OULTON PARK MRO POWERBIKE 21ST SEPTEMBER

 We decided earlier on in the season that we would need a practice day at Oulton Park, the bike last year behaved really poorly over the rises of Oulton so I needed to get into the swing of the circuit before qualifying.

Friday Afternoon practice day;

We arrived in good time and set up camp, the team would be reduced to just my Dad and I for this meeting as my others helpers/sponsors live to far away.

First Session

We just wanted to roll round, before I went out I raised the ride height 2.5 mm and continued with Mallory gearing, the bike felt good from the off and I quickly started lapping at the end of the session in the 1min 39 bracket. Practice was strange as there was quite a lot of slower traffic around, some good Scots riders had come down for there first time here so in the session I saw some interesting lines plus a few stacks which is strange for this time in the season.

After my 25 mins were up I discussed with Dad what changes we wanted, I felt that I was being hampered with the front end not rebounding quick enough, we lightened the Rebound Damping by 2 clicks as I felt this was hampering my line into Shell (a banked hairpin), Knickerbrook and Lodge.

Session 2.

We went out ready to start putting some quick laps in, the session was disjointed as a rider had crashed quite badly at Knickerbrook and someone else at Cascades, so we had a 5 minute stop to the session.

This time I was fortunate to tag onto and pass Tim Poole, as far as I know this is the same Tim Poole who used to race Brit Superbikes around 5-7 years ago, his lines on his Yamaha 750 were really clean and after 2 laps following him I out braked him into Cascades and stuck a quick lap of 1 min 38.2.

We came back and de-briefed, I told Dad that we would need to loose a tooth on the rear sprocket as I was revving out in fifth along the straight to Knickerbrook.

Francis Williamson popped by to also tell me that my bike was smoking a touch on the over-run on down changes, Chadwick also confirmed this but as long as it doesn’t get any worse we thought it must just be a worn valve guide.

Saturday Race Day.

After a fair nights sleep and couple of Shandys in the non-atmospheric bar it was time for race day.

Morning warm up

Was only 3 laps long, on my last lap I passed Tom Knight and got my head down or front wheel up as the bike was producing some sick wheelies (8 a lap I counted over the course of a lap) Clay Hill is still the most satisfying though, front wheel up well in 5^th that’s gotta be 140-145 mph wheelie in my books.

Qualifying.

I went out in the second wave following the new kiddie on the block Kenny Everest, for some reason the front brake for the first 2 laps felt like it was full of air, I pitted and then the leaver became strong again. I flew out and banged in a 1 min 39.4 but was then showed the Black Flag, my bike was smoking worse than before, I explained that it was a valve guide and they let me back out but even I was getting concerned by this time. My next 2 flying laps were the best I’ve ridden at Oulton Park my first being a baulked lap of 1 min 38.5 and the next being a 1.37.75 recording the Fourth quickest time.

Once back in from qualifying we were obviously concerned about the puffs of blue smoke on the down changes, I spoke to Benie (she runs Bemsee with Dave Stewart) and she states that if it gets worse you may be black flagged in the race, I called Barry the owner of the bike to tell him the good and bad news, he called Pete Beale (engine tuner) to get an idea.

 Barry called me back and told be to park the bike as we could be risking a blow up, for 2 minutes I was inconsolable and pissed off as we were on the front row of the grid but I could not complain about my riding just simply the bike let me down. Incedently all the times I had done were on worn tyres as we were saving the new ones for the race.

I can now say I’m riding the bike the best I’ve ever ridden it, and the secret to riding the Kawasaki ZX9R from what I can make out is using Big Gears, where on a 400 or 600cc bike you may have to go down three gears for a tight corner, on a big bike you don’t when maybe 2 gears will suffice, I’m happy using the torque of it and the bike seems great to ride, It handled no worse then any Suzuki round Oulton so we must be impressed by that.

A quick Ready reckoner on times was that last year all I could muster was 1 min 39.6 this year 1.37.75, we maybe getting problems on the way but at least were improving.

The engine went to Pete Beale on Sunday hopefully it’s an oil seal not a piston, we’ll see. Bring on Silverstone as I have unfinished business.

Mallory Park M.R.O Powerbike Round 10.

September 8^th.

 During my 2 weekend lay off I had been over to the Manx Grand Prix to watch my Dad compete in the Classic Junior 350cc race, what a completely great place the I.O.M is a bikers paradise you’d say.

I rode a ZX6R around for a few laps and I’d say the mountain is probably the best bike roads I’d ever ridden. I paid my tribute to Yer Man and completely got into the flora and fauna that is the Manx G.P.

