MRO Powerbike Tour:

Courtesy of www.braking-zone.com
who have lots of other useful information and pictures

Well the season has come to its final stage and we were back at Brands for the last time this year.

I tested the Suzuki on a cold Friday, as this was the first time I had ridden the bike here.

Paul Jenkins and myself went and I found the bike quite competitive round the Indy circuit.

After about 4.00 pm the weather cooled and I decided that this was enough for today, my best lap was a 49.1 which was not bad.

Keith (Sovereign Engineering team owner) had a good day and his lap timer showed that he got into a 48.8 so he was well chuffed.

Race Day

For the five minutes qualifying I tried an intermediate on the back of the bike which did not give me a good feel and after 4 laps the left handlebar loosened round Clearways so that was that.

Qualifying

I talked to me Dad before I went out for qualifying and decided to revert back to Lydden suspension set up as I had fiddled a bit too much with the front end of the bike and it just did not seem to give me the confidence I wanted.

After scrubbing in my new tyres for 2 laps I started to get my head down and on lap 6 I posted a 48.4 second lap draughting Damien Haywood who is a young upstart now looking good, waved yellows came out after this as a rider had gone down heavy at Paddock corner.

I pitted and my Dad and Chris told me that this should be enough for a front row position but I soldiered on looking for a better time but to be honest there was still debris on the track but I did post a couple more 48’s for good measure.

This is the fastest I have been at Brands but Sam and Ben Mossey both went quicker leaving me 3rd on the grid with an astonished Keith Webster (team mate) in 4th with a 48.8 second lap.

Not bad for the team really as this is the second consecutive time both Sovereign bikes have qualified on the front row.

Race

Unfortunately 10 minutes before our race the heavens opened and a short shower came down leaving the Powerbike grid with a damp track to contend with.

On the start I entered the first corner in 2nd place with Sam leading it was quite slippery at first so Richard Norris and Neil Faulkner came past, on lap 6 I started riding better and found more grip, then into Paddock corner on lap 7 I touched my knee down to find that my slider had fallen off (this is the first time a Wiz slider has ever done that to me).

It took me a few laps to get to grips with not placing my knee down and Ben Mossey came past as well.

On the last 3 laps I started to get my head together whilst scraping my leathers into the tarmac, on the last lap I caught up with Neil and Richard but went over the line just behind them recording the second fastest lap of the race finishing just inside the prize money in 5th.

Not the ending we had planned but a fair result my championship, luck just seemed to disappear a bit at the end but I am happy with 3rd place in the Championship as with a bit more luck on my side I could have been me at the top I think.

Season Thank you’s.

Well what a good season it has been, I have ridden to my best and my lap times have been faster this year on every track I have been to than before.

Lots of people have helped and supported me so we’ll start at the top

Keith Webster, Sovereign Engineering of Southampton. Many thanks for the loan of the Suzuki GSXR1000 which was really top class, we broke the Lydden Club lap record along with Richard, Sam and Ben this year recording a best lap of 41.7 secs had a 2nd place at Silverstone and been on the front row of the grid for 3 out of 4 races on it this year so not bad eh!

Barry Booth from BB Plastic’s. Thanks for the Kawasaki we really shook em up with it, it was ashame it ended at a pivotal time in the season but I understand your reason and hope BB Plastics remains strong in the industry.

Richard Ives, RMSi sight Ltd. Well what can I say been with me through 3 years of backing and came along and supported me through the tough times as well as the good ones. Well this year I have been on the front row enough so the T.V. public have seen the graphics I hope. Thankyou!!!!!

Pretech Callipers. Thanks for the Brakes on the Kawasaki looked stunning and worked great.

Dunlop Tyres. It aint just me who makes good lap times cheers Pat Walsh.

EBC Brake Pads on the Kawasaki.

Motorcycle HQ. Kawasaki dealer from West Drayton.

Flitwick Motorcycles and GLF Accessories and Pete Beale thanks for the little bits and general support of getting most nick knack’s at cost.

Supporters

Well these people ruin there Saturdays and Sundays to help me get to and from the meetings and have the craic they are;

John King, Cuz Chris, Uncle Brian, Uncle Dave, Malcolm and Gail, Martin R @ Family, Nick Wright, Simon and Nicola, Derek Scudder, Tony Booth and any others I have missed out.

Then there is the nucleus of My Dad and Mum and the Missus Kellie Burns who live with it most days thanks all.

Next season.

I will keep you informed at my plans for next year, as they say at this moment I’m open to offers but I’ll tell you more when I know more.

Many Thanks

Danny Imberg

THIRD PLACE MRO POWERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP.

Lydden Hill 4th & 5th October

Courtesy of www.braking-zone.com
who have lots of other useful information and pictures

Before we went to Lydden Keith (Team owner) and I sneaked a test at Lydden Hill with 100% Bikes the Friday before.

I also tested a car at Castle Coombe with Richard from RMSI that was also a great crack so track time I was not short of.

Before we went I also decided to enter the Lord of Lydden final as well, rumour was that there was big prize money in store for the top 3.

Race Day (Sat)

We arrived on Friday night to a semi full paddock and I picked the Suzuki up from HM Racing who had changed the fork seals for us after Lydden Hill so thanks to Dave and Perry for that.

Keith arrived early Saturday morning with his bike and we helped set up his awning and got the bikes scutineered, I felt quite confident for this meeting seeing as we had practiced and I know Lydden Hill real well.

Warm Up

The track was still cold so I took it quite carefully on scrubbed tyres and had about 7 laps to dial myself in properly, I found my flow after about 3 laps so qualifying would be interesting.

Qualifying

New tyres on board for this one so I took it quite easy for the first few laps then started to dial in some quick laps, mid session I got down to a 42.2 then hit some traffic, this was 0.5 secs faster than I went on the practice day so I cooled it for a few laps then attacked again and equalled my time.

To be honest I started to ride a bit too hard and my lines were not clean, as I came in I had qualified 2nd to Sam Corke who was flying.

Race 1

The front row of the grid was Sam Corke, Me, Ben Mossey and Keith Webster (team mate/owner) who was delighted & nervous when he found out.

