21st April 2001 - Snetterton

After a thoroughly depressing day yesterday I spent a lot of time during the evening thinking about my performance and decided that if I couldn't hang off the bike properly I wasn't even going to try. My aim for the day was to sit upright on the bike and just see how things progressed. Of course this would be easier said than done and would take a bit of getting used to.

Having managed to get the bike scrutineered the previous day before I went home I didn't have to get to the circuit until eight o'clock which was rather a nice lie in. Nick's bike was looking a little more like a bike but they still had a lot of work to do and weren't likely to make it out until the afternoon. When I got there Paul Anderson, a friend from the Motorcycle Folly track days I usually attend, turned up for his first race. He's fairly quick but was rather nervous as this was his first race and, more importantly, his first time on the bike this year.

A bit of a nightmare to start with as I had to change the wheels yet again to put the wet tyres back on. To change the front on a CBR600 you need to unbolt the brake calipers. Whilst doing them up there was a loud snap and the bolt broke off - Mad panic on my part saved by Wayne from Team Mojo producing a similar looking bolt as a replacement. Had to take the wheel off to fix that problem and just as I was tightening up the last pinch bolt, guess what, another loud snap and the pinch bolt broke in two. Unfortunately this time the other end was stuck inside the fork leg ;-( and there is would have to stay for the time being. My efforts at adjusting the chain also left rather a lot to be desired. Lots of people asked why I was having to do all the work myself and where my 'pit gimp' was but unfortunately Mike had been away on business during the week and wouldn't be back in time.

Practice was the usual three laps or so and it was only raining unlike Brands Hatch when it decided to snow. My times were in the two minutes a lap region but I felt a little more comfortable not worrying whether I was going to just fall off the side of the bike. Nothing to start getting positive about yet but it was still rather wet and I had four races lined up to get used to it all and this time the Clubman races were first so I'd at least get some practice before Rookie races later in the day.

Race 1 - Clubman 600

Second reserve for this race but managed to get in which was good news. The best thing about the Clubman championship is that I get to start from the back of the grid and there is absolutely no pressure on me at all. At least the rain had stopped and there was the vague glimmer of a drying line. Made my usual appalling start but managed to keep with the tail enders for a bit. Things certainly flowed a lot better when I wasn't worrying about whether I was falling off and I even managed to put in a few laps where I started to look further in to the corner which helped massively.

I even managed to catch and overtake a couple of people which made me feel a bit better although I did spend most of the race on my own which made judging how fast I could ride a little difficult. Rather disappointed to find that both people I overtook then failed to finish which made me last again. I may have finished 28th out of 28 finishers but my lap times had gradually come down during the race from 1:43.47 at the start to a last lap of 1:36.09. Still not as fast as when I was here a couple of weeks ago but a bit more promising given my new riding style.

Race 2 - Rookie 600

The track had been fairly dry towards the end of the Clubman race but I didn't have time to change the tyres over so I was out on wets again. The race had been shortened by a lap due to people falling off on the warm up lap - Yes, two people did actually crash on the warm up leaving a nice trail of oil around the outside of the 'Bombhole'.

Started on the fifth row of the grid and fluffed the start rather badly so that Paul Anderson who was three rows further back had come by before turn two! As usual the Rookie races seem more intense than the Clubman ones and this was no exception. Soon found myself being overtaken by Glenn Berry and Mandy Wheeler on the brakes at the end of the 'Revett' straight - It was Mandy who had just pipped me in the second Rookie race at Brands so I gave chase and gradually reeled them in.

Mandy managed to get past Glenn but try as I might I was still losing a lot of time coming out of the two chicanes. By now I was starting to get a bit more used to my riding style and found I had time to think about rolling on the throttle in a couple of key corners, i.e. 'Riches' at the end of the start/finish straight and 'Coram' that is just before the second chicane. In doing this I would make up yards on Glenn and we soon found that we had overtaken a couple of riders. I planned my overtaking manoeuvre for the last lap only to come round to realise that find I'd missed the last lap indicator and this was the chequered flag.

Much more positive this time despite being on wet tyres in the dry. Shame to end up last again as, once more, the people I overtook didn't make it to the end of the race. So 34th out of 34 finishers and just behind Glenn who I had beaten quite convincingly at Brands. This time though my lap times had come down from 1:39.39 down to 1:31.89 during the race. A lot more positive and a lot more fun. Racing, fun? Yes, despite all the pain, frustration and general crap so far this year and despite coming last I actually enjoyed that race. To top it all Paul Anderson got a creditable 26th in his first race.

