19th April 2003 - Oulton Park

I managed to get the bike scrutineered the night before so I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get it sorted. Another awful night and I was awake at 5:00am anyway so I headed off to the circuit at a time most people should have been in bed.

The previous night I took the the complete brake system off the bike and suspended it to try to get the remaining air out. It seemed to work as when I fitted it again and tried to bleed the system from the bolt by the master cylinder I got a nice hiss of air before the fluid appeared. To make sure I wouldn't be beating up my knuckles again I wedged the brake lever out as far as I could using a bit of washer, some superglue and a bit of duct tape.

I was pretty nervous going out for practice as I now found that my brakes worked, albeit not quite as good as they ought to but... Despite having to rearrange my braking markers I still only got down to 2:10s but was happier that I could brake better in the race. I was pretty annoyed that the guy I was level with in the series was placed on the end of one row and I was stuck on the row behind at the start. At least we were gridded with the Rookie 400s this time rather than the SuperTwins. Should be an interesting race!

Race 1 - Mini Twins

I really must work on my starts. I went backwards on the line and despite still being nervous about the first lap I found that the next guy was out of sight by the time I came round again. Not good! Gave myself a mental kicking and got my head down. After another lap I could see Phil Turtle up in front. He had managed 4 x 5th places at Lydden but I was so annoyed I went underneath him in to the first corner and never saw him again!

The word from the pit wall was of shock followed by amazement that I actually made it round but I was starting to get used to decking out my rear sets on some of the corners and that was another where things got 'interesting'! Talking to Phil afterward I then pulled away in the corners but he was reeling me back in on the straights. Mmmm, must remember to get my bike checked over at some point.

Another flying lap and I could see an RS250 up ahead (one of the Rookie 400 riders) and Gary Nicholas in front of him. It was Gary who I was level on points with so I really got my head down and knocked a whole 4 seconds off my best lap from practice and soon caught him up. By this time the RS250 had slipped by and we ended up having a huge fight for the last couple of laps. I went underneath him at the first corner with everything decked out and gave him a few hand signals to let him know it was me :-) He did me again when I hesitated at the left hander before the hairpin but I got him back on the way out of Druids only for him to come by again at Lodge. His bike certainly had the edge on me out of the corners which may have been down to his shorter gearing or the fact that I weigh five stone more than him. The only problem was that where was topping out in sixth he was braking and riding erratically (usually on the way in to Druids) so I couldn't get by. He slowed me down by two or three seconds a lap and was despite swapping places around six times he just managed to pip me to the line.

Must remember not to give him any more advice. Just before the race I had told him that if anyone tries to overtake that he should just close the door on them. Doh! never mind, I had managed a best of 2:01.87s which I was very pleased with. Allowing for an extra ten seconds for the new chicane complex at Knickerbrook I had been 3 seconds a lap faster than when I was here on a 600 with 45 more horse power. To top it all Gary was given a jump start so I got moved up a place :-) I was also running as fast as the next three or four MiniTwins so with a better start...

Race 2 - Mini Twins

Quite nervous for the second race, which had been shortened from seven to five laps due to time constraints, and managed to mess up the start again but this time there was no way Gary was going to get near me as I went round a couple of guys in the first corner and another couple at the bottom of the hill at Cascades. It was a very strange race. I rode round the outside of Charles Clark at the left hander before the hairpin a couple of times but he out braked me both times in to the next corner. I eventually took a different line round the hairpin and block passed him in to the chicane. Sorted!

The next guy was on a CB500 and despite catching him quickly the only place I managed to out brake him was on the way in to the new complex but he wasn't having any of it and let off the brake and chucked it in anyway. There was nowhere for my to go so I ended up cranked over across the rumble strip which isn't an experience I'd like to repeat. I went round the outside of him on the left hander at the top of Clay Hill and set about catching the next pack I could see in the distance.

So far it was going quite well and the next pack consisted of positions 4th through 9th although two of them were from the Rookie 400 race! I managed to catch the tail guy fairly quickly and although the guy was on an RS250 I was able to get round the corners at a similar pace but was getting out dragged down the straights despite being right on his back wheel. Really must get my bike checked out!

I managed to get by round the outside on the left hander before the hairpin but had to brake hard when I got almost alongside the MiniTwin in front when I realised I wasn't going to make the gap. The RS250 then went round both of us and I set about a long battle with Matt Flynn. Like my experience with Gary in the previous race I found that I was getting held up at the points on the track where I was much faster, particularly Druids again, but after several lines and several laps of getting along side I managed to get by only for him to do some scary outbraking at Lodge and cut my nose off.

I managed to get almost level with him, bar the width of his front wheel, on almost every corner but he would always be better on the brakes and keep the place. It was very strange, I would carry more corner speed and get on the gas much earlier but as soon as he opened the throttle we would stay level from there on. We ended up crossing the line 0.3s apart after he made a mess of his line in to the last corner and I had to brake to avoid him.

Ended up in 9th overall again (7th MiniTwin) and a best exactly 0.5s slower than the previous race. The fight with Matt had let the rest of the pack pull away although I am confident that I can run at their pace if I can get my overtaking sorted out.

I'm still in 10th place on the championship but have pulled out 4 points over Gary who I was previously level with and have made up 7 point to close on the guy in 9th. Overall I was really happy with my performance and would have quite enjoyed having more race meetings at Oulton. I never did get the confidence to try Island Bend (just before the hairpin) and the double apex at Druids flat out but I'm pretty sure it should be possible. If I can sort out my starts then I am confident I can continue to improve.

I also need to do some work on my bike. I was grinding the rear sets on both right and left hand corners, the zip tie I put round my fork leg shows they are using all of their travel and I am slower down the straights than a lot of people. If I can work on those items and get my braking problems out of the way then I'm going to have a good season. Roll on Snetterton!