My launch was good and I entered the first corner in 3rd place with Richard Norris holeshotting from the second row, I overtook Richard into the Left-hander and tried to catch Ben Mossey, I kept with Ben for about 5 laps when Sam Corke overtook which was expected.

After this I seem to lose touch a bit as I started to ride raggedly again losing time, Richard had started to catch me but as we entered the final 4 laps I seemed to get my act together again and made a good few passes on the back markers to finish 3rd.

Sunday

After speaking to the team I decided that we had probably gone the wrong way with the rear shock and eased of the compression damping a bit.

I decided to use a harder compound rear tyre for the next race as I was sliding a bit coming out of Chessons Drift late on in the race.

Warm Up

We ran a quick 5 minutes warm up which did not prove too much but I scrubbed in my new rear tyre.

Race 2

As I lined up on the grid I knew that I must beat Richard and Ben to try and rescue the title, Sam was on another mission so I knew it would be difficult to win the races this weekend.

As the green light flashed on I got the holeshot and lead the first 2 laps, I was riding wild and the Suzuki nearly tipped me over the highside a couple of times.

Sam came past and I tagged on to him for a bit, I was now starting to ride defensively until on lap 8 Richard Norris decided to try and ride round the outside of me into the left hander and we touched, it was not a dirty move but nearly ended the race for me and Richard there and then, we both sat up and nearly gravelled it and Ben shot through for 2nd place.

For the next 9 laps Richard and I went hammer and tongs at it, I fained a few passes until the penultimate lap where I got great drive out of Druid (a tight hairpin) and tried to go up the inside at paddock, at the last millisecond I had to let Richard have the corner as we were about to collide (maybe looking back I should have hit him anyway so I could say one all) but had to give way, on the last lap the backmarkers came into play and I could not find a way past.

The Championship kinda ended here, it’s still mathematically possible but needs Ben and Richard to take each other out at Brands and for me to win the race.

Mark Hill told me that the fat lady has sung yet but she’s warming up!!!!!

I was not too pleased when I got back to the paddock but I had given it 100% and you cannot ask for more than that.

Lord Of Lydden

I had qualified 3rd for this event and the race was filled with 600 & Powerbikes and the odd 250cc GP bike.

I got an average start entering 5th into the first corner, I beat up John Barnett on the brakes into the hairpin and set my sights on Kenny Everest in front, Kenny nearly binned it round the drift and that took me into 3rd place.

I was now catching Lee Dickinson on a 250 Honda, his bike was made for Lydden Hill and it is powerful, light and very agile.

My bike was wheel spinning everywhere in my attempts to catch him, I brought a 3 second gap down to 0.2 secs but could not overtake as his bike was so good out of corners.

I came 3rd which I was real happy about I picked up a nice cheque and trophy.

Sam Corke had won the race lapping only 4/10ths of a second quicker than me I also beat Ben Mossey as well.

Going into the last round at Brands Hatch I know feel I’m riding on top of my game and the bike is now really feeling like part of me.

It is a better bike than the Kawasaki it’s just taken a bit of time to adjust from one to the other.

Team mate Keith had good results as he finished 5th in race one 7th in race 2 and 7th in the Lord so as a team result it was a good for the Blue and Yellow Sovereign Engineering bikes!

Many Thanks to all the lads who came down to support me and I hope they have had a good time

Roll Call

Richard Ives, Chris Imberg, Nick and Malcolm and me Dad

Silverstone MRO Championship

Before we went to Silverstone I had another chance to ride/test the Suzuki at Mallory Park, we fiddled around with the bike a bit and I feel a little more at home on it. Whilst at Mallory I met the owner of the Keith Webster (Sovereign Engineering) who also took part in a couple of laps on his Suzuki K3.

Race Day

I did not have the time to partake in the practice day on Friday but I felt that we would do o.k. as other than the new chicane I had ridden Silverstone a couple of times.

I knew that Ben Mossey and Richard Norris would be well up for this round so we would see what times they were doing and hopefully be competitive.

Practice

We had 5 minutes unofficial practice where I discovered that the new chicane is quite tight, going into the corner is a nightmare on the brakes the front tyre is pushing, the back wheel feels like it’s hopping about then once your in the left hander you have to throw the bike right and get on the gas whilst hoping not highside!

We ride a fuel injected bike so when you get on the throttle the power comes in with a bit of a surge so all of this is quite tricky and something for me to get used to

On the last lap of untimed practice Karl Bristow on his Yamaha R1 and came past and showed me some quicker lines through the new section which helped.

Qualifying

I knew that we really needed a front row grid position to settle a few people comments that may think that I have found the new bike difficult to get on with

Once 5 laps in Scots rider William Monie was ahead and riding quite well, I tagged onto his slipstream and overtook up the inside into a 2nd gear left hander called Luffield, I was tidy through the new section and crossed the line recording a 1minute 4.7 seconds.

After this is was out on my own on the track and my times did not improve but stayed about the same.

Once the chequered flag came out I had recorded 3rd fastest from Warren Scott and Ben Mossey who had qualified about ¾ of a second in front of me. There was no sign of Championship leader Richard Norris either which now meant points were imperative.

Race

After speaking with the crew we decided that with only Lydden Hill and Brands coming up that this was the time to use my head and score as many points as possible

I lined up on the front row and as the light went green I launched the bike perfectly just getting squeezed into the first corner by Ben who then had a big tank slapper and we entered into Becketts side by side, Ben started to make a little gap through the new section and I was happy just to try and track him, Ben had practiced on the Friday and raced on Saturday so he was well dialled in.

On the 3rd lap Warren outbraked me into Luffield and really started moving in on Ben by this time I felt that I could not quite hold them and after a mistake into the chicane I decided to run my own race. By the mid part of the race Warren lobbed it whilst chasing Ben hard so I then looked behind me saw that I had a fair gap and cruised it home saving the bike and tyres.

Once on the last lap I knew 2nd was in the bag and that I had moved 20 points closer to Richard Norris in the championship.

