Olivers Mount Hillclimb Sunday 24th July

I left straight from work Saturday evening and somehow managed the trip in 3 1/2 hours. After a good nights sleep and a lovely hot shower i was prepared for the day ahead. I was 3rd after practice and after having the rear slide coming out of the chicane. I was considering changing the supercorsas for wets. The battle for top spot was closely  fought  between me, Chris (CBR600 RR) & Stu (KX 500). Chris put in a fantastic time of 46.3 with me and Stu still in the 47s. Then when Stu dipped into the 46 bracket i thought that was it.

I had a good think at lunch time on where i could improve and decided to take the hairpin in 2nd rather than 1st  fighting  to keep front end down all the way up the hill. So i gave it a go, it felt slower so i slipped the clutch resulting in a huge second gear wheelie under the bridge. But i crossed the line in 46.9, so going into the last run it was Chris 46.3, Stu .6, &  me .9.  On the line i thought about Stu ribbing me about how old his KX was and when his sister turned up on her Hornet how it was a girls bike. I set off and under braking nearly overshot the hairpin. Just got it turned in time & slipped the clutch earlier this time to avoid wheelieing. I got the chicane wrong but  crossed the line in 46.54 2nd place again.  And apparently leading the Novice Championship.

Well done Chris for setting such a good time on your 1st run. And good luck for Cadwell on Sunday.

Elvington Park (east) Monday 29th August

I made a minor mod to the set up of the bike before this race mainly because of it being around 13 turns in 1 1/2 miles. But looking back  i believe i could of improved some of  my previous results if i'd of thought of it earlier in the season.

Waste of time my quicker steering mods were as when we arrived it was the west course i had done before the very, very fast one. Due to there being planes left on the east course, left over from the airshow. I decided to run with it anyway, just before practice it started raining, i dashed back to the pits to change to wets i had only enough time to change the front. Then set off it was very slippy and i lost the rear braking into the fast chicane and went straight on through the cones. As it was a scrapped run i used it for wheelie practice instead, the weather cleared and the sun shone the rest of the day. I decided to stick with the wet front as ive never had a slide on it yet. After practice i was in 2nd place. I changed my starting technique and it seemed to work with less wheelieing off the line. A serious looking KTM 525 supermoto done a 71.5. On my penultimate run i did a 73.01 but knew i could improve further. After a few clicks here & there on the rear shock and after seeing the KTM packed away already i went for it.

I tipped it into the first bend so quick i think i had my first ever two wheel drift i used ALL the width of the track (and thats WIDE). Nearly clipping the cones on the left hand side i changed direction so quick to set myself up for the next bend i surprised myself. And the marshalls by the way they were on tip toe ready to leg it away from a out of control Hornet. The rest of the lap was ok but i definetly lost time with my detour in the first bend. I didnt see my time as i crossed the line but was told it was a 72.34 2nd place and another trophy. I felt like i had been gifted it a bit as Stu had CDI trouble with his KX 500 and retired. But after looking back at his previous times i believe i would of beaten him anyway as the best time i could find for him was 73.5. My best time here from May was 74.85 so ive improved by 2.5 seconds. I woke up Tuesday morning at 5.00 am thinking about my last run the adrenaline was still pumping and i didnt get back to sleep.

Elvington Park (west) Saturday September 10th

It was cold and wet in the morning, then it dried out around dinner time. I spent all day changing wheels to find some grip. Of which there was none with supercorsas on  it was spinning up off the line even after a burnout as well. The rear kept breaking away and was spinning coming out of the fast chicane. But  i still  got within a thou of a second to Leighton Haigh, well to be honest that was when i was in the portaloo next to him. Out of the portaloos i was in 4th place and struggling to match my times from 2 weeks ago, which would have put me in 2nd. For the last run of the day i thought i'd mount a win or bin run i fitted full wets to use in dry but cold conditions.

