British Championship Round 5 - Mondello Park May 2005

Now I don't know how a round of the British Championship can take place in a foreign country but that's what happens when the championships visits Mondello Park in Éire.

Why it happens I don't know; I am very glad it does as this must be my favourite round of the year, beautiful scenery on the drive down, a track that you can see more than one corner from an easily accessible vantage point and very friendly people all led to a very enjoyable weekend only marred by our results on track.

As I said, Eire is a beautiful country and Mondello is a fantastic circuit, it gave me the first chance to watch Alex racing this year which is a pleasant change (did you see the race on SKY sports it went out live after Super bikes?) again we were there on our own and normally I stand on pit wall with the signals board, after the race starts it gets boring on the pit wall, considering his start position, I decided the only thing I could put on the signals board was “Go Faster!” so I didn't bother and took the chance to stand on top of our transporter where I hade a good view of at least five corners.

Alex & Simon Deaville

Going back to the weekends proceedings in Fridays free practice Alex went well in the first session with a 1.57.353 but on lap seven of the second session of free practice he “crashed out” destroying the bike, this is the third time this year he has severely damaged the bike in a crash and whether or not it has been his fault, it plays tribute to his VEMAR crash helmet his M-Tec leathers and W2 Boots that he himself has escaped injury (this is only because I can't catch him when he returns to the pits!).

This however does not soften the blow when we have to rebuild the bike and the lack of available spares (the gravel traps in Éire must be filled with half bricks) however the job was completed in time for first qualifying on the Saturday, where he managed a steady 1.53.789.

However in second qualifying a mechanical problem on the first lap brought him into the pits so once again his time from the first session stood and it was only good enough for 42 nd on the grid.

With more engine problems and the fact that he has not featured since his race at Brands hatch, I decided to play very safe with the set-up and a stern warning to him to make sure he finished the race on Sunday.

In morning warm-up he improved his time posting a 1.51.561 which was 28 th fastest; James Westmoreland had taken pole with a 1.47.531. All in all we were not hopeful of a good result; with the way things have been going Alex needed to finish the race.

The 125 race took place at 10 past 2; strait after the 1 st Superbike race from the second back row of the grid he made an awful start going into the first bend in third last position, he must have fought back hard though, as when the pack re-emerged he was up into 26 th place, that's when I ran for the roof of the transporter to watch the rest of the race, up front it was Rob Guiver, Bradley Smith, James Westmoreland, Christian Elkin and man of the moment Dan Linfoot.

Dan has been very strong the past couple of races and was hopeful of a repeat at Mondello! Back with Alex and he was moving up the field slowly on lap five a big mistake at the corner right in front off where I was standing named “Holiday in Ireland” Alex ran very wide thru ¾ of the turn right on the outside off the track, then off into a gravel trap over an escape road onto the grass to rejoin the circuit losing a few places in the process.

I think this made him remember my “Polite suggestion” and realise how important it was for him to finish the race, that's what he did and having a good tussle with #52 Ben Tye & # 28 John Vincent eventually finishing in 21 st place. It is hard to say this as I was happy for him to finish the race, but this is a disastrous result all the problems we have had in the past seam to breed new problems. Still the two week break until round 6 at Croft on the 3/4/5 th June will give us some time to remedy some of them. Big thanks to the people who helped us over the weekend.

Pictures can be found at BrakingZone.com Motor Sports Photography Here