It was nice to be interviewed on the big podium where the likes of Michael Schumacher have sprayed the crowds with champagne, it’s now getting closer to who wins the MRO Powerbike Championship and Lydden Hill may decide it as there is 50 points on offer after 2 races.

I feel there is still more to come from myself and the bike and have a few more changes planned for the bike before Lydden, in the meantime I am gonna train harder to make sure I’m fitter than ever for these remaining rounds.

Many thanks to the crew of Dad, John King, Chis, Malcolm, Glen, Barry and Tony
for the support and a big thanks to Sovereign Engineering for the use of the bike.

Ride the wheelie hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Picture courtesy of Terry Howe.

Cadwell Park MRO Championship

Lots of things happened before this meeting and I’m surprised we even made it due to my current sponsor BB Plastics having to pull out of racing for the moment, he needs to concentrate on his business and family for a while.

I would like to personally thank Barry for his assistance during the last 4 years he has sponsored me and wish him all the best in the future.

I called Bemsee (they run the MRO Champs) in the week before Cadwell basically to state that I had no competitive ride for Cadwell Park and would have to pull out, Dave who runs Bemsee stated he would ask about for me and see what he can come up with.

A few hours later he states that a guy in Southampton would loan me his Suzuki GSXR1000 for the meeting, also a few other people had called me with potential loans during this time so thanx to all concerned.

I called the Suzuki owner (Keith Webster of Sovereign Engineering) and he basically stated that I could pick the bike up whenever, he told me the spec of the bike and it sounded real good.

Race Day

After picking the bike up on Saturday morning Martin Ratcliffe and I journeyed up in his van as Dad had borrowed the race van as he’s competing in the Manx Grand Prix.

Barry from BB Plastics also came along to help out which was nice, as did John King.

Practice

I swung my leg over the Suzuki for the first time ever for 5 mins practice, after 2 laps I had not really familiarised myself with the bike, but one thing was that it was real quick but tankslapped a little down the start and finish.

Qualifying

At this point we had raised the forks slightly as she was turning into corners a bit quick for me, this had made it easier going into corners but I was still on a vast learning curve and I new a good result was going to be difficult.

After a few laps acclimatising myself I started stringing some good laps in and got down to a 1 min 32.4 before a I pitted as someone had dropped some debris around Chris Curve.

On my last lap I managed to put in a 1 min 31.5 that placed me 8th on the grid which considering my time on the bike was very good.

Race

I discussed the characteristics of the bike with Mark Hill of MHP and I was losing quite a lot of time into the corners as the brakes were to fierce lifting the back end up.

We slowed the rebound damping a couple of clicks but I was still feeling quite slow round the corners as the ZX9R and the Gisxer 1000 are completed different and I’d run out of time to meddle further with the handling.

My start was pretty poor which I put down to me being a bit cautious and found myself in 12th place for a few laps, I pushed past Aaron Zannotti after he made an error out of Barn corner and caught up with Simon Wright and Craig Fitzpatrick who were having a good dice, in them meantime Nick Chadwick binned it promoting me another place.

As I caught the dice for 8th I posted my fastest lap a 1min 31.3 which proves I was still learning, I passed Simon Wright without a problem but got stuck behind Craig till the end of the race as I was not quite confident of a harsh pass and I needed points as Champ leader Richard Norris had blown his engine and would not feature.

After the race I was a bit down but in the time we had I felt I’d done o.k. Kenny Everest spoke to me and said I’d done a good job which was nice of him.

I have had chance to speak with Keith Webster (the owner of the bike) who has kindly loaned me the bike till the end of the year, I will go to Mallory Park in a couple of weeks to get some more time on it and hopefully have a chance to play with a few settings to feel a bit more comfortable on the bike.

Many thanks to Keith Webster, Dave at Bemsee, Martin, Barry and John King for there effort, kindness and hard work, I am still 2nd in the championship and believe that this bike can see me go even quicker than on the Kawasaki once I get used to it.

MRO Powerbike Brands Hatch 3rd August.

After the busy weekend at Snetterton I felt the team deserved a trouble free race day.

During the week the bike had been to Dynotech and pipes were swapped over back to the Akrapovic headers and MHP End can as Mark had built the other exhaust on a Hot Cam engine, as this engine has stock cams the pipe does not suit it and gives different torque figures.

Other than that we remained as we were except a gearing change for Brands plus Pete Beale had got me some replacement EBC Prolites at a very very cheap price so thanx to him for that and for showing off his 40ft ex Simon Crafar motorhome (how the other half live eh).

I arrived with the other half at Brands Hatch on Saturday evening, made my way to the garages were I found an empty one.

I unloaded the bike and placed the screen on + I took the rear wheel out on chief mechanics say so as everyone was arriving on race day.

RACE DAY

After a good nights kip the crew started to arrive, this was a real family day as my Dad had bought his brother Uncle Brian and nephew Chris who usually comes anyway. Richard my cousin from my mothers side and owner of RMSi sight also brought his Dad Uncle Ron (also known as Uncle Dave for this meeting as when he usually comes, us Imberg’s always end up in the gravel so we renamed him) and Brother In Law Stuart.

Malcolm and Gail made it as did Barry (owner and proprietor of BB Plastics) and son Tony came as usual so now I had three times the amount of piss takers with us.

PRACTICE

Before I went out Nicky Chadwick asked to tag behind as he was struggling with riding the big Suzuki round Brands.

After a couple of dialling in laps I started to up the speed and after 5 laps the chequered flag came out.

Tony stated that I had placed a mid 49 secs on my last lap which was not bad so we got the bike back and shoved a new rear slick on for qualifying.

Track temperature was rising and the weather was warm, even though the weather was top notch the lap times were expected to be down a bit due to excess tyre wear and not enough oxygen in the air.

QUALIFYING

I went out feeling pretty pumped, Brands is one of my favourite tracks but this year I seem to go well pretty much anywhere.

After about 2 laps running in the rear slick I upped the pace and caught up with about 7 bikes, Brands being pretty tight in places means that you can only make 1-2 overtakes per lap, I dropped back and started running at them, 48.8 secs came up on board after 7 minutes which placed me 2nd quickest, I knew that I could probably get lower than that but I kept being baulked by slower traffic.

