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MRO Championship Round 2 - Silverstone (Club Circuit)6/7/8 April 2001
Courtesy Darren Thomas Racing
 Pre-Meeting
We were out again this weekend on the Jack Lilley Triumph TT600 to try our luck in the Supersport 600 race as well as our 250GP class. I had agreed with Clive Wood (Team Manager) to collect the bike and take it with us to Silverstone as there was not enough room in their van to take two TT600's and a 995 Triumph.
We had booked ourselves in for a test day on the Friday as we have never been around the club circuit. I must admit that I was gutted to hear we were not doing the National circuit as that is more technical, rather than a miniature Snetterton split with a few corners affair. I thought the MRO was a stepping stone to the British Championships, so why don't they cover the same circuits lengths?
The plan to collect the TT600 earlier in the week was slightly altered when my father had decided to go to Cornwall in the van and was not planning to get back until Friday night. Thankfully he returned early and I collected the bike Thursday evening, then made our way to Silverstone, with Penny following behind in the support vehicle. Well, OK, her VW Polo. The 600 takes up a lot of space in the transit and her car was overflowing with fairings, pants...etc...etc...
Ironically when we arrived we were told by the security (more than my job's worth Hitler impersonators) that we were not allowed into the circuit until 7.30am Friday morning.
We sparked the genny into life (lovely girl) and tuned into Eastenders (yes, sad isn't it) to see who shot Phil. I must admit I pointed the finger at Ian. Just as well I'm not a copper, or you would all be nicked.
Friday 6 April
I had arranged to have half a day on the 600 and the other half on the 250. Adam Lewis (the official Jack Lilley rider) unfortunately had some bad news Thursday evening and could not be with us until Friday afternoon, so I was put out in the Powerbike sessions in his place on the TT600.
I figured this would be OK as the track was wet and this gave us the opportunity to test the new Bridgestone wet tyres. Although I was having to be peeled off the Armco on the straights due to the unreal speeds of the Powerbikes as they shot past me I could see them off in the corners and outbrake them quite easily.
Towards the end of the session a damp/dry line was appearing and the bike was just starting to get loose under hard acceleration whilst cranked over. This was fun, but it was shredding the tyres as they were getting too hot. Overall I was very impressed with their outright grip and solid feel under hard braking and in similar conditions we would have opted for a harder compound, but it was good to get an idea of what they can do.
Within a few sessions I was back out again, but now it was dry. Mmmmm......I think I was slightly out gunned in this session, although I did have a lot of fun with one R1. I outbraked him every lap into the Becketts and he blasted past me down the straights with ease until I done him again on the next lap...etc...etc...I managed to pass a few other bikes (Ahhem...Adrian Archibald and James Courtney from Ireland on the Red Bull Ducatis come to mind, but I guess they had never seen the circuit before).
It was a fun session, but I could not judge my speeds against other 600's as there was none in these sessions. At least none that I saw.
The third and final session was even more fun as I was now getting a feel for the dry compound Bridgestones and managed a few forced front end slides into Beckets which had the fairing down for the first time. I was slowly bringing my times down and was now in the 1.04's. My next victim was my old mate, Darren Jones (sorry mate, I had to mention this) I shot through Copse corner in the normal, fast in, will I get out the other side fashion, and I could smell the rear of an Aprilia Mille. As I slowly crept up on it I realised it was Darren. A grin filled my helmet from ear to ear as I lined him up and made my move. Heee....Heee.... I thought as I got my head down and managed to slowly break away.
The 250GP sessions were a mixed bag. We had some wet practice which was great fun as I felt as though I was the fastest thing out there and really felt confident in the wet conditions. Unfortunately there were riders falling off all over the circuit and especially at Copse which is notoriously slippery in the wet. I guess it's down the the amount of rubber laid there from the cars and the sliding action may polish the surface slightly.
The final dry session was good, except for a certain rider by the name of Jeremy Goodall who spoilt things. Bearing in mind we are out on circuit at the same time as Aprilia 250 Challenge riders, who through no fault of their own are on much slower bikes you tend to back off a little going into a corner, rather than scaring the living daylights out of them and causing a rider to panic and crash.