Can I say big respect to Andy Reynolds, Catherine, Simon and Eddy (pit crew) for a great time?

Anyway  back to my racing;

 I had a sneaky feeling Mallory would bring out the best in me and we arrived at the circuit on Saturday evening, local mate and Aprillia rider Martin Ratcliffe helped us erect the awning, after a couple of sherbets (shandy for me) we retired to the van/camper for some sleep.

1^st practice (untimed)

We always go  to untimed qualifying on used slicks from the round before, Mallory is a circuit that I have been many times before, like many under funded racers we cannot get out to Spain in the winter so a March Mallory’s usually take place.

My first lap was spent warming the tyres up, on the second lap Tom Knight (the elder statesman) popped past on his Ex John Reynolds Ducati, I tagged in behind him and followed him for the rest of the session. It is true what they say about Dukes, at Gerrards (100 mph right hander) they can hold a line much better than a 4 cylinder.

We came in and the owner Barry stated I had recorded a 51.8 (not bad for 5 laps) so we were pleased.

We then had a De Brief as I wanted to use 2^nd to 5^th gear as Mallory is a short track so less gear changes the better. We lost a tooth on the rear sprocket and fitted new boots; I spoke to Clive (Dunlop man + racing lines) who advised me that if I was spinning up coming out of the Lake Esses (which I was) try lowering the ride height a bit.

Qualifying

I went out for the 18 min session pretty focused I knew the latter laps were gonna be the hot ones so again i tagged onto Tom Knight and quickly proceeded into the 50.8 secs, I was then passed by a ragged R1 rider who 2 laps later lost the front into the Lake Esses (4^th gear right hander) so we pitted so the Marshals could clear him up. The bike was running well so no adjustments needed but I was still shy of my best lap.

My Dad told me I really needed to find another 0.5 secs to be on the second row, so  as I re-entered qualifying I tagged onto to Rival and friend  Nick Chadwick.

Nick was running pretty quick but with two laps left I ran alongside him in to the hairpin (Nick was slightly wide) and nicked him in to the Bus Stop, my next lap was pretty clean with bike spinning a bit out of Gerrard (est. 130 mph +wheel spin), the lap time was recorded at 50.40 which then left me 7^th on the grid.

After a quick de-brief we decided not to change anything as the bike was just going quicker and quicker.

Race….

I lined up on the grid with Richard (RMSI) as my brolly dolly, after the 3 mins had gone it was warm up lap and green flag time.

Got an absolute stonking start by using second gear to pull away, I was 4^th into the first corner but got a bit duffed up on the 3 opening laps by Neil Faulkner and Kenny Everest, Faulkner (who a big lad) started making mistakes in front of me so I reeled him in and used him as a target. The mistakes got worse and just as I thought to ram it up the inside at Mallory hairpin he ran straight on, the guys from Watford so I knew he wouldn’t last (says the W.F.C. Fan).

With 4 laps to go I was a bit in no mans land with Kenny Everest 4 secs in front, I had a bit of a straight on at the hairpin and looked behind to see Rival Nick Chadwick and Steve Marks welded behind me but i kept it cool and decided that I’d been in front for this long so an over take aint gonna be easy.

I crossed the line in 5^th   place and I couldn’t really of expected more, the team were well happy, after a quick handshake to Barry and Dad  and a hug from Richard (he’s my cousin and it was a manly one) and the missus I felt we had finally done the bike justice.

We do like the feeling of proving people a bit wrong, as racing folk do mock the Kawasaki ZX9R a touch, and believe me weve had our problems with it but with lots of hard work and Barry thinking of alterations my lap times have come down from last year.

Incidentally my fastest lap last year was 51.2 this year in the race it was 50.12 so at least were going in the right directions.

Quick thanx to Mark from MHP for the ace Tyre Warmers,

Malcolm, Graham, Damian, Mark and Teresa for the encouragement, and one last one to Maureen, Barrys wife who says I should be proud and not moan so much.

MAUREEN I AINT MONING THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!

Cadwell Park MRO Power Bike National. 18^th August.

We arrived on Saturday night following a long treck up the M1/M18/M180, I had to pick up my new helpers for this round as my Dad and the team Truck (plus tools and spares) are in the Isle Of Man as he’s due to race in the Classic Manx Grand Prix next week. Helpers and big respect goes to cousin Chris, the missus and Mark from MHP Exhausts.

Once arrived at Cadwell we quickly assembled Gazebo and tents and headed to the bar for some light refreshments, Saturday had been a scorcher so we were all tired and thirsty.  At 11.00pm we headed for bed and in the tent next to me some loud snoring was to be heard, this kept me awake (and half the paddock) until 02.30 when I dived for cover in the motor and then fell asleep.

