Second Race with Bemsee at Brands

July 14 & 15, 2004 - This was my second race at Brands. We arrived at the circuit on Thursday night to set up the Adopt a Racer tent. Being early allowed us to find a good spot for the tent. Friday was spent supporting Danny Palmer who was trying out a new bike for Riot Racing. Even though I needed more circuit knowledge I could not do the practice day due to the cost. It did mean that I could use my old tyres so the weekend’s expenses were a little lower. I had also entered the MRO round on the Sunday for more track time under race conditions, rather than just a practice day. Scrutineering was done on Friday and everything was ready for the next day.

Saturday practice

For the 10-minute practice session I just wanted to try out some lines and learn as much of the circuit as I could. The circuit was dry, even though there were heavy clouds threatening to rain. My lap times were a little slower than I hoped and I did not feel that I was riding well.

Saturday Race 1: Grid 11 – Finished 13th

My start was poor, loosing far too many places on the run up to the first corner. I made up a couple in Paddock (first corner) then three or four more at the next (Druids). Coming out of the first left hander a bike crashed in front of me and I had to brake. A whole group of bikes got through on the left and right. For the rest of the race I made up as much ground as I could but never felt that I was riding well at all. I should have finished around seventh at least, even if I had a mediocre race. This 600 group had a lot more fast riders than the other group and my race time would have placed me seventh in that group. Still, I did at least make the A final even if a bit far back on the grid.

Saturday Race 2: A Final - Grid 26 – Finished 5th

Weather conditions had been variable all day with showers on and off. My race was called as wet race conditions but the circuit was drying all the time. Tyre choice was very difficult but I chose to use a wet front and dry rear, as I don’t have any intermediates. In the collecting area a few bikes were on full wets with the majority on intermediates. I thought this would be a problem for my tyre choice. The sighting lap showed the circuit to be mainly dry with some wet patches. I was pleased that I had a dry rear but worried about the wet front, as a dry one would have been much better. My start was fair compared to my previous ones, only dropping four or five places on the run up to the first corner. I pushed hard to get to the outside and took a risk passing as many people as I could through the first corner, then the second and third ones as well. This seemed to get my brain into gear and I got my head down chasing and passing many in front of me. I knew I’d passed a lot of bikes but was quite surprised when I was told that I’d finished in fifth place. On the results sheet I had set the fourth fastest lap time and was under six seconds off finishing in second place. I was pleased with the result but was also lucky that the tricky conditions seemed to help me more than the other riders.

Sunday MRO Qualifying: Grid 30

The circuit was dry but the clouds looked like it would rain at any moment. I went out and decided that I needed a good time early on in the fifteen minute timed session, just in case it started to rain. Lap four was my best time. The following laps were difficult with yellow flags and heavy traffic. I think I slowed down too much for the yellow flags as the other riders just seem to ignore them. My plan was to get into 51 second lap times to ensure that I qualified. At the end I was a bit disappointed with my best time of 52.23 seconds.

Sunday MRO Race: Grid 30 – Finished 24th

Starting that far back was going to be difficult, but for a change I made a good start and made up a lot of places in the first couple of corners. On the exit of the left the bike in front of me slowed suddenly so I had to brake. Having lost the drive out of the corner made me slow so there were at least eight to ten bikes came past on the short straight, including Shaun Gilbert. I tucked in right behind him and passed Shaun a lap later. Shaun passed me back when I went into Druids a bit wide, and I passed him later on the brakes into Paddock. We had a good race together, very close to finish with me just ahead of him. I was hoping to do a bit better but was pleased with my result and my best time at Brands so far at a 51.4 second lap.

Overall it was a good weekend once again. I was fairly pleased with some of my riding but a disappointed with my first race on Saturday. I’m beginning to feel more comfortable and confident on the bike while still riding at 90% to keep a safety margin.

The next race is at Croix in France. I have not booked the practice on the Friday so will have to learn the circuit in the ten minute practice session. I hope to make the top fifteen but this will be difficult going.

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