This was to be quickest lap in the end but I had some fun with Vince Whittle on his Ducati as I think we were both up to the same game by dropping back and then running a hot lap, in fact all I seem to do was see Vince throughout the whole meeting on the track, he must like green or summit.

I was dropped to 3rd place in the last moments by Ben Mossey but pole was only 0.2 secs from my time I had also out qualified Richard Norris champ leader so that was good.

I decided that the front end was a little stiff so I softened the front end by taking 1 click off compression to help with front end feel into Druids and Clearways.

RACE

We lined up on the grid, Neil Faulkner had qualified 2nd and Ben on pole so I had some work to do but felt like I had a chance.

AS the green light went I gotta another mediocre start and went into the first corner in 8th place, because we do not have a close ratio box the bike is useless getting of the line or else I am.

Into Paddock corner for the second time we were greeted but a sea of red flags, down in midfield they had some comings together unfortunately 3 riders were down including Nick Chadwick.

Race was now to be restarted over 14 laps and on the line I was interviewed by the commentator, I sounded a bit cheesed off when asked some questions so sorry about that!

Tried 1st gear instead of 2nd on this start but my launch was again a load of arse and I ended up 8th on the first lap.

I was stuck behind Tristen Palmer on his Suzuki (Winner of the previous round) and it took me a few laps to get past him, once past Tristen I moved in on Craig Fitzpatrick who I had diced with at Snetterton, again he held me up for a few laps with his daredevil braking, he was dicing with Northern Irelands Marshall Neil on a Suzuki who always starts really well then fades a bit. I eventually passed Craig and Marshall in the space of 3 corners and got my head down to try and chase the leaders. Neil, Ben and Richard were 5 secs away so as I pulled away from the chasing pack I could not make an advantage I finished a disappointed 4th.

The team reckoned I had delivered a good result on what kit is available to me, lap times showed that if my start was better I would have hung with the leaders which pissed me off more.

Ben pulled back some points on me and Richard Norris increased by a couple but there was no significant changes in the championship stakes.

We go to Cadwell in 2 weeks time for the next round, I feel like I’m riding well currently and the bike once away from the start will outturn anything else out there.

Many thanks for all my supporters for turning up at Brands sorry I had a bit of a grump on after the race I could have rode a bit better I personally I felt and I had let myself down a little or at least that’s what I think.

Note to the boys at Cadwell; sharpen your elbows as I’m coming through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snetterton 20th July MRO Championship

Before this event the Bike had undergone some tuning, MHP Performance had dyno’d the bike as well as fitting a hand made exhaust, Mark the proprietor reckoned he had found more drive and a little more top end from it and was pleased with this power graph results.

Pretech engineering had also given some new callipers to try in a nice green with red flash design specially for me (DI Replica’s you could say), Chris reckoned that they should improve the braking performance over race distance.

The team decided that we should practice on Friday to get some track time; I had not been on a bike for 4 weeks so I would be a little rusty.

Snetterton (Friday)

We booked in for Friday afternoon, weather was warm but breezy, John King and Jamie Cooper had come along to help me out and take the piss.

1st session went well and even though I was braking a little early for the fast corners I had slotted in a 1 min 11 sec dead which I was quite pleased about.

The bike seemed to be very quick and I was passing a fair few GSXR’s and R1’s.

Session 2, I started to build up well for this and I had posted a 1min 10.7 lap when the bike started misfiring into right handers, I became a little aggressive over the next 2 laps and slotted in a 1min 10.2 then came in to investigate the misfire. John had a look over the bike and found that one of the battery connecters had come loose so we fixed that and got ready for session 3 just to get some more laps in.

Session 3, Nick Chadwick had asked me to look out for him on track so we could see whose got the quickest bike, on lap 2 I spied him and his Suzuki, we filtered through some traffic and I started getting a tow from him, on lap 7 I got close coming through the start and finish, once gaining on him the motor cried enough and blew through the start and finish at 150mph!!!!!!!!!!

Once stopped I new the motor had seriously let go, we called Bazza and packed up and headed to West London where my spare engine awaited.

Sunday

The boys had worked hard on Saturday stripping the bike down, I went and collected bike Saturday afternoon but it was sounding rough when we fired her up.

On Sunday morning Dad and I fired the bike up again after putting new plugs in it, again it was not good, we decided to take out Mark Hill’s R6 out for practice as at that point the Kawasaki looked unlikely to be ready as the problem had not been found of why it was not firing on all cylinders.

Practice

A Yamaha R6 revs to 16500 rpm and this took some getting used too, it was in the Powerbike practice and was really slow down the straight but felt good round the corners, on lap 4 I posted a 1min 14.2 sec which was under a second slower than Mark’s best time.

Qualifying.

The carbs had been cleaned out and we fired the big Kwak up again, it sounded marginally better so we decided to give it a go with the R6 sitting in the pit lane if I needed to change bike’s immedialty.

On the first lap the bike was going o.k. I pitted and told the race crew Dad, Barry and Tony to get the pit board, qualifying went well the engine (no 2) was not as quick as Fridays motor but It would do, I filed through some slower riders hooking onto Richard Wallace on his Suzuki and my lap times came down to 1 min 10.9, as I passed Richard I managed a 1min 10.7, then I got a few clear laps in at the end with my best lap a 1 min 10 dead qualifying me in 6th place, not bad on old race tyres as we had not had time to change them.

Race

As I lined up on the grid my old adversary Nick Chadwick (Chadders) lined up next to me in 5th place. I scrubbed in my new tyres in the 2 warm up laps we were given and waited for the green light to come on, a few British Superstock riders had turned up for this meeting so there were a few names on the first 2 rows that we are familiar with.

As the G in green flashed I dumped the clutch and went into Richies (1ST Corner) in 6th place, onto Sears and on the back straight Marshall Neill came by then rode straight off the track at the end of the straight, I came over the line onto the second lap in 6th place following and blue and white Suzuki piloted by some guy who needs to work on his lines a touch!

