7th July 2001 - Snetterton

Thoroughly depressed after waking up to the sound of falling rain. The closer I got to the circuit the more it rained and by the time we were getting scrutineered it was hammering down to the point where you had to wear your waterproofs when running around the paddock area.

Glad I had withdrawn from the Clubman races at they were out first and it didn't look nice out there. Put the wet tyres on and did the three obligatory practice laps and returned to the protection of the garage. Of course by the time our race came around, race four, there was a definite dry line appearing so there was the usual mad rush to get the dry tyres back on before the race.

Race 1 - Rookie 600

Started from 27th position back on row 7 - Right next to Andrew Miers and Mandy Wheeler. Made my usual poor start and watched the row behind come by before I had even made it as far as the start line. Andrew made an even worse start but bundled round the outside of the first two corners so that he was about five bikes between us by the time we got on to the Revett Straight. The track was rather damp in places and I had a couple of nasty moments when I got on to the damp stuff coming out of the Bomb Hole and had the whole bike jump sideways about six inches.

We've had some good races in the past so there was no way I was going to let Andrew get away from me. It took another three laps of good overtaking before I managed to get behind him but almost the rest of the race before I could find a way past. In the end it came down to braking for the Russell Chicane where I've overtaken him in the past ;-) I think he was a little distracted by the guy in front sliding off when he hit the damp patch so once I had the inside line he did the gentlemanly thing and let me in to the corner first. After one more lap where I did everything I could to make sure he couldn't come back at me I took the flag almost 2s ahead.

Felt really comfortable at the pace I was doing and manage to beat my best time of yesterday by a small amount with a 1:19.84 - A good result, I finished 15th, especially as I had a poor start and started some 12 places back. I think I was lucky to escape with a couple of slides on the damp bits and was helped when a number of the guys in front threw it away in spectacular style.

Race 2 - Rookie 600

By the time the second race came around it was pouring with rain and had been for a good hour. The track was soaked and I really wasn't looking forward to the race. By the time we got in to the collecting area it had eased but if you were going shopping you'd still need an umbrella to protect you. I lined up on the fourth row (decided as usual by the finishing positions from the earlier race).

Made my usual poor start and had the row behind steam past. The wet tyres are very effective at shifting the water but that means the guys behind can't see a thing. Visibility was down to about fifty metres which made braking a little difficult to judge. I had taped up part of the radiator to help keep the temperature up but it obviously wasn't enough. I did a couple of laps and was probably down to about 20th place but the temperature was down to about 56 degrees and as the only advice I had been given on buying the bike was Don't do anything with the bike until the temperature is over 70 degrees I decided to pull in.

Very disappointed despite hating the conditions the lap times I managed for the short time I was out there and the speed with which people were throwing themselves in to the scenery would have meant a pretty good result by the end. Never mind, I survived and I wasn't as wet as those people who stayed out for the full race ;-)

A shame about having to pull in for the second race but much more confident in my ability to run with the faster boys for the races on Sunday, assuming the weather stays dry of course. Another strong race and I even managed to get my knee down for the first time on the race bike which given that I don't hang off that much shows how much lean angle I'm getting on the thing ;-) Shame the photographer missed it!