6th April 2002 - Silverstone

Although the weather was nice and sunny during the day it was still the beginning of April so it was freezing at night. Despite my new heater I was awake long before scrutineering as it was so cold. Had a good breakfast of bacon and eggs, put on my leathers and went to get everything scrutineered.

I guess I knew I wasn't as fit as I had been last year but having to push the Aprilia up the slight gradient for almost the full length of the paddock almost finished me off for the weekend. I was knackered before I got there and had to stop several times to get my breath back. As if that wasn't bad enough the bike failed as the left hand clip on was too close to the fairing. Very frustrating as this was exactly the state the bike was in when I received it and it had managed to pass scrutineering both for the Super Twins and the Aprilia Challenge rounds at Brands Hatch.

Started the engine to ride out of the scrutineering bay and received an immediate bollocking as it was still before the allocated practice time ;-( Had to walk all the way back to the garage, collect some tools and go back to adjust the position of the brake lever. Eventually passed, pushed the bike out of sight of the marshalls, started the engine and rode back to the garage!

Race 1 - Super Twins

As there was no MRO round this week the Super Twins grid was a little low on numbers so we were going to be racing with the 250GP bikes. Should be interesting as although the lap times are very similar they are achieved in a completely different way. The 250s make it all up with high corner speed and the twin cylinder machines do it on engine grunt alone.

At least we were gridded ahead of the 250s although I was on row five, I think. My start at Brands had been awful so I decided to stick it in 2nd and give it a hand full. That seemed to work as I made up a couple of rows at the start to what must have been about 8th place after the first couple of corners. Helped I'm sure by taking the long route around the outside of a lot of bikes going in to the first corner. Getting away cleanly is still a bit of a novelty to me so I wasn't sure how long it would be before I was overtaken. More importantly, somewhere behind me were some top notch 250GP riders who would be lapping a good six or seven seconds a lap faster than me. I was sure they would be coming through at any minute.

Once things had settled down after the first few laps I looked at my lap timer to find I had just done a 1:08.43s lap. Wahey, a while three seconds off my best time from practice. I think that must have put me off as I promptly missed my braking point going in to the next corner and ran wide letting a couple of the faster 250GP bikes through plus two Ducatis. Despite their superior handling I found I had to be careful as I almost ran in to the back of them going through a couple of the corners.

After a couple of laps trying to get close enough to the Ducati in front to get by but being very careful not to get taken out mid corner I managed to overtake one by going round the outside on the way through the first corner and set about trying to catch the second one. I was about five yards behind on the way down towards Becketts and saw that the yellow flags were out. A 250GP rider was by the side of the track trying to pick his bike up out of the gravel. I didn't think anything about it until one of the 250s ahead went down closely followed by the Ducati I was rapidly catching. There were no oil flags out or any other indication that things might be a bit slippery so I eased off a little but everything happened too quickly!

Before I knew it the rear had come round on me and I was literally facing the wrong way. The bike spat me off and I slid down the road on my back for a while before I felt my shoulder dig in and I flipped over. At this point I would have been alright but after banging my face on the tarmac I flipped again. Unfortunately for me my arms were flailing about a bit and I felt something in my wrist go pop along the way. More by luck than judgement I had missed a stricken Ducati by about a yard and managed to get to my feet without putting too much weight on my right arm. I knew as soon as I stood up that I had broken something as it hurt like hell and I had to lift it up to stop it pulling too much.

At that point the leaders came around and despite the long list of unrelated casualties nobody had thought to put out the oil flags despite us shouting at the marshalls to do so. Dave Tyler was leading the race and also fell foul of the slippery stuff. His timing was perfect as his bike slid rapidly towards where I was standing. I managed a couple of steps back and Dave's bike slammed in to the side of the other one that was lying by the side of the track. I'm glad I had got up when I did as the bike went over the pot where I was lying and given the way my luck has been running recently... Not much else to be done other than move to the side of the track and watch the rest of the race unfold.

A couple of laps later and the race was over. I got in to the ambulance with Dave Tyler who had hurt his finger and went off to the medical centre. I guess one advantage of crashing at a circuit that hosts the Formula 1 Grand Prix is that the medical facilities are excellent. I was examined for quite a while and although I knew my right wrist was badly broken I was also having problems with my left hand so there was the possibility of that having been damaged as well.

After what seemed like an hour or so Steve Bullimore and his girlfriend, Helen, same to see how I was. It was nice to see some friendly faces although I didn't let them stay too long. The last time I crashed badly I ended up in hospital with only my leathers to protect my modesty so I asked them to dash back to my caravan and get my clothes and my bag. That way I would at least have some money to get a taxi back once I was done at the hospital.

I think they must have run all the way as the doctors were threatening to put me in an ambulance before they got back. Fortunately for me I wasn't the only one going to hospital so I let them load the other guy and at the last moment Steve and Helen appeared with my stuff. I managed to get dressed (with Helen's help) and they took my leathers back to the van and I headed off to Northampton Hospital. Dean, the other guy in the ambulance, had highsided out of the Rookie 600 race and landed rather heavily on his leg.

The hospital were excellent and quickly and efficiently x-rayed my wrist and declared that it would need to be pinned, or possibly plated. Unfortunately their operating schedule was full for that day so they felt I would be better going home and seeing someone locally. They put half a plaster cast on my arm to allow for the swelling and with a few layers of bandages for good measure said that I could go home. One of Dean's mates had come to collect him so I blagged a lift back to the track and persuaded a few helpful souls to load everything back in to my van ready to leave.

Another couple of friends came to the rescue as Tim Jones kindly offered to take my van and caravan back to his place and Jason Holland offered me a lift home. Thanks guys I really don't know what I would have done without you. I said my goodbyes and left everyone else to prepare for the racing the following day.

Another load of bad luck but I had managed to come to a new circuit and improve gradually during practice and then ride even better during the race. There was nothing I could have done to avoid the accident and although I proved yet again that I don't bounce well I still feel that I had managed to achieve something. A bit disappointed as the result sheet showed my time as being over a second slower than my lap timer and I also missed out on a top ten placing which would have got me my first points ever. Never mind, the season is still young...