First Rides and Races on the new bike

March 6 & 7, 2004 - For those who don't know me, I started racing in the early 80's and in 89 and 90 I raced in the British Championships in the Supersport 400 class. I was just starting to make some headway when the economy fell apart at the end of 1990. My sponsorship for 91 dropped through, I was made redundant and had just bought a house - all in the same month All this added up to a temporary hold on my racing which lasted much longer than expected.

At the end of 2001 I had an opportunity do a one off endurance race. Following that, I joined KRC Endurance team Coyote Racing for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Although I really enjoy endurance racing, it's not that same as sprint racing and I've been wanting to get back into sprint racing for a long time.

At the end of last year I was looking for a race bike to compete in the 2004 Bemsee championship. I'd been looking for a Supersport 400 bike as the running costs are the cheapest while still being a real bike class. Things changed when my local dealer, Shane at A&M Motorcycles, arranged for me to have a look at a Yamaha R6 that was for sale from a racer that he co-sponsors.

The bike is quite old, a 98' model, but had a known history and had been well looked after. The suspension & handling was well set-up and it came with all the race data for most the circuits. The owner, Sean Baker, had just won the New Era club championship on it so it was definitely a good bike. With the help of Kailah the bike was bought and my class changed to the most competitive and largest - the Supersport 600's.

The new bike - first ride, Snetterton February 22

This was to learn the bike but the weather couldn't have been worse. It was wet and very cold. It's quite hard to learn a new bike in the wet but I went out anyway on dry tyres for the first few sessions. After lunch I
changed to wets and of course it stopped raining so my first session out in the dry was on wet tyres. It didn't make much difference though as I picked up a front wheel puncture down the back straight so missed that session.

I changed to a dry front and wet rear for the next session and at last managed to get one session in the dry(ish) conditions, although for only 15 minutes. My overall impression was that the bike was good, definitely fast and handled well. There was no real chance of finding the limits though as with the short sessions, many stopped mid-way, I only did about 70 miles in total.

Second ride - Brands Hatch practice day - March 5th

The weather was another disaster starting with dense fog that delayed the start until nearly lunchtime. The sessions out on track were wet with a couple of drying sessions later in the day. My last session was also cancelled as the fog came down again, so again I didn't have much time to really get to grips with the new bike.

Race 1- Qualifying - Saturday - March 6th

This was my first sprint race for over 13 years and I was really looking forward to it. The Supersport 600 class was oversubscribed and the 55 riders competing the class were split into two qualifying race groups.

As it was the first race of the season, the grid positions are given based on the previous year's championship position. With no points from last year, I was given grid 21 out of 27. I had a good start and picked up 10 places in the first corner, and a couple more in the opening laps then settled down to a steady pace. My lines were still unknown, so my riding was a little tentative but following the more experienced SS600 racers helped give me a finishing position of 13th, much better than expected and I was really pleased to make the main A final.


Race 2 - The A Final - Saturday - March 6th

The grid was made up of the fastest groups from each of the two earlier races. My 13th place in Race 1 gave me a grid position of 25th out of 38. My start was bad and most the field behind me came streaming past, but I regained some places in the first few laps and again settled down to a steady pace, finishing 26th.

I was quite happy with this and felt I still had a lot in reserve. My lines were better but could still be improved. Everything was seat of the pants stuff with no braking or turning points and just hitting whatever apex was available. It wasn't a very constructive way to ride but it just felt so good to be racing again. The track was generally dry with some damp patches and I was also pleased that I knocked couple of seconds off my lap times to get into the 52's.

This class is so competitive that my lap times were still a couple of seconds off the pace whereas in the other classes they would have been good enough for top 10 finishes.


Race 1 - Sunday - March 7th

This must have been one of my worst races ever. The track was soaked so we were out on full wets. My start was a disaster starting from 13th on the grid to being near last by the first corner. I put my head down and even though I was still tentative on wets with the bike, I clawed back 10 places finishing 19th.

Race 2 - A Final - Sunday - March 7th

I made the final but was given last place on the grid - 38th. My start was average, but I was determined not to be last, so held position up to the first corner, then weaved in and out of the tail enders through the first few corners picking up 10 placed. I settled into a steady pace and continued picking off another 3 riders to finish the race in 23rd place and I was quite pleased with my result.

Overall, the weekend was fantastic. I was back racing, I kept it upright, achieved better than my goals, met a lot of really nice people and even earned myself 3 Championship points. I couldn't have asked for a better start to the season.

I'm now looking forward to the next race at Snetterton in a couple of weeks time.
 

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