Final Round - Mallory Park 23 September 2001

Pre-Meeting 
Well, here we are at the final round of the Motorcycle Racing Organisation Championship. It has just whizzed by at an alarming rate which I guess is due to the large gaps we had in the year between each round almost made each race feel like the first. Bit like sex really. I mean, not that it is fast, but if you have not had it for a while etc...etc....

This last round is even more historic and emotional (Sob...Sob...Sniffle.....Sniffle) for me as I have sold my bike (tissues please) and decided to keep the bank manager happy (Fascist bully boy) by not racing for a year, rather than struggle on and get further into debt. A sensible attitude (who would have thought it), but one that has been forced upon me as I feel I am still learning the craft of racing and know I can go faster with more time. I need a T-shirt that says,"The older I get, the faster I am". I already have the other version.

Oh, if you are printing this to read on the toilet later (appears to be the favourite moment for most) I suggest you wait for a really big one as this may take some time to read.

Thursday I was invited to a Formula 1 rest day at Silverstone where there was hospitality laid on all day. I have never seen a F1 car at fullchat, so I jumped at the chance to see how the other half live.

I thought my garage at home was reasonable, but their set up must cost thousands:

The weird thing for me was they looked no faster than the Superbikes, except one part of the international track where the bikes never venture to. You shoot along a fairly long staraight approaching a fast right hander which is also slightly off camber. Most cars were braking at the 100m board. The bravest man out there was Coultard who was still flat out at the 100m marker and just turned into the corner with the brakes applied and accellerated out. I was convinced he had pushed it too far, but he did it every lap. 

I would hate to be a mechanic on these things as they sound really ill at low revs, coughing, banging, spluttering and missfiring until they get on song and then they make your ears bleed. Nice noise if you are a masacist. 

I was on hand to offer Eddie Jordan some expert guidance, but they all buggered off and left me:

With the 250GP Championship being so close at the top (I am 6 points ahead of 4th place, 3 points behind 2nd and 25 behind 1st) anything can happen at this meeting so I set up the bike with more precision than a Swiss watch movement.

The powervalves have never actually been set as laid down in the Honda manual as my only concern was that they opened fully at peak revs in the past. So, I spent hours measuring the link arms and setting them as per the Manual just to see if Honda really knew their stuff, then adjusting the cables until it all slotted into place as per the book (clever buggers) and I knew this would offer better drive out of the slow sections at Mallory.

A 15/39 final drive was selected using the eny miny miny mo technique (We found the ick dick dog shit, you're it version failed us at Castle Coombe), with a standard gearbox. I would have liked to run 15/40, however the chain was not long enough and as the Honda has an eccentric cam (that does not mean it has a pipe and slippers and is completely drunken barking mad. That's known as ecsentric) to adjust chain tension, it would have reduced the wheelbase too much, plus affected the rear ride height with the few additional links I had to hand.

The front forks were stripped (Oh, suits you) and both heavy springs were inserted to enable me to carry out late braking moves (essential at Mallory) into the hairpin and at the Esses. 7.5wt oil was renewed and an air gap of 120mm set. In hind sight a 115mm air gap would have been better to stop the forks bottoming on the last part of the brakinb into the hairpin.

It's amazing how other bikes look wildly out of control wagging their tails braking into the hairpin, but our bike is well behaved and very stable due to the extra force required to compress the springs.

The preload was wound right out as the heavy springs have much less sag in them than the standard ones, hence the ride height is slightly higher, but offers better ground clearance which is good for Gerrads.

All set, polished and ready to rumble. The bike looked pretty good too.

Saturday 22nd September
I called the circuit and was told that as the circuit was hired for the day, we would not gain entry until 5pm. We arranged to set off at 2pm, however the phone rang at 1.55pm which was Steve saying he could not make it. I guess that's one of the joys of working for the RAF in that you can never plan in advance, especially with the recent tragic USA issue making every country nervous.

I replaced my very disappointed head with my understanding head and said not to worry, I'll manage. You little Bugger! (Ooops! did I say that out loud?).

We arrived at 4.30pm and joined the back of the ever lengthening que.

What always make us laugh at this circuit is it's advertised as "The Friendly Circuit" which I would love to hear the history behind that slogan as all we see is the Gestapo at the gate giving you the big "remember your pass or I will remove your finger nails one by one" lecture every time we arrive, plus the sense of humour failure that makes the whole exchange of words like performing to a non-English speaking audience at a London comedy shop, who are also very, very deaf.