Chadwick passed me by on the 2nd lap as the guy in front was making loads of mistakes holding me up, as soon as Chadders got by he overtook the crash waiting to happen who then blasted his bike back in front again.

Into Sears on the 3rd lap Nick had a big slide letting me through back passed him and trying to get passed this eventful Suzuki rider, on lap 4 he finally made a big mistake into the Esses and I managed to get by him.

I was now on a mission, the 2 riders in front were 3 secs away, in the space of 3 laps I was with them posting my fastest lap time and breaking the old MRO lap record recording a 1 min 9.17.

Once up with these guys who were squabbling over 3rd place I should have been able to pass them with ease as I was lapping quicker then them, but low and behold they have K3 Gsxr Suzuki’s which are faster than my bike down the straight, Snetterton is the fastest circuit we visit so I was all over them in the corners but could not get pass.

The riders in Front were Ian Hutchinson and Craig Fitzpatrick both from British Superstock series, they were having a real good battle but was holding me up badly as I had a lot more corner speed than them.

On the penultimate lap I rode round the outside of Hutchinson only to be passed down the start and finish straight, the last lap was a formality for me as I all I could do was to keep as close as I could to them, into Russell’s (the last corner) and right left chicane Hutchinson defended his line but was carrying too much speed and lost the front end, at the same time Craig Fitzpatrick ran wide on the left hander which only meant one thing, I passed em both and took the 3rd place.

I was delighted, I’d used my head and came out on top, after a few celebration wheelies on the slow down lap I came in and the crew were bouncing.

I was interviewed for the TV and by the circuit even Bernie and Dave BEMSEE organisers congratulated me, they new that we had been so up against it all weekend that this 3rd felt like a victory.

Richard Norris championship leader had come second and broken the lap record as well but there was a new winner Tristen Palmer so well done to him!

Still 2nd in Chamionship and now the only Kawasaki in the race so I think we are keeping the mean green tradition upheld.

Well I have to say a few thanks to certain people for this one

My Dad who never gave up and worked from Thursday Night till Sunday flat out, and for Mum for not getting in his hair whilst he was doing on all the work!

Barry Booth for also doing the work as well, I bet he has nightmares about pulling the air box off for the 20th time.

Mark Hill for the loan of his weirdly painted R6 and Mark and Damian Haywood for the potential Loan of the spare GSXR 1000.

Motorcycle HQ in Yiewsley West Drayton.

Picture Courtesy of www.bikermag.co.uk Last Lap Last corner

Cadwell Park Short Circuit 16th June

We arrived on Saturday night looking forward to a competitive race on Sunday.

After setting up camp my Dad and I had a cycle round the circuit, it had been a long time since I had raced round the short circuit, but from what I remember about the hairpin it was o.k.

Warm Up

We had not changed the bike since Brands so we were expecting a trouble free run this weekend, I knew that I really should get my head down early and once the first lap was over I steadily got into a rhythm.

Cadwell Park is a very physical circuit and the breaking into the hairpin and the changes of direction at the gooseneck (a fourth gear right and left) takes some strength.

My 5 minutes practice was over to quickly but I had caught Nick Chadwick up whose no slouch round Cadwell.

It was hard stopping the big Kwaka into the hairpin but I had a lot of feel from the front tyre going in and the bike is absolutely awesome into Mansfield so the suspension must be doing it’s job.

Qualifying.

We ran a new front tyre in qualifying as the rear looked in good shape after Brands, about 4 laps in I started catching Kenny Everest who has been going real well of late, he gave me the tow but the track temperature was hot and the rear end was sliding quite a bit, but thank to my sticky Dunlop’s it was progressive sliding.

Once I got up to Kenny I must admit fatigue set in a touch and as Kenny waved me past hoping to get my tow, I was about done, call me selfish but that’s racing.

After a couple of half hearted laps the chequered flag came out, my Dad told me I had qualified 2nd which was brilliant but Championship leader Richard Norris had over a second on all of us!! (My book of excuses is out already)

As soon as I had got my Leathers off the rear wheel came out and it was to Clive Horton to change the rear tyre for a new one.

Race

Picture courtesy of www.bikermag.co.uk

It was fair to say I was real nervous for this one, I had out qualified Ben Mossey and he was 3rd in the Championship only 5 points behind me.

As we lined up I really wanted to make a break but when the green light went I found myself behind Kenny and Ben in 4th place, Norris had made the break and was buggering off big time.

On lap 1 I held my position but Ben seemed a bit hot headed in front of me and his lines were not clean, I slipstreamed Ben down the back straight on lap 2 and passed him into Park corner, the Kawasaki’s top end power is really strong and I’m glad to report it probably had the legs on Ben’s. The brakes are stunning the Pretech Callipers work so well with the EBC Discs and bite real strong.

On lap 3 I caught up with Kenny but did not see an obvious way past, Kenny was riding real hard but his bike was not so good at the hairpin and at Mansfield but through Charlies 1 and 2 his bike had some real punch out of corners.

After feigning a few over takes it was time to let him know I was there for real, I pushed up the inside at the hairpin but ran a bit deep leaving us level on the way up to Coppice, into Coppice we nearly touched but I had to give, this started to Rattle Kenny a bit and for the next lap he was really fired up and it is fair to say his back end was out of line on the brakes a few times.

On lap 9 Kenny looked over his shoulder and saw me still there, at this point I thought I would not try and overtake just sit behind and see if I can push him into a mistake, into Mansfield I gained on the brakes as Kenny tried to cut a late line, his front end tucked on the apex of the corner and he fell down so I was now promoted to 2nd place.

I looked behind to see a good gap and just rode it round to the finish, I’ve got to admit I was struggling a touch on the concentration side in the last 3 laps, and every time the hairpin came up it was a struggle to stop.

On the last lap I had a good look round, no one was near me so I cruised it home to my first podium in the MRO Powerbike series and I was well happy.

Nick Chadwick had come 3rd as well so the Bedfordshire boys had done well.

My supporters Dad, Simon, Nicola, Graham and his missus said that they enjoyed the race and the sparks from my boots was worth coming for alone!!!

