would mean flying out to
California the
weekend of the last race, and I really didn't want to miss that - but I
wasn't
going to turn this job down beacuse of it. Of course I accepted, and
hoped that
we could work something out.

Finally the pressure of redundancy had been lifted and I could now
concentrate
properly on getting the bike finished and the last race done. The bike
was ready
and I was booked into a trackday at Rockingham with my mate Phill. He
had been
promised the use of the racebike as he had sold his ZXR750 and no
longer had a
bike to ride, but had an unused trackday voucher burning a hole in his
pocket.
I would be on the 748 and so had taken the road bodywork off that and
fitted
the trackday kit. All I would have to do is load the bikes onto the
trailer,
put them in the garage and then get up early on the sunday morning,
hitch the
trailer and off to Rockingham. The most important thing to do would be
to not
fall off the bike as I would be starting work the next day!

The week before Mark had noticed that the trailer rocked slightly on
the wheels,
a sure sign that the bearings had gone. I had stripped the hubs off and
cleaned
then regreased them, but it still rocked slightly and I wasn't happy
with it,
so I ended up ordering new hubs from Towsure. They were less than 15
quid each
which I couldn't complain at, especially as one of the nuts had seized
on the
old hub and I'd had to chisel it off, completely destroying it in the
process!
The hubs had arrived, and came with studs and matching nuts, so I
greased these
up and fitted them to the trailer, praying it all fitted. The trailer
must have
had it's demons exorcised as they fitted perfectly and there was no
more rocking.
I did have to find a screw to refit the rear light casing back to the
lightboard,
but that was an easy job given what had come before.

I got the bikes onto the trailer, with its shiny new gold hubs, and
then unhitched
the trailer to get it stowed into the garage. With no jockey wheel,
it's a case
of getting the bikes as balanced on the trailer axle as possible, then
man-handling
it around. This time I'd got it wrong and **** me were they heavy! I
only just
managed to get it into the garage and wasn't looking forward to trying
to pick
it up in the morning. My back ached like a bastard that night, and it
took a
couple of drinks to get me to sleep with all the pre-trackday
excitment.

The next morning I was up early and off to Rockingham. Yes, it was a
bastard
to pick the trailer up and it nearly killed my back, but I wouldn't
have to do
it again as I would unload the 748 off the trailer when I got home that
night.
I met Phill and Big Pete at a garage on the A14, along the way to
Rockingham,
and I followed Pete's van with his Gixxer Thou inside. We got to the
track,
found a garage with plenty of space and then took over to get our kit
out and
the bikes unloaded. First things first though - I got the portable TV
out of
the back of the car and got it setup and the portable aerial adjusted
to give
us a good picture for BBC2 as the MotoGP was being shown in the
afternoon,
and Rossi only needed a few points to win the championship. It was
required
watching and I really didn't want to miss it.

With the bikes unloaded we signed on then went to the briefing.
Collecting
our stickers after, we made our way back to the bikes and did the final
prep
before going out on to the track. I made sure that everyone checked
their
tyre pressures as good practice, and we decided to change the gearing
slightly
on the DD bike, putting the 43 rear back on rather than the 41 as
Rockingham
is a very twisty track. Phill took the bike round the car park as he'd
never
ridden it before, while I chatted to another guy there who had bought
Chris
from TecMoto's old 916 trackbike, painted the same silver with metal
flake
that the DD bike was supposed to have but never got finished. Phill
came
back in and said the bike felt fine - high praise indeed given the
choice
swear words that came out of his mouth having ridden the 748 on the
road.

Out in our first session in the inters and I sat behind Phill to see
how the
bike looked, and to let him get himself back into riding a bike without
any
pressure in trying to keep up with me on the 748. This obviously
lastest
for a couple of laps until I got bored and decided to head off by
myself
to get warmed up for a couple of laps. After a while I eased it off a
bit
as I really didn't want to go rolling down the track and then have to
explain
a broken leg the very next day - my first day in the new job.

Back in the pits and Phill was impressed with how the bike handled and
had
plenty of mid-range power. He was still getting used to using the
bike's
torque rather than using the revs like on his old ZXR750. I told him to
hang off more as he wasn't getting his arse off the seat, but I knew he
was just getting used to everything before winding it on a bit more.

The next couple of sessions were pretty much the same with either Phill
following me or me folowing Phill, and the bike seemed to be behaving
well.
At the end of the race at Brands, I had thought that the gearbox was
starting to lock up, as it had at Castle Combe when the clutch went,
but
Phill reported that everything felt fine, although he was having a bit
of
trouble getting used to the lever positions as they were quite high.
Pete
was having a lot of trouble with his tyres - they were rippling quite
badly
and I was trying to convince him to go and see the suspension setup
bloke
on the trackday to give him some advice, but he was sure it was just
the
tyres being shot and was losing confidence in the bike. In one of the
sessions he had a huge slide coming out of a corner, right in front of
me.
I honestly thought he was going to be ejected from the seat but it
snapped
back into line without too much fuss. I did say to him that if he was
going
to do that, please don't do it right in front of me...