Maybe I am too much of a gentleman, but in this session I saw Steve Sawford out on the track getting some pre-BSB laps in and I gave chase. Then Jeremy joined in, but as Steve and I rolled off to let a few Challenge bikes get through the corner without undue stress, Jeremy 'the heartless' shot past us, outbraked himself and nearly forced two Aprilia riders off, just to get past Steve and I.
It was the most selfish act I have ever seen and with that kind of behaviour it will only be a short time before someone is seriously hurt. Steve too was shocked by this demonstration of arrogance and lack of respect for other riders safety.
Saturday 7 April - Free Practice - 600 Supersport
By now I had seen the programme and was amazed to see 60 riders out to qualify for 45 places on the grid. GULP!
There would be 40 qualifiers from the official qualifying sessions and the additional five riders would be the best of the non-qualifiers race held on Saturday.
It was dry for practice, so the old Bridgestones were retained as they looked quite good considering the number of laps they have done. The weird thing was that the programme detailed all riders out in one 15min session, but the final instructions detailed two separate groups (odd and even numbers). What a mess!
Adam and I were both even numbers so we fanatically watched the 'supposed' first group whizz around until we realised both odd and even numbers were out all at once. By the time we got out we had just enough time for three laps. What a cock up!
As I made my way back to the garage I passed Clive Wood who was frog marching towards race control with a determined look on his face. I just thought, "Look out Dave Stewart, get some ear plugs ready!".
Later that day we had the press from the Triumph magazine 'Torque' around taking pictures, notes etc to do a four page article on what goes on behind the scenes. This magazine has a world wide circulation which should be good for the Jack Lilley team.
Saturday 7 April - Free Practice - 250GP
This went without drama and again I was feeling confident after comparing notes on other riders lap times. As there is no official timing on this session I always ask Penny to check out what the other quick lads are doing so I can gauge how far I need to push. With Steve being on guard duty this weekend I guess Penny needed a few more sets of arms as she was timing me, others and putting the lap board out within a 1.04s time. Oh, and making the tea and cleaning the bike etc...etc....What a luv.
Saturday 7 April - Qualifying 600 Supersports
Adam and I were in group 2 for qualifying so I had a 20 min break between the 250 session and now which was nice.
I decided to keep a distance from Adam when we were allowed out on the circuit so that I was less likely to be chasing him around and could concentrate on my own job.
After one slow lap to re-adjust into 4 stroke land I started to pick up the pace. Once I felt things were going well I concentrated on my braking points and aimed at getting them as late as possible. I had spent a fair bit of this session alone, however I had been passed by a few riders who annihilated me on the straights, only to be caught on the brakes and then I would ride around the outside of them in the corners, only to be blasted again on the straights. This was becoming a little demoralising as I could not even get a tow in the slipstream. Next time I will take some bungies and hook them onto the rear of a passing machine so that the 'slingshot' affect will shoot me past them.
The last person I played with was Mark Lawes on a CBR600, who I rode around the outside of at Becketts, only to be blown away along Club Straight and then hold me up through Brooklands, Luffield and Woodcote. Here I would start to get alongside him, but as he got near vertical he would open the power and pull away.
Every lap this happened until one lap I was in front (again) along the Club Straight and all of a sudden the bike started to slow and sounded as though it was going to seize 2 stroke style. I pulled the clutch in faster than a fast thing and coasted (well actually, I braked like a man posessed before I went into the sand pit) to the exit of the track at Brooklands. It was then I heard the bike sounding a little rattley at the top end. Oooops! I think that's a gonner. My session was over early but I had got my time down to a 1:02.81s.
We patiently waited for the timesheets to be printed, however as soon as they were issued, imagine my horror to see me in 31st place. Adam was even lower in 40th, just 4 hundredths off not qualifying. Owwch!
I had a quick chat with Adam and he confirmed what I thought in that the Triumph was just not fast enough for the two long straights and the lack of power was made worse by the strong winds.