This ends the first half of the season, and at this rate Richard Norris better watch out!!!

Seriously though the bike is getting better and better and my riding is improving, we have consolidated 2nd in championship now, and I can really look forward to the 2nd half of the season to progress some more.

Many thanks to all my sponsors and supporters you are the best.

If any one would like to contribute to the race team please let me know your help would be appreciated.

Brand Hatch MRO Powerbike - Round 4

26/05/03.

The team was going to be a man down for Brands as my Dad had chosen to race his 350cc Honda at Snetterton where he found his touch again coming home with trophies.

The bike cadged a lift down with Martin Ratcliffe next to his mightily horsepowered Rs 250 Aprilia.

The engine change had been done in the meantime and Dynotech had found some more horses but the power that we want is still eluding us.

Once arrived at the circuit we set up camp and I went over to see some friends and to find the gossip!!!

Mark from MHP had been again consistent on his Yam R6 and was ready to enter the MRO 600 to get more track time. His results are really improving and now he is seen as quite a force in the Bemsee paddock, it seems he goes quicker as he gets slimmer so it must be all that time at the Gym eh, or maybe something about eating burnt pizza’s.

Zak gave me all the gossip from the days racing and he had some trophies to show for it + new plastic as well. (Zak will also have to give me £20.00 for adding his name on the site again as he was disappointed not to get a mention after Cadwell) Glad to see the hand is better!!!

I drove back to me Mums as the missus wanted to come for the first time this year.

Race Day

We arrived at the circuit to bright sunshine (an Omen for things to come I hope) and I had some duties to do on the bike.

Barry and Tony (BB Clan) were next to arriving closely followed by Malcolm, Gail and cuz Chris, we had not changed the gearing since Cadwell so I headed out for practice with the bike unchanged bar the engine.

Practice went well and Tony or Stato as we will now call him (Demon with the stopwatch) told me after 5 minutes we had got into 50sec bracket with a 50.20.

Personally the new engine had changed the characteristics of the bike, we now had no wheelies just real smooth horsepower, it felt slow but the clock don’t lie.

After practice the real wheel came out we changed the gearing and stuck on a new boot, whilst I measured the fuel.

Qualifying

I felt a real calmness going out to qualifying, Brands is probably my best track on equal with Mallory (old style).

After 2 laps I started upping the pace but a lap later the red flags were out, a big accident at Paddock had occurred with a Ducati rider in need of attention (I’m glad to say it was not as serious as first thought). After a 5 minute break we were back out on it, on lap 4 I registered a 49.20 (as quick as I’ve ever been round Brands) but then I hit a bit of a wall, I started to deck out round Graham Hill Bend (a left hand 3rd gear corner) and this was affecting my concentration a bit, on my last lap I gave it all but to be honest I was a bit scruffy on the bike and only qualified 6th.

Once we got the bike back I consulted the crew and after speaking with Mark MHP we decided to raise the forks 1mm and the back end 2 mm via Ride Height adjustment.

Race

After the initial 2 laps warm up I knew I needed a good start plus with the missus watching I knew that I had to show her that I’m still a real man (yeah yeah).

My initial Launch was good and I came into Paddock (First corner) about 6th but followed Alex Symon Wide into Druids (Tight Hairpin) and lost another place to Neil Faulkner on his Yamaha.

On lap 2 Neil broke down or did not want to play anymore so I had a few lunges at Alex on his R1.

I could not seem to get past him and Vince Whittle on his Ducati was making a tiny break on the both of us, I passed Alex 3 timed into Paddock but then would run wide and lose the momentum up the hill.

On lap 6 I managed to pass Alex (at last I here you cry) I stopped the bike into Paddock and blocked his exit and went into Druids late on the brakes, once clear Vince pushed the front too much on the Ducati and slid off, as did Ben Mossey from the lead at Druids.

I really got my head down and was charging trying to get to 3rd place Kenny Everest who was about 3 secs ahead of me, round Clearways the bike was really powersliding at the back wheel and Stato clocked me at 48.80 secs a couple of times.

On lap 13 there was a big crash at Druids with 2 Suzuki’s down and riders needing attention, I had not quite caught Kenny at the time but was definatly on a mission.

I finished 4th and was pretty content with that, the timekeepers credited me with a lap of 48.71 (the same as Sam Corke who finished second) and quicker than Kenny.

This has now placed me 2nd in the Championship so as you can imagine I’m cookahoop with that.

Onwards to Cadwell in 3 weeks time so lets see if we can go a couple better

Many thanks to my loyal supporters, also Martin and Crew for housing me whilst at Brands Hatch. And helping me with the transport, incidentally Martin finished his first MRO race this year with a 13th place and was quite happy with that.

Brands Hatch with Alex Symon in the Background
Picture Coutesy of Pete Wileman

The Mountain at Cadwell (there is a stonking picture to follow but you’ll have to wait for it)
Picture Coutesy of DDS Photographic

M.R.O POWERBIKE - ROUND 3

11^th MAY 2003

 We arrived at Cadwell Park on the Friday night as I was due to compete in the Bemsee Club National the day before, we hooked up with Martin Ratcliffe and adjoined our awning to his van.

We had an enjoyable evening and Martin brought his race mate Kevin down who provided power all weekend from his massive generator.

 Saturday

This dawned sunny and breezy (typical Cadwell Weather) and Practice went well, we had changed the suspension for Cadwell as something had gone wrong with the Compression setting at Oulton Park.

Race 1

As I am not a Championship regular for the Club meetings my position on the grid was 6^th row next to a competitor Ben Mossey. I had a reasonable start and ended the first lap about 10th place, on lap 2 whilst following Zak Barry; Rob Ellesmere had a massive low side, which kept us all interested.

On lap 3 I caught up with Ben Mossey who was also fighting his way through the pack and outbraked him into the hairpin.

On Lap 4 I managed to get into the top 4 when Ben returned the favour and passed Clinton Wood (a man you definatly do not want to knock off) I also passed Clinton into Park corner but by this time I had a high speed misfire developing on the bike, on the last lap I caught up with Ben a bit as he tried to pass the leader but just could not do it.