For lunch we went over to the cafe at Rockingham and then as we got
back
into the pits, the introduction to the MotoGP race was just starting on
the tv. Our session was out first, which we went out and did, and as we
got
back with only a few laps into the race. We sat around the tv, turning
it
right up so we could hear above all the bikes in the garages, and
watched
Loris Capirossi on the Ducati take the victory over Rossi, and the
second
Ducati of Carlos Checa in third, but with Rossi taking the
championship.
It was a superb result for the Ducati boys and also another fantastic
title for Rossi, who is a legend.

We spent the remaining sessions chasing each other round Rockingham and
it got to the point where I was actually having to try and keep up with
Phill, rather than just sitting behind him. He was getting his knee
down
round most of the corners, and putting in some pretty fast laps. We
were
going past people in the inters group, even though we were both being
quite
cautious with the overtakes. I think he quite liked the bike by the end
of the day, and I was quite pleased with that. Just as we were about to
head out of the last session, Phill noticed that the fork seal was
weeping,
so we cleaned it up and gave the forks a pump. It didn't look like it
was
leaking too bad, and Phill was happy to go out with it like that. He
certainly
didn't seem to be taking it easy in the last session, but by the time
the
session was over and we were back in the pits, the seal was leaking
quite
a lot, so I knew it would need changing again. Another fork removal and
seal replacement to be done.

Pete had already packed his kit away as he felt the tyres were getting
worse, and had sat out the last couple of sessions. We got all my kit
packed into the car, and the bikes onto the trailer. We said our good
byes and then I followed Pete and Phill in the van back down the A14
until they turned off, then headed back down the M11 by myself and
home.
Back home I got the 748 off the trailer and put it in the main garage,
then put the trailer with the racebike on it into the spare garage - at
least this time it was easy enough to move without any problem! There
was quite a puddle of oil from the weeping fork, it was the right-hand
one again - the same as last time, but I didn't have time to strip the
bike down as I had to start work the next day and I was already
knackered!
I just got the bike off the trailer and onto the paddock stand to save
doing it later. All I would have to do it strip the fork out and get
it down to TecMoto at the weekend, then hopefully Mark could pick it
up for me as he works just up the road. We would then have an evening
rebuild session to prep the bike for the last race. That was if I could
actually make the race, as work may still want to send me to California
for two weeks, so I would miss it. Feeling extremely knackered, I had
a quick bath and slumped into bed.

The first week at my new workplace was weird. Not only because it was
learning lots of new systems, meeting lots of people and forgetting
their names, filling in lots of forms and correcting the (various)
spellings of my name, but also because it was casual dress. In the
last ten or so years that I've worked in the City it has always been
suit and tie, so my wardrobe consists solely of suits, shirts, ties
for work, then the odd pair of scruffy jeans and lots of t-shirts for
the weekend, with nothing in-between. Typically I wore my suit on the
first day to much hilarity of the rest of the office. By the end of
the first week I'd "almost" got the hang of it.

Also during the week I had managed to strip the fork out of the bike,
which took me about half an hour now that I'd done it a couple of
times.
I had also persuaded work that they didn't need to send me to
California
until the Monday 10th, the day after the last race at Cadwell. This
meant that I would have to do my usual trip down to TecMoto on saturday
with the fork, but that wouldn't be much of a problem. The throttle
cables were still worrying me, and as Phill had said I should change
the cables to cure the stickyness, I could also order some from TecMoto
when I was down there.

So saturday morning I dropped the fork off and asked Mitch to order me
a new pair of throttle cables, which he said he would and that they
would be in by tuesday, with the fork ready on wednesday. I said that
Mark would pick everything up for me and settle up for the throttle
cables, which came in at nearly £40! They were £18 each
but I needed them to (hopefully) fix my problem and there was no point
in just replacing one. A bit miffed at the prospect of paying all that
money for just one race, I left the shop and spent the rest of the
weekend doing family stuff.

On wednesday I phoned to see if the cables were in, but they had not
arrived, so Mark went and picked up the fork leg anyway as we would
need to get this refitted as soon as possible. Mark came over to mine
that night, and we met just as I got home from work as I had stayed
late and he had arrived early. Mark busied himself refitting the fork
while I went inside and got changed, and the missus had cooked some
dinner so I wolfed that down. By the time I got outside, Mark had
already refitted the fork and had measured the clip-on position on
the other side and set it up as an exact mirror - certainly a better
way than my pencil marks which had rubbed off!