We set up camp, Penny put the kettle...kettle on...kettle on, Penny put the kettle on all day long! I did my Paul Daniels move and disappeared into the mist of the paddock looking for a chat....and a free beer.

After a fine curry (Phaarp!) we were joined by Darren Jones and Jo for a beer and a chat whilst watching TV. Darren eventually made his weary way to bed and as a true die hard, I ended up in Andy Tiptons awning and we drank and talked bollocks all night. Well, I actually did the talking bollocks (no surprise there) and they just listened. These Race Reports are a true reflection of the amount of bollocks I can talk when I get going and I write these when I am sober, so you can imagine what it's like after a few sherberts...Bla....Bla......Bla.....Yawn. It was a little late when I got back to the caravan and Penny had gone to bed....Phew! Love it when a plan comes together. (just kidding).

The paddock was very, very quiet (was that a pin dropping?) which reflected the level of seriousness about tomorrow's races. Quite a few championships were going to be decided tomorrow and everyone appeared to be having an early night, except us of course. Party On Wayne! Excellent!

Sunday 23rd September - Free Practice
7.30am start................Owwch my head! Got any resolve?

Penny walked the bike to scruitineering while I climbed into my play suit (Ooops! that was last night, I mean leathers) and got the clothing passed. After signing on I checked the bike over and was confident all looked well and even better after a shave and a quick squirt of 'Reggae Splash' which was kindly brought back from Jamaica for me my our neighbour. Smells like horses.........

When we were finally called to the pit lane (good tannoy system here) I was looking forward to seeing how the bike would perform after making such huge changes to the powervalve set up.

Once out on track I realised that there was something not quite right. The bike struggled to pull the high revs and I wondered if it was running way too rich. As we only has 5 minutes there was not time to rejet now so I plug chopped and drifted back to the awning.

The plugs looked rich so I jetted down one rank to 185/188.

A new rear 701 Dunlop slick was fitted (Sod the expense) and the warmers were put back on. After almost an hour we actually flicked the switch to allow the warmers to work (Ooops!).

Sunday 23rd September - Qualifying
As we circulated for the first lap I was conceous that the tyres are not quite up to temperature, however as I approached the Esses I witnesses one rider loosing the rear on the exit and going over the highside. This in turn took another rider out and I braked to avoid all the carnage.

The first thing that came to mind was, "You prize plonker!". This was the first lap, otherwise known as a 'sighting lap' which is where you go round the track at a steady pace to observe any damp patches, danger areas etc...etc... This half wit obviously though it was a race already and went ballistic from the word go on cold tyres and paid the expensive and undoutably painful price. I just feel sorry for the poor lad that had nowhere to go but off the track and take his chance with the armaco. If that was me I would be wandering round to the awning with sleeves rolled up requesting an explanation. That was no racing incident, just pure ego getting the better of common sense. Now, go to bed without any supper.

I was hoping that the red flags would be raised to clear the bikes as it was now obvious that my bike had a big problem. I circulated for one more lap and had to go into the pits. I was embarassed of the lack of speed.

Penny came over and I asked her (Ok, I told her in a panicked voice) to get the jet kit as the bike felt worse than the practice session which indicated we had gone the wrong way with the jetting, even though it indicated rich on he plug electrode.

As Penny rushed down to the paddock my mother arrived and I asked her to hold the bike. I rushed after Penny thinking that she may not know which tools are required (a bit sexist I know) to change the jets. Believe me, sprinting in leathers and boots really takes some effort as you feel as though you are running in a cardboard suit with clowns feet attached. Actually my boots are just as colourful.

I passed Penny (Whooossshhh!), took the laurels and started getting the tools ready. Then I sprinted back to pit lane where Mike Hertberg's mechanic helped me to do the job of changing jets. I imagine that sprint was entertaining for the people on the pit lane, but I was knackered.

New richer jets in and off I went again.

Oh NO! The bike was just the same, if not worse.

I had no more time to do anything else and just had to try my best to set a fast lap while being restricted to 10,000rpm as the bike had no go in it at all. It was gutless and every man and his dog shot past me on the straights. The final straw was when I could feel bees hitting the back of my helmet. I concentrated on getting into corners fast, keeping up corner speed and braking as late as I dared. This paid off and I managed to qualify 12th out of 24.

Pole was set at 0.49.63s by Lee Dickinson which was over a second clear of Jeremy Goodal in 2nd place and I was wondering if I could get into the 49's later. Dean Johnson was 3rd and Mike Herzberg was 4th. What was my time? As if I am going to print that here for all you to laugh at.