 Then it chucked it down i watched from the paddock as car after car spun off the track. Most people packed up for the day but a small group decided to get a bit of wheelie practice in. A wheelie competition was quickly thought up, from the start line see who could carry it the furthest. I got a reasonable height & distance in 1st gear then down one of the the back straights i managed to clutch it up in 2nd gear. Finally  standing it up to cross the finish line on the back wheel and the rev limiter.  I ended the day with 4th place but possibly a win in the wheelie competition.

Cadwell Park Saturday 15th October

I was up for this, as a few of us done a track day here the day before. No crash this time or slapped wrist i did have a trip onto the grass at high speed, but managed to keep it up.

In the morning it was wet so i changed to full wets and decided to give them a go if it dried as well.  My first run was just about to start when 3 classic bikes trundled down late from the paddock. Then started in front which annoyed me because i prepare myself mentally just before the start. And if that gets interrupted it can bugger up youre run. After the last one had set off  i was on the start with a touch of red mist. And when the light changed to green i set off with a vengance and caught up the classic bike half way round the lap. I followed him round letting the marshalls know that he had spoilt my run (hand signals). Then went straight to the start again & was allowed another run with warm tyres. I crossed the line in 109.8 seconds & didnt know if that was good or bad until others told me there times. To my disbelief when the results were put up from 1st practice i was the second quickest bike overall. The only bike in front was a club racer on a tasty looking 04 Kawasaki  ZX 10. And i think that was only by around 1.5 seconds.

My next run proved it was'nt warm tyres that got me that time as it was 109.5. I was still leading my class but everyone else was now going quicker. For the first official timed run it was dry and the sun was tyring to break through. Sticking with full wets i set off and had the back drifting (only a foot or two) out of all the corners after park straight. It felt awesome and never once felt like it would break away, i got a 106. Chris (CBR 600RR) had done a 104, second place was secure as Stu & his Kx struggled on the straights of Cadwell.

 So i decided to mount a win or bin/death or glory run. I changed my rear wet to a supercorsa and went for it on the final run. I went into Coppice so quick i was still leant over as i shot past my braking point for the following right. I stood it up and after a very brief  flurry of braking and screeching tyres i was on the grass at over 80mph. Coasting to a stop 6 inches from the tyre wall i was met by two worried marshalls who could'nt understand why i was laughing. After removing my helmet i said "I told my brother, this run i'd either win my class or crash & im true to my word" they found this strange at first but then saw the funny side as well. They also said "Well done for keeping it up on the grass". I told them i had done a track day the day before and practiced that. As it was exactly the same place i went off then. At that point they stopped laughing at just looked at me like i was mental.                    

 A brilliant weekend and another 2nd place trophy. It was a better weekend than i first though as i later found out i had wrapped up the newcomers championship at this race.

Dalby Forest (south) Sunday 30th October

When i got there it was wet but not raining, then it started  to rain heavily. Which it did most of the meeting. I got a reasonable 1st practice time of  around 30 secs very similar to Stu and a CR500. Then i went backwards and it took me until  the 3rd  of  5 runs to repeat it. Fast Stu was in front by 4 /10ths of a second, it stopped raining but there was still running water on parts of the track. But without the rain blurring my visor i felt more confident and i done a 29.6. When  checking the times mine had Red Flag next to it which meant it didnt count.

So i asked why i'd been red flagged and no one seemed to know. I was just getting ready for a win or bin run when it was explained that a rider in front had missed a gear. And the marshall nearest thought he was stopping so called in a red flag, than promptly cancelled it, hows that for quick reactions. So my time stood but to make sure i did a 29.09 on my final run. At last my first win, it seems strange that same meeting a year ago i was there  on a fact finding mission to watch and ask questions. With a view to competeing in 2005, then there i was collecting a 1st place trophy, surreal. Only down side of the day was when the bike fell over in the van on the way home (twice). By the way fastest speed through the finish line was 136mph (in the wet)!

Big thank you to the Mills family for putting me up on Saturday night and feeding me. Also for giving me fuel when i was running low..............

Cheers Sam for all the pre season advice.                                                                                     Copy & paste this in your explorer window for an on board view of the track.

http://www.timguy.net/Videos/tl1000scom/On Board Dalby Forest South - Wet.wmv