markcastle05supermonoround4

From Stag Do’s clashing with my last race meeting to the actual wedding this time, another weekend where I was in danger of meeting myself coming backwards!! So much so that I had to think ahead and get organised well in advance, starting with sending the Yamaha back with Brian Wyles after Donington to ensure it made it to the meeting in plenty of time, just in case I was late arriving at Mallory Park on the Sunday morning.

Prior to the meeting I was at a wedding rehearsal on the Thursday evening and didn’t get home till late, then out with the groom on Friday so I didn’t go home at all until after the Reception on Saturday night. So my last opportunity to load the van was Wednesday evening, which was further complicated by having a carpet fitted on Thursday so I had to clear out the dining room as well. Fortunately my brother Mike came over to lend a hand, which was a great help.

You’ll be glad to know that the wedding was a great success, and even though I was like a fish out of water I pulled off the best man’s speech quite well I think. Mind you I had to put my notes on the table because my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t read them properly!! Andy has been my mechanic since I began racing and has been there for me at every trip to the Isle of Man, Good luck to him and Claire.

I finally got back home after 2am on Sunday morning, fell into bed and got a couple of hours sleep, but through worrying about getting up on time I didn’t get much sleep from about 4am onwards. I gave up at quarter past five and had a shower to wake up!!! Mike and Louise had stayed over and my friend Simon Ellison of Papillon photo arrived in time for a cuppa before leaving just after 6am.

We got to the track at 7:30 and found Brian in the paddock, he had travelled up the night before from Somerset. The bike was already unloaded so I went straight to scruitineering.

New Era had remembered to give us a warm up session in the program this time so the Supermono’s had the first run out at 9:30. The only changes made to the bike since the Donington meeting was a new right hand handle bar, to replace the one I bent in Qualifying so I checked that the new bar was in the right position. We started the bikes to warm the engines up before putting the tyre warmers on and getting ready for the first session. The weather had so far stayed dry but had gone very overcast and was quite cold, I was on the Pirelli slicks which have had a bit of a hard time, especially from Brands earlier in the year.

I went up to the holding area for the start of practice, perfectly timed as I was allowed straight onto the track. I gave the tyres time to warm up, as the warmers hadn’t been on for very long prior to the session. I did find there was quite a strong cross wind, which was most apparent at Gerard’s, the fast long right-hander. I had a very good practice though and quickly got into a good rhythm following Ivan Porter on his TZ framed Rotax. I was pleased with the set up but felt I could do with a bit more drive out of the corners.

The qualifying session wasn’t until 10:45am so I had plenty of time to alter the gearing to get the drive I wanted, so I changed the rear sprocket from a 39 up to a 40.

The rear tyre was looking badly cut up on the right hand side so Kev Spurr of S&S Tuning who had come along to watch, made some adjustments by increasing the rebound damping of the rear shock. We made the decision to rebuild both the forks and shock before the next meeting. I’d wanted to do it before the season started but ran out of time, and with the bike spending most of it’s time in Somerset I’d not had an opportunity to take them out and do the work.

I prepared for the Qualifying session and got the tyre warmers on in plenty of time to ensure the tyres were well up to temperature. I started the bike and joined the queue in the holding area, I was near the back of a very long line of bikes and began to think that getting a good clear lap was going to be a bit difficult.

However when I got to the gate I was stopped, so when I got out onto the track there was no one in front of me, brilliant. I had a really good session with a few clear laps before beginning to catch and pass slower riders, I was a lot happier with the gearing too. I pushed on and put in a few good quick laps. I qualified 9th on the grid with a fastest lap time of 59.40 seconds.

Unfortunately during qualifying, Brian Wyles totally destroyed his 640cc Rotax engine, which had been so reliable for me over the last few years. It was so bad that a piece of the engine actually hit Mike who was stood on the pit wall at the time, you could see day light through the engine with huge pieces of the engine cases broken off!!!

