So, round one. Friday evening, Crazy Pete, team helper for the weekend (I ought to think of a better title for him!) and I turn up and meet up with Chris who was in the bar. Chris is once again full to the brim with enthusiasm and er, beer (he had arrived a fair bit earlier than us!) but after a couple of beers ourselves we set up camp in the last piece of tarmac that Chris had managed to reserve earlier; this was brilliant as it meant we didn’t have to venture out into the grassy area which was resembling a swamp, so we retired to the bar for a pint or so of ‘enthusiasm’ (where we listened to a story about Pete’s KMX) and chatted to some of the faces from last year and heard about how much money they’d spent over winter and how much horsepower they’d gained and how quick they were going to go this year etc etc. I didn’t mention my horsepower gain on the basis that after my performance the fortnight before, it’d make me look a right prat if I was now going slower than ever, hmm. A windy night in the van and plenty on my mind about the next day and I didn’t get much in the way of sleep. Chris and Pete (telling people about his KMX) had already taken the bike to be scrutineered by the time I emerged from the van in my newly ‘adjusted’ leathers and I was disappointed to be greeted by rain. Oh well, at least I had the wets with me this time. First practice was well wet and I ambled around to see how things felt; actually, not too bad! Managed to get out in another practice session and although it had stopped raining the track was still soaking but I started to push a bit harder and actually felt that I could survive a wet race! The bike felt strong and I could move around in the leathers and I generally felt pretty comfortable. The track had started to dry for the first ‘open’ race so I went off from the back of the grid with the sole intention of getting some dry practice and trying to find a bit of a rhythm. Again, things felt pretty good. The track was almost entirely dry though the wind was gusting hard and it was hard to keep a line especially through the fast corners out the back of the circuit, but my head was in gear and I was looking forward to the first Sound of Thunder race (a non points scoring race but important for a good grid position in the final). Sarah turned up late in the morning and assisted with the smooth running of the team with tea and toast and meticulous visor cleaning! Without the presence of the 3 guys who finished ahead of me in last year’s championship, I found myself directed to pole position, pretty cool! I got a reasonable start, though starting on the outside meant I had to go the long way round the hairpin and lost some places. I got my head down and dispatched a couple of riders and settled into a decent pace. I found myself catching and passing the 4th placed man, then the 3rd placed man and hey, I was closing the gap on the guy in second! Two laps to go and I found I was right on the back of him and saw it was Alan Stevens, a rider that I couldn’t touch last year; here I was right with him and he was slightly slower than me! A couple of glances behind me and I realised I was pretty safe in 3rd and although I knew I only needed a top four finish to give me a front row start in race two, I decided it was worth a push; I went deep in to the hairpin and as soon as I let the brakes off I chucked it in, got it turned, picked the bike up and gassed it. Stevens (wearing his intimidating black leathers with the words ‘Royal Marines’ on the back) took a long look at me as I came alongside him and although he had a dark visor, I could sense his shock to see me there! Beating him into the following right hand bend I held him off through the left-handers, the back hairpin and the fast kink. A banzai move up my inside on the last bend and he edged past me on the sprint to the line beating me by 3 hundredths of a second! The expression on Chris’s face was as much reward as anyone could wish for; he was puffing and panting where he’d been running across the pits to see me at different parts of the track each lap, his voice was hoarse where he’d been shouting encouragement and he had the biggest smile I’d ever seen, brilliant! Added to that, I’d be third on the grid in the second race, which is my favourite starting position so I was really looking forward to going out again. I scrubbed in a new rear slick in the open race and soon lined up on the grid for the second, and important SoT race. My plan was to go off the line as hard as I could in the warm up lap to show them I meant business and hopefully make them have second thoughts about trying to beat me into the hairpin; I must have fazed Stevens next to me because as soon as the lights went out, he dumped the clutch so hard that the front wheel pointed skywards (apparently, Pete had done a similar thing on his KMX once) and he landed on his backside turning himself into an unexpected chicane for most of the rest of the grid to avoid, he was real lucky not to get run over! So there I was, lying second behind the mega money bike of the leader Mark Baldock, but quite expecting for the race to be stopped because of the accident (meaning I’d have to do a re-start) but they kept it going and as we came round to complete the first lap the carnage had been cleared. I tried to stay with Baldock but he was in a league of his own so I settled down and found the rhythm I’d been searching for; it felt good and I was running around in mid 1.05s even though the gusting wind and cold track wasn’t ideal. I was shocked that no one was challenging me and had a few glances behind to be sure I wasn’t being stalked but I was building a good gap over 3rd place and brought it home in 2nd, smiling from ear to ear! A little team celebration was necessary that evening (along with a KMX tale or two from Pete)!
Sunday morning was a different start. The weather was dry though still windy, and I was full of confidence. A quick grovel to the organisers and I blagged a Sunday practice pass and went out on my superb rear slick; a couple of laps to get it warm and the bike felt just wonderful. I was happily overtaking slower riders with little difficulty and I felt strong. The open race was a bit of a knocker though as I got involved with a bit of elbow action from some of the faster riders off the grid and I had a flash of deja-vue from the times I got taken out last year, so it took a while to get my head back into it. There was quite a break then till my first SoT race and in the run up to it, the weather clouded over and then the odd spit of rain appeared. Chris suggested putting the inter rear tyre back on just in case, so he got on with that. About five minutes before I was due to go out, the heavens opened! Full speed ahead to fit the wets; thank goodness for spare wheels! Chris changed the rear, I changed the front and Pete helped us both (though he was impressed at how quickly we could change the wheels compared to how long it takes on a KMX). It was all a bit of a rush so I was on cold wet tyres for the race. Luckily, I’d been happy with them in practice the previous day but I decided to build up my speed gently and make sure the tyres were up to temperature before pushing my luck as I needed to finish this race as a fall would have had me at the back of the grid for the final. I finished in 5th place, which I was fairly happy with, especially as I was catching the leading guys in the latter stages so I knew my ability in the wet was improving. Lap times were in the 1.12 bracket, which was good compared to the 1.10 I’d done in the dry two weeks previously! I sat out the second open race to avoid any unnecessary conflicts and waited till pretty much the end of the day for the final SoT race. 5th on the grid was less than ideal, second row on the outside. I got a decent start but had to stay wide round the hairpin again and lost ground. I soon got back up to 6th but took a long time getting past into 5th. I could see three guys a fair way ahead of me so I got my head down and started work on closing the gap. I did manage to close right up on the 4th placed man, Ricky Ross riding a glorious-sounding Benelli tornado, but try as I might I couldn’t get past. I felt I’d cooked my rear inter tyre in closing the gap and didn’t trust it enough when I really needed to put the power down hard. I crossed the line in 5th, which wasn’t a bad result and my fastest lap of the weekend was a 1.04.7 was pleasing especially with the wind causing quite a problem.
All in all, a successful weekend and I learnt some useful things about myself, the bike, tyres, the need for a pit board and about KMXs. All we had to do was load up the van, have a well-deserved team appreciation chat and sit in traffic for hours on the way home. Still at least I had Pete to entertain me, he’s got this KMX you know……..
Roll on Donington!