TIM at Brands March 18th 2001

 We were at Brands Hatch this weekend and what a shambles it was too.
We got up there and it was freezing cold and very windy. We set up and made sure we were ready for scrutineering in the morning. It had rained hard overnight and the rain had stopped by the morning. Dad fitted a new Maxton shock as the original had retired.

We got through scrutineering with no problems and put the wets on when we got back to the van. I went out in practice and started off slow but got faster. The new shock was a revelation. I still haven't got used to wets yet and I still can't trust the grip thats there at my disposal.

By the time my race had come around, a dry line had developed but I still went out on wets as some parts of the track were still wet and I sometimes cannot keep the bike on the dry as I am still getting used to the way it moves and handles.

I managed to get a reasonable start, and finished a hard fought 24th. I need a faster bike! 

It stayed dry for the other races, but when it came to my second race, it started to drizzle. We had dry tyres on but thought about putting wets on. I opted for dry tyres and sure enough the heavens opened on the grid and I was sliding everywhere.

A couple of big slides put the wind up me and some of the riders were in the same boat as me and pulled in. I carried on but after a lap or so, the chain snapped and wrapped around my foot. I pulled over and had to call it a day, not our best weekend of racing I must say.