Pre-Meeting

As mentioned before I have converted the bike to run on Avgas (100LL) for two reasons (a) it gives more power (b) it lowers the running costs as the parts don't wear out quite so fast (it's also cheaper to buy) as when running unleaded fuel. Oh, if forgot (c) it also smells nicer.
As we are aiming to do this Championship as cheaply as possible so that we can continue to bail the finances out after last years British Championship campaign, we decided not to go testing on the Friday as this would add to entry fees and fuel/tyre bill's etc. I know it's false economy, especially as we are leaidng the Championship, but we made a conceous decision to get through the year at minimal cost and so far it's not affected us too badly. It just means we are playing catch up to those who can afford the extra day as they will have a whole day of testing behind them and that is an advantage.

Saturday 14 June 2001
We (Steve & I) arrived on Friday afternoon so we could set up camp and have a chat around the paddock. There was nothing to do to the bike except fuel it up in the morning and we were lucky enough to get it scruitineered that afternoon which meant we could have a bit of a lie in. Lovely.

On our travels on Friday evening we bumped into Andy and David Tipton. Andy was complaining that his bike appeared to be down on power so I put my technical consultant head on and we went through a check list. After some time I discovered one powervalve was loose on the 'D' rod which connects the powervalves to the servo. It was so loose (through wear on the rod) that it could move freely through 5mm which would have been costing him revs at the top. They rectified this and hoped it would help them for the qualifying session. Glad to be of help.

We went out for the 8 minute warm up which was a bit of a mess as some riders went straight out onto the track and we went down pit lane. This meant we were held up for a minute as the marshall decided not to let us out. 

One lap wasted and I went off to run the bike in. I managed four laps and the last lap was in the 1:42s area which was a good starting point as I have not been on the bike for 6 weeks.

We were back out for qualifying in an hour so it was all hands on deck to check the bike and get the warmers on the tyres again.

Darren Jones and Jo arrived to help which was a blessing in disguise as it was forecast showers and we need as many hands as possible to take wheels etc to the grid in changeable conditions, plus it's always a pleasure to have his enthusiasm around.

Qualifying (20 mins.)
As we waited for our qualifying slot to arrived we were visited by another teams mechanic who I chatted to for a while about various things. Suddenly Steve came running over shouting, "Get your leathers on! The 250's are out now!"

I literally jumped into the leathers while Steve and Darren started the bike and got it warmed up. I arrived at the holding area only to be told I had 1 minute left. Oh, bugger!

I shot down pit land and in my enthusiasm to get going I pulled a long power wheelie (sorry about that). I joined the track and tried to get on the pace as fast as possible but the thoughts of coldish tyres etc was echoing in my head.

I came around and the chequered flag was out already. This was a disaster. I never got up to speed and never got any chance to feel how the bike was performing so I had now completed 5 laps before the race which was not good.

I never even had chance to do a plug chop so we had no idea if the bike was running rich or lean.

As soon as I got back to the awning I passed the bike to Steve and shot off to the race office to plead with the officials to let me on the back of the grid.

Bernie was there and I explained what happened.............Um...........Er, well it was like this.....um......I was too busy chatting and missed the session........ooops! Sorry, but can I get on the back of the grid.............pleeeaaseee!

I was shocked (and very grateful) to hear I had actually completed a lap as I was timed from pit lane,. Excellent! I must admit the time was only 1:50.27s, but I actually out qualified one rider with that. Amazing!

Thanks Bernie, the flowers are on their way.

Pole was set by Jeremy Goodall at 1:39.15s and the following 4 riders were all in the 39's which is pretty good. I knew I could do 39's so I was not phased by the times, but as I had to start from 31st on the grid I knew that I would have to do 36's to catch these guys in the 11 laps we had for race distance. I will loose 5 seconds just getting to the start line for the 8th row and then traffic on the first lap will just add to the problem.

I reluctantly concluded that I had no chance of retaining the Championship lead after today, but had to get as many points as possible to minimise the damage and hope for better results over the next four rounds.

They say bad luck comes in three's and this was the third round that we have started from way down the order so I hope from now on we will have some good luck. It's about time.

Richard (the commentator) visited the awning and asked what happened, so I explained the course of events and laughed. I mean what else can you do? Pass me a tissue..........Sob......Sob...

Race (11 laps - 2.769 miles/lap)
Warm up lap over and I formed up on the grid. Must get a good start.....must get a good start flooded through my very focused head.

I had to switch off the shifter as it had died on me half way around the lap. Can it get any worse? Well actually yes. The bike would not rev past 12,500rpm and just spluttered whenever I tried. Not good news.

Red.....Red.......Green!

Yaaaaahhhhhooooo! What a blinder. I must have passed 6-8 bikes down the straight and into the first corner I decided to take the outside line and ride around the outside of everyone, although I had to back it off on the exit as bikes drifted towards the grass and that's where I was.

Into Cascades I dived up the inside of a blue bike who was now turning in and heading for the apex which is where I already was and BANG! We clashed. I thought he would have seen me as I was well past him, but I had no time to mess around waving and had to get through the traffic as fast as possible. 11 laps is just not enough to allow you to loose any time to those up front who have a clear track.

I was passing riders left right and centre and by the 4th lap I was up to 13th! That's 18 riders passed already. The higher you get through the field the harder it gets to pass as each rider is slightly faster than the next.

