British Superbikes - Brands Hatch Indy Rounds 3 & 4 10/11/12th April 2004

Pre-Meeting

Due to Marty Nutt sustaining ligament damage at Silverstone after a get off in Race 2, I was called up to race at Brands Hatch. To be honest he had a brilliant ride in Race 1 in difficult conditions and to finish 6th overall must have put his entire team on Guinness overload later that night. A true example of risking the tyre selection paying dividends in the end.
Being able to compete at Brands was great as it was another circuit down the road and literally just one hour away, even in the slow Merc.

Since Silverstone I have had a few chats with Crescent Suzuki on what I can do next to make the bike a bit more competitive as it has been down on power compared to the rest of the grid since being built, plus as I know the cams are not dialled in properly yet due to tolerances being a little tight at present I am racing a bike that is far from ideal. In fact it is more of a Superstock bike in it's current set up. We are still running it with the balance weight on the crank shaft at present which slows the revs from building up too fast, hence acceleration is slower. Great for the road bike, but a real headache for a racer.

Having seen/heard what other teams budgets are spent in building their privateer bikes I do feel out of my depth a bit as we just don't have any where near that kind of budget. I mean £ 10,000.00 for a MOTEC injection system, £ 1,700 for a rear swing arm and 
£ 5,600 for a set of Ohlins forks is just a dream for us. let alone all the other 'specialist' parts that can be added to the bike to shape it into a pucker Superbike like kit airbox, subframe, generator etc..etc..etc...the list is endless.

Saturday - Free Practice 1

I managed to find a couple of volunteers in the form of Kevin and Richard who helped out for the day. This was a last minute arrangement and I thank you for your assistance and hope it was an enjoyable experience, even if my tea making is not quite what you are used to.

Prior to the guys arriving I had managed to get the front fork springs changed and a big big Thank You goes out to Chris, Ken and Richard at K-Tech for fitting me in their busy schedule. This was a decision made upon all the travel being used and the bike also feels like the rear is getting unloaded in the corner as the weight is transferred too much to the front as the forks compress. This in turn reduces rear grip for the exit which is not ideal. 

The track was wet and although we knew it would dry out in the 50 minutes we had, I did not wish to risk using slicks, plus the wets I do have on the wheels at present are part worn, so I may as well use them until they melt into bubbles of Blackness.

So off we went to the Pit Lane where we waited for the all clear to go out. Personally, I really enjoy the wet as it is a very good leveller and helps to reduce the advantage that the more powerful bikes have which in turn makes us more competitive. It's also no where near as physical so you can do an entire session without event breaking into a sweat.

As the session continued I was getting faster and faster and overtaking became a regular occurrence which was great to be able to take advantage while it lasted. Don't often get the chance at this level.

In this session, the most awesome sight was following Ryuichi Kiyonari on the HRC Honda for a few laps. Exiting Graham Hill Bend he just nailed it and the bike was suddenly fishtailing left and right struggling to find grip. Initially I backed off as it looked as though he was doomed and the kitty litter had his name on it, but after 50yds further on with the rear still spinning like a hamster on speed in a wheel it was obvious he was just completely bonkers and doing it on purpose. Very impressive and he must have a lot of confidence in the tyres to get away with that. If only I had a video on the bike to capture it as it looks much worse following than it does as a spectator. Maybe SKY TV will eventually get a few on bike cameras to show this kind of riding.

Actually, maybe they will follow some racing in the field, rather than simply follow the leader as it makes dull viewing seeing the same bike lap after lap. Where are the on bike cameras anyway?

Eventually the track started to dry out and I decided to call it a day as I was now exiting Clearways with the bike drifting the rear all the way onto the start finish straight as the rear wet had had it'd day and was now torn to shreds. Could not quite manage it to smoke like Doohan, but it felt good anyway.

A number of teams changed tyres and went out on the dry line to post faster times, but as this was just a practice session I did not see the point of using yet another rear tyre, let alone actually being able to afford to do it. Mind you, if money was not a problem I would probably have done the same. Any donations to the poverty fund are always welcomed with open arms.

