6th March 2004 - Brands Hatch

So much for my hopes that it would be dry for the first race. Practice was okay, it wasn't raining but there wasn't much of a dry line either. After fueling up the bike I made sure that my extra layers of seat foam were all stuck down and headed out on track. We only had a ten minute warm up but I just wanted to scrub my tyres in a bit more and stay upright. The rest of the weekend was bound to be stressful enough without binning it in practice. At least the forecast was that it would stay dry!

Race 1 - Mini Twins

MiniTwins were out in race 4 and I was gridded in 8th position on the second row. Eeek! All these guys had raced more recently than I had and many of them were always going to be faster no matter what I did. it was only when I got out there that I realised that I had never done a racing start on this bike. Oh well, too late now. A bit of clutch slip and I was away on the warm up lap. I did lose a bit of time against the other guys on my row but not bad for a first attempt. I had watched an earlier race and noted the amount of time the lights stayed red. I timed it really well although maybe I was a bit hesitant off the line as a couple of guys came by before I'd really got myself going. The bundle in to the first corner was scary, not because there was anything unusual going on but more due to the fact that I hadn't done a race start for over six months.

I lost a few places through being over cautious and a few more on the way in to Druids. Things didn't seem too bad for the first few laps. I kept with some of the fast boys for a while until they got their heads down and I even had a good battle with a few guys around me. I could see David Daws and Danny Sweet up ahead but I couldn't seem to catch them no matter what I tried. This was very frustrating as I could beat them both easily last year but I knew this would be a problem.

Ever since I started racing I've started each season, including my first, getting over injury and getting used to a new bike. I was still very hesitant at Surtees, I realised that my left leg wasn't working properly and my foot was in a strange position on the foot peg. This meant that I was scraping my toes at relatively small lean angles which didn't do my confidence any good especially as I had been taken out there big style when I first raced my Aprilia Mille here a couple of years ago.

The one thing that surprised me was how quickly I got tired and started making silly little mistakes. I know I hadn't been to the gym since last August but this was ridiculous. Even though I managed to pull away from Will Jobbins and was gaining rapidly on Robin McKee I just couldn't get in to the flow. There didn't seem to be anyway around Robin as he was quick down the straights and a little erratic in the corners. I've never known nine laps to take such a long time although I was lucky as I managed to be the last rider not to get lapped! Having started 8th on the grid I eventually finished in 28th place. Not quite what I'd hoped for but with the knee problems, the new bike and the damp track I tried not to get too disheartened. My best time was 1:00.19 which was, by all accounts, pathetic. I did that sort of time doing the third gear no brakes drill at the California SuperBike School here last year. Bah Humbug!

Race 2 - Mini Twins

At least for the second race I didn't have to worry so much about getting overtaken on the way in to the first corner. Nothing to do with my riding you understand just that I was so close to the back of the grid there wasn't really anyone behind me! I did manage to get a decent start and although I lost a few places in the first couple of corners I was happy to be able run with Will Jobbins and Robin McKee for a few laps. I managed to get by Robin on the way in to Surtees, I think, and was surprised at how quickly I caught David Daws and Danny Sweet. I was right on the back of them on what must have been the fourth lap when I headed in to Surtees only to feel the all too familiar bang as someone rode in to me and I was soon rolling down the road. Again!

I wasn't quite sure what had happened as I had already turned in to the corner only to get hit form the inside. My knee was already over the rumble strip so there really wasn't any room on the inside so I couldn't work out what was going on. Unfortunately for me the other rider involved stayed on and rejoined after a bit of grass tracking. Even more unfortunately I had managed to bash my knee and dislocate my little finger on my right hand. My hand quickly swelled up and would eventually turn black due to the damaged tendons whilst my already damaged knee was also an unpleasant colour and made walking very painful indeed. Not the best start to the season!

I didn't even look at the bike before heading back to the pit garage for a rest and some pain killers. The medical staff were once again fantastic and gave me an ice pack to put on my hand. Not really an auspicious start to the season. I had managed about twelve race laps and been taken out yet again! My best lap time was just 0:59.62 which I wasn't happy about but at least I had been out there and given it another go.

Turns out that it was Nigel Voyce giving me an ever so helpful punt in to oblivion. He'd managed to crash on the first corner of the first race and had left his brain in the gravel trap as well as he had just ridden in to the side of me when there was never any chance of there being a gap yet alone a safe overtaking manure. At least I've got some nice video footage of the incident as Robin's wife was aiming her video camera that way at just the right time. Who knows, maybe the footage will earn me 250 quid from one of those TV programmes!

At least I was walking, well, limping along but the damage to the bike would have to wait for another day. Along with the repairs to my leathers and gloves of course. Why is nothing ever easy, or cheap, in this game?