I checked my rear tyre after qualifying and it was absolutely shot and I needed to change it before the race, especially as it was to be over 15 laps. But there was only one tyre van at the track and he was catering mainly for the Classic bikes at the meeting. The only rear slick he had was a hard compound Dunlop and it just wouldn’t work in the cold temperature. Luckily Tony Davies was prepared to lend me a spare back wheel with a good tyre on, so I fitted it and got the warmers on.

The Supermono race was immediately after lunch and the weather had amazingly stayed dry but the temperature really hadn’t improved. I took up my position on the grid; I’d not been this near the front in ages!!! It was a flag start and the rider next to me had set off before the flagman had even got off the track!! He totally ruined my concentration and I made a really poor start when the flag finally dropped, I lost a few places and was kicking myself whilst riding around Gerard’s, I dived up the inside a couple of riders at Edwina’s chicane and was quite surprised to have pulled the move off without collecting any one else!!

I was chasing Tony Davies through the Esses when Richard Rowley lost the back of his Rotax Mini Mono and slid off causing Tony to run wide, just missing Richard but hitting his spinning bike causing Tony to fall off too, I was lucky to avoid the melee. The red flags came out immediately and we re-formed on the grid. Tony’s son Stuart came over to me with the blower to keep the engine cool, so I was able to tell him that his dad was ok.

Fortunately the re-start wasn’t delayed too much and I didn’t have to turn off the Yamaha due to over heating, helped by the low temperature on the day. Big singles are very hard to start and not what you want just before a race.

The rider next to me did the same again but I was ready for him this time and ignored him creeping forward and got a much better start. Just one rider passed me as I got pushed wide in Gerard’s and he was to hold me up for a couple of laps.

I dived up the inside at Edwina’s on lap two but he held on to his position, I made a feeble attempt at the hairpin too but didn’t pull it off there either!!! I gave myself a wake up shake…On lap three I made a huge effort to get the drive on him and came out of Gerard’s virtually alongside him, by the time I got into the braking markers for Edwina’s I was clear in front and back on the racing line. I pulled away with ease but kicked myself for allowing the leaders to get away again; I must be more aggressive in future, especially in the early laps of the race.

I could see Scott Richardson on his Air-cooled Suzuki ahead but he was the full length of the straight in front, I tried to make a dent in the gap between us but soon came across back markers and lost sight of Scott.

I rode around pretty much on my own for the remainder of the race except for lapping the occasional rider. I consistently lapped in the 59-second bracket with a clear track. I finished the race in 7th place overall which was 5th in the Water-cooled class and another 11 points towards the championship lifting me from 9th to 5th place in the Water-cooled class.

After every Race the Supermono Association have a prize giving ceremony in the Supermono Tent. With the Post TT meeting being a special event in the series calendar they were able to secure sponsorship for the meeting from TEKMOTIVE, in the form of commemorative T-shirts for all the riders, a trophy for everyone who entered and prize money on top of that allocated by the ACU for the top three finishers overall. It was really good for everyone to get something back and the presentations really help to build on the already strong camaraderie that exists in Supermono racing.

Visit www.supermononewsletter.co.uk for more information.

Photographer Simon Ellison of Papillon Photo took over 500 pictures of the Supermono racing at Mallory, the photo’s can be viewed via the link:
www.supermono.papillon-photo.com
Or visit his website: www.papillon-photo.com.

Thank you to TEKMOTIVE for supporting British Supermono Racing by sponsoring individual riders and the series. Visit www.tekmotive.co.uk

Thank you to Mark Tunnicliffe at Tunnicliffe Labels & Signs in Macclesfield for supplying and printing the special T-shirts and all the Supermono clothing. Contact Mark by e-mail on mark@tunnicliffesigns.com

The Next Meeting for me will be Aberdare Park in South Wales, well worth a weekend away to see racing around a park: July 23rd & 24th.

The next Supermono meeting will be rounds 5 & 6 at Castle Coombe the following weekend: July 30th & 31st.


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