Mark had brought his cable oiler to have a go at the throttle cables
to see if we could salvage anything from them. Having pulled everything
apart, it turned out that the closing cable was the problem, as it was
very stiff in the sleeve. He gave it a go with the oiler and it seemed
to loosen a bit, but it still wasn't right when I reassembled the
throttle
twistgrip. Again I played with the positions but it still wouldn't snap
shut and I wasn't happy. It was at this point that Mark said we
wouldn't
actually need the closing cable, and I agreed with this as the spring
on the carb butterflies is actually quite vicious! I also decided to
fix another small niggle with the throttle twistgrip while we were
sorting things; one half of the housing has a threaded hole in it to
keep the two halves together, but at some point one of the bolts had
been over tightened and bottomed out inside, causing the thread to go.
As it was only made of soft aluminium, I decided to drill out the
remaining
thread and re-tap it the next size up. I also wanted to drill right
through
the housing to stop it bottoming out again. So I put half the housing
into the vice and using Mark's new 18v cordless drill (which he was
very proud of!) I whizzed straight through the housing without any
problem. I then cut a new M6 thread in the enlarged holes using one
of the taps I've had laying about for years, and a pair of pliers. I
could hear Mark's sharp intake of breath behind me while he watched
such a craftsman at work, but I reminded him that I did have an HNC
in Engineering (although I neglected to say it was Electronic
Engineering)
and to let me get on with it. The results were highly profeshnial (as
we say) and the two parts of the twistgrip could now be bolted back
together perfectly.

Reassembling the twistgrip with just the opening cable, I gave it a
turn and let go. The twistgrip instantly snapped back into place with
a satisfying metallic snap. So satisfying that I spent the next five
minutes opening the throttle and then letting it snap back. Magic! As
it was now nearly 9.30pm, and we had finished all the prep work we
needed to do, Mark was packing his tools up to go home. He left me
with the task of taking of the no-longer-needed closing cable off
the carbs, and it was only after I'd said goodbye and turned back
to the bike (after one more go on the throttle) that I realised you
couldn't get the cable out unless you had access to the carbs ...
and that meant tank off, battery out and then airbox off. Arse.

In between throttle snapping moments, I managed to get the tank off,
remove the battery, unclip all the coils and leads, remove the airbox
lid, unscrew the carb rubbers and then jiggle the airbox out of the
way just enough to get at the closing cable and release it from the
mechanism. With this now out of the way I reassembled the airbox onto
the carbs, refitted all the connections, put the battery back in
place and refitted the airbox lid and gave the throttle one more twist.
Then I replaced the tank and fired the bike up just to make sure I
hadn't missed anything, which luckily I hadn't. One more wipe over
with a dirty rag and the bike was finally ready to race. Mark had
also managed to secure the work transit for the weekend, so we didn't
need the trailer and we would be camping overnight at Cadwell with
Mark in the back of the van and me in my tent. Finally clearing away
it was nearly 11pm by the time I got inside, and I wouldn't need to
touch the bike again until saturday afternoon when Mark would come
and pick both me and the bike up in the van.

By the time the weekend came, I was fired up for a good (final) round
at Cadwell and was happy that the bike was running right again and that
it would now be all down to me. Mark arrived and we got the bike into
the back of the van using a scaffolding plank I had borrowed off the
builders when we moved into the house three years ago. I'd just
forgotten
to give it back, honest. Mark had brought his Bike Grab for the back
of the van, which is like a little metal stand for the front wheel
which
holds the bike upright. We strapped this down in the van then rolled
the
bike into it and sure enough it stayed upright. One more strap through
the frame and the mounting points in the floor and it wasn't going
anywhere. We loaded all the tools, camping gear, gazebo, tent, sleeping
bags, riding kit and assorted gear into the van and headed off on the
long drive to Cadwell. If you've read the first round report you'll
know
how much I hate the drive to Cadwell, but luckily this time I had Mark
there to keep me company. We ended up going into Louth first to pick up
provisions for the weekend, before unloading the bike at the circuit.
We did a quick shop round the supermarket, which we finally found after
driving round Louth for nearly an hour, and stocked up on racing food
like bacon, butter, beer, red wine, eggs and milk for the tea. I'd
already
raided the fridge at home before we left and brought some sausages and
brown sauce and stuff, so we would dine like kings for the weekend.

Back at the circuit we found some room next to some of the other
DesmoDue
racers and started to unload. As it had started to rain, which is not
unusual for racing at Cadwell, we put the gazebo up first between our
van and Monty's campervan, making use of the gazebo sides I had bought
earlier in the year to enclose the whole lot in. With our little tent
in
place we unloaded all the bike kit out of the van under the gazebo and
then put the camping chairs up in the back of the van so we could sit
in the (relative) warm to cook dinner. We dined on a feast of sausages
cooked on Mark's camping stove and got tucked into the beers as well.
We then split open some bananas, stuffed chocolate into them and
wrapped
them up in foil and left them on the stove while we started watching
"Faster - The Movie" DVD on Mark's laptop, although it had trouble to
start with and didn't like the disk. Eventually it succumbed and we
finished off the bananas and chocolate washed down with red wine.
Having
borrowed a couple of mattresses off Michael (#22) as they had chickened
out and managed to book a room at a nearby hotel rather than camping
at the track, we laid these out in the back of the van and settled down
for the night listening to the radio on my phone. I think I went to
sleep more or less straight away and I didn't sleep too bad. It was
certainly more comfortable than the tent and probably warmer too.

