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 2002 Season Review
I have been a very lucky person this season. I’ve surpassed all the goals I set and it was strange looking back at my sponsor portfolio to find out what my expectations actually were. In hindsight they were, very optimistic:
Top three in the Melville Motor Club Formula 400 Championship
Top ten in the North East Motorcycle Racing Club Formula 400 Championship
Top ten in the Auto 66 Club Formula 400 Championship
Qualify and Finish the Lightweight 400 TT
I think though (by far) the biggest experience this year has been the TT, it is also the place where my sights were perhaps even a little too optimistic. I have now heard about experienced racers who have tried for 10 years to finish a TT race without success (one little mechanical problem can end the competition). The TT is really like nothing else I have experienced, Road Circuits demand so much respect, make a mistake and you WILL pay.
The TT circuit is also so much fun, if you get a section of the course right and things flow, its such an awe inspiring experience…..much more than short circuits (which are more start/stop).
On the sections where I was slow, due to lack of course knowledge, it has just made my resolve to learn the circuit, stronger, because the rewards of conquering a section of the most difficult course in the world are so good.
So to achieve a qualifying average speed of over 100mph was phenomenal. The position I finished in the race was immaterial. I was the only newcomer therefore I should expect to finish last (if indeed I did finish). Out of 57 entrants I came through a weeks qualifying and then finished 25th.
Next year my goal will be to improve on my result of this year, by getting a better knowledge of the Circuit. I think that I can stand up to even the professional teams and maybe give them a surprise.
It is also all about the enjoyment of racing.…..but it would be nice to get a Bronze or Silver replica (for finishing within a 110% of the winners time).
My short circuit racing has really come on this year.
At the beginning of the year we went down to York where I learned about running with too hard a tyre compound and being up against some bikes with a huge power advantage over mine. Best results here were good, they were within my goal, but the team in general was not too impressed with the circuit’s condition.
We moved further down (Hull) where I found out how grippy some circuits can be (my results gradually improving). All this was even before the season had started in Scotland.
It was at Carnaby I had my first fall of the season, unfortunately taking out another bike in the process.
 A good point to leave for the TT was when I borrowed Laurie Shepard’s ZXR and won a trophy and money prize at Carnaby. I took this as a good omen for the TT.
(I also won the pub sweep between two racers and a drag racer to see who would get the first trophy in 2002).
The very same weekend we came back from the TT I was out racing at Croft. It was quite a difficult thing to get back into short circuit mood again, but Croft is a lovely fast flowing circuit, and I managed a couple of good results on only my second time there.
It was shortly after this that we got the full Swona race exhaust system on the bike and it made a fair bit of difference at the top end. We discovered that the Standard system was choking the bike at high revs.
A lot of people, who I am close to, have said that there was a change in my ability after the TT. Perhaps I didn’t notice it myself, but it certainly made itself clear at East Fortune in July.
I think my first race wins (which I got in July) were due to a combination of both things the team had been working on, and also my own psychology.
I got better starts due to better drive with the new exhaust, my “first corner psychological block” I managed to overcome (and we as a team were getting to grips with perfecting suspension settings) so our TT experience was paying off.
Really this was a bit of a step up, as my results now were regular top 3, whether I was at East Fortune, Carnaby, or Croft.
In the last half of the season I picked up 9 trophies (including 3 winners trophies) from the three different circuits (not including the two medals I got from the TT). I also earned three money prizes (totalling £70…the trophies are worth more to me, I need another shelf now).
At the end of the season I realised how much I had surpassed my expectations by achieving the following championship standings:
Melville Motor Club Formula 400 Championship Winner (#1)
North East Motorcycle Racing Club Formula 400 Championship Runner up (#2)
Auto 66 Club Formula 400 Championship 6th (less than half of events attended)
Qualified and Finished the Lightweight 400 TT in 25th (best newcomer in class, +100mph lap)
So what are my goals for 2003?………
I am definitely going back to the TT and will be running in the Lightweight 400 class.
To improve on this year’s position is my goal and I know in trying this it will be so enjoyable.
 It’s also a goal in 2003 to race in Ireland at a road circuit such as Dundrod, perhaps in the Ulster Grand Prix.
I would also like to take part in one or two National events such as Scarborough Gold Cup at Oliver’s Mount (Scarborough)
The team won’t be going as far south next year, as regularly, although we will probably try out some new circuits.
The main Championships I will be in are:
The Melville Motor Club Formula 400 and Open Championship (East Fortune)
North East Motorcycle Racing Club Formula 400 Championship (Croft, Carnaby & East Fortune)
I would like to thank all my sponsors and everyone who has helped me to achieve so much this year:
Sponsors:
Broxburn Tyres & Exhausts (Gordon Bradford)
BAE Systems
www.twattit.co.uk (bikerzine)
www.magsport.com (for awarding me the first ever Joey Dunlop Memorial Sponsorship Award)
Howard Selby Autos (Howard built the engine)
AON Risk Assessment (Couldn’t have happened with out Auntie Linda)
Saddletramps mcc
York Barbers (Russel) 0131 558 303
www.freja-fashion.co.uk (my lovely, sexy, strong and ever patient wife Mette)
www.SABD.org.uk (Scottish Association of Bikers With A Disability)
Herbie (what he doesn’t know about carbs, isn’t worth knowing)
Dominion Cinemas (Al Cameron, for his support and the use of his tyre warmers)
John (my brother for all the support and Champagne)
Pollock Engineering (Livingston)
Scot Signs (Livingston)
Bikestyle (Bickers, Ipswich) Thanks for the wonderful UVEX helmet to test and Frank Finch (fellow Lightweight 400TT competitor) for organising the helmet trial.
Nick Dancer (for the loan of his FZR, without which I could not have won the Melville Championship)
www.readitandweep.net (They rock)
Swona Exhausts (for the help with the dyno runs)
Not least to the best TT pit crew I could hope for: Jenny, Neil and Gordon
Thanks to everyone who followed my exploits and supported me.
 Personal thanks to:
Graeme Oliver (all the support from my team mate)
“Turbo Tea Lady” Jenny Black (Pit Crew and sanity at the TT)
Lynn Oliver (for keeping us on coffee and rolls at the circuits)
C&J Wilson Kawasaki (Uphall)
S4 Edinburgh Motorcycle Salvage
Dave Cumming (for the website)
Diana Dyce (Melville Motor Club)
Andy Laidlow & Kirsten, Couperman and Tonto (for advice about the TT)
Bike Torque (accessories)
Sharples (tyres)
Colin Patterson (Saddletramps, for help with pictures)
Yvonne and Dave Brown for all the help and support at the TT
Blind Beggar Pub (Broughton Road) Edinburgh
Laurie Shepard (for the loan of the ZXR)
Easter Road Plastics (race numbers and backgrounds)
John McComisky (for getting my TT article in the Scottish Autotrader, Motorcycle Section)
A special thank you to Neil for the enormous amount of work he has put into keeping the bike at a level of running that got me my results, ordering things hassling people and generally making it all happen.
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