14th June 2003 - Cadwell Park

Turned out to be a wise decision to rejet the carbs to 137.5s as it was raining on Saturday when I turned up so the wets went on for practice. I rode like a complete tart and had to work to stay with the two guys that have been finishing last all season. Guess I lost my nerve after binning it big time at Snetterton in the wet a few weeks back!

Race 1 - Mini Twins

We were gridded with the Rookie 400s although the MiniTwins were at the front fortunately for me. Unfortunately I was in position 8 which was on the left hand side right under the trees so I would be on the wet bit at the start ready for the guys in 5th, 6th and 7th to cut my nose off on the way in to the first corner. Didn't really matter as I made a pants start and some of the row behind came by. I got leant on a bit in the first corner and was then stuck behind Gary Morris for a few laps whilst I worked out how damp the circuit was and what line he was going to take. I held back as he was slow in the bits where I was quick but was faster through the hairpin so it would take a while to catch back up.

My tardiness in getting by let Roger Wallace through and he then then set about getting by Gary. Needless to say their lines where 'interesting' so I had to wait for Roger to overtake Gary before I could do the same. Once past I found that I was much quicker than Roger and soon overtook him. I knew Gary would follow me through so I got my head down and went for it. The next few laps were fairly uneventful other than having the lead 400 come past. I eventually saw Phil Turtle in the distance and did my best to reel him in. He is very fast at some circuits but I had beaten him convincingly at Oulton so I was pleased to catch him fairly quickly.

We came up to a Rookie 400 back marker and Phil hesitated which let me overtake them both round Chris Curve. The next lap I lapped Danny Sweet on the way down to Mansfield and then was pushed wide trying to get by Dan Reilly on the very last lap and almost went across the line on the grass.

Ended up 7th MiniTwin out of 14 which was pretty good with a best time of 1:12.43 - Chris Firmin had clocked 1:07.88 on the way to winning by 15 seconds or so. Turned out Red and a bunch of other 400s were only 8 seconds behind so I was quite relieved to finish where I did.

Race 2 - Mini Twins

Despite making up a place in previous race the lead 400 had come by so I was back in 8th again ready for another poor start. I was a bit slow getting off the line but was fairly forceful in to the first corner when Gary Morris showed me a wheel and I sat on the back of Gary Nicholas and Bryan Bunn for the run up to Park. Chris Firmin lost it big time going through Park so I lost the tow a little trying to keep out of the way.

I got back with Gary and Bryan a lap or two later although I found that I had to brake a couple of times when Gary proved slower than expected in some places. I was still pretty pants at the hairpin and made a mistake mid race where I didn't gas it enough and found myself heading for the barrier on the inside before picking the bike up again. I had lost fifteen to twenty yards on the guys in front so I held a steady pace for a bit before another hairpin mistake dropped me back a little more.

I caught a couple of backmarkers at just the wrong point on the circuit and dropped further back so I eased off a little going through Charlies and the Gooseneck as I didn't think I could catch the guys in front. A daft decision and a lesson learnt as Gary and Bryan were slowing each other down and on the way in to Mansfield on the last lap Bryan ran on to the grass. I had to take a slight detour to avoid him as he came back in front of me and just pipped me to the line by 0.91 seconds. Gary ended up only 4.5 seconds ahead which was encouraging.

Thanks to Chris falling off I was promoted to 6th which is my highest placing so far! I bettered my fastest lap with a 1:11.79 although Nigel Reed did manage a 1:07.24 to put it in perspective.

A top weekend and I have the sunburn to prove it :-) I improved a lot although can still see where I can make up time at Charlies and the Gooseneck. I won't mention the hairpin although it wasn't as bad as I first thought I still didn't get a decent line through it all day. I am now 9th in the championship and although the 8th place guy pulled out another three points on me this weekend. I had organised a dyno to make sure all the MiniTwins were sticking to the rules and found that my bike had the least power of the field bar one. Did notice that I was wearing away the bottom edge of my fairing going through Charlies so really must work on my counter steering. Stayed late being sociable and got home at some unearthly hour. A top weekend!