8th July 2001 - Snetterton

As usual with Snetterton the Sunday races started earlier so despite not having to get the bike scrutineered I still had an early start. Of course it was wet again when we got outside but hopefully it wouldn't rain any more so at least the track could dry out. It did rain some more so those out in the first Clubman race had to take a bit of a gamble on tyres but by the time we got out it was just about dry line running round the place. Most of us still had the wet tyres on from the last race yesterday so another frantic change to get everything sorted in time.

Day 1 - Rookie 600

Back to starting in 27th place (7th row) which was rather disappointing. Half way round the warm up lap my lap timer triggered which meant someone had put a second beacon out on the back of the circuit. I rushed to the grid and set about adjusting the delay on the timer and looked up to find the lights were already red. By the time I got the bike in gear they had gone to green and we were off, well, I would have been had I dialled in enough revs. before letting the clutch out. As the needle picked up slowly I watched the all of the row behind me come past as well as a couple from the row behind that.

It took me a couple of laps to get past a lot of the slower guys and I could see Andrew Miers off in the distance again. Gradually reeled him in and after a small mistake at Sears I managed to get the inside line in to the braking area at the Esses. The next few laps were spent catching Martin Cooper and another couple of guys that were just ahead. Martin overcooked things a lap later going in to the Esses and I overtook the another guy on the way in to the Bomb Hole. He did the best cartoon style double take I've ever seen as he really wasn't expecting to see me there.

I then gradually caught a guy on a spectacularly fast GSXR who would pull away a little on the straights and I'd end up almost ramming him in the corners. After a couple of laps I was close enough to get part way alongside him going in to Riches at the end of the start / finish straight but chickened out as I wasn't sure of my line and he hadn't seen me. I then spent another two laps kicking myself for not giving it a go whilst I tried to get by him again. Eventually he made a mistake going on to the back straight and I was able to get the inside line to the Esses There were now two bikes about two hundred metres in front of me and I set about reeling them in only to run out of laps before I could do it.

A strange mixture of emotions. I felt really good as I had finished 12th and had bettered my best time by over 0.5s, down to 1:19.43, but I had wasted a couple of laps getting by the guy on the GSXR which probably cost me at least one, if not two extra places judging by how quickly I was catching the guys in 10th and 11th places.

Race 2 - Rookie 600

A little concerned about the state of my rear tyre but figure it should last another race as long as I was careful. It was new before Oulton Park so by the end of the weekend will have managed just 8 races before I have to buy some more. The track was dry for this race despite a bit more rain over lunch and I was going to have my first third row start - Eeek!

I really need to practice those starts as yet again the row behind came by on the way in to the first corner. The pace felt much faster up this end of the pack and it was all I could do to tag on to the back of a few people. I got past Martin Cooper going in to Sears only to have him get a better line coming on to the straight a lap later and blast past me. I tagged on to the back of him and we gradually reeled in a few more people.

I was determined not to let him get away as he's always been much faster than me and this was my chance to make a point. The first few guys we came across he got past fairly easily and I would only need a couple of corners before I was back behind him. We then got stuck behind another guy on an R6 which was spectacularly fast down the straights but slower than us through the corners.

Spent the next four laps with Martin taking strange lines to try and get in front whilst I took even stranger ones trying to get in front of them both. I did have a couple of opportunities where I was just about alongside Martin but in most cases I just didn't have the bottle to out brake him. This procession continued with my riding getting more erratic as I took avoiding action not to crash in to them in the corners and then getting stuck behind them down the straights.

There were only a couple of places where I was noticeably quicker than Martin but the only one where I felt comfortable overtaking was around Coram Curves and for three laps the yellow flags were out there whilst they cleared away a couple of bikes. Finally on the last lap the flags were gone and Martin was a little distracted by a back marker so I scared myself silly by trying to go around both of them. Despite thinking I was heading towards the grass at one stage the move worked and by leaning the bike even further over, I already had my knee on the deck, I had plenty of time to get on the brakes for Russells. A quick blast to the line showed I beat Martin by 0.4s ;-)

A really good race with Martin but also a really frustrating one. I ended up in 15th place and my best lap was only 1:19.89 - Unfortunately my lap timer didn't work in the race so although it felt like I was working harder I was actually slower as I couldn't get many clear laps to get any kind of rhythm. Still, I managed to beat Martin for the first time, well, the second time but he didn't run off the track this time ;-)

The pace was much quicker in the second race and I was disappointed to not make as much progress as I perhaps could have. Having said that I am really pleased with how I've improved recently and to knock another 2.5s off my lap times is a really good achievement.

Hopefully before the Cadwell races I can get my brakes overhauled as they are dragging quite badly which saps power somewhat and just aren't up to the level of feel that I would expect. I will also be replacing my chain as that is starting to get some tight spots also. I'll also be in the market for another set of tyres before the Cadwell race days although I hope the ones I have will do for the Motorcycle Folly track day that I've got before then.