Eglington in Joint Lead in Supersport 600 Championship

March 13, 2005 - This was the first round of the BEMSEE Nationwide Championship. It seemed like there were months to go and then suddenly only days. The new Yamaha R6 came in from Moores Motorcycles in February so preparations were under way as soon as possible. Getting a new bike into race spec doesn’t sound like a big job but it was very time consuming. During this time Kailah and I were also busy setting up our new business, Motorsport Marketing.

Although Phil Seton will be doing the tuning before the next Brands race, he had arranged the suspension for the new bike – a Penske rear shock and MC Technics re-valved front forks done by Darren Wnukoski, one of the UK’s top suspension experts. Phil got the settings all spot on, so I just fitted the suspension and did not change any settings. Top job by Phil and Darren.

Mark Hill built a new exhaust specifically for the 2005 model and once the fuelling was mapped on the dyno, the bike was ready to race. The power output is only a couple of bhp down on my old R6, but with a completely standard engine. Mark does a superb job and is always helping racers sort out their bikes.

I painted the fairings, just a very fast one coat job due to lack of time. It will all be re-painted before the next race. My son, Shaun, spent a lot of time helping with the bike preparation, making brackets, fitting brake lines, changing oil and general work. He probably did more than me and is just so attentive to detail that I don’t even need to check what he’s done. Thanks Shaun. There are still a few things that could be done but the bike was ready enough to race.

Our new team clothing was finished off on Thursday evening and looked good for the weekend. I was kitted out in new leathers, temporary ones with thanks going out to Tony Jiminez for loaning me these and to Phill and James Haynes for arranging to get them to me at the last minute. I also had my new Oxtar boots and Uvex helmet so everything looked really good. Again, thanks to Moores Racing for supplying these.

We arrived at Snetterton after Midnight on Thursday and eventually finished setting up at about 2:30 so had little sleep. Cherie kindly made us a cup of coffee while we unpacked.

My goals for the weekend were to place as high as I could without risking anything while learning the new bike. I had hoped to be around 5th to 10th place. The competition were, as usual, out on bikes that had around 20bhp more than mine so I knew the going would be tough.


Friday Practice:

The bike was fitted with a new Metzeler Racetec front tyre and an old Pirelli rear just to get the feel of the bike on the circuit. A new Metzeler Racetec rear tyre was already on the rim ready for Saturday, supplied by John Sanders of EDI Asia at the end of last year but un-used due to rain at Brands. John had also kindly given me a new set of tyres for the start of the season so I got Alan Russell of A&R Racing to fit a new set of Dunlop wets on Friday night just in case it rained on Saturday or Sunday. My thanks go out to John for his generous and continuing support of myself and the whole Adopt a Racer scheme.

Friday started out dry but cold, giving me three sessions to try out the bike. Everything seemed ok but I couldn’t tell if the suspension was working because I was so slow on the slippery track.

The track had been salted to get rid of the ice. Daytime temperature was only just above freezing and track temperature probably never got above 1 degree. By the afternoon sessions it had started raining and sleeting so I decided not to go out and take any risks. It also kept the bike nice and clean for scrutineering on Friday afternoon, which it passed easily.


Saturday Practice:

Saturday dawned dry, cold and windy. The practice session was done with caution because of damp patches, oil and salt on the track. The new rear tyre was fitted to scrub in ready for the race.


Saturday Race 1: Grid 4 – Finished 2nd

I was placed on the front row of the grid. As expected my start was not great being the first start on the new bike, running into the first corner in about 6th place. A good drive out got me through into second and coming into the second corner, the leader crashed on the brakes. I got past his bike and was lucky to get a small lead on the rest of the field. By the end of the straight one bike had come past but I out-braked him to retain the lead all the way across the line for the first lap. It did feel good to lead the first lap of the first race. The inevitable happened though, and I was passed on the back straight and could not even hold on in the slipstream. It probably helped a little and kept me just enough ahead of third place to get back on the brakes each time I was passed at the end of the straight.

This was a far better than expected start to the season with a second place equalling my best position for last season.