I was now closing in on Vince Whittle and decided to overtake on the outside of Island Bend (a very, very fast left hander, flat in 5th gear - 120mph?) It was a clean move until I hit the brakes for Shell Oils and BANG!

Vince had possibly been phased by the pass and missed his braking point, or was running too hot and went wide, but whatever the cause he decided to use me as a slowing down buffer. Jeeesssus, this is getting like touring cars I thought.

I now had a gap to close to get on terms with Chris Sansome, Lee Hodge, Alan Bamber and Paul Shoesmith.

Respect goes out to Paul as he was riding with a broken collerbone that has only had 3 weeks of healing time and he was going very well, although at the Foulstons chicane you could see him struggle with the fast change of direction.

Chris Sansome proved to be difficult to pass and as I slip streamed him down the straight towards Knickerbrook I pulled out to make a pass but he turned in before I expected and I had to brake for all I was worth. Back wheel waving in the air in 4th......F....F......F....Phew! Missed him.

Managed to stay aboard, but lost a clear second. Head down again and in no time I was back with them. This time at the same corner I made it stick, although it was almost a blocking pass. I managed to get past Paul and set about Lee Hodge and Alan Bamber who were having their own battle and I guess they had no idea I was homing in for the kill.

I was now in 10th place and my bike was feeling tired. I could hear detonation and just prayed the bike would get me to the finish. The only way I could stay with these guys was to be in the slipstream along the straights however I managed to get past Lee on the brakes into Lodge where his exit speed out of Druids was slower and this was just what I needed to get alongside for a late braking pass. I have a fairly hard set up at the front which allows me to brake pretty late without bottoming the forks and make such passes stick well. It worked a treat.

I then tried to get past Alan Bamber on the approach to Island Bend, but he saw me, braked later than normal and the pass had to wait. I then tried to get around the outside of him on the approach to Shell Oils but he dived in tight and forced me out. Crafty bugger! Made me smile though.

I was desperate to get past but his bike was pretty strong and I had to sit behind and wait for any weaknesses to show. Eventually I made my move into Old Hall where I compromised my exit speed but hoped that Alan had also had to shed a bit more speed to allow me through.

I was now out in 8th place but I could feel the bike spluttering at 12,500rpm and on the approach to Knickerbrook both Alan and Lee came alongside in the braking area. I was the meat in the sandwich, but lived through it. Then Alan was coming up the inside going up Clay Hill. I slowly moved over to the left (that is the line after all) and knew he would have to be extremely brave to carry the move through. I felt a bit like an F1 driver moving across the track to close the door, but it was now a matter of survival to maintain position this late in the race.

These few moves alongside woke me up to the fact that the bike was getting slower as the race progressed and I dug deep to up the corner speed to try to hold them off. The aim was if I get a gap on those chasing via late braking or exiting the corner faster I could get down the next section with enough of a gap before they could reel me in on the power.

Then on the penultimate lap I had a huge rear slide getting on the gas early to exit Druids and this was a very near higside. I landed back on board and after captain sulu re-chartered our course, I stayed on the track (just). This moment of exquisit ballet allowed Lee Hodge to shoot past and get enough of a gap that made it impossible to close before the line. 

As we passed this point again on the final lap I was amazed at the huge black line I had left on the previous lap. Mick Doohan, eat your heart out.

I finished in 9th place and 0.44s behind Lee. Dammm. My fastest lap was a 1:40.44s which was not too bad considering the bike was misfiring and only revving to 12,500. A stronger engine would have seen 39's without any problem although if it had revved higher the detonation may have been worse, so it's a double edge sword scenario.

The only fault with the race was as soon as you have passed the finish line you have to brake like a man possessed to get the bike stopped and turned into the exit lane just after the first corner. Personally I think this is a little dangerous as it is asking for someone to be rammed up the arse by someone who missed the flag and has his head tucked behind the bubble, looking at his pit board. Only time will tell.

The win was taken by Mike Herzberg, followed by Lee Dickenson and Derek Welch, all aboard TZ's. I bet the man at Yamaha was feeling very smug after this weekend. How the tables have turned after such domination by Honda for so many years.

Jeremy Goodall ended up in 6th place which was a surprise as he was fighting at the front in the race so I guess he had a moment somewhere near the end and lost time, although he must have dug really deep to catch them back up as he set the fastest lap of the race at 1:38.57s which is a very respectable time.

This result was bad for him considering where he was, but good news for me as I managed to stay third in the championship and keep the 2 points ahead of Jeremy that I had before this round. Considering my recent misfortunes I feel a little happier knowing I am still in the fight, however we cannot afford to mess around anymore and make mistakes if we are to be in the top three at the end of the season.

Thankfully we have had 100% reliability to date which is credit to Steve for his spanner work and of course reflects my supervisory skills as team manager...bla...bla....Bla...Yawn.

Lee Dickenson now has the Championship lead over Herzberg by 5 points and I am 6 points adrift in third with Jeremy snapping at my heels only two points behind. This Championship is very hotly contested at the front and has offered great racing for the spectators.

Not that I am concentrating on the Championship too much (Ooops, my nose just grew three inches) but Lee and Mike will be away at Knockhill for the next round of the MRO which will hopefully allow Jeremy and myself to recoup some valuable points and make it an even closer battle to the end.

I need another podium finish as I have run out of vases at home and also need some more flash paperweights for the office, so Brands Hatch you better be good to me.

As mentioned we are at Brands Hatch on August 12th.

Don't miss it!