Competitive
Cadwell Park - Fast & Fiery
August 21, 2004 - This was a race
that I was looking forward to, having booked the Friday
practice day, before the race, to learn the circuit. We
arrived just before midnight on Thursday and had to
set-up in a field at the back of the paddock, as it was
already full.
Cadwell Park is a difficult and technical circuit. It’s
unforgiving being narrow and with very little run off.
The ‘woodlands’ section is very tight starting with a
difficult jump, leading to a series of flowing esses
into a very tight right hand and finishing with a
downhill off camber right hand corner with no run off
before the tyre wall. The rest of the circuit is also
challenging with a lot of changes in elevation.
Friday practice:
Friday practice did not go according to plan – it was
wet, again. As a result I did not get much chance to
learn the track but circulated in the sessions anyway to
get as much out of the conditions that I could. The bike
was going well as usual but somehow lost an engine
mounting bolt and crash bobbin. These were replaced and
scrutineering done at the end of the day, ready for
Saturday.
We ended the day with a BBQ in the rain and enjoyed the
company of Greville Ball and Phil Polden, along with
Phil’s unique sense of humour. Later in the evening I
got tangled in the awning guide rope, snapping it, then
stumbled into the BBQ. I hit it so hard with my shin
that it broke the cast iron grate and gouged out couple
of pieces of my leg.
Saturday Practice:
The weather had cleared up but the circuit was still
damp in places. I was on new tyres so the main aim was
to scrub these in along with getting some practice.
Saturday Race 1: Grid 13 –
Finished 10th
Starting from the fourth row I had an average start but
got a bit swamped going into the first corner, putting
me quite far back. Some of these places were re-taken on
the first lap getting back to around 15th at the start
of the second lap. I tried to get my head down and
concentrate on riding smoothly, which helped to pass a
few more. On the third lap I pulled an out braking move
at the end of the main straight, taking two riders in a
move that was a bit too close for comfort. I thought
there was a fair chance of taking the outside rider out
but had to make the pass. The race was red flagged on
the 4th lap due to a nasty crash. We were stopped on the
start line, with the intention of having a re-start.
While waiting there the rider that I though I’d been a
bit too close to on my out braking move complimented me
on the pass. A typical 600 rider attitude and it’s
really great to ride with others that are so fiercely
competitive. Ultimately, the race was not re-started as
it took a long time to clear the crash.
At the end I was fairly satisfied with my riding but a
bit disappointed that the race was stopped early. My lap
times were over three seconds faster that my last race
at Cadwell.
Saturday Race 2: Grid 10 –
Finished 13th
I had a plan for this race; to get a good start and let
the faster riders drag me along. I knew my lap times
were still too slow and had not even got the sub 1:40’s
that I set as a target for the Friday practice session.
Starting from the third row I got a good start and moved
into 5th by the end of the first corner. This was just
what I wanted. The first lap was hectic as usual and I
lost a couple of places by the end. For the rest of the
race I was riding harder than the first race, but not
riding as well. As a result I lost a lot of places as
was a bit disappointed to finish in 13th. My lap times
were still too slow and I had not improved my riding
over the first race, with far too much in reserve.
Still, I kept it upright and finished both races in the
points plus had a good weekend overall.
Saturday evening was spent with Kailah doing photo’s for
the BEMSEE calendar, and the rest of the evening with
her and RiOT racing.
General Comments:
My next race is at Brands where I hope to improve on my
lap times, also hoping to make it into the top 10
finishers. I still have a lot to learn there but have
good tyres after only doing three outings on them.
The 400 class was up to it’s usual high standard with
some outstanding racing once again. Richard Norris
looked to be trying very which paid off on Saturday with
a 3rd and a 4th. The 4th should have been better but he
missed the new chicane and had to drop back to avoid
gaining an advantage. He was well up for a podium finish
in the MRO race on Sunday but was unlucky to crash in a
first lap incident. Greville Ball wasn’t his usual self
on the circuit. with work and racing pressures on his
mind. But he was extremely generous to lend his bike to
Phil Polden his bike to do the Clubman's round in the
afternoon. Phil’s gearbox had blown up in the practice.
On top of this, Greville also lent his bike to Andy
Sprake to do the MRO round on the Sunday.
On the Sunday one of the transporters nearby caught
alight. The owner was out in his race and the door was
locked. I managed to get a fire extinguisher through the
window and kept some of the flames down. A whole bunch
of people came over, and the door was soon opened and
more fire extinguishers pumped in. The poor guy, he
arrived after crashing in his race to find a real mess
of his transporter. The fire crew eventually arrived and
pulled out his fridge, the cause of the fire. It could
have been a lot worse if there were not so many people
helping out.
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