We woke up to the sounds of generators, slamming doors, car and bike
engines at about 7.30am on the sunday morning. This was typical paddock
sounds where you're not allowed to run a racebike until 9am but that
didn't stop people turning up on loud bikes or paddock bikes whizzing
about all over the place. Mark got the bacon frying and the tea on
while I had a stretch. The eggs went into the pan as well and we had
bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast - I could get used to this
pampered lifestyle! It was quite cold and still damp, but at least it
had stopped raining so the track may well start to dry by the time a
few bikes had been out and we got to race on it.

With the bike having been prepped in the week, I gave it a quick
check over just to make sure I couldn't spot anything awry and then got
changed into my leathers to go and get scrutineered. I was quite late
in going but we were one of the last practice sessions out and I didn't
like queuing up anyway. By the time I turned up there was nobody else
around and so I didn't have to queue. The scrutineer gave the bike a
quick check over and then stuck the sticker onto the bike to say it had
passed. He then checked over my kit and signed my card to say that it
too had passed. I pushed the bike out from the scrutineering bay then
started it up and rode it to where we had parked the night before. With
the bike back on the paddock stand I left my helmet and gloves in the
van then walked down to the paddock office to sign on and pickup my
transponder, then it would just be a case of waiting for practice. This
would be our one and only timed practise round, as the day was so full
there was no free practice. This made me check the transponder was in
place every five minutes or so as this was the one shot I would have
at qualifying - if you miss this you miss the race!

When our group was called for practice, I wanted to be at the front of
the pack again as this meant that you would get plenty of laps with
the track almost clear. If I could stick with someone a bit faster
that would also help boost my chances and move me up the grid. I had
done some speculation on the positions in the championship table to
keep in mind who I had to keep with to stop them jumping above me, but
as long as I qualified better than 27th, as at Brands, I would be
happy. All the bikes were in the collecting area, and we sat for ages
waiting and I chatted to a couple of the other racers. One of the
people I wanted to stay in front of was fellow Essex racer Dickie,
but looking around the collecting area I couldn't see him. I asked one
of the club members if they had seen him that morning but they hadn't
either, which was very odd. As the last of the previous sessions bikes
came off the track, everyone started their engines and the marshall
took the rope down to let us out onto the track.

Having raced at Cadwell earlier in the year and doing a trackday there
in July, I knew what to expect of the track. However, it seemed that
everyone else had upped their game and we'd all found some speed at
some point in the season. I tried to keep up with some of the faster
riders but because of my usual "warm up slowly" style, most of them
had disappeared into the distance by the time I was ready to push
the bike more. After a couple of laps everything fell into place and
I was remembering the track and which lines to take. Mark was up at
the cafe, which you can see after coming over the mountain, and was
using a pit-board to count the number of laps I had done, as well
as telling me if I was going faster or slower than the previous lap.
This helped me get a better feel for how well I was doing, as even
simple
things like counting the laps just can't be done while you're busy
concentrating on going as fast as possible.

The session ended and the bike felt like it was running well and that
I had been riding quite fast, but it's quite difficult to tell with
people spread out all over the track as you have nobody to really guage
yourself against. Back at our paddock area we got the bike onto the
stand and did a quick check. Mark measured the petrol to do some
calculations on how much had been used, and I got changed out of my
leathers as the first race wasn't until after lunch, at roughly 2pm.
Bear from UKRM had arrived and we had a chat while he looked around the
bike. He had brought his new boss along with him who had recently
bought a Ducati SS, so we chatted about what I had done to the bike,
the race series and Ducatis in general.

I was hoping for a good result in the qualifying, as we were missing
quite a few of the regular riders. More importantly, these were all
people who would normally be placed in front of me. Both the DLS boys,
Mike and Clint, were missing as DLS had closed it's doors and they
could no longer get at their bikes to use. There was also no guest
ride this time, although this wouldn't count for points anyway. Then
there was the list of casualties - Ali (#7) had broken a collar bone
at a trackday at Cadwell the week before while practising on his new
620SS, having blown his 674SS up at Brands. Tony (#12) was also out
as he had highsided at Brands and bust an ankle. This meant that I
should be bumped up at least four places in the usual standings, so
imagine my surprise when I actually qualified in 16th - good job those
four people were missing! Still, 16th was 11 places better than my
last qualification at Brands, and a jump up one third of the field,
so it would be a better race for me in that respect.

As the race was called I got on the bike and rode down to the
collecting
area with the usual mixture of feelings - buzzing because I'm now off
to ride in another race and you never know what's going to happen, but
also nervous for exactly the same reasons. Even writing this now it
still makes my palms sweaty just thinking about it! There's always a
nervous
quiet in the collecting area when we go down for the first race, with
people concentrating on getting into the right frame of mind for
racing,
and lots of thousand yard stares. Cadwell full circuit is rather
strange
to go out onto from the collecting area as well, because you do a good
chunk of the track (half the Woodland version of the circuit) before
you
get down to the start/finish line. This gives you a couple of corners
to
adjust, before lining up on your grid position and waiting for a
formation
lap. By now I've got the hang of memorising where I should be on the
grid, and those around me, so I can easily find my spot. The marshall
at the front started waving people off, line by line, and as we set off
the guys around me went off in a wail of revs, obviously practising
their starts.