We were all gutted and I could almost feel the black clouds forming over the garage.
There was a little confusion about my bike's condition as the engine still ran on the stand. I respectfully asked Clive to ride it on the old airfield section at Silverstone to feel it (and listen to it) under load and as soon as this was executed the bike was officially declared broken. Unfortunately with two riders and two bikes my 600 Supersport weekend was over so I moved my attention back to the 250.
I was fine with any decision made as it is in the interests of the team and the sponsor to make to most of what was left.
I say, what was left, as the Triumph 995 also had a problem in the Superstock qualifying which was irreparable at the circuit. That was a shame as Adam had qualified well on this and would have had a good race.
The team managed to borrow an Aprilia RSV Mille for Adam to run in the Challenge as their rider (Alister Bailey) was injured. Adam was in for a busy day on Sunday as he was also entering the TT600 in the Powerbike race (Brave man).
Adam took the Aprilia round the paddock a few times to get a feel for the power delivery, engine braking etc, but was due out tomorrow in the race with just a morning warm-up as practice.
Saturday 7 April - Qualifying - 250GP
Unfortunately for us it started to rain heavily about two hours before we were due out on the 250, so we fitted new wets. The old wet rear was well worn and the chunks were starting to rip, but the front still looked OK, however I changed it just for the confidence angle. Thanks go out to Mike at Dunlop who delivered the tyres to the circuit bang on time.
As we have never been round this short circuit before I had no idea what time to aim for, so I guessed adding an average 10 seconds to the dry time would be a good time to aim for, so I set off aiming for a 1:12s lap.
We run an on board lap timer which is great for seeing your progress instantly rather than looking at a lap board which is always one lap behind. Lap boards are great in a race for communicating position, laps remaining and how far behind the next rider is, but in qualifying I find that if you try something new on a lap, you don't actually see the result until a lap later which is too much of a delay and you will have wasted a whole lap waiting to see the result of the new braking point etc.
A few people went down in this session and the infamous Copse corner claimed the most scalps. In fact, so many went down here, that they red flagged the session so they could clear all the bodies/machinery. There was a point where a caterpillar tracked vehicle was parked right on a rumble strip which I personally thought was extremely dangerous. If you fell off and hit that, I feel it would be terminal.
We all returned to the pits where I asked what the others were doing. Penny replied, "I clocked Laurence Hopper doing a low 1:11s lap". I was amazed (no disrespect to Loz, but I never thought he was a contender in the wet, but I was pleased that he had found some form, I just wished it was not today).
The circuit was opened for another five minutes and I knew I had been taking it too careful around Brooklands, Luffield and Woodcote due to a sidecar (no surprise there) dumping it's guts and fuel (as if oil was not enough) in this area. Head down, and I posted my fastest lap of 1:11.15s which was good enough to take Pole.............Again!
This was great. Two pole positions on the trot. Surely it must all end soon, but I'll be dammed if I'll go down easy.
That night we celebrated and prayed for dry weather as racing in the wet was getting a little tedious as all the gear was soaked through. So too was Penny and my trusty neighbour Terry. Big thanks go out to Terry for getting to Silverstone to help out as an extra pair of hands was greatly appreciated. I was just glad that things went without any drama so he could enjoy the day a bit more.
We (Penny and I) stripped the bike and put a new chain on for the race.
The new one was kindly purchased by my very good friend Kevin. The old one was now full of tight spots and you could feel a very slight vibration under load which in turn is energy being transferred to heat which equates to loss of power. Many thanks and a 'Big Respect!' to Kevin, Aye, as every bit helps to keep a roof above my head and food on the table...sob....sob.....
We are also using Careless unleaded fuel which appears to be just as good as ATOL fuel but cleaner. Oh, it also costs £ 28.00/25lt drum cheaper (that may have been the most dominant buying motive) which indicates that someone at BSB is on a serious 'back hander'. Far from me to point the finger, but someone ought to take a serious look at the ATOL fuel costs and justify the expense.
Sunday 8 April - 250GP Race (18 Laps)
As mentioned earlier, because my TT600 had a problem I was no longer out in the Supersport 600 race, so I just had to concentrate on the 250GP race.
