15th June 2001 - Rockingham

After the assessment problems at Snetterton where I was assessed as being suitable first for level one and, later on, as level two I spent some time on the phone with the organisers to persuade them to put me down for level three. I guess the fact that my times around Snetterton had dropped by a massive eleven seconds since then may have had something to do with it.

I arrived expecting to do level three but as a couple of my fellow Rookie 600 riders were doing level four I found myself on that course as well. This was basically an opportunity for the instructors to follow us around and address out individual needs rather than sticking to a fixed syllabus. I felt I needed to work on my body positioning and throttle control but first I had to get used to the circuit and the conditions.

As per usual it was raining on and off so the first session was spent gradually getting to know the circuit and finding out how much grip there is in the various corners. I guess the fact that a couple of pupils and even an instructor took a dive in to the scenery showed that the first corner was a bit slippery and the sharp right hander as you leave the outfield section of the circuit claimed a few victims - Not least Joachim riding his slick shod R1 in the rain!

Snuck in to one of the class room sessions where they were discussing braking up until the apex of the corner as a potential blocking move when racing. Took the opportunity to try this as it would be perfect practice for the entry to the Esses at Snetterton and I need all the help I can get there ;-)

The rest of the day was rather difficult as the ever changing conditions meant that the first half of each session was always spent working out where it was slippery. This was a real shame as it was impossible to make many improvements as you never knew the state of the track when you went out.

All in all it proved a difficult day, mainly due to the weather, but also to the fact that the instructors were using Triumph TT600s and Avon Azaro road tyres. With the best will in the world an 85 bhp Triumph is always going to struggle to keep up with some of the more powerful bikes to the point where the instructors had to spend a good deal of their effort simply keeping up rather than observing and assessing the rider they were following. At least Niall Mackenzie got to go out with a couple of the faster boys just to give them a helping hand.