Getting round the track it was dry just about everywhere, so I wasn't
going to let the track conditions worry me. I got some heat into the
tyres and the brakes, and made sure I looked to see where Mark was
standing by the cafe as we came over the mountain and through Hall
bends. Back round to the start line and we all lined up, and I clunked
the bike into first and made sure the front wheel was on my line, then
concentrated on the red lights on the gantry above the start/finish
line.

The lights went out and I did my usual start, not too many revs and
using the clutch to feed the power in progressively, and it was like
everyone else around me stayed where they were. I thought I had just
jumped the start but I saw the lights go out, so I just kept it nailed
and carried on carving through the bikes in front. I had got past quite
a lot of the pack, and was up with what must have been the second row
as we tipped it into the first uphill left-hander. From the trackdays
here I knew that this was a flat-out corner, so I gritted my teeth and
kept it nailed. I knew that off the line I had gone past Andy Roberts,
#99, and also Paul Payne, #68, as well - these two also run the
big-bored
600SS bikes the same as mine so I keep an eye out for them. Tipping
into
the left, I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my right calf muscle, and
then realised that it was someone's handlebar digging into my leg! It
took me a moment to realise that this would be someone's left handlebar
and therefore the clutch side, so if it was the clutch lever digging
in then at least they wouldn't be coming past in a hurry!

The pain went as all the bikes around me simultaneously tipped into
the corner and the bikes thinned out slightly into Charlies 1, the
first
right handed corner before hitting Charlies 2 and then the back
straight.
As I looked up for Charlies 2, I saw red flags being waved at the
marshall's
post, so I sat up and stuck my left hand up, but didn't slow down the
bike just in case the others behind me hadn't seen it. As the bikes
went down the dip of Park straight and round the right-hand corner
of Park, I counted the bikes from the leader and found that there were
only seven bikes in front of me, making me eighth! Bloody hell that was
a good start! We rolled round the rest of the circuit and back round
to the grid and lined up again, and it took a while for the bikes to
find their places. I was still trying to work out who was missing when
I saw the ambulance drive round the track and off up the exit lane from
the track. The only bike I couldn't see on the track was Andy Roberts,
#99, and I just hoped that the ambulance was just a precaution.

The marshall waved us off for another sighting lap, and we went round
the track again, and I worked some heat into the tyres and the brakes
again. Back round on the grid and I was hoping for another flyer of a
start and to hopefully maintain some momentum this time out. I clunked
into neutral, made sure the wheel was on the line and concentrated on
the lights. As the lights went out I made my start, but this time
everyone else started to move too. I dived through the gap that Andy
had left in the row in front and off through the pack again. This time
I tipped it into the first corner with Tim, #21, sitting just to the
left of me on the inside of the corner, but I knew that the next corner
was a right and as long as I stuck where I was then I would have the
advantage and get in front of him. Sure enough, as we tipped into the
right I was on the piece of tarmac that Tim wanted and he had to back
off slightly. I knew that would upset him and made sure that I made
myself wide on the next corner, Charlies 2, so that he couldn't come
past me there. As he was riding a 620, there would be no way I could
hold him off down Park straight, but at least I could make it hard work
for him as I would have a chance if I could keep him behind me by the
time we dropped down from the Gooseneck. I held a tight line into Park
and then started to drift across, then changed and started to drift
back again to try and foil any overtakes, and kept what I thought was
a tight line into Park corner, but I'd braked far too early and Tim
was much better on the brakes into Park, and was past me as we tipped
into the corner.

As we came round Park and through to the Gooseneck, I must have had
a big sign above my head that said "mug me" on it, as both Phill
Huntley,
#2, and Paul Payne, #68, came past me into the Gooseneck, both on their
600SS big bores. Dropping down into the tight, down-hill left-hander of
Mansfield, Richard Snieg came past me and I mentally kicked myself as
I'd let three people past me on a section of the track that I really
liked and had actually been quite good at all the times I'd been there
before. Once into the new chicance and up over the mountain, there was
no way anyone could come past until we got back out through Barn and
onto the start/finish straight. For some reason I couldn't get the
Old Hairpin right, but it's not the kind of corner where you really
want to overtake, as getting it wrong usually means the end of the race
as those bales are too damn close for an off-camber, right-handed
corner with a drop halfway through! Out through Barn and I'd got good
drive, and we started another lap.

Flat out into Coppice, down one for Charlies 1 and nail it for Charlies
2
and I could see the bikes already stretching out into the distance
down the straight. All I could do now was hold on to as many places
as possible. That would be easier said than done as three more bikes
came sailing past along the straight, having obviously lined me up
for the last half of a lap and doing it the easy way rather than try
to go past me in the corners. Luckily I was a bit quicker into the
Gooseneck this time, and managed to hold my position but I was rapidly
losing places even at this rate.