Saturday Race 2: Grid 2 – Finished 3rd

From the front row again and my start was poor. Five or six bikes got past on the run up to the first corner so I decided to risk an outside passing move. We were three abreast at the first apex when the bike on the inside picked up, pushing the middle bike wide and me on the outside onto the grass at high speed. This is not something I have much experience with as I prefer to stay on the tar. Still, I kept it upright, letting the bike slow and returned onto the circuit in last place with the tail end of the pack already half way down the main straight. I had to be careful through the first corners as I had dirty tyres. By the end of the lap I was making progress and had passed at least seven bikes in one move on the brakes at the end of the main straight. I was picking of places at quite a rate and had got up to about tenth place when the race was stopped. The red flag came out at the end of the back straight just as I was executing an out braking manoeuvre on a whole pack of bikes. Being flat out, with my head down the first I knew there was a problem was when I saw a rider with his hand up. Everyone was braking and I had to do a panic stop at 165mph (the speedo was showing 175mph at that point). There was no way I could slow down in time, so with the brakes full on and the bike sliding from side to side I weaved through between the bikes and eventually managed to stop. It was a bit close. Luck was on my side as this meant a 5 lap restart in original grid positions and a new chance to improve my position.

The restart went a bit better, still a poor start off the line but around 6th out of the first corner was better than last place. By the end of the first lap I was in 4th place. During the race I was overtaken a number of times on the back straight, and when avoiding crashed riders. It seemed that every time I started to get through someone would crash in front of me and I would get swamped by the bikes behind. Towards the end of the race Shaun Gilbert passed me. I passed him back twice around the outside at Corams to eventually finish in third place, just 1.7 seconds behind first place. Another better than expected result, and at the end of the day’s racing I was leading the championship.


Sunday Race 1: Grid 3 – Finished 4th

Sunday’s first race was very cold, and the circuit unpredictable due to cold surface and a lot of oil. My start was fair but I still lost a number of places by the first corner. There was a lot of passing and re-passing to hold onto my fourth place, but eventually I crossed the line in fifth place after being overtaken under yellow flags. The results were amended giving the guilty rider a 10 second penalty putting me back into fourth place. I was still happy with my position as I was only 2.7 seconds behind first place in a very tight group. The bike was handling well but we were all still a bit slow due to the conditions.


Sunday Race 2: Grid 4 – Finished 7th

The good start that I needed turned out to be rather bad. I was swamped before the first corner and pushed back to about tenth place or worse. A few hectic passing moves got me back onto the tail of the leading bunch by the end of the first lap. From then on I kept passing only to be re-passed on the straights. Finishing in seventh place I was 4.5 seconds off the winner. Shaun Gilbert had done what I’d hoped for – making an early break away with a big enough gap so the faster bikes could not get past on the straights. It looked like Shaun was going to take a well deserved win but a small mistake allowed the chasing pack to close in and pick him off on the straights. Shaun was the only other standard bike up at the front. He eventually finished in fifth place, just 2 seconds in front of me.


General Comments:

I was well pleased with my overall results and came away in the joint lead of the championship. In race two on Saturday I set the second fastest lap time. Throughout the whole weekend I was riding with some reserve to minimise the chance of crashing. I only had one slide over the whole weekend, in the last lap of the last race around Corams (second last corner) while trying to make up a place. My braking points were a little early and my turning into corners a bit early.

I’m looking forward to the season and hope to do well in the championship. I’ll be missing Rounds 2 and 3 at Lydden which will put me quite far back on the grid for my first race at Brands. The bike will be tuned but I’ll still have a lot of work to do to get through the field.

A special thanks for making this all possible goes out to my sponsors and helpers: Moores Motorcycles for supplying the bike, John Sanders of EDI Asia for helping with new tyres for a great start, my employers at EDP for all the time off work to make it happen, my son for all the help in preparing the bike and being there to help on the weekend, Phil Seton for setting up the suspension so well that no changes were needed, Mark Hill for making such a good exhaust system and last but not least, Kailah for all her support and keeping the day on track.

It was great to see all the old faces at the first race. The four month gap just vanished. Greville had an very unlucky incident in which he broke his hand very badly and will be out of action for most of the season. Alan Russell also had an unfortunate crash which damaged his bike too badly to carry on for the weekend. The rest of the AaR crew had some good races with the memorable ones being Richard Norris who just disappeared in the Supersport 400 class. Phil Polden, Danny Palmer and Cherie kept it up for the Adopt a Racer riders. Phil is looking better and better and is sure to be a contender this year. Nick Sanders took a superb second place in the YPM’s with Trouty unlucky to crash once again. It was good to see Mark Talbot and Sam coming along to support all the Adopt a Racer crew. Also my thanks go out to Lindsay and Fraser, Michael, Karen and all the marshals for their support and encouragement. It’s always so good to see all the BEMSEE racers and officials. It’s good to be back racing.

We all missed Pat and Caz Robinson, while they are establishing their new home in France. We are looking forward to Pat being back at the Brands round.

 

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