Sunday.

We awoke to good weather and Mark and I took the bike to Scrutineering leaving Kellie asleep and she needed a lie in after being kept awake by my now so called Cousins snoring (GOD IT WAS LOUD). Bike passed scrutineering and when we got it back to camp Mark gave it a quick once over then deciding he would change the brake washers and clean the Pretech callipers.

Untimed practice was scheduled for 5 mins, I have not raced a Cadwell for over a year and never taken a big bike their, really we knew we would be off the pace a little here compared to other tracks.

Once completed the untimed session I thought the Kawasaki was handling o.k. The rear suspension seemed to be pogoing a little at the Gooseneck (a 3^rd gear right and left hander) but otherwise my only criticism was that I was back sifting to early and making the bike chatter into Mansfield and the Esses.

I talked this through with Mark and Chris but as soon as I came in we heard thunder and lighting and then it started to rain, in the meantime Barry (BB Plastics) the owner called on the mobile to see how the bike was going and Simon and Nicola (friends from classic racing) turned up as support.

For qualifying it would be wet but drying, Mark and Chris changed the wheels as I paced round nervously the last time I raced in the wet I lobbed it so I needed to take care.

The first few laps I could not find much grip but a rider with Red Bull leathers passed me and I tagged onto him, we caught up another group of riders but passing in the wet at Cadwell is tough so I hung back a bit to try attack laps at them.

Soon the chequered flag was up and I’d qualified 13^th which at Cadwell was not so bad.

Race.

It would be dry for the race and I drove up to the 4^th row feeling apprehensive, I’d only had 4 laps of dry practice and rival Nick Chadwick was behind me but likes this circuit and gunning for me. The Green light appeared and my bike bogged from 1^st to 2^nd on the quick shifter, I lost 2 rows immediate finishing the first lap in 21^st position. This was not a good scenario and my first 2 laps I was stuck behind a couple of slower riders, by lap 3 I’d finally found some pace and passed 3 people in a lap and got my head down. Mid race I caught up with the Red Bull Leathers rider (Lee Morton I think) and I took me 2 laps to sneak by him into Park corner, I then caught a Honda rider (Shooey) and passed him into Park Corner (a trend I see) and then caught up Steve Marks 2 laps from the end. Cadwell is a very demanding circuit and by this time it seemed Steve and Ben Mossey had settled for their positions, I got close but was quite drained in the last 2 laps, I had two good looks at over taking Steve but I was never in position to give it a good go, the finish line was a godsend. I’d finished 13^th and was disappointed because if I hadn’t of fluffed the start I could have challenged for 10^th but was happy with my lap time of 1min 32.5.

Mark, Chris and Kells thought I’d pulled through well and showed god race pace. Mallory in 3 weeks time should be different, as hopefully we’ll have the race truck back and be more confident as I know Mallory very well.

P.S.  A big thanx to Mark from MHP and Chris for help beyond the call of duty + the missus for keeping us all fed and Watered.

SNETTERTON 4^TH AUGUST    MRO POWERBIKE

Before we arrived at Snetterton I had to pick the bike up from Dynotech, in our quest for more power Barry and I tried different size belmouths an adjustable ignition timer and a Techtronic quick shifter was put in place. The outcome of this was 5 more BHP at the back wheel by retarding the ignition 4 degrees to increase flame burn. (Did you understand that coz I didn’t)?

On the way to Snetterton my mate and fellow competitor Nick Chadwick called me on the mobile to say that he’d just won two races and come second in the other, this must be a highlight for him this year as if you think I’ve been unfortunate go and speak to Chadders he’ll have you in tears.

Once through the monsoon rain we picked on a nice clubby couple that offered to remove there bikes from the garage and donate it to us, we duly obliged and settled in.

The weather report was grim so I was a bit concerned for the morning.

 Kellie my Dad and I hopped into the truck for some kip hoping for a change in the weather and was surprised when we were greeted by Blue skies in the morning.

Off to scruteneering the bike passed o.k. and quick chat to Dave and Bernie whilst signing on. Bemsee were really hoping the rain laid off and so was I.

Untimed warm up came and I met Chadders in the warm up area, the track was mostly dry accept for a damp patch at Russells.

A quick 6 laps and I’d seemed to blow the cobwebs out, recording a best lap of 1min 12.9 which was not bad cold, next up Qualifying so a quick change of Dunlop’s and back out for the 18 min qualifying session.

I was pretty edgy for this one as I’m out of practice for qualifying and theres a bit of a knack to it, you get criticized if you dump it from the team but if you go carefully you qualify in about 90^th position and the team disown you, in previous years especially y2k I was really good at it so I need to find that confidence again.