One observation that we did make was there appeared to be a lot of spectators today which I guess was a combination of Bank Holiday boredom and great weather considering it was pretty dire yesterday.

Saturday - Free Practice 2

There was now a nice dry line around the entire circuit so a part worn rear slick was put in both front and back and we were off again.

There was a little confusion earlier though changing tyres. I had taken Kevin up to Dunlop to change the rear wet (just in case) and when Pat (Dunlop ) asked me the rim size, I confirmed it was a 16.5" rim........Ooops!

I left Kevin there to watch the wheel going through the precision system that they have there while I got on and changed the chain so I could run the wheelbase a little longer, however he soon arrived (panting after the 1/2 mile sprint) saying there was a problem with the wheel/tyre. We both whizzed up on the pit bike and after a brief apology to Pat I managed to swop the 16.5" tyre for the 17" size it needs to be. Ooops!!! I bet there was a lot of cursing going on trying to fit that....Hee....Heee...sorry guys.

No great dramas in this session though. Out on track I am learning the circuit with the correct gearing on and this is quite a culture change to what I am used to, bearing in mind the 250 used all 6 gears here and now I am using just 3rd to 6th gears. Believe me it takes some adjusting and even at the end of this session I was still going into some corners a gear lower than I needed to, which slows you up when off the throttle as the engine braking is more severe.

My fastest time was a 49.677s lap and placed me 25th out of 30 which was not too bad, plus I had completed the most laps out of the entire field at 29 and my part worn rear was well abused. In fact the only rubber I have seen more abused was in Amsterdam a few years ago. Sean Emmett had set the fastest lap of the day at 47.124s, however we knew that tomorrow would bring out the qualifying tyres and that everyone would go a fair bit lower yet if the weather improved as promised.

We took an estimated guess that the qualification time would be around the lap record at 46.1, thus with the new rules (ie. 5% of THE fastest lap, not 107% of the 3rd fastest lap as used in FIM) we set our eyes onto a lap time of 48.4s or lower to get a place in the grid. This was going to be difficult considering my experience here last year was cut short by a big high side, so I had a lot to learn. The most important lesson to learn was, don't do that again.

I must admit though, the new front fork springs felt great in this session and I may consider changing them again as this was defiantly a step in the right direction. We still have the standard road forks as Ohlins are an arm and a leg to buy.

Penny arrived in the afternoon to help out and make dinner which was much appreciated as I still had a fair bit to do to the bike before I even thought about food. I had a quick meeting in the Kentagon with Mike Walker and his crew to discuss tomorrow's tactics.

Sunday - Qualifying - Session 1

Jack had arrived early this morning for the rest of the weekend so we got to work with changing tyres and a new front and rear were put on for this session. The front we replaced was a 701 compound (Hard) and looked as good as new, but as the track and air temperatures were cold I figured it was not getting up to operating temperature properly and could be the reason why the bike feels as though the front is being pushed by the rear on some corners. A 748 (Soft) front was selected on the basis that we should get the grip we need.

Out on the circuit the rear drive was instantly better with a new tyre and lap after lap I experimented with getting the throttle on earlier and earlier until it started to induce a slide, or make my arse twitch, which is where I set the limit as far as traction was concerned. The steering into corners was also far better with the softer tyre and now the bike was holding line well and both wheels felt as though they were doing their jobs in unison, rather than fighting against each other for grip.

One of the things I am trying to change the more I ride, is my riding style (Yes, Haa..Haa...to go faster rather than slower). Rather than have a GP type style which involves less hanging off as the lean angles are a bit extreme, I am trying to hang off a bit more so I don't need such angles of lean and can keep the bike more upright and on the 'fatter' part of the tyre for a given corner speed, but again this is still taking time to adjust to and feels a bit alien at the moment.

