Round 5 - Cadwell Park 21st - 23rd May (BSB)
On the Monday before this meet, I had planned to meet up with Cadwell Park's number one fan: BSB racer Peter Hickman. The idea was to get him on an SV and see if I could learn something from him. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to come at the last minute (something about Donington and pit bitching for his best mate Rob Butt). So, I tried to make do with the last available place on a No Limits trackday and no timing equipment. Needless to say, I was glad I got moved up from the Novice Group and just worked on my confidence and corner speed throughout the day... Shame! I had wanted to see Hicky's face after coming in on the SV. :D
As Rider Rep, I had the obligation of ensuring everyone's questions were answered and that everyone was in order. There were a few last-minute issues like someone not having a transponder but the reception that we received from MCRCB was really outstanding. From giving us a really useful rider briefing to physically coming up to our camping area and calling us down for the practices and races, they really did go all out to make us feel welcome.
The guys were all really excited. I was rather nervous because, despite all this blogging and status updates, etc, racing is quite a personal thing for me. Still, having serviced my forks with some new oil and brought a new quick action throttle to fit, I felt things might go well. The arrangements for the weekend were different from a normal BMCRC meet. There would be a 15 minute practice on the Friday (and in the evening), followed by the 15 minute qualifying session first thing on the Saturday. Race one would be in the evening on the Saturday and race two would be mid-morning on the Sunday. As it happens that was an extremely good timetable for watching the other races!
The practice times sheet showed me that I had a lot to do. I had been taken out by a rookie at the North Gloucester round about a month before the meet and still felt trepidation at Chris Curve. The sheets showed that my weakest sectors were indeed two and three. I still haven't quite got The Mountain sorted out, although I did feel a great deal better through Barn and was happily putting my knee down there. Cadwell is a long, complex circuit and I was happy that I had sorted at least one of the corners I had struggled with previously. On the speed traps, I was bang on mid-pack, so I knew I was messing up on the corners and that power wasn't particularly the issue (despite having only 65bhp compared with the series limit of 72). I need to speak to someone about an exhaust modification that they have made to their bike but not mine, yet... I put a new front tyre on and prayed for sun.
On Saturday morning's Qualification, I improved on my practice time but as usual didn't do particularly well. I constantly find that I am improving on my lap times throughout the weekend which says to me that I need more track time. Best I sort this new job out, then! Still, the laptimes were coming down for me and I had to look well on that. I finally found time to fit the quick action throttle afterwards and discovered that the Venhill throttle cable was too short. Luckily I had spoken to Team Haribo Starmix lead mechanic James Jackson and he sorted me out another one which didn't need to change the cable to be installed.
My mum and her friend Roger had booked a B&B for the weekend and were generally very pleased to be there, so I spent most of the time from Qualifying until race one showing them around and making sure they had enough shade etc. It was an incredibly hot weekend with highs of 27 degrees celcius and plenty of lobster impressions! My mum fell in love with Josh Brookes flying over the mountain and couldn't help but blab about him for at least half an hour. I neglected to tell her about the incident last year.
And suddenly race one was upon us. The atmosphere was electric and the guys were all jumping around: happy to be there. As I was leaving for the collecting area, I could tell there was something wrong with the bike. It was like it was running on one cylinder and the rev counter wasn't reacting in the same way I was manipulating the throttle. I tried to make my way because I knew we had no time to sort it out but the bike died on me. Luckily trustee team mechanics Mark Searle and Ian Soilleux ran to my rescue with an array of alleyn keys and quickly re-connected the crank case breather tube (would you believe that requires removal not only of the tank but also the seat unit, on the SV). I stayed calm and once back together, hurried along to the grid as safely as I could. The warm up lap had already started and I had no choice but to sit and wait for the grid to pass me and to start from the back of the grid.
I got a great start, making my way to Peter Thornton by Park Straight (10 places excluding the one that was supposed to be mine). Just as I was starting to get my mojo, the race was red-flagged and we were treated to a re-start. I had noticed that my throttle was sticking on slightly and in the absence of any alleyn keys or time hoped that by cooling it down waiting for the re-start, it would be enough for the five lap dash that would follow.
Pushing the bike back to the line on the instruction of the marshalls absolutely exhausted me in the sweltering heat. Still, the second start was ok, not as good as the first, but I got behind Justin Kelly. I'm the kind of rider that just gets on with it if I can, so when the throttle sticking on got worse and worse, I just used the clutch in the corners and tried to keep the rhythm going. However, after about 3 or 4 laps, I decided that it was getting too dangerous in places like Mansfield and Coppice and I pulled in. I had still managed to go as quick as I had in qualifying, so this was at least good to know that with an impediment, I could still keep up some pace.
Back at the awning, Mark Searle and I looked at the bike. He was gutted because he had been the last person to look at the bike and he felt it was his fault that it had fallen apart for me, but the cause was found to be a small piece of rubber that due to the age of the bike had come off and slid down the throttle cable, causing intermittent blockages on the movement of the throttle mechanism. I told him that I was fine because there was no championship at stake just yet. ;)
With the bike fixed, I set about sorting out the evening meal. It had been really nice that Londonbikers.com photographer friend Andrew Harbron and his photographer colleague Bonnie joined us on the night before, providing a great deal of entertainment. The chatting and eating on the Saturday went on until quite late and ended with a few of us watching the live band in one of the tents and mixing with the bigwigs in the bar.
Sunday morning left me really wondering where the weekend had gone. I was ready for a fight, given that I would have to start at the back of the grid, following my DNF in race one the day before. Of course it was race day and the place was pretty packed. I ignored the number of people waving all sorts of confusing flags and wearing all sorts of distracting colours and concentrated on the race.
The lights went out and the quick action throttle did its thing. I got a fair way up the pack and started to push forward. After a couple of laps, I saw Jason Soilleux ahead and followed him for a lap or so. Jason's bike is spot on the bhp limit of the class and Cadwell is a narrow circuit, so I was struggling to pass him. I finally managed it at Mansfield, pulling quite a harsh move on him but unfortunately also letting Mike Golden through. I followed Mike and Geoff Learwood for some laps and was finding it difficult to pass them, despite feeling that I was faster. I felt guilty for having pulled such a harsh move on Jason and this meant that I didnt take the few opportunities that presented themselves to me. As a result of that, Steve Wilson got the opportunity to overtake me and did. That annoyed me, but by then the last lap flag was out and I had lost all impetus to push.
Straight after the race ended, I went to speak with Jason who was very fair about the whole thing. One of the photographers captured my manoevre and it really does look very very close! I was placated by the fact that I had knocked over two seconds off my times. Another weekend of continuing to improve!!
The next round is Silverstone on 12th and 13th June, so I will have to settle a few gremlins there, having not enjoyed the last round there at all in 2008. It will be interesting to see how the resurfacing has changed things.
Still, I was very impressed with the BSB setup. I even had my lid cleaned and serviced by Arai and generally felt very comfortable in that environment, welcomed by the staff and impressed by the little extra touches. I explained the experience as visiting the five star hotel of racing. Bemsee will, however, be home for the foreseeable future. ;)
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