I went out in the second wave of riders and by the 3^rd lap was straight into the 1min 11’s, then on the 4^th lap in nearly threw it away into the left hander of the esses braking to late and going in way deep, the Lord smiled on me and the Dunny front slick came good (THANX).

By the 6^th lap things were going well my pit board had stated 1 min 11.1 and this lap was gonna be a rocket, going into Russells chicane I needed to keep it smooth, as I exiting the left hander the bike just misfired and spluttered, Jesus was I upset, the next lap I rolled it into the pits, we found my foot had been adjusting the barrel of the quick shifter leaving it on maximum sensitivity (racers will understand).

I turned the quick shifter off and had 8 mins to get in the 1 min 10’s but now my head was all wrong and there was not a quick guy for a tow about, I got aggressive with it which doesn’t help and my last lap was a 1 min 10.9, I was disappointed, the quick shifter alone was worth 0.5 sec a lap and riding pissed off is the quickest way to hospital.

When the time sheets came out I qualified 11^th which cheered me up a bit, but if I had recorded half a second quicker I would been 6^th or 7^th (see where I’m going here excuse excuse).

Barry (the owner) and my Dad were working out a way to make the barrel stick in place so we could use it through the race, Francis Williamson had qualified on pole so well done to him, he’s also really old which gives me hope that I’ll be that quick when I’m 45..(Joke). 

After Lunch we saw the first Superteen race but up in the skies was dark black clouds, soon it was coming down monsoon style and there was rivers everywhere, this stopped play for a while, the next thing is that the garage flooded, we where having rain in biblical proportions, the tannoy announcement came that the meeting would be cancelled.

I felt let down and relieved, I didn’t want to race in conditions like this but I wanted to race as I felt a top 7 was on, we’ll have to wait for the next round now at Cadwell Park (what joy) a real difficult twisty track…. so my search for a trophy continues..

BRANDS HATCH 20/21^st JULY (LONG CIRCUIT)

 We arrived at Brands Hatch on Friday night to be greeted with a full paddock and some very impressive trucks, after thinking I’ve come a week late (World WSB) I found the normal people, the gazebo’s and transits, we found a space for the night and parked the van next to a very nice chap by the name of Toff Boy (Ben) who was cleaning his immaculate OWO1.

After a fairly good night sleep we were up bright and early, got the bike out of the truck and wandered up to scruteneering, everything checked out o.k. and I bumped into my old mate Mark Hill of M.H.P. Exhausts fame who was competing in the SS600 race.

Ten o’clock was the time for practice and Brands came flooding back to me, I really like the long circuit especially Dingle Dell which has got to be one of the hardest corners to set up, the bike was really going well, I seemed to have confidence in the front end but was just a bit of a tart going into Surtees, this corner is so difficult to line up but a good exit is paramount for the back straight.

1^st race.

 Because I have no championship points I was on the 8^th row, I had a cautious start but managed to make up some good ground, especially into my favourite parts (Paddock/Druids) on the 4^th lap I caught up with the dice for 5^th as it was hotting up a bit, I knew I had the pace to get past but didn’t want to get involved just Ghost ride through it, it took me about 4 corners (I think Westfield) to grab one place but still had another 2 riders to get past, an R1 rider was really strong on the brakes so I knew if I tried it at Druids or Paddock he may come back to me so Hawthorns was the chosen one, I grabbed a nice slipstream and whipped past ,next lap was the last one so I did my best to hold on to finish 5^th. 

2nd race.

This time I was on the second row due to my finishing position in the first race, the man to beat was Ben Mossey on Shakey Byrnes old Gisxer from last year.

The lights went green I had a good start entering paddock in about 4^th, 3rd by Druids then into a slipstream from a red GSXR1000, by Hawthorns I had grabbed second and was really up for it, Mossey had made about a  1 second advantage but through the start and finish I thought I matched him, by Surtees I felt pretty comfortable but red flags were to greet us by Hawthorns. An R1 had binned it coming out of Dingle Dell and we were held round the back of the track for some time.

Restart was to be held by Grid positions again over 5 laps not 7 as originally planned, I again got a good start and quickly slotted into second but this was short lived as on lap 2 the connector to the fuel pump came out and the bike was dead (Bollox).

We knew we might run into problems like this so everyone even the owner Barry was pretty calm about it. 

Sunday 21st July 

After a swift practice in the morning to clear my head (only 2 pints consumed that night) we were on Row 9 for the start, I felt absolutely no pressure being this far back as I knew to get a top 3 would be nigh on impossible.