We were only going to be doing five laps because of the restart, so
into
lap 3 and I had no idea where I was position wise, but Mark had been
indicating that my laps were getting faster each time so at least I was
doing something right. This time I only had one bike come past me down
the straight, so I was hoping that as the bikes started to spread out
it
would make it harder for people to come past. I don't know if that made
sense but plans A to F had already gone out of the window and so it was
time to do all I could to keep my place! Up into Coppice again for lap
4
and I had Kev Ellis, #88, come past me on his bog-standard 583cc bike!
He was still pulling away down Park straight and I began to wonder what
the hell I was doing wrong to make me not even be able to keep up with
him! I tried to stick with him for the rest of the lap to get a bit of
a tow, as I thought I had just started to slow myself down, but going
past
Mark over the mountain he indicated again that my lap time was faster
than before. I stuck behind Kev down the back straight but there was no
way I could reel him in as he had a few bike lengths on me and was
still
pulling away.

Into the last lap and I was caught napping through Charlies 2 and onto
Park Straight as another bike, #13, came past me and followed Kev off
into the distance. Again I tried to give chase but it seemed like the
bike just wouldn't go any faster and yet I was convinved that my laps
were still improving. We dropped down the Gooseneck and into Mansfield
but they were still pulling away and by now there was nothing I could
do to keep with them, so I just tried to keep it smooth and defensive
without being too slow and make it to the line. Round through the Old
Hairpin for the last time (thank God) and through Barn and as I crossed
the line with the chequered flag I looked behind to see nobody there
at all.

We finished the rest of the lap and off up the slip road past the small
grandstand and into the paddock. Mark wasn't there when I got back and
the adrenaline was still pumping so my legs were shaking and I didn't
fancy trying to hold the bike on the paddock stand and then dropping
everything, so I sat there until he arrived and helped me get the bike
onto the stand. Mark didn't know where I had finished as he'd lost
count
of the bikes, but said that the lap times had been good and that I was
improving all the time. We discussed the problem with the bikes coming
past, and decided to look at the gearing options again as I really
needed
more speed down the straight. We decided to drop the rear sprocket to
give me more top end, and hope that this would be enough to fend off
some of the bikes, especially Kev's 583cc bike!

By the time we had switched rear sprockets, the results were out and I
had finished in 16th place, so exactly where I had started the race
from
my qualifying position. My lap times had improved by nearly two
seconds,
so at least things were going in the right direction. I was really
pleased
with a 1:56 lap as I had been lapping in about the same over a year
before
on my 748. Hopefully the extra speed would help and make it harder for
the others to get past, and I would keep some of those places I was
making
up on the starts.

We had a cuppa and I picked at the choccy biscuits, as the next race
wouldn't
be until later in the afternoon. The rest of the time was spent
chatting
with some of the other DD boys and then we decided to start packing
away
most of our kit so we could easily load the bike into the van and be
away
after the racing had finished. Judging from the points it looked like
my
17th place was secure but I still wanted to get the best result in the
final
race of the championship that I could. Mark checked the bike over again
and
made sure it had enough fuel. I did a quick sanity check on all the
nuts and
bolts to make sure nothing had worked loose and then it was a case of
waiting
until we got called for our last race, both of the day and of the
season.
We heard the news that Andy, #99 who crashed on the first lap, had a
suspected
broken collarbone and was having some scans done, but other than that
he
was ok, which was good news.

Our final race was called and I made my way down to the collecting area
again,
with a mixture of feelings - both nervous that I was then going out to
race,
but excited at the same time. This would also be the last race this
year so
it was good to get my first season over and done with, but bad because
it has
been such a great experience to do it this year and I didn't want it to
end.
Lining up with the others you could feel the tension and excitement,
waiting
for the marshalls to let us out onto the track like a pack of rabid
dogs.

The bike felt fine as we were let out onto the track and round to line
up on
the grid. I found my place easily, remembering it from our starts and
restarts
earlier on in the day, and waited to be waved off. Again, everyone
around me
pulled away with wailing engines and slipping clutches, but I'd leave
that for
the proper start and just got on with going round the track and working
some
heat into the tyres and brakes. The track was completely dry by now
with no
wet patches at all, but it was quite cold although I wasn't going to
let this
worry me now. One more race on these tyres wouldn't hurt!

Back round we went and waited for the marshall at the front to walk off
the
track. I concentrated on the lights and gunned the bike as they went
off,
feeding in the power gently and keeping the bike pulling. Again I took
the
opportunity to dive into the vacant spot left by Andy #99, and then
carved
through some more riders to jostle my way as far up the pack as I
could. The
start wasn't quite as good as before, and the gearing probably didn't
help,
but it didn't make enough difference on Park straight as a couple of
bikes
came past me on the power. I held a nice defensive line into Park
corner to
stop people sneaking up the inside, and managed to stop anyone coming
past.
Down through Gooseneck and up over the mountain I could feel bikes
breathing
down my neck so I tried to keep it cool and make the bike wide going
round
the back and out of Barn. I had crossed the line in 11th place, and was
hoping
to keep as many others behind me as possible!