We had a 3 lap 'warm-up' earlier in the day which was nice to have, but is just not enough to be of any real use. It takes one slow lap to get your head into the circuit and another couple to get up to speed before you even start to feel if the settings are good or bad.
Eventually (1.30pm) we went out on the circuit and formed up on the grid. It was good to be on Pole position again as it was a major psychological win. The warm-up lap went well and Jeremy Goodall just leapt off like a scolded cat. I guess we will just have to get used to him.
There was a short delay on the grid where someone was having problems and eventually had to be pushed off the grid. The lights went Red.......Red........Red.......Green!
I had a reasonable start, but Richard Grinling almost took me out by aggressively forcing his bike in front of mine. This in turn forced me to take evasive action and I lost some places, only to make them back up into Copse. I would like to think that I may have caused Grinling a moment when I passed him (eye for an eye and all that), but I can't remember one, so I'll just save it for a rainy day.
All I could see is that Lee Dickinson, Laurence and Goodall were getting away while I was left to deal with getting through traffic.
Finally I was clear and was making some headway into the leading bunch. Then the gap appeared to remain constant until Goodall raised his hand and I flew past. His race was over. Was that bad set-up or poetic justice I thought. I was now in third (Hee...Heee....) and I was desperately trying to catch the leaders. A yellow flag was waved at Copse so I slowed up a little and then again at Becketts where a bike was on it's side. I slowed up again but in doing so I could see Lee and Laurence pulling away.
By lap 14 I could see Laurence slowly loosing pace. He had lost the tow from Lee and was falling back into my grasp rapidly. One last desperate lunge on the last lap to close the gap, but he still managed to cross the line 3 seconds ahead. Damm.
It was another third place for me from a Pole start which was still a good feeling, but I will be due a win very soon. I was 18s adrift from Lee which I guess was an initial 5-7 seconds after the first lap and then just under a second a lap until the flag. Unfortunately for me the TZ is just a little too fast at this circuit to make it up in the bends, but Oulton Park ought to help out as it is quite technical.
We checked the bike over after the race and there was some pre-mixed fuel leaking from between the crank case join near the front cylinder. When removing the front cylinder head the piston had signs of detonation which would have cost power. The rear piston looked fine, if not a little rich. I can only assume that the gasket material has slowly dissolved from being in contact with the fuel and this would have leaked air into the crank cases causing some detonation. I will have to rebuild the bike between now and Oulton Park using a better gasket material which is a pain, but an essential task.
Thanks to Jeremy's DNF I am now 2nd in the Championship after two rounds and can't wait until April 16th for Oulton Park. I just hope the rain stays away for a change so I can get the BBQ out and top up the tan.........well get one started.
With the Supersport series, I have had a great time racing the Triumph TT600 and the confidence the chassis inspires has improved my wet weather racing no end. Sadly I was only a temporary rider filling in for rounds that Adam Lewis could not commit to, but I hope that I can get another go on a TT600 at a circuit such as Brands Hatch (Indy) where I feel that the lack of brute power can be compensated for by the superior handling through the turns.
The Triumph TT600 has a great chassis and superb brakes (in fact the brakes are so good I have started to look at grafting a set onto my GP bike). It just needs a bit more power to get it on a level playing field with the latest Japanese tackle and get it up the front in dry conditions on fast circuits (I feel it already has winning capability in the wet) and we would see more of them on the grid.
Big thanks go out to Clive Wood who offered me the TT600 ride, Steve Lilley who supplies the bikes and owns Jack Lilley Motorcycles, Paul for the preparation and Jill for the tea, timing and support. I have enjoyed racing a 4 stroke and I hope I will return in the near future.
Incidentally, Adam managed to finish 7th in race 1 of the Aprilia RSVMille Challenge and then got on the podium 3rd place in race 2, so he went home a happy bunny also. It was a good end to an eventful weekend.
Oulton Park is next on the Championship list on Easter Bank Holiday Monday, 16th March.
Don't miss it!
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