RACING LOG, NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Wednesday 28th December 2011
The race season has been finished for almost 3 months now & I am looking to the new season ahead.
The last 2 meetings at Darley went OK with 3 6th place finishes & I ended up 7th in the SOT championship. (I had hoped to finish a little higher than that this year but although I accumulated a lot more points than any previous season, we had a couple of very fast riders join the class late in the season & managed to overtake me in the championship table at the last meeting).
At the test day on the Saturday before the Stars meeting I tested my new Suzuki SV650 which I have just purchased with the view of racing it next season at some meetings at Aintree & at a couple of Thundersport GB meetings. The test went OK although I was slower than I hoped (but what do I expect, I only picked the bike up 18 hours earlier). I also did another test on it at Mallory, which I think went a little better although I was using used Dunlop tyres which I am not a fan of since my first pair of Dunlops dumped me in the tyre wall at Darley's Paddock corner some years ago. I am spending the winter making a few mods to the SV which should give me a few more pony's.
I am still hoping to race my Aprilia next year at Darley but I will us the SV at other tracks & you never know I may do an odd Darley with the SV.
See you next year.
Sunday 11th September 2011
Another three meetings done & things seem to be going well (with the exception of August's meeting).
June's meeting at Darley went well with two 5th places in class. The first race was an epic between myself & Gary Dangerfield on his SV . We changed positions several times on every lap, which just made it one of the most enjoyable races I have ever been involved in, even though we were in different race classes to each other. It reminded me of the famous battle between Barry Sheene & Kenny Roberts at Silverstone in the 70's including the two finger behind your back salute which Gary gave me out of the hairpin the final time he managed to go past me. My lap times in this race were a little slower as we were slowing each other up (1.04's) but in the second race my lap times were back to 1.03's.
July's meeting was another good one for me with two 5th places & lap times again in the 1.03's. All this season I had been having trouble starting my bike & the problem was a lot worse this meeting, so a new sprag clutch was fitted for the next meeting (an expensive parts bill which I could have done without).
August's meeting is one I wish to forget. Changeable conditions (i.e. it rained 5 minutes before I went on track, every time) meant that I rode on slick tyres on a wet track (no time to change them when you do your own spanners).
See you at September's meeting.
Monday 13th June 2011
The 2011 race season is well underway & we have had some good results at Darley.
I thought our first meeting back in March was going to be a disaster as I caught a severe bout of Flu. However, in testing the day before the March meeting, it became apparent that the changes I made to the bike in winter (gearing & valve timing) had improved drive at the start of the straights. My first race of the season could have only gone one place better; 2nd place & my first piece of silverware in road racing (wood actually). I was really pleased but still felt so sick. Lap times were good but not better than I had done before. In race 2 I finished 5th & when I got back to the paddock I got off the bike, sat down in my chair & went to sleep (helmet still on).
April's meeting was another good one with again good weather. In race 1 I had a 6th place but, more importantly, my lap times were in the very low 1.04's which was the best I had ever done. However I felt that I could have gone quicker as I was being held up through both chicanes by the rider in front but I could not get past him. In race 2 I finished 5th with lap times in 1.03's, my personal best. I am very pleased with this but I still need to go quicker.
May's meeting was held in very difficult changeable conditions with high gusting winds. I finished 6th in the first race & 4th in the 2nd. My lap times were slower than the previous meetings due to the conditions, however some riders seemed to be able to go just as fast as in perfect conditions. Frustrating.
Let's see if I can improve things even more. T.T.F.N.
Thursday 11th November 2010
Another season of road racing is over & all in all I think we made some steps forward but nowhere near as much as we should have.
August's meeting was again an enjoyable meeting for me. The first race I managed lap times in the 1.04's again & had some good battles, working my way up through the field to finish 5th in class. The second race was not so good as it was red flagged after 4 laps not giving me time to work my way up, so I finished 7th.
I had some good results in the September meeting at Darley, with two 4th places in my class although my lap times were a second or so slower than the last meeting. Some good S.O.T. championship points here.
The Stars meeting was a disaster as torrential rain put a stop to the meeting before it began. I could not leave the season like that so I took myself off to Donington Park for a track day & had an enjoyable last outing for the season there.
