27th May 2001 - Snetterton

Arrived at the track in good time although there wasn't really any rush as I had managed to get my bike and gear scrutineered before I left last night so only had to do a few chores before the first race. The main chore being to clean the bike as it was still carrying an awful lot of dirt from Brands Hatch and the brake dust on the front wheel made it look grey rather than white.

Mandy Wheeler is back having recovered from her start line spill at Brands Hatch. Unfortunately Paul Anderson hasn't recovered and it looks like him may be giving up on his very short racing career after four starts and two crashes. Get well soon mate!

Went out early for practice in case anything needed adjusting but quickly slotted in to a rhythm and came in to wait for the first race. Hung around in the garage for the other Rookie guys who had gone out after me and got stuck in the huge queue to get on the circuit.

Race 1 - Clubman 600

Made a pretty average start from the seventh row and got overtaken by all and sundry on the first couple of corners. As usual it took a much slower rider to come past before I got my head down although no sooner had I managed to pick things up a bit than the race was stopped. The restart was a little better and I held off a couple of pushy guys and found that I could make up places fairly easily.

It felt pretty good to be racing these guys and finding that I could hold my own with the guys at the back. I still got lapped before the end of the race but I wasn't last by quite a long way. In fact, I ended up in 22nd place with a best lap time of 1:22.80

Race 2 - Rookie 600

Made another okay start and only lost a few places in the first couple of corners. Had to take some major avoiding action at the end of the Revett straight when someone dropped his ZX6R right in front of me. Ended up stopping right in the corner and turning around before I could get going again. Probably lost about eight places but get my head down and am soon picking off people again.

Did about four laps in the 1.22.x bracket and pick off quite a few other bikes. Things are looking up until a guy bins it right in front of me going in to the Russells Chicane. My avoiding action sees me take to the grass where I lose another three places. A bit annoyed by it all as I only managed to get one back before I run out of laps. Not too bad though as I went underneath the guy around Corams and just had the line in tot he chicane for the last time.

End up in 19th place with a best of 1:22.04 - Previously I would have been over the moon with this result but that should have been an easy 15th place if not better ;-(

Race 3 - Clubman 600

A bit of a poor start and a bit of a lonely race. I think I had a bit too much lunch and don't really feel like racing. Can't quite match the pace of either of the morning races but still manage a respectable 23rd place. My best lap is only 1:24.03 but I'm not too upset as the way I felt at the start I almost pulled in after a couple of laps. Remind me not to eat so much!

Race 4 - Rookie 600

My performance in the Rookie race this morning sees me on the fifth row. Of course I make probably the worst start ever as I bog the engine so it drops down to about 2000 rpm. Anyone who has seen the dyno chart for my bike will know how long it takes before it builds any power from that point. Probably get passed by at least three of the rows behind and although I pick most of them off over the next couple of laps the race gets red flagged so I get to do it all again. The rest of the race is shortened to six laps but at least I don't mess up the start again ;-)

Absolutely flying round and picking off people at quite a rate until I have a huge slide at Riches on lap 4 that has me out of the seat. With my confidence now shot my lap times drop by almost four seconds a lap for the last three laps so I only end up in 20th place with a best of 1:22.24 - Should be happy with that but again that should have been an easy 17th place as the last few laps were in the 1:26.x bracket.

After the last race I had a look at my rear tyre and found that it was almost down to the wear indicator - Eeek! No wonder it slid when I was a bit over eager with the throttle. A shame that my confidence took such a battering though - Hopefully in future I'll only slow down a little rather than a full four seconds a lap. Off to A & R Racing for a new rear tyre before heading back to the hotel.

If someone had told me that I'd be finishing in those sort of positions on the first day I'd have laughed at them. My lap times improved from 1:28.43 after the last time we raced here down to 1:22.04 which is an incredible jump. A lot of it is down to my general confidence as I have more faith in the bike and much more faith in myself. I still can't move around the bike or hang off as I am still having physiotherapy on my shoulder but when I can I expect things to improve even more - It is rather interesting working out how far over you are when you can't feel the ground with your knee.

I am still very disappointed that my best place was 19th as a rough estimate as to how much time I lost from the two avoiding actions in the first Rookie race I reckon I'd have been in 13th or 14th place. The slide in the second Rookie race certainly cost me a good twelve seconds which may have only put me up to 17th or so but all in all a very positive weekend.