11th July 2003 - Croix En Ternois

Bemsee used to visit Croix En Ternois in Northern France several years ago and after a break of a few years starting going back last year. As a result few people had been there before so I was hoping to do quite well. The journey took a bit of organising even though it is actually about the same distance from my house as Cadwell Park. The plan was to meet up with Moose and Red (a couple of the Rookie 400 contingent) and take the EuroTunnel on Thursday afternoon. As I wasn't organised enough to find a local bed and breakfast I would also be sleeping in the van for the first time - Not too sure that I was looking forward to that bit but...

All went to plan and we made it through the tunnel fairly painlessly and headed off to the nearest supermarket to load up with wine and beer. At one point I didn't think Red would fit in all the beer she bought in the back of the van but after losing one crate from the top of the trolley on the way out of the supermarket everything was eventually stored away and we headed off to the circuit. I had used one of the web based route planning facilities so we did our best to follow the route which seemed to take us through every small village along the way. Of course it would have been better to stay on the autoroute but none of us had brought a map so it was all a bit of an adventure.

After a bit of a search to find a petrol station to fill up our jerry cans we arrived at the circuit and set up camp. I didn't really have much to do as I had to wait for Gary Morris to turn up later that evening as I was going to share his awning. Took the time to see everybody and take a walk of the track. If you can imagine a circuit the length of Lydden but with about three times the number of corners you'd be getting the idea, especially as there is still room for a half mile straight.

Gary turned up fairly late so we didn't get to bed until the early hours after putting up the awning and his tent in the dark. The weather forecast said that it was going to be fairly warm over the weekend which certainly proved to be the case. The first practice was fairly interesting as we all wobble around trying to work out where it went. Lots of tight left and right handers including one very fast right under the bridge followed by a completely flat out left in to the tightest hairpin I have ever seen leading out on to the main start/finish straight.

I have to admit to liking circuits like this although the blind entry corner was causing me a few problems. I was really pleased with my times compared with most of the other guys and I reckoned I was on for a few 5th or 6th places, possibly better if I got a good start. I had been talking to a few people about how to get off the line and had a new plan to try come the first race. The afternoon wasn't without some excitement though as I found myself behind Gary Nicholas in one session and was comfortable that I could beat him with a bit of luck. I was planning on going underneath him in the first corner and was very close on the way in only for him to suddenly slow leaving me nowhere to go!

I bundled in to the back of him at a fair rate and pushed him forward a couple of metres. By some miracle we both stayed upright but I managed to wedge my bike between his rear wheel and the exhaust. His end can had punched a nice hole in my fairing and his tyre wore away the paint down one side of the bike. The only damage to his bike turned out to be the end can which was now sticking out at an interesting angle. To top it all he didn't even realise that I had hit him as his bike had slipped in to neutral and he just though he was a bit cack handed getting it back in to gear, hence the lurch forward. Doh!

I spent the next couple of sessions repairing the bike, taping up the hole in my fairing and trying to fix the screen which also got a big crack in it. My fairing frame was a bit worse for wear but not enough to stop me getting out in the final session. What goes around comes around and it was Gary who managed to find a bump on the inside of the double right hander and he went down right in front of me. Most frustrating as in avoiding him I also found the same bump which I had managed to avoid all day so far. Every lap of the weekend since then, regardless of how I tried to alter my line, I found that stupid bump and had to lower my corner speed to make sure I didn't visit the gravel as well! not best pleased but if it knocked Gary's confidence then maybe I could gain another place come race day.

After scrutineering the bike we all sat down for a nice barbeque followed by another walk around the track. Looking forward to the following day as I was expecting to be able to go a little faster in the race than in practice. Top stuff!