So too is getting the bike stood up as fast as possible on the exit so you can open the throttle earlier and make the straights as long as possible. Bit like car racing really and a lot like motocross which is very point and squirt, but very different from running a GP bike where corner speed is everything.

To cap all this I am also trying to get off the brakes and back on the throttle as fast as possible as this is key to getting the bike settled in the turn. The bike takes all the load to the front under braking and once off the brakes a partial throttle helps to reduce the load to the front as you are now at a good angle of lean and steadies the bike, then from the apex you start to roll the throttle constantly searching for traction. The less angle of lean the more you can abuse the throttle, until you are almost upright and it's full throttle till the next bend which has the rear on a drift more often than not.

Now that the track was dry and the bike was subject to more stress I felt the rear shock could go harder still as I could feel it sitting down exiting Graham Hill and also exiting Clearways. This is something I will try at the next round, or perhaps for morning warm-up so that there is an opportunity to change it back if need be.

This session went well and my times came down again to 49.162s, which was set on lap 31, which was also my last lap. This is always good to see as it means I was improving all the time, despite the rear tyre getting more and more knackered. After 31 laps it was ripped to shreds from cold tearing. This could be down to track temperature, or the suspension still needs a bit more fettling at the rear.

I was 27th out of 30 in time and the fastest lap was set by Sean Emmett at 46.112 (ie. under the lap record of 46.189s), so under the current rules, this means we need to be looking at 48.417s at least as a qualifying time. Yipes!!! That's quite a leap.

In between times we had a little drama with some spilt fuel. I had a look and thought it was a potential fire hazard so we started to mop up the fuel with Blue towel. This would have been OK, but the next thing I knew was a bucket of water was poured over the fuel and as you may imagine it simply spread like wildfire.

Next thing we know is the bucket weilding party panicked about the fuel laden water reaching the awning, so as I frantically tried to make little dams everywhere to stop the flow, one of our team was being confronted in a chest puffing, threatening manner. All a bit over the top really for a genuine accident. I would not like to be in their awning when a 'real' problem arises.

I took the situation in hand and rushed to a marshalls point where I borrowed a bucket of cement dust and sprinkled this all over the floor. Sorted....what problem?

I made some apologies for the apparent raised blood pressure in the team behind us, but I was calm and thought it was all a bit lads in the playground stuff to even bother getting worried about, not that any of it was directed at me, but I did feel responsible as it was one of our team who spilt it.

Sunday - Qualifying Session 2

Another new rear tyre was put in for this session as it was all or bust now.

With the lap times reeling down from last year at the front I was starting to feel the pressure, but then, so too were all the other cup runners in the same boat who were also studying the time sheets like a GSE exam paper having done no revision for weeks. It's a facial expression of dread and also intimidation.

In this session I had a few good laps following some factory boys, although along the start finish straight the Rizla Suzuki's and the HM Plant Hondas flew past like they were on another planet. Those bikes are now seriously fast. My fastest speed over the start finish line was 152.8mph, against theirs at 161.7mph and there is a fair few yards to go before you even have to think about braking so I guess they must be hitting around the 170+ mph mark before braking and we must be around 160mph.

Might not sound like a huge margin, but when they pass just as we both go for the brakes, it feels like a huge differential. I am just surprised my leathers are not sucked off by the wind affect. This was only made better by braking later as then they were starting to only just get past before we both had to commit for Paddock Hill. Once or twice I simply gave way so we both stayed on line.

I followed Ryuichi Kiyonari for a few laps after he passed at Paddock Hill and every now and then he would look behind to see me there. Although loosing out a little on each lap I was not being dropped like a brick and on one lap he shot through Surties and flicked it right into Clearways with a little too much speed on board which forced him wide, so I drove the bike under him around Clearways. That made me grin for a while as it was £1m HRC BSB Bike v £1.52 of privateer cup humble development and the score on that corner was 0-1.

Dean Thomas drove past me (on the outside) exiting Clearways on one lap and I am sure he was looking at the print on the bottom of my boots. If either of us had fleas it would have been a perfect time for them to jump ship to another body as we were that close at well over 100mph. The word trust comes to mind, as well as Jeezzzuss at the time as I had to breath in to make room.