Throwing the bike into Coppice for the start of the second lap, I was
beginning
to feel much quicker on these corners now, hardly backing off at all
and letting
the uphill section take the speed off rather than slowing down. It
still didn't
do the trick as coming up the dip half-way along the back straight I
had about
three 620 bikes come past me again. This is just soul destroying stuff
as on
the last two laps I've now lost six places from my excellent start!
Trying to
tag along with them wasn't to be as they just seemed so much quicker
and kept
pulling out a gap on me out of every corner. Back around to start lap
three and
I really had to up my game as I didn't want any more people coming
past.

Up into Coppice and flick right for Charlies one and two, and again I'm
going in
faster than I ever have done before. Tucked in behind the tank with the
throttle
on the stop, I'm waiting for another bunch of 620 bikes to come flying
past me,
and was gritting my teeth in anticipation. Suddenly, little ol' Kev on
his #88
583cc bike came past a good 10mph quicker! What the ****? It's like I'm
going
backwards! I tag along behind Kev but he's slowly pulling a gap, one
bike length
on this corner, another length on the next corner, and before long he's
15 yards
in front and now I'm going to have trouble keeping with him and pushing
myself
faster.

Round again I go and Mark is showing me that my laps are getting faster
but Kev
is disappearing in front of me and I dare not look behind, just in case
that lets
someone nip past while I'm not paying attention to where I'm going. In
through
Charlies one and two and again I'm scraping the side fairing (note to
self: cut
that bit off before the next repaint) and it feels like I'm being
sucked into
the tarmac. This time the inevitable doesn't happen as I head up the
rise on
Park straight, but I keep it tight for Park corner so if anyone wants
to come
past they have to go the long way round the outside. Kev has just
disappeared
round the next corner so I'm trying my best to reel him in a little
with what
should be a quicker bike. Down into the Gooseneck and hard on the
brakes into
Mansfield, I'm trying to remember how to get it right and do it quickly
but
my brain turned to mush on the start line and it was like I couldn't
remember
what to do at all.

By the time I was out on the start finish straight, I could see Kev
then heading
up into Coppice and hoped that I could at least try and make some
ground on
him again. Throttle to the stop and braking later and getting on the
gas earlier
than before but he was still in the distance and just didn't want to be
caught.
Round through the Gooseneck and down into Mansfield, it felt so hard on
the brakes
that the front would let go at any moment, then quickly let off the
brakes and tip
it in and drive out of the corner for the new chicane. It was bloody
hard work and
I was really starting to get tired. One more lap to go after the
woodland section
and again Mark was showing that my lap had been quicker.

Out through Barn, hardly touching the brakes, and onto the start/finish
straight
and I couldn't resist the urge to look behind as I hadn't had a single
bike come
past me for the last three laps. I half expected to see a big group of
bikes
snapping at my heels just a few length away, but there was nobody to be
seen.
This is the worst thing I could have done as that meant it was a good
three second
gap down the straight, and it now started eating into my mind that I
didn't need
to push this lap as I was safe. As I came through Charlies again onto
Park straight
I could see that Kev had caught someone and was past them - the cheeky
little bugger.
This kicked me back into action as I might be able to catch them too. I
hadn't
seen them before and it wouldn't be a back marker, surely?

Round Park corner for the last time, then drifting out wide before
cutting across
to the other side and flick it left for the drop into Gooseneck, I
couldn't see
Kev or the other bike so it must have been another rider that Kev had
caught napping
and had not left him any time to get back past on the last lap. Through
the
chicane and up over the mountain (not too fast - don't flip it now!)
and then
through Hall bends and into the old hairpin. Barn was a relief and out
onto
the straight. Thank **** that was over.

Coming up through the pit lane and back to our paddock area, it felt
great to have
finished my last race without incident and hopefully improved on my
times and
position from the previous race. I waited on the bike until Mark
arrived and helped
me get it onto the paddock stand, then got off the bike. We cracked
open the
last couple of beers we had saved and toasted our first season, and
also to the
next one. Mark had taken some times and said that it looked faster than
the first
race, but we had to wait for the official results and timings to be
sure. Having got
changed and loaded the bike into the van, the official results had been
released
and I had finished in 15th place with a best lap of 1:55.86s, one place
up on the
previous race and a whole second quicker. I was pleased with this, but
also
disappointed that I couldn't have done better.

We had our post-race presentation, and Geoff again took both the first
places, making
it a clean sweep of the top step this season. With Mike and Clint from
DLS not at
the race meeting, Phill, #2, had managed to sneak into 3rd place in the
championship
on his 674cc bike and not many points behind 2nd. It shows that
consistency really
is the key in racing, and that the results could have been very
different had more
of the riders stayed on throughout the season!