Mike's front row start was bad news for me as I had to finish either in front, or directly behind him to secure 3rd position in the championship. My 3rd row start was not going to make that task easy, especially as his TZ is also very rapid (Mike was a British 'Wild Card' rider in this years World GP at Donington).

I was gutted at what had happened in qualifying and to say I threw my dummy out of the pram was an understatement. To say I threw my dummy out and then threw the pram away and set fire to it would have been nearer the truth. It just felt that my championship hopes had been shattered by what appeared to be a powervalve linkage arm bolt falling out. My fault I know, but still devastating as I can go well at this circuit as it's all about corner speed.

It was powervalve problems at the same MRO meeting last year that caused me to qualify 7th and then go on to win the race and set a new lap record in the class which was also the fastest lap of the day out of all the classes. (That lot sounded like Foggarty then, but with added trumpets and a bit more me...me...me).

My father had just turned up and offered the following words of wisdom, "Don't worry about the championship son, just go out and enjoy your last ride".

I bit my tongue so hard I thought it would bleed, or burst as I wondered for a second if he would have chosen slightly different words after considering the bigger picture such as; I have spent a whole year being broke and spending all my spare money on racing, all my spare time is spent with the bike until silly hours at night, loosing skin off my knuckles, the sweat, the blood, the aching, the endless training in the gym, the emotional highs and lows, the tears wept through bad luck striking when all was going well, the anguish and gut wrenching nerves before each race, the splitting with the girlfriend due to the pressure of racing was just too much to handle at the same time as having a serious relationship plus having to drive hundreds of miles towing a caravan which allows acceleration so slow I feel as though I have aged upon returning from a race meeting.

Guess what I wanted to say?..........................................................Exactly!

Instead I tried to be calm and just say, "I have chased this championship all year and I do not expect to go for a Sunday ride just because I have a problem". I then walked away before the firm grip on my tongue slipped and I said something a little stronger, and of course, out of character.

I assembled the bike and crossed my fingers that all would be well for the race. It certainly sounded better at high revs on the stand.

During the wait I had a chat with Jeremy Goodall and said," Just remember, you only have to finish 12th to secure the championship. Don't be the hero and try for the win as you might crash or blow the engine and no-one remembers a race win after a few months, but they do remember a championship winner as they are reminded of who it is for a whole year."

I am sure his whole team had echoed the same advice over and over as you don't always have to win the battle to win the war. It is difficult as everyone would like to win a championship with a race win, but this time the stakes were too high as there was no comfort zone for a DNF.

Sunday 23rd September - Race (18 Laps)
At British Championship level we used to do 28 laps of Mallory and even that whizzed by very quickly so 18 laps should be a doddle.

As we went out to form up on the grid the bike defiantly felt better, although I did wonder if the peak revs were being held back slightly as it has felt crisper than this, or maybe it was just the jetting.

I formed up on my 12th spot and just focused on the rear of Mike's bike.

Red......Red.......Red........More RED.........GREEN!!! Go! Go! Go!

I had a pretty good start, although I never made up any places until Gerrads. Here I managed to pass one or two. I apologise for not knowing who you were but this race was a bit of a blurr as I was so focused on staying with Mike.

Lee Johnson was next on the hit list and I found his bike to be quite quick so I had to wait until the braking at the Esses before I could make a move.

I could see Mike ahead and although I was reeling him in, we both had to pass other riders as each lap passed. Fortunately for Lee Dickinson, he had a clear track to focus all his energies on and was pulling away from the rest of the field.

We then passed Jeremy Goodall who was having a mature ride and not taking any risks as he only had to ensure he finished 12th to take the championship.

Owen Cherrell was next on the list and I managed to get on the gas before him out of Gerrads and pass him at the Esses. I was now right with Mike and found that although he pulled away on the straights I was being held up from the braking area of the hairpin right to the exit of the Bus Stop. I did try to go around him a few times in this section, but it is such a risky place to pass and he always went into the hairpin on a defensive line to stop me getting up the inside.

Eventually we reeled in Alan Bamber and Vince Whittle. Vince was passed by both of us again at the Esses and we were now on the back of Alan.

Mike passed Alan first but I had to hold back. As I lined him up for an outbraking move at the hairpin he tried to get back past Mike and they were both so involved in their fight that I outbraked them both into the hairpin and rode around the outside. What a hero.