I was happy to take 3^rd after being so far back on the grid and had the 2^nd fastest time of the race.

Race 2

Did not start due to intermittent rain so no point risking the day after. 

Sunday

In free practice we tried some new Spark Plugs to cure the misfire and low and behold (after everyone said it was jets) the misfire went away, after 3 laps I had recorded a 1 min 33s lap time and was looking forward to a determined qualifying.

Qualifying

Owner Barry, his son Tony and his mate Jason a New Era Super sport runner turned up to cheer me on, also an old mate, mechanic Andy Leigh from Manchester and his friend turned up to help out (and he will hopefully come to a few more Northern rounds) to get there hands dirty.

Cadwell is a physically demanding circuit with not many straights and lots of difficult corners, it also has the mountain section which is more like a road circuit than a race track, at one point both wheels come off the ground and this is a spectators joy as there is always plenty of action.

I am not in love with Cadwell but after a good lap or time you can feel really proud of yourself.

After 5 laps I started upping the pace and got into the 1 min 31’s but on lap 6 I was slipstreaming a rider on the start and finish straight and he seemed to brake to hard for Coppice (a 5th gear right hander taken about 120 mph) it was a bit dodgy for a second as I smacked into his exhaust and nearly run off the track but I managed to keep both of us on the track.

 On lap 7 I managed a 1.31.5 sec lap but then the clutch started to cry enough and started slipping a bit, I kept out for another 2 laps but it did not improve so I pitted, a lap later the chequered flag came out.

Incidentally in the pit lane a young man hobbled over to check my bike out and have a chat IT WAS CHRIS WALKER yep the WSB Factory GSE rider who I raced against in the 400cc class in 1994. He said some kind words and I hope he gets back on pace real soon to show the foreigners how it is done.

Anyways we qualified 6^th which was not bad but I had the feeling it could go better, it was time the Mechanics got there hands dirty, so my Dad, Andy and Barry got working on the clutch whist I changed the front tyre and got some Water down me neck.

Race

My Dad had told me that I had virtually fried the clutch so to be careful on the start.

The lights went green and I got into the first corner in about 8^th place as I was conscious not to destroy all my hard work in qualifying, on Lap 2 Darren Mitchell went down I think and I nipped passed Richard Wallace on his GSXR and went to chase Kenny Everest on his Suzuki, it took me 2 laps to squeeze past Kenny who looked like he was wrestling his bike round, i managed to outbrake him into Mansfield (down hill 3^rd gear left hander). I got my head down (I was in 5^th place now) and started catching my old rival Nick Chadwick who was having a purple patch and riding real well, on lap 7 I managed to get within 3 seconds of him but then the little misfire at top end returned which halted my progress any further as my lap times dropped by about half a second.

I came in a tired 5^th but was really happy with the way the race went, my best lap was a 1min 30.7 which is 2 seconds faster than last year but to be honest the top 3 was different class this weekend.

I am now 4^th in the Championship and things are looking good, we have a new engine hopefully for Brands Hatch and this is the circuit that I like the best. 

Many thanks to my Dad for the hard work Barry and Andy Leigh for helping out and keeping busy.

Lodge Corner Oulton Park.

Oulton Park M.R.O Powerbike - Round 2

21/04/03.

We arrived at Oulton Park on Sunday Afternoon with Martin Ratcliffe as my Dad was racing at Pembrey.

The weather report looked o.k. For Monday and we set up camp then went to the bar for a pint or two.

When I awoke I the track was wet it had rained quite hard in the night and kept most of the riders awake, as we were all bleary eyed.

 Practice and Qualifying

 I had to scrub in my wets in my 5 minutes untimed qualifying and I could not get any confidence in the rear tyre, we fiddled with the suspension for qualifying then when it came to getting into a rhythm my visor started misting up and yellow flags were everywhere due to crashes.

I never quite felt comfortable in these conditions it was also misty, which made the entry and exit difficult to judge as well.

We qualified only 17^th, which I was understandably unhappy about but at least we made the grid unlike some others.

 Race

It seemed a long way back on the 5^th row but the weather had been kinder and the track was just about dry except for some damp patches, I knew that my first lap needed to be strong.

The green light went and I only held my position into the first corner, I really turned it on and passed about 5 riders into the new chicane and got my head down, on lap 6 I passed a really nice red Ducati Desmodici 999 and Danny Fowler on his R6, i then caught up with Paul Seward and Zak Barry on his Suzuki, Zak was riding well and I could not easily pass Seward, On lap 8 I was overtaken by Vince Whittle on a Ducati and the Kawasaki seemed to be not handling to well and my lack of dry practice was showing as my braking markers were out.

I knew I was strong into the chicane and the latter half of the circuit, Zak and Vince pulled a bit and Paul made some mistakes on his Yamaha, I passed him on the penultimate lap and got my head down and closed on Vince a bit to finish 6^th.

Zak had ridden really well for 4^th but also Championship leader Jez Goodhall had retired and Marshall Neil did not start due to a practice crash.

Once my position was confirmed we had moved to now 3rd in the championship, after a meeting like this was a bonus.

Many thanks to my wonderful team for putting in the effort sterling jobs done by

Martin, Barry, Chris and Nick.

SNETTERTON - Round 1

23/03/03

Racing has come round again and we are campaigning on the trusty old stock ZX9R (yeah right)

Modifications this year are new lightweight petrol tank (BB Plastics) and strengthened swinging arm (at Alutech of Houghton Regis)

The team decided to make the first round this year but before this we practiced at Lydden Hill and Mallory Park to get some miles under the belt.

Both practice days were successful but can’t say I’m too keen on the new Mallory Park.

Race Day;

                        Did not enter for the Saturday meeting as it was full when I tried so we knew we had to go for it from the off on Sunday.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and set up camp, we saw a few mates and unfortunately Mark Hill (MHP Exhausts) had tried the tarmac out already, pleased to say he was only walking wounded so not to bad but maybe it was deserved it for having such a good paintjob on his R6.

