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Tim Capper
Tim Capper's first meeting of the new racing season, and only his third outing on a 600, was at Lydden Hill in March. Here's how he got on.
We attended a test day at Lydden Hill, our local circuit, on the 1st March, and as could have been expected of British weather, it rained, and rained, then some sleet and to top it off it started snowing. It was my first time on the 600 in the wet and my first time on full wets and I was very apprehensive about pushing too hard but I went quite well, as well as could be expected for my third time out on an alien bike.
When I first rode it I was crapping myself but the more I rode it the more comfortable I was with it. I went out on knackered Dunlop 207 GP's and was sliding all over the place. I needed more grip so I opted for the full wets. They made a tremendous difference and I felt much more confident on the bike. There was no way I could have found my limits in such miserable conditions and what's more we had no tyre warmers.
All the odds were stacked against me but I thought I coped quite well. On the weekend of the 3rd and 4th I attended my first race at Lydden on the 600 and things were looking a hundred times better than the test day but we were still short of a pair of tyre warmers. We fitted a new front tyre to scrub in during practice but I asked for the back tyre to be left on as I could feel it moving around. I was using the engine braking to drift the back wheel into the turns as there
was less grip than with a new tyre. This was happening on the practice day and I could feel what the bike was doing and I felt comfortable with the bike moving around. The track was very cold and the tyres were rock hard even for soft compound tyres.
I went out for my first race and was nervous as hell. I had never done a race start on the bike and when the lights went green, I revved the goolies off the bike, dumped the clutch and wheelied down to the first bend. I held on for the ride because I didn't know what to do, I wanted to back off the throttle but I wanted to keep going so I notched it up a gear and the front dropped. I lost a lot of places and the bike was sliding everywhere but I got faster and faster and caught up with the pack. The race was over before it began if you know what I mean and I was a bit disappointed with my result but I was focusing on setting faster times. The second race was a repeat of the first but I got a flying start and stayed with them but again the tyres were cold so I backed off. I should have more faith in my tyres!
The second day was a complete and utter balls up, if you pardon my expression. I was all ready to go only to find that there was no practice for me. My race was the first one out but it wasn't to be. The power in the circuit was cut so all the generators were banging away, the P.A system is crap and we couldn't hear any of the announcements. You usually get three calls, the "First" "Second" and "Third and final. We didn't hear the first two but I was up on the hill for the third and I heard "This is the first call for Clubman 600". I got to the bike and went to the collection area only to find that the race had already gone out. Fifteen of us missed the race and there was only nine or ten out on the circuit. Me and the others were outraged, we couldn't believe the bad organisation of the race and we weren't even compensated with an extra session or refund!
My dad had said from the previous day that the bike was holding me back. The opposition were no faster, if not slower, than me round the turns but when it came to speed they left me on the straights but then I would do them on the brakes so it was swings and roundabouts really. Dave Hammond, a top tuner down our way, said that I needed a faster bike so that may be the best way to go. The second race was my fastest yet with a time of 50.95 seconds but I could be looking at 47 to 48 second lap's straight away on a newer bike but who knows. I'm hoping I will improve quickly so I can get noticed and picked up so that my dad won't have to keep buying bikes out of his own pocket.
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