Alex Gault - Race Report For Knockhill And Donington Park August 2006

Well where do I start??? Lots of lessons have been learnt over the past week!

Knockhill

Do you know? It’s a blur, so much has happened this past week it’s hard to recall.

He’s got no chance of winning the championship now, a crash in the last race on Sunday put paid to any hope.

However like I said lessons were learnt, the first one is listen to Alex!

In Saturday practice Alex was not happy with the bike’s handling, at Knockhill on the Saturday you get 2 x 20 Min sessions for £50, the first session was not very useful as we didn’t know what was happening with the bike, putting it down the awful track conditions, oil had been spilt almost right round the circuit, not the best condition to test under.

The second session was a disgrace, red flagged after only two laps and as the circuit staff took so long to clear the track the group only got another two laps before they closed the session, Although Alex said the bike was not right, I couldn’t be sure if it was the bike, the condition of the track or was it because the last bike Alex had ridden was the 125 GP at BSB, which would handle a lot better than any 400!

Eddie Stone of ERS suspension soon put the problem down to the rear shock needing overhauled but for various reasons this had not been done and now could not be done until after the weekend,

Sunday and Alex got his wish, he knew if it was wet he could manage with the bike the way it was, this bourn out by him Qualifying pole on the slippery track, however it dried up for the first race and Alex could only manage a distant second to Craig McClelland, after a race long battle with Lewis Farrow.

New tyres for race 2 and Alex knew it was all or nothing, he said the tyres had made a big difference but when he pushed to stay with Craig he lost the front end and that was that; Game over!

Now this is why this report is late, we were off to Donington the following weekend for the CB 500 Cup and we had also entered him into the hotly contested 400 championship on his now smashed bike.

So all hands to the pumps and every effort was put into getting the bike repaired, both forks and damper were taken over to ERS in Dunfermline for overhaul and you know we might be a bit unlucky at times but things seem to fall into place.

We had friends staying with us from Halifax for a few days, they took the damaged body work down to “Specialised Coatings” who repaired and painted them, I got the bike repaired and we picked up and fitted the newly painted body work  at the Specialised Coatings works on the way down to Donington on the Saturday.

Donington

Round 7 of the CB500 Cup took place at the ever popular Donington Park Circuit; this round was planed to be different as there would only be 1 x 12 lap race instead of the usual 2 x 6 lap races.

As I have said we had also planed to race his 400. I haven’t allowed this as I think it is difficult for Alex to get the best out of both bikes racing them so close together.

It was the CB he was out on for timed qualifying and I could only describe it as messing about, he had said previously this was no fun any more running around at the front himself.

He qualified 7th, I asked what was wrong? He laughed and said “Um, I think the tyre pressures are too high”. I transferred the transponder (a little box about the size of a box of matches which is used to electronically time the bikes on track) over too the 400.

The weather on Sunday was very uncertain, you know? Back to the good old British weather for August, not sure if it’s going to rain, dry up, stay damp, as time got closer we opted for a wet set up and as the qualifying session was going to be longer I took the dry tyres as we would have time to change them in the pit lane, after one lap Alex came in and said there’s a dry line right round the track and wanted the dry tyres on!

Decisions? Decisions? I took into account the conditions, the way things were going, I said go out with the wets and bank a time, Thinking as things were running late, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the club started cutting the sessions shorter to catch up. In he came and we change to the dry tyres, he didn’t even get a flying lap in before the session was stopped. Good jog I’d sent him out that one banked lap was all he got!

As we looked at the results sheet for the 600cc Hornets and 400 cc time sheet. Imagine our surprise when he’d qualified 6th overall and in 3rd place for the 400 race. So things were looking good as before we came, we didn’t know how he’d have faired in this class of field.

The CB race was scheduled to take place before lunch and with Alex still looking for improvement with the 400 handling it was a busy time, every thing done and the CB’s were called to the grid, unusual to see him on the second row!

The flag fell and of they went, into 3rd before the first corner, as they came back round he was in the lead closely followed by Andy Burbridge, the two diced for about 6 laps Andy taking the lead on lap six as they entered Redgates.

That was enough for Alex he put his head down and won the race by about 5 seconds. That was until we discovered I hadn’t put his transponder on, it was still on the 400, the rules sate NO transponder! NO result!

The win was awarded to Andy. I was fuming I said, they showed Alex the last lap flag, the waved the chequered flag at him, every one knows he won, But the decision stood. Rules are rules.

I much prefer when he makes the mistakes, then I can shout & scream or better still look on smugly with a rye smile!

Being so stupid is still annoying me!

Anyhow, that over I didn’t need to move the transponder to his 400 before it’s race. Tyre choice was easy too as the heavens had opened before the 125 GP race and there was no way the track would dry before Alex was out on track.

Now, the plot thickens, remember his crash at Knockhill? The petrol tank had been damaged; we did a fantastic repair job that was until I had put the amount of fuel in which I thought would be needed for the 12 lap race a leak was found. Now I used the time we had to try and seal the leak, nothing was sure; so I went with a little bit less fuel than I would have liked but this kept the level slightly below where the leak had been.

Now I don’t normally say what I think as I don’t think it’s a Dads place to boast about what goes on, I much prefer others to say but Alex had a spectacular race, he looked strong from the off, at New Era meetings they mix the 400 grid with the 600cc Honda Hornets, by lap two Alex was leading the 400 field and starting to make inroads with the lead hornets, by lap 5 he was in second place overall and closing down the leader, then red flags came out, someone had crashed and been hurt. Again as it was getting late would the club call it a result? And if they had a restart it would mean extra lap or so, would Alex have enough petrol to finish?

It’s a go’er, announced over the public address system the remaining 6 laps would start after another warming up lap!

They lined up on the grid in the order they were on track before the red flag came out, so Alex was on the front row.

A good “ish” start seen him go into the first corner in 3rd place, he must have used the first lap to settle and get some heat back into his cold tyres, up front Ivan Lintin had a commanding lead with Jonty Dixon both on Hornets in second.

It looked like Alex had a lot to do, then into second and started chasing down the leader.

It gets a bit difficult to tell the full story here as the official results were taken over the aggregate times form both parts of the race, I’m almost sure Alex took the lead on track on what would have been lap 11 of the race in the official results this did not happen until the last lap, anyway he had done enough to take the outright win.

I worried about the fuel situation all race, on the last lap I prayed “Please, Please just let him get by the finish line”, I couldn’t take two catastrophes in one day, as you know he made it with fuel to spare!

How good was his performance?

Out of 28 starters only 19 finished (Donington is notoriously slippery in the wet) Alex took the outright win, the closest 400 machine was Nick Chadwick almost 31 seconds behind, Ritchie Welsh the championship leader was in third, almost 42 seconds behind Alex. He’s had some fantastic races this year this must have been one of the best!

We’re next out at Knockhill on the 26th /27th then he’s off for a jolly to Valencia to test for a ride in the Red Bull Rookies Cup*, then back to Snetterton on the 2nd/3rd September for rounds 8 & 9 of the CB 500 Cup.

So a busy few weeks ahead.

Will keep you posted!

Auld Alex.

* The Red Bull Rookies Cup is a competition for 13-16 year olds to contest the Red Bull European Championship in 2007 on KTM 125cc GP machines, with everything paid for except personal expenses, and the chance to shine on a European stage.

More Info Here

Alex Gault - MCN Regular Club Racer Here