For unofficial practice we went out on cold tyres, the track was dry and weather sunny after a few nervous laps I started to get a move on and recorded a 1 min 11 sec lap time.

Fellow competitor Zak had been boasting how quick his Suzuki was and yeah ok you passed me down the straight so I think you’ve got a good drag bike… 

Qualifying;

                  We went out with new slicks on (587 Front Dunlop 602 Rear) and I took 3 laps to get up to speed, I chased a few lads down but thought I was stuck on 1 Min 11 sec laps (low and behold I was reading someone else’s pit board) I cam in after 8 mins and my Dad told me I was on 1 min 10.3 secs, I knew with the right tow I could get in the 9’s plus I told a few people as well so I had promises to keep, on the penultimate lap I placed a 1min 9.65 lap to place me third on the grid which stuck.

I cannot remember this as a great lap the only think I can put it down to is Barry’s new aerodynamic tank!!!!!!

The team was well pleased and I was a bit taken a back as we really thought that a top 10 was where we would be.

WE had dropped 2 teeth from unofficial Practice and the bike felt fast but the wheelies at Russell’s and Sears were getting towards uncontrollable.

Warmers were placed on and we know had to wait a nervous 3 hours for the race.

Front row would consist of

1. Francis Williamson (Yamaha)

2. Alex Symon (Yamaha)

3. Danny Imberg (KAWASAKI)

4. Jeremy Goodhall (Yamaha)

Erm just to add where were the Suzuki’s?????????????

Race

          Oh my God Cameras and they were on me yep this was my first front row for maybe 2 years (don’t mention Oulton 02) and I was nervous, yep sick nervous, real bad it hit me.

First start was shit about 8^th into the first corner chasing some Irishman and Ben Mossey, on the second lap Alex Symon (the lads stuck on flat out) binned it real quick into Corams (4^th gear about 115mph) and the race was restarted.

Next start was a bit better 6^th into first corner but now my front brake lever decided to extend it’s travel.

Championship favourite Francis high sided at the Esses and Goodhall was leading.

On the second lap the feeling in the brake leaver had come back but the tow was lost to 3^rd.

I started making ground on Ben Mossey after passing some cat on a yellow Suzuki, Ben was riding well but seemed to have the wheelie probs that I was having, on about lap 6 another Suzuki passed us (Declan Robe I think) we remained like this until we caught Richard Norris up who seemed to be slowing down.

WE all passed Richard and carried on our struggle on about lap 14 Ben got in front but was repassed by Robe who’s bike had about 5 mph on both of us, I made a conscience effort to keep up but not show my hand, I had the brakes on both of them so I was trying to keep to a plan.

On the last lap I passed Ben into Richies (first corner) and went after the Suzuki of Robe, down the back straight he pulled on me but both myself and Ben were close into the Esses, I could not justify an overtake as it would have been marginal so I followed him into the bomb hole but still no gap the last corner is Russells and he blocked the corner a tad so I couldn’t see a gap, if it had been later on in the season I might have just gone for it but not this early on as points are imperative…

4^th place was how we finished best result in MRO so far so real pleased.

The team was happy and I was pleased but a bit annoyed that 3^rd did not happen but there is plenty of time for it.

Well done to Jeremy for the win Bealy obviously builds good bikes if your purse strings are big enough (it cost 23k).

Off to Oulton Park on Easter Monday so here’s crossing my fingers for that one as I deserve a bit of luck there.

 Thanks to crew of

Roger Imberg, Bazza Booth, Martin Ratcliffe + Dad, Malcolm and MHP Crew.

SNETTERTONS BOMB HOLE

Mallory Practice Day 12th March 2003

Danny, Roger, John and I arrived at Mallory lunchtime to be greeted by fair but cold weather.

The bike needed some track time to assess the new tank that Barry (BB Reinforced Plastics) had developed with a much reduced form to increase the potential with regards to the high speed aerodynamic form.

The bike prep'd Danny went out on his first session with only one flying lap, a strange noise coming from the top of bike worried all but after closer inspection it was decided to be a combination of the air noise around the tank and more importantly a kink in the new fuel line starving the engine of fuel at high revs.

5 un-timed laps on the novice session proved successful and Danny came in to await his second practice session proper.

Practice 2
Lap       Individual           Cumulative
01         00:01:03.1
02         00:01:59.0        00:03:02.1
03         00:00:56.5        00:03:58.6
04         00:00:56.6        00:04:55.2
05         00:00:58.3        00:05:53.5
06         00:00:57.0        00:06:50.5
07         00:00:58.2        00:07:48.8

After a successful practice Danny came in and the bike was fueled for the 3rd and final practice of day.

Danny went out amongst a huge number bikes for this session and with black clouds looming we were all eager to see if he could get into a 55 sec lap, even with the new chicane that has completely spoilt probably the exciting part of the track just prior to the lake esses.

With a promising start building up to a 57 sec lap Danny got caught up in a battle with another very fast bike and under normal race conditions would have left standing at the new chicane however even with this distraction Danny put in the fastest time of his day with a 56.1 sec lap, astonishing when you consider that the chicane was thought to of added 4 seconds to lap time under race conditions.  We should therefore assume that the bike is nearly 2 seconds quicker than last year.

Practice 3
Lap   Individual       Cumulative
01     00:01:05.5
02     00:00:59.7     00:02:05.1
03     00:01:01.4     00:03:06.5
04     00:00:58.3     00:04:04.8
05     00:00:57.5     00:05:02.3
06     00:00:57.2     00:05:59.5
07     00:00:57.5     00:06:56.9
08     00:02:00.1     00:08:57.0
09     00:00:58.8     00:09:55.8
10     00:00:57.2     00:10:53.0
11     00:01:00.5     00:11:53.5
12     00:00:59.6     00:12:53.1
13     00:00:58.3     00:13:51.4
14     00:00:56.1     00:14:47.5
15     00:00:58.3     00:15:45.8
16     00:00:58.1     00:16:43.9

We are now looking forward to a solid ride at Snetterton in a couple of weeks where simply points would be good.