This was great as I was now in front of Mike and had a chance to pull away. I could see Dean Johnson and Lee Hodge in the distance and set about reeling them in.

As I entered Gerrads there was some rain hitting the visor. I shrugged my shoulders, knowing that the tyres are well hot by now and as we had a couple of laps to go it would be OK.

The distracting thing now was that the marshals were displaying the slippery surface flags at the hairpin which I found to be very disturbing as the surface looked fine. As I circulated for the 16th time I had a rear slide exiting the Esses which was an out the seat moment and then again exiting the hairpin. The rain was still falling and although I was gaining on Dean and Lee at a rapid rate of knots their body language made me think twice about the speed I was carrying.

They looked positively nervous on the corners and I also slowed up on the last lap. In fact I was 3 seconds slower, but I just knew I had done enough to take the 3rd spot in the championship.

I crossed the line in 4th but just 0.5s behind 2nd place and only 3 tenths of a second behind 3rd.

Lee Dickinson won it with a fastest lap of 0:50.13s against my best of 0:50.68s.

I finished the year 3rd in the Championship which I am pleased with. It could have been better if all had gone to plan, but it could easily have been worse. I think I have been the most consistent points scorer out of the whole championship which is some consolation for the bad luck we all experienced trying to get the top position and the best part was we finished every race and never crashed.

We congratulated Jeremy and gave him a can of larger to get along with before the champaign celebrations that night. Well done mate!

It has been a great year's racing and it was so hard to predict who would win each race, let alone the championship (I even led it for a while) which is good for the 250 class. Just a pity that BSB don't understand what racing is and have now introduced Buell racing and Ducati Monster racing (Ducati are rumoured to have paid £ 200,000 to get these bikes in the championship). Who in their right mind would want to race these? I think BSB stands for 'Beautifully Sized Backhanders' and I feel sorry for the public who will be paying extortionate prices to watch the same interesting variety of racing that can be seen down at the local roundabout, but with less noise.

My sincere thanks go out to Steve for all his help (when he was there) and to Mandy for allowing him to spend weekends away.

Thanks to Penny, Mum, Dad, Denise, Richard, Simon, Naomie, Bob, Nicky, Claire, John, Nick, Kevin, Phil, Ben, John and Mary, Bev, Annie, Jeremy, Alex, Rob, Dave & Carol, Deb's, Dereck, John & Sarah, Mike, Sam and the Barrow Boys, Terry and Liz, Colin and Sue and all those other fine people who offered support throughout the year. 

Thanks also to Dave, Bernie (creep...creep), all at BEMSEE who organise the meetings and to all the marshals, medical staff etc who ensure the racing is as safe as possible. Fortunatly I don't crash very often and have not managed to get on first name terms with any of the circuit support staff, but I assure you it's nothing personal. Thanks to the Nurses and Doctors at Grimsby Hospital, Frimley Park and Basingstoke Hospital for relieving the stiffness and getting me back on my feet like new over the years.

Extra large thanks go out to the sponsors who helped me along the way. These great people in sport are Phil, Pat, Spike and all the team at Dunlop Tyres, Uncle John of Bassett Landscape Gardening, Pete and all at Techtronics, Russell and Mr Hewitt at Rock Oil, Cherryl at NGK, Prexport Gloves Boots and Leathers, Bieffe Helmets, Jamie and all at Fowlers Motorcycles, Chris and Daniel at 9 Lives Leathers, Phil at Panel 'N' Paint and Wil at WIZ kneesliders. I salute you all.

Finally, a sincere thanks to all the competitors I have raced with over the years and have got to know as mates off the track as well as respected rivals on it. I hope we all keep in touch. Who knows, I may be back as Arnie once said.

When we arrived back home, I had the bike for a night (just had to.....well you would too wouldn't you?) until the new owner, Steve Pond collected it Monday evening.

It was gutting to see the bike go, but Steve managed to stop the flow of tears by saying that if I get board next year I am more than welcome to borrow the bike to go and 'kick some ass' which was extremely nice of him and I hope to take him up on the offer.

Steve will be racing in SuperClub in 2002, so look out GP250 class! Actually he is racing the bike at Thruxton in a few weeks and I will be there to help him out on set up etc.

I have a complete Honda kit gearbox for sale at a very reasonable price of £ 1,100.00 if anyone out there needs one. This kit also comes with a very nice shiny carrying box and spare clips.

Keep checking these pages as I am sure they will be updated with news etc as it happens.

Until next time!

Dazzlin #18

Signing off for 2001.