30th June 2001 - Oulton Park

After staying up far too late last night catching up on old times I finally made it to the circuit in time to get my clothing checked and a quick couple of laps in practice just to make sure the circuit hadn't change overnight. Other than a large damp patch on the entrance to the first corner everything was where I had left it.

Race 1 - Clubman 600

For the first time we were now drawn against specific grid positions rather than general grid rows. The intention was to make things a little safer by spacing everybody out a little more. I was drawn in 34th place, i.e. row 9, which was almost at the back but not quite. Managed an average start and was rather shocked with how fierce the battle was for the first corner. I guess almost all of these guys had raced here before so it was going to be a hard race.

Started to barge my way through the field with some interesting manoeuvres whilst other people launched themselves into the scenery on their own. My lack of fitness really started to show as by the end of lap 4 I was knackered and started making all sorts of mistakes. It started raining so I eased off a bit as I had a bit of a gap to the guy behind. The race was stopped on lap 6 when half a dozen front runners decided to inspect the bales at Knickerbrook.

Unlike the Rookie guys where I know most of the people at my level there are only a few guys I recognise on the Clubman grid, and even less that I can keep up with. I finished in 18th position which I was really please with especially as it was only 1 place behind Tom Brodie, one of the Toms in Fast Tom Racing. My best lap time was down to 1:56.25 from the 1:58s in practice.

Race 2 - Rookie 600

Another interesting grid position, this time drawn in slot 26 (row 7) with Glenn on the row in front and Mandy Wheeler on the row before that. I managed an okay start but left my braking much later going into the first corner and took a blocking line around the gentle right hander down towards cascades. This helped me get past a few more people which I followed up with a splendid piece of overtaking going into Island bend where I took six people on the inside before braking hard and blocking them so they couldn't get by again ;-)

Reeled in the next couple of guys but by lap four I was getting really tired again and started making mistakes. A couple of guys came by on the brakes going in to the hairpin just as it started raining. The track got really slippery and a few people came off at Knickerbrook again so the race was red flagged before we could complete lap five.

I ended up in 17th place and knocked another couple of seconds off my best time. I posted a 1:54.11 which I was really pleased with although I dare say that I wouldn't have bettered it had the race not been stopped as I was so tired.

Race 3 - Clubman 600

Due to my previous good result I could now start on row 5, position 18, which should give me an advantage. Unfortunately I bogged it down at the start and lost a few places. It took me a while to catch the guys from my row but soon started reel people in and managed to tag on to the back of David McKeever when he came by (he had to start at the back after not finishing the first race).

I was quite surprised to find that I could stay with him for a lap or so and we soon joined on to the back of a train of about five bikes. As before, I started to get tired fairly quickly and by about lap 5 I started making lots of mistakes again. I lost the group in front as they gradually pulled away and had someone else overtake me on the brakes going in to the hairpin again (my least favourite corner and the place where most people got by me).

I managed to finish in 18th which is effectively where I started. Given the number of fast guys that crashed out of the first race and had to start behind me I am still fairly pleased with that result. Even more so given that I beat Tom Brodie this time and ended up only two spaces behind Tom Chatterway (the other Tom in the Fast Tom Racing team). I rather suspect he had taken a slight detour somewhere but I'm not going to let that detract from my performance.

A best time of 1:54.82 wasn't an improvement over the previous Rookie race but it was at least consistent which is probably even more important.

Race 4 - Rookie 600

Another row 5 start, this time from position 17, rather than row 9 was rather nice but by this time I was really tired and really didn't want to go out at all. Another average start, why do the people on the same row always speed off in to the distance when the lights change? A little late on the brakes and a few defensive lines saw me overtake a few people - going in to Old Hall, coming out of Cascades and out of Druids seem to be my strongest places.

As seems customary I started making silly mistakes about lap 4 and ended up running over the rumble strip on the way out of the chicane and running wide on the exit of the hairpin. This slowed me up enough for four bikes to gradually pick me off and although I stayed with each of them for a while they gradually pulled away.

Fortunately the three guys in front gradually started slowing each other up and I got back with them in time for the last lap. There was nothing I could do to catch them and by the last lap I was so tired I saw I had a bit of a gap behind me and slowed down dramatically (about 5 seconds a lap) and crossed the line exhausted.

Managed to finish 16th which I was pretty pleased with although that is only one position up from where I started. Another fastest lap saw me with a best of 1:53.86 which was another good effort.

For the first time my fitness level has really been a problem - In addition to the usual lack of bottle and ability to chuck the bike around in the slower corners. Need to work on that plus try to sort out the ankle injury I picked up at the start line incident at Brands Hatch back in May. Looks like I have strained a tendon which makes putting any weight through my right foot rather painful.

Quite a positive result though, especially as I hadn't been there before the practice day and didn't even go out in all the sessions. In fact I'm really pleased as I know there are still a lot of areas I need to work on when it comes to my riding, especially body position and throttle control.