15th May 2001 - Mallory Park

After all the excitement of the weekend the last thing I wanted to do was more riding but this was a track day with the Motorcycle Folly. I've known these guys a long time and find it quite relaxing to meet up with them, go for a meal the night before and just ride around without any pressure. It's more of a club than a commercial track day organiser - Well, they certainly don't set out to make a profit anyway ;-)

Took a friend of mine along for his first foray back to the world of track days since an accident at Cadwell a few years ago. He's just had a dyno jet kit fitted to his VTR so he was eager to try out the difference it made. Just adding a nice set of Remus Titanium race cans saw the power output at 114 bhp but the jet kit, filter and an awful lot of expertise by the guys who set it up saw an impressive 124 bhp at the rear wheel! My little race CBR only puts out 115 bhp so it should be an interesting day.

I didn't bother going out for the first session as it was rather damp so waited for the next one. The track wasn't completely dry so I took it easy as I hadn't bothered with the tyre warmers. Kept hearing what I thought was a Ducati every time I went in to the hairpin and even saw a front wheel on occasions at the Devil's Elbow. Turned out to be Shez on his KTM being a bit of a hooligan. Can't same I blame him, I want one and will be trying to persuade him to sell it as soon as I can get some cash together.

Spent the rest of the morning playing around trying to get a decent line around Gerrards without the front chattering so much. Eventually found that a couple of other racers were having the same problems and as I was catching them in that section decided not to worry about it too much. Lent the bike to Tim Jones who instructs for the Folly when he's not racing. Fortunately he came back with the same diagnosis as I had with the chattering problem so we'll be playing with the preload a bit before the next round at Snetterton.

Mike was having a great time as the one section he'd got sussed was the one I couldn't get right and that was the section from the hairpin, through the Bus Stop down to the Devil's Elbow. He'd open up most of the straight on me by the time I got out of the complex although I'd be back on his tail by the time the hairpin came round again. It meant that I'd only have to back off by a couple of seconds a lap and I'd have no chance of making any progress on him at all. Obviously need some work on this bit before I race there in July.

Managed a best of 58.12 which wasn't too shabby especially as Doc Bush was only putting in 57.xx laps on his Endurance GSXR1000s. To make me feel even better I was gaining between 20 and 30 feet on him in the second section of Gerrards only to find him disappearing coming out of the tighter turns.

A top day all round but a little too much after a hard weekend of racing. The bike is due a quick visit back to the Sanyo Honda guys to get the valves adjusted before Snetterton so it should be in great condition come the race.