This year I had my best Darley Moor S.O.T. championship result so far & finished 6th. Although pleased with that, I wonder if it is possible for me to do better?????!!!!!!
See you next year
Tuesday 3rd August 2010
Another three meetings done & things seem to be going OK.
Mallory Park was an enjoyable meeting however I had a big problem with the Devil's Elbow. Because I run a road style gear shift I could not get into a good gear for this corner & lost a lot of speed all the way down the straight. This hampered me throughout the meeting. At the end of the meeting I was chatting to the winner of the Pro bike class & he suggested that I might try a tighter line through the corner which most riders don't use but this may suit me because of my road shift gear pattern (it is a slower line but you can pick the bike up sooner & get on the power earlier) . I went back to Mallory the following Wednesday to try it. One gear higher through the Bus Stop then a short shift at the start of the Devil's Elbow & a very tight line gave me a huge increase in speed down the straight. Result!!!!!
June's Darley meeting went quite well. It was a very hot day & I had some good battles with other riders to take two 5th places. My lap times in the first race were a second slower than my best in the previous meeting which was a little disappointing (maybe the heat was sapping power from my engine?) My lap times for the 2nd race were another second slower even though I felt as if I was trying harder, but I made a good start from the front row of the grid & did a 1.06 every lap including the first. I have never been so consistent in a race & have never done such a quick first lap.
July's meeting was another good one with 5th & 6th places. There were a lot more riders in our race than last meeting with an influx of lightweight machines. I had quite a few battles with some of these in both races. I did my fastest ever times in the first race which were in the mid 1.04 & I managed to do this on 6 of the laps. Race two again as normal with me I was a second slower (don't know why). I had made a few changes to the bike for this meeting . One was a fuel change. Two was a little more rebound on the rear & three was I emeried the top surface of my brake pads which really did help (they must have been glazed)
See you at Darley at the end of August.
Wednesday 5th May 2010
Three meetings done & I seem to be enjoying racing again. The March meeting seemed to go O.K.. Lap times were still slower than they should be but not too bad considering the temperature that early in the season (cold track temperatures always make me nervous).
For Aprils meeting I made a change or two to the bike (main one was a different quick action throttle cam to give me more throttle feel) & things went a little better for me in race one. Conditions were changeable that day & I opted for my intermediate tyres which worked well in that race as I lead the battle for 10th (6th in class) for most of the time, up to the chequered flag . I also seemed to make a good start in that race which also made a change. Race two was not as good as I kept the inters on but the track was totally dry (still finished 6th in class though).
Last Monday's meeting was a lot better for me. Conditions were changeable again & cold but my first race was dry. The start was not great but the rest of the race was. I seemed to get into a few battles with other riders & progressed forward through the field & ended up in 5th place in the race (& in class). My lap times were in the 1.04's matching my best (that's not happened for 2 years). A rain shower fell just as we were about to start my second race so we all had to race on dry tyres (I was on slicks). This was the right tyre though as the track dried very quickly with the wind, but the first couple of laps had to be treated with care. I still got a good result & had the odd battle progressing forward as I did in race one but not quite as far.
I have added an additional meeting to our race calendar at the end of this month & I am going to give Mallory Park another go with New Era. Lets hope we can keep going in a positive way. T.T.F.N.
Thursday 25th February 2010
It has been some time since I last updated my site, last year did not go as well as I had hoped. At the end of the season I went to Cadwell Park to do a track day just to try & feel good again about track riding. It was a good day out without race pressures, just what I needed before winter set in. It was nice to feel reasonably quick for a change, compared to most of the other riders in my group.
The new season is fast approaching (too fast) & I have been making some improvements to the bike over the winter ( not as drastic as last winter). I have changed the rear shock (same spring), changed the front brake master cylinder & altered the front fork oil level, so lets see how things go with that. Apart from this I have been trying to keep away from racing & the bike as much as possible just to try & get a rest from the whole thing. I found that by the end of last year I'd had enough & just wanted a rest from it. I also had a period of time before xmas where I had some health problems which I seem to have overcome now.
I'm not sure if I am going to do all the meetings at Darley this year, the first one I wish was a test weekend, (not a one day test & race day the following day), so I will see how things pan out. See you soon.
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