Race 3 - Clubman 600

Over lunch I had taken the opportunity to swap the wheels over once again so I now had dry tyres. I also removed all of the caliper and pinch bolts to see rather too many of them had stretched and were looking very second hand. Unfortunately there were no spares to be had so I put them back in rather carefully and prepared for the next race.

I made it out again despite being a reserve and actually made a reasonable start. Didn't really have anyone to race with but kept the other guys who started alongside me behind for most of the race and even over took a couple more. Still braking too hard for many of the corners and not getting the line correct for some of the tighter ones but was improving gradually. Not having to worry about hanging off the bike meant I could concentrate on getting on the power earlier which helped a great deal. Just need to work on getting the braking right at the end of the 'Revett' straight as I'm losing a lot of time between there and the exit of the 'Bombhole'.

Despite being last again, I did manage to watch a few of the faster guys as they came passed and had a better idea of what I should be doing in a couple of the corners even though I couldn't quite get it together enough to put it in to practice. So, 29th out of 29 finishers was as expected and my lap times came down from 1:36.70 to 1:32.49 - Okay, not as quick as the previous race but I was doing this all on my own without really having someone to race with.

Race 4 - Rookie 600

Barely enough time to get a drink yet alone think about the race. Glenn had given me a bit of a wake up call in the previous race and I was determined not to let it happen again. I could see where I was a lot quicker than him but needed to work on some of the slower corners - A problem I have always had regardless of the circuit.

Lined up next to Glenn and just behind Mandy. Managed to get a pretty good start and got ahead of Mandy going in to the first corner. Would have probably overtaken the row in front had a guy on a ZX6R not pushed me on to the pit lane exit road. Nick had finally managed to patch up his bike enough to get out in this race so he came flying by pretty quickly as did a couple of the other fast guys who had failed to finish the previous race. Over the next few laps more people came by although I managed to get back a few places later on.

Didn't really see Glenn as I just got my head down but Mandy came past on the brakes yet again at the end of the 'Revett' straight with her back wheel in the air. Put me off rather but not as much as it did her as she then ran wide on the next corner and I nearly collected her when she got it together again. We ran pretty much together for the next lap until I outbraked her into the 'Russell' bend. She came past again at the end of the straight just as Steve Bullimore came through to lap us. He suddenly found himself with brake problems and ran wide so I took the opportunity to overtake Mandy again.

She came past again coming in to the 'Esses' so I followed her around 'Coram' curve and found I could make up a lot of ground in the second half of the corner. I knew I could get past her there if I was close enough and the next lap turned out to be the last so that was my plan. Coming out of the 'Bombhole' she overtook somebody else and I lined them both up ready to go around the outside. To top it all the yellow flag then came out and despite being fairly committed to the move I sat up and braked before tagging on to the back of them. I looked for the incident but couldn't see it, unfortunately I wasn't on the ball enough to realise the race was still on for the line and by the time I got on the power again there was nothing I could do.

Now that was really good fun. At the end Glenn was the only person left upright behind me and Mandy was a couple of places higher up. My lap times had gone down from 1:36:24 down to 1:28.43 - A whole three and a half seconds off my previous best. That was really the first time I felt like I had been in a race rather than just riding around on my own. There's still a whole host of places where I know I can make up time and with the sort of times I managed to put in I should be in amongst the next ten positions in the coming races. Nick did well to finish 13th on a bike with more gaffa tape than fibreglass but Paul Anderson only managed three laps before losing it at the left hand part of 'Russell' bend leaving his bike looking a lot worse than Nick's had yesterday.

Again, it's interesting to note that the top ten Rookies are putting in similar times to the top five Clubman racers and the fastest laps going to the Rookie races for the second round running. I have to admit being really depressed over the past few weeks knowing that I rode much better last year. I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel and hope things will continue to improve as they did this round.

Before the next two rounds at Brands Hatch I have to do a bit of work on the bike. I need to remove the fork leg and try to drill out the remains of the pinch bolt, it needs an oil and filter change, possibly some replacement spark plugs and a set of new caliper and pinch bolts.

I've also got a track day lined up before the Brands Hatch round with Trackwise and a day at the California SuperBike School to see if they can help boost my confidence.