The team had turned up, Barry the owner his son Tony, Big Chris my cousin, Tracy his wife and little Kris (he will be World Champion one day), Malcolm and the Crews also made an appearance and the awning was buzzing, Whoops missed out Kellie my missus as well. 

Race 1  

Got a good start into Paddock and made up around 10 places, another 5 into Druids, went over the line in 15^th place on the first lap but was really up for it, I can’t remember to much except the last lap I caught a white R1 up and passed him into Westfields and nearly caught Alex Symonds who to my disgust put in a effing quick last lap (well done). Overall I finished 5^th (again) but was thoroughly delighted we had got the times down to a 1 min 33.5 sec.

The team were well pleased with the result and we also received good commentary throughout.

 Race 2 

The pressure was on for a top 3 so I was feeling a bit nervous, we still had the same tyres we started Mallory on Wednesday so I making excuses already, I knew I was not a match (yet!!!joke!!!) For Mossey and Sam Cook but reckoned I could finish third if I got a good start.

Throughout lunch we received good vibes abut the bike from Mark, Felix, Damian and the Crews so we really had to put this into practice.

Lining up on the second row the lights went green and I was 4^th going into the first corner, I took 3^rd into Hawthorns by an up the inside move passing Kenny Everest but Cook and Mossey were really blitzing it by that point, the second lap I put my fastest times in a 1 min 33.2 but could see the gap extending, by lap four I was struggling as I has no-one to chase but could here someone behind me, my lines had deteriated and after a wide one at Westfield I looked behind to see Kenny snapping at my heals.

On lap 6 he came past down into Hawthorn after a big stupid wheelie out of Surtees which made me back off, I didn’t have the energy to fight as I’m lacking still in race fitness, the last lap was over and I came in 4^th but was chuffed with that..

 The team was still pleased and I felt I’d given it my best, well done to Kenny for a lovely move and waiting for the mistake, I’m sure I’ll do my best to repay you later on that score.

We believe that sticking on the Kawasaki route makes the bike more interesting to the public and we have shown it’s not that far away from being right up their, hopefully in the remaining races we can get quicker so please tune in and we hope you enjoy reading this column.

Mallory Test Day (July 17^th)

At last we have assembled the Kawasaki, lots of changes have been done but we did not expect it to take this long!!!!!!!

The changes of the bike from a Production ZX9R have been substantial and the bike does look a lot better, much more race like and pleasing to the eye.

Details of the changes are that the bike has been bored out to 1000cc (this is the reason for the delay as barrels from the bike were lost being couriered over from America), also we have full race wheels (Dymag 16.5 inch, thanx J.B. Racing), Trick 6 pot callipers (Pretech Engineering), lightened crank and gas flowed head (Pete Beale Tuning) and lots of hard work from the main sponsor and owner Barry (BB Reinforced Plastics) who has created a nice Gsxr/Zx9r hybrid fairing. The bike also sports adjustable yokes (Harris Brothers) we will let you know who we get on with this, as it’s new territory for us.

The bike produces 161 BHP @ the back wheel and 85 pound per foot of torque from Dynotechs Dyno. This pleased us as this engine has only done 500 miles and we need to fiddle around with the ignition advancer to see if the bike makes more power, anyway enough crap about the bike, the rider would like to know if he can still ride so on with the test day.

We arrived at Mallory at 10.45 as Dad and I still had some finishing touches to do (more zip ties) Tyre sponsor (Richard and Alan from RMS i sight) called to say the day was so nice that their on the way to see us as well.

First thing was to say hello to Stuart Hicken and collect my Sprockets (Stuart runs a Kawasaki backed Hawk Team in BSB), we ran through I number of things Dad had on his checklist and everything seemed o.k.

We fired the bike up (3^rd push) and warmed her up, I nipped out in the intermediate session for 5 laps to runs some tyres in and quickly realised Barry has created some evil machine that wants to rip my arms off, I safely came in after 5 laps and we checked the bike over and wound the steering damper onto 6 clicks from soft  as the bike was shaking its head a bit coming over the start line.

Next session I started to really put the bike and myself through its paces, to be honest I have not raced properly since October last year and was feeling a bit race rusty/unfit.

The times came down and I was really happy with the bike as it seemed to turn very well through the chicane and hold a good line round Gerrards, the bike seems 10 m.h.p.  quicker at least on the front and back straights, my Dad and Richard said the bike looked and sounded really good (MHP Exhausts) I had one moment when it span the back wheel going up to the hairpin so we really know the power is their.

Last session we really had to conserve tyres as I’m due to race these at Brands at the weekend, we continued for 8-10 laps recording a best time of 52.3 secs which is not bad for practice, we’ll see how we get on at the weekend and will go from there.