28th June 2003 - Brands Hatch GP

Race day dawned and I was well up for it. I think I managed three timed laps of practice and immediately knocked a third of a second off my previous best of 1:48.11s to get down in to the high 1:47s. Unfortunately in all the excitement about getting out for practice, etc. I had neglected to check the state of my tyres. I didn't get any slides in practice but when I checked my rear tyre it was down to the wear indicator. How could I have been so stupid?! With no time to change it before the first race I decided I'd just have to live with it and keep the bike a bit more upright than normal.

Race 1 - Mini Twins

I made my usual crap start from the second row only to find Red coming by (from the fifth row) before I'd even got to Paddock Hill bend. Jason Loveridge had also had a good start but he turned in at Druids with just enough speed to keep Red behind him so I bundled my way round the outside of the two of them. Jason seems to like Brands and I know Red is a complete hooligan there so I had to get my head down and put some space between us pretty quick. I had lost a bit of time on the guys in front but soon found that they were holding each other up and that I was catching them at around a second a lap. I was pretty concerned about my tyres so wasn't able to get on the gas mid corner the way I normally do and had to make sure I was lifting the bike up to cut down on the sliding.

By the middle of the race I had settled in to a reasonable 8th position but had started to lose the guys in front as the state of my tyres was constantly on my mind. A quick look over my shoulder showed that Dan Hobson was on his way - I knew he was capable of a good second a lap quicker than me and I was getting slower rather than speeding up. He eventually got by at my favourite overtaking place which was on the way through Sheene's Curve. It's a great place to do it as you get the inside line for the next left hander just to reinforce things. Fortunately for me one of the other 400s had binned it at Paddock and we got shown the Red flag at Clearways so the race was stopped. They moved the results back a lap so I finished in front of Dan - Sorry mate!

I finished 8th overall and 8th MiniTwin. My best lap had been 1:44.90 - A dramatic improvement over the practice day and on some very dodgy tyres as well. Talk about a good result! Having inspected my rear tyre I decided that I didn't have the confidence to scrub in a new rear just on the warm up lap so set about trying to track down a decent part worn so I could really go for it in the second race. Jason had a D207GP that had loads of tread left that he had just taken off but it had been used since the beginning of the season and I decided that after so many heat cycles it wasn't worth the risk. Most other tyres were in the same condition as mine and despite a good deal on his part worn Rennsports from Chris Firmin I decided that having spent so much time tracking them down I probably didn't have enough time to get them up to temperature before the next race. My knackered old rear would just have to survive another round!

Race 2 - Mini Twins

I didn't think my start was too bad but I still got passed by Red before Paddock Hill. This time Dan Hobson wasn't going to let her lead for half the race like this morning so came by us both on the way through the first corner. I got by Red again at Druids and tried to stick with Dan as I knew he was determined to get in to the 1:42.xx bracket and if I could just get him to drag me along for a bit I would have a bit of space over the guys following me. It seemed to work as we were catching Bryan Bunn up ahead. Dan got passed and I tagged on to the back hoping that we would both be able to catch Gary Nicholas ahead. Pretty soon the three of us were running in close formation as Dan pulled away to catch the guys further up the field.

I was quicker than Bryan through Sheene's Curve and went the long way round to get the inside line for Stirlings. I really must work on my aggression as Bryan tipped in despite me being level and I had to grab a major handful of brake to stop us colliding. I should have just turned in as well but I was so convinced that there was no way through that I let my concentration lapse just for a second. This left me trailing a bit but on the following lap I got better drive out of Paddock and tried the same thing at Druids. Doh! Yet again he chopped off my nose but I didn't lose too much time. We both caught back up with Gary Nicholas and Bryan got by at Stirlings before running in to Clearways too hot and crashing right in front of us.

Gary Nicholas ran over his wrist and I had to brake and pray that I missed him as he slid across the front of my bike. I lost a bit of time to Gary but was well on my way to catching up when I had a bit of a slide coming out of Graham Hill. A brief trip on to the rumble strip costs me some time but I managed to get back with him by the time we got on to the back straight. Strange, up ahead I was sure I could see Nigel Reed. He's usually on the podium so I couldn't work out why he was this far back. We were gradually gaining on him and I was hoping to get by him and Gary before the end. Another slide at my least favourite corner (Graham Hill) had me on the rumble strip for it's full length, over the slip road and on to the grass. There was no way I was shutting the throttle and I somehow managed to get back on the track just before Surtees. I had lost a bit of time on Gary and unfortunately my little mistake allowed the second place 400 to out drag me down the back straight.

I saw his shadow first, coming between me and the white line as we approached Hawthorns. I could have, and should have, shut the door but I wasn't sure whether he was alongside me yet and I didn't want to punt him on to the grass. He got by on the way in to the bend and we both caught Nigel Reed on the way up to Sheene's Curve. I got alongside on the way out but he had a wheel in front and turned in to Stirlings before me. With nowhere to go I braked harder than normal and set off to catch them both. Gary Nicholas got by Nigel at Clearways and the four of us crossed the line separated by just over a second.

What a race - My best was 1:44.93 which was pretty good given the number of slides I was having. I ended up 7th MiniTwin and 9th overall. I was very happy to have been able to run with Gary (and Bryan before he tipped off) and felt that I could easily have gained another second from a new set of tyres. Shame about the mistake at Graham Hill but these things happen in racing and I had nobody to blame but myself.

A top day all round. The racing was excellent, I was much more confident in the bike with the new suspension (we only added a bit of preload between races to stop the forks bottoming out) and despite scraping the fairing through Sheene's Curve I felt that I could have gone much faster with a bit more practice.

Off to Croix in a couple of weeks and I've been persuaded to try out a pair of Rennsports rather than my usual D207GPs. Let's hope the weather stays dry!