As this is such a short circuit you get the opportunity to follow the factory boys a bit closer and for longer as they only inch away here and there and it is good to watch at every angle, plus you can follow their lines if they appear to be very different from your own which is another step in the learning ladder.

While this session progressed there were a few casualties exiting Graham Hill bend and also one at Clearways. Everyone was OK which is good.

It was towards the end of this session that Sean Emett set pole and I think I may have witnessed part of this lap. I had just come to Paddock from pit lane when he shot past, so I gave chase. Into Druids he duffed up another cup runner which was impressive, however while he gathered his thought I managed to get past too. As Sean Exited Graham Hill I was just clipping the apex and boy did he get on the gas early. Up and wheeling over the rumble and on his way. It was great to see a bike being ridden so hard and with such confidence. Fair play to him for pole position at 45.811s. That's 0.378s under the lap record and the fastest any bike has ever been round Brands Indy circuit.

I set my fastest lap on lap 16 out of 39 completed, however it's one of those things where I was then getting more consistently faster despite the tyre getting very worn.

My fastest time was 48.642s, however I had pitted towards the end of the session to look at the tyre and it was ripped to shreds so I said to Jack that I will take the bike to Park Ferme. As I exited the pits I thought, let's just try a few things out and see if the time would be better, or worse.

Despite the rear sliding out of every right hander I went straight into low 49's and then into a 48.898s lap in two laps. The nice thing here was I proved that had the tyre been fresh those last few laps could have been even faster than the one set earlier in the session.

All I did was change my line into Clearways to see if it would improve my drive out and it worked. If only I was on fresh rubber to make the most of it. Dammm. You just can't afford to give anything away this year. Maybe we will get another rear wheel to enable us to try this next time.

With Sean posting a pole time of 45.811s (Nice one) the cut off for qualifying was 48.101s, so we were 0.541s out and were off for an early bath along with Warren Scott, Dijon Compton, Nick Medd, Gordon Blackley and Denver Robb.

I felt really sorry for Denver Robb as he has one almighty drive home to Ireland and will no doubt sit and think about what should have been all the way home, which is a long time to be down in the dumps, but I am sure he will be back for the next round.

There have never been so many going home early at this level and it's all to do with this new qualifying rule brought in by MCRCB-Events. It appears that there was a riders meeting on Saturday in connection with these new rules, with the result being the FIM regulation qualifying rules were brought back........that is................all except for the Superbikes.

It's a funny world really. The Factory teams/riders/commintators complain about backmarkers, however without the slower teams being out there the championship would struggle to survive as no-one will pay good money to see 14 factory bikes running around on their own and the TV contracts would be ripped up on that basis too as they specify a minimum grid to make it entertaining, so why make it so tough as we could probably qualify for a World Round, but not our own domestic championship. But I guess that's just the politics of racing.

Watching on TV on Monday it was interesting to see Jonathan Palmer being interviewed on the grid. What was quite striking was this was the first Superbike meeting he had ever attended and appeared surprised at what a crowd it had. Blimey, where has he been for the last 5 years!! I bet it smacked the British Touring Car car ego well in to touch.

We are not stressed right now about not getting on the grid during this part of the season as the bike need further development and is basically a Superstock bike at present which actually surprises us how well we are doing with what we have got. The handling is far better than when we started out in the middle of 2003 so progress is good. I think at Oulton we will have a better set-up and would be surprised not to be on the grid.......well....that's of course if we have a slot to be there in the first place as we have to wait for the phone call to see if we can be invited first.

Huge 'Thumbs Up' and Thanks go out to Kevin, Richard, Penny and Jack for helping out over the weekend as their help is invaluable on these busy weekends and I would never manage alone.

I don't think the bike will be ready for Snetterton as this is too soon after Brands, but we are hoping to be at Oulton on 1/2/3rd May.

Hope to see you there.

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