The draw was done for the free sets of tyres - there were four sets to
give out as
the previous draw at Brands had not been done. First number out of the
hat was #111,
and that's me! Just my luck - a nice new set of tyres after the racing
had finished!
I promised the tyres on the bike to Mark so he could put them onto one
of his SS
bikes, as there was plenty of tread left in the centres. We then had a
round of
applause for the series organisers- Chris Bushell, John Montgomery and
Michael Winter-
for putting the time and effort into the series.

We said our goodbyes and, as the van was already loaded, we jumped in
and drove off
on the long trip back to Essex. We reflected on the season and although
I was
disappointed that I didn't do better, it wasn't a bad result for my
first racing
season and I've learnt so much. I've improved as a rider beyond my
expectations,
which surprised me as I've been riding bikes for over 13 years and I
had been on
quite a few trackdays before starting racing as well. It goes to prove
that you
can still learn and push your abilities further if you try. I now have
5 signatures
on my ACU licence, which means I'm half way to getting rid of my novice
bib, and
can't wait to have another bash next year.

The plans for next year are that we replace the 674cc engine with a 620
fuel
injected lump, which is easily done as the engine mountings are the
same (in
fact just about all Ducati engines are derived from the same lump so
not much
changes in looks or design over the years!) and this will give me the
extra
power that I need to be on level terms with the other bikes. The series
has been
so popular that we now have enough entries to run two classes for next
year-
one for the 583cc engines as a "beginner" class and one for the 620i
engines
as the "grown ups" class- and that's just going to make things even
more
competitive. We've had plenty of press coverage with the likes of MCN
and
Motorcycle Racer magazine joining in the fun, and things will be bigger
and
better next year.

But for now I've got that long flight to San Francicso to look forward
to
(business class, natch) and time to start plotting for the top in 2006!

The Catch...
I hope you've enjoyed reading these write ups, or at least they've kept
you
amused for a few minutes. If you haven't done so yet, you can read the
full
story (the build up and then reports from 6 rounds) on my website at
http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/ (just in case you're not reading this
on my
website right now) and if you have enjoyed it, then I'd like to ask you
a favour.
I haven't charged you for reading this, and it has taken me time and
effort to
write it, but if it did give you a chuckle or two then I would
appreciate that
you put your hand in your pocket and donate some money. It's not to
fund
my racing but I'd like you to donate a quid or two to Riders For Health
and help save a life. In our lives of western civilisation, we are
lucky to have
the support of health services should anything go wrong. There are
many,
many people out there who don't have that necessity, and by giving just
a
couple of quid you can help keep them alive. Riders For Health provide
help
through transport, in the form of motorcycles, to help health workers
deliver
that urgent support in Africa, and it really does mean the difference
between
life or death for some. It'll take you a minute to donate, and it is
easily done
online through their website. I'd like you to donate at least the price
of a pint;
think of it as buying me a drink to say thanks for sharing my story.
Even if
you don't want to donate, and I respect that, please just have a look
at the
Riders For Health website and become more informed about what they do
and why they do it: http://www.riders.org/

Thanks for listening.

Final Standings

Qualifying: 16th. Best Lap 1:58.37s
Race 1: 16th. Best Lap 1:56.87s
Race 2: 15th. Best Lap 1:55.86s
17th in Championship on 93 points.

Link to Full Stats breakdown including lap times:
http://www.theresults.co.uk/New_Era_Results_8th_Oct_2005_Cadwell_Park.pdf
Link to PLJ Official Pictures:
http://www.pljphoto.com/photos.asp?...51008_Cadwell_Park&Rider=111_Antony_Espindola

More racing stuff on my webshite at http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/

 

Apologies for shitty line length wrapping. You can read it online
here instead if you want:
http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/bikes/round_six.htm

 

[snip very long & very interesting report]

"A rattling, rollercoaster of a read!"

It's a good job I've got **** all to do at work.

Jeez- not you too! Hope the new job goes well.

Can't say fairer than that - done.

Well done, Ant, and good luck for next year.

 

Thanks - that was last month (I'm just catching up with posting the
reports to get to the top of the stats again this month ;-) and the
new job is indeed going well. I'm finally starting to remember
stuff so it's getting easier.

Thanks, you're a gent.

Again, many thanks. I'm sure I'll keep posting this drivel and the
invitation to attend a round is there for all. I do get some spare
tickets
so I can always post them out if people show an interest. And pretend
to be my fan club, of course.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, antonye

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ROTFLMAO!

Bless, you probably believe that don't you?

Well done for the season mate.

I'll email you about lunch, one day next week OK?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - There are few things in life more sinister than a
public toilet with the lid closed.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

snip

snip

Excellent report... And riders for health are a very worthwhile
charity, they do make a real difference... More power to you... Good
luck for next season...

 

Yeah, no worries. I'm around all week, and I think Kiran might tag
along too.

 

Cheers. I'll keep posting this drivel next season as well.

 

No call yet? Re-reading that section, I think you're right: the
questions
aren't stored anywhere.



mk5000

"I only pray my skin be as soft as yours"--flo'ology, sometimes you
make me smile