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A slightly different day Sunday. One of my pals from school lives in Castle Donington so he rallied the troops and a group of four guys from my home town came to watch me race. My plan for the season was to do only the Sound of Thunder due to costs. This seemed a little unfair considering people were travelling to watch me race so I entered the Powerbikes as well. This meant I was first race and last race in both the morning and afternoon. Ideal for spectators, they got to see me out there a few times.

  The Powerbikes was a busy grid and not being my normal class I was 20th on the grid. I wasn’t overly fussed and planned on using it as a bit of extra track time rather than pushing too hard. I put a scrub slick onto my spare rear wheel and used that for both my morning races. I had the same issue in the first race of the day as the previous day. Rear letting go, mainly in the right hand turns. Tyre pressures again but mostly sorted for my Sound of Thunder qualifier.

  I got a reasonable start but went backwards from about 14th place. I was comfortable the whole race and as soon as I spotted Dave Irons on his Ducati in front of me I decided to have a little play with him. He had proved difficult to pass the previous day so I followed him for three and a half laps to see where he was weakest. I made a point of watching how a couple of the quicker riders dealt with him then went by myself. I out broke him into the chicane again just to prove a point then pushed on a little to see if he would try to come by. He didn’t by choice. I knew that there were people watching me from the stands on the start straight. As I came out of the chicane on the penultimate lap the front wheel came up so instead of putting it down I held it for as long as I could. I got up to fourth gear but as I wasn’t totally hard on the throttle Irons went by as we came towards turn one. I was laughing in my helmet as I chased him down on the last lap. I got him back almost immediately but knew he wouldn’t let up and was surprised he didn’t show me a wheel at some point during the last lap. Out of the last chicane I saw the chequered flag and couldn’t resist, a little roll off and on again brought the front up and I wheelied over the line to finish in 20th position. Dave blasted by to finish 19th because I rolled off slightly. An enjoyable race.

  My Sound of Thunder qualifier was very similar to the previous day. A reasonable start then I got involved with Irons again. I spent four laps trying to get past him without being dangerous or rude and think that was the main problem. Sometimes you have to be rude. Chris Matthews again on his Ducati joined us and this prompted my first lunge. As we got on the gas towards the apex of turn two I could see Irons was going to hold Matthews up. They both tipped into the apex towards Craner curves so I ran a little wider and tried to run up the inside of both of them before the left down the hill. I got underneath Matthews but Irons rolled off big style just as he hit the apex. I was left with nowhere to go so had to brake hard, let Matthews by, then run straight on over the apex before tipping in towards the hairpin. I spoke to Chris afterwards and he said he thought I was mad, but needs must. As it was I had plenty in hand to deal with it, he just doesn't like going down Craner Curves. 

  Matthews got by Irons that lap and I could see him pulling away. I needed to do something; so on the following lap the rudeness came into play. I hung back from Irons going down Craner Curves so that I could carry more corner speed around the Hairpin to get the run on him up towards Mcleans. I caught him whilst cranked over just after the apex at Starkeys but instead of rolling off I just kept it pinned. The shift light was going crazy, flat out in fourth I rode underneath him around Schwantz, before the braking zone for Mcleans. Job done I got on with trying to catch Matthews. I finished just .38 of a second behind him with my two fastest laps of the race being the last two.

  After a lunch break and a rear wheel change I was ready for the championship races. I decided that I wasn’t going to mess around in the Powerbikes after lunch. I wanted a decent lap time and a better position that 20th. The wheelies were on hold.

  I had made a plan to stay ahead of Irons no matter what. Off the line towards Redgate I got the drop on him. As I was standing the bike up to get hard on the gas I was aware of him on the outside of me so I just held my line and squeezed him slightly. I didn’t see him again. My race consisted of a few ZX10s blasting past and Ben Marsden on his Kawasaki became my target. It took me a few laps to get up with him and I could see his traction control sorting things out around Mcleans. I decided that on lap five I would try and get him up towards Coppice. I just about got him but left him the smallest of gaps so he out braked me on the outside and beat me to the first apex. Not to be outdone I held a tighter line and as he ran wide before the second apex I powered underneath him onto the back straight. I didn’t see him again and he had a DNF so I hope I didn’t upset him too much. Nobody came to see me so I figure he had a mechanical failure. I ran steady 1:14s all race and finished 16th, which I was happy with. Only issue was the bike vibrating a little and I was concerned I may have lost a wheel weight but after a good going over there was nothing obvious.

  Final race of the day was the one that counted. The Sound of Thunder and I needed to beat James Harrison really but above all a top five finish was required. I can’t say I was impressed with my start but it did the job. Irons tried it on again and got squeezed…again. Chris Matthews was up there but I was running with the front group and was right behind James Harrison and James Stacey. Stacey just sneaks up and gets past so I was determined not to let him have an inch. I was looking beyond Stacey and focused on Harrison as he was riding well but as I tipped into the chicane at the end of the first lap I was surprised to see him spinning around on the ground. A quick decision to come hard left at the second apex meant I got a fairly easy pass on Stacey. I got my head down and started to close Matthews down. I’d got onto him by the start of lap five and was thinking about having him down Craner as I knew he didn’t like that section of track. As it was, his Ducati backfired as he shut the gas for Redgate and his hand went straight up. Another one gone and one less overtake for me. I was in fourth and that’s where I stayed.

Just a reminder that this is the place to get some quality fasteners should you need them. 

A day of prep getting the new bike sorted for boxing day racing. All the original KTM powerparts fairings off apart from the belly pan. KTM crash protection off and my R&G kit on. 

My new machine for next season. Less than 100 miles on it and practically brand new. I need to lockwire it, remove all the KTM race fairings, fit some crash protection and set the suspension up. 

Sunday 20 May 2012

 After fitting a new set of racetecs to the SpeedyFasteners RC8 on the Saturday evening I needed the first practice to scrub them. The track was dry but chilly so I went out and cracked ten laps at a fair pace. Happy with the bike and tyres I came in and waited for my qualifying.

 Qualifying was awesome. 12th on the grid again and I got up into 4th for the first corner by blasting between two bikes. I was buzzing after that as the gap was closing and I just went for it and held 4th for two laps. Then 5th for a couple of laps until I finally ended up having a bit of a scrap for 6th with another 675, Ryan Fawkes. I was just lining up for a last ditch effort to pass him on the final start finish straight and the footpeg scraped on the apex of the right hander coming onto the straight. The rear lifted slightly I lost a bit of momentum so finished in 6th.  I think my next purchase may be rearsets………

 The main race was very similar, 6th on the grid and I managed to get up into 4th briefly but didn’t hold it for a full lap. I did however managed to hold Ryan Fawkes off again until lap 8. I knew he was there as I could hear him at the hairpin and I could see his supporters on pit wall cheering him on. I wasn’t going to let him by easily. He finally passed me on the brakes into the hairpin after the start finish. I stayed in touch but just couldn’t pass him so I finished 6th again.

  Results here;