“Er, on the way to Darley I hope??”
“ Yes, but you’ll never guess WHERE I am…”
“Go on…”
“I’m in Asda buying some clothes for the weekend; I’ve left all mine at home!”
I’m not superstitious, but as Lady Luck hasn’t been wearing her team t-shirt for me just recently, the phone call from Chris on Friday made me wonder what on earth the weekend had in store for us! As I pulled into the paddock I realised the need for a change of clothes: I spotted Chris from a long way back, stood proudly in the loudest, reddest Hawaiian shirt and shorts I’ve ever seen!
It has to be said that I don’t really like Darley, and, going by my previous two visits there, I was seeking damage limitation as much anything else. It’s a real fast track punctuated by some stupid chicanes that look like they’d be more suited as a traffic calming measure on a housing estate. It also has very little run-off. With the weather forecast set to be a mixture of sunshine and showers, anything could happen so if I could come away in one piece with a few points on the scorecard I’d be happy.
So, Friday evening, all set up (having realised I’d forgotten things too; Funnel, wheel stands, saucepan….) and sat around the barbecue enjoying the good weather while we still had it, one of the scrutineers came over; “anyone fancy a ride in a sidecar tomorrow? Dennis, ‘the old guy’, has been let down by his passenger and needs someone to help him out”. It took a bit of persuasion but I volunteered (never having done it before I though it would be a good experience!) on the basis that I’d go out in practice and then (probably) make my excuses and get him to find someone else for the race. Saturday morning Chris and I wandered down to find the outfit so we could have a chat to the driver and so Chris (an ex-sidecar driver himself!) could give me an idea of what to hang on to and how to fit on the surprisingly small platform. It turned out that ‘the old guy’ had been undersold; yes he was a 65 year-old retired gentleman but he was riding a monster 1147cc, 160bhp, Suzuki engined Formula 1 outfit and was leading the Championship; Gulp!! It also transpired that as I’d signed up for the ride, if I didn’t want to do the races, he would have to sit them out too as no one else would be allowed to race without having done a practice. Oh well, no wimping out then!
First practice on the Mille was damp but I opted to leave the slicks on as I’d been told by Dunlop that their factory riders use them (unless there is standing water) and was keen to see how they felt and whether I could get my head round using slicks in the damp! I went out, nervously, but didn’t have and major slides with them and seemed to be overtaking a number of people running treaded tyres, hmm, interesting! I also got to try out my new quickshifter, which should have allowed me to change up through the gears without shutting the throttle, though I did find it hard to remember not to throttle off( you know, old dog/ new tricks!) but it broke before the end of the practice session so I went back to changing gear the tried and trusted way.
As I pulled into the pits, Pete was there ready to ride my bike back to the paddock (he was chuffed when I asked him!) as my chariot was ready waiting for me to jump on. A couple gentle laps and I patted Dennis on the back to let him know I was comfortable and that he could pick the pace up a little. I spent the session finding my handholds and practicing moving about on the chair a bit like I’d seen them do on the tv and although it felt totally alien, I was happy enough to do the race itself. The strangest thing I found was when I took a glance behind and seeing a sidecar following me! It sounds daft, I know, but I’ve never been chased by an outfit before!
The rain had lightly started by my second practice but again I went out the slicks and was encouraged by the fact that again I was catching and passing people including some other Sound of Thunder guys. From then on, the rain set in and hardly improved.
The sidecar qualifying race was first; with my brief of “whatever you do, don’t fall out!” fresh in my mind I took a tight hold! From pole on the grid, I knew we wouldn’t be hanging about but a load of wheelspin as the lights went out (due to too much horsepower/ wet track / poor passenger positioning, ahem!) meant we’d lost a few places into the first chicane. The ride was much more aggressive now and I was amazed at the forces working against me. Coming out of the tight, right handed hairpin the track curves left throwing me to the right of the bike where I was led trying to help the rear wheel get traction. Add to that the acceleration force and the rapidly increasing wind blast trying to push me backwards and I had to pull as hard as my poor arm muscles could manage in order to get back to the tucked-in position for the back straight before bracing myself and moving back over the right side of the outfit for the severe braking and following right hander. I was real glad it was wet as I couldn’t imagine having to cope with the increased forces a dry track on hot slicks would be like! I think we finished about 8th but hey, at least we finished!
Back on two wheels, I used the ‘open’ race purely as a practice, now on full wets, and I spent the time just staying out of trouble and trying to learn the track in the wet conditions. A spill in the powerbike race had meant that my arch rival Lance was not on the grid for the SoT qualifier so all I needed to do was be sure I finished and got a decent starting position for the final. A decent start saw me behind the fast starting Damien on the SP1, then the beautiful Benelli of Ricky Ross came past both of us approaching the hairpin and into the lead; the bike struggles on horsepower in the dry but the drive it has in the wet is awesome. I could see Ricky making a bit of a break but I managed to get past Damien and with clear track ahead of me started closing the gap. By the end of the race I was right on his tail but just didn’t have enough time to try a move but hey, I came in 2nd, got the fastest lap of the race (yes, me, fastest, in the wet!!!) and was really pleased for Ricky taking his first win; I could see he had an ear to ear smile even though he was still wearing his helmet!
The rain had stopped by the time it was the sidecar race final and the track was beginning to dry. Most of the runners had opted for cut slicks but when I met up with Dennis in the holding area, I noticed he still had the wets fitted. I think he must have had some inside information regarding the weather because as we waited for a crash in the previous race to be cleared up, it started spitting and as we moved out to form up on the grid, the heavens opened again. After the lessons learnt from the earlier sidecar start, I positioned myself right over the rear tyre to get maximum traction off the line and I held on tight! The lights went out and we shot forward and around the crews directly ahead of us as they struggled to find grip. I didn’t get much chance to look around us but I think we were about fourth into the chicane, though a little nudge from another outfit lost us a place. A chat after the first race to reassure Dennis that there was no way I was going to let myself fall out, and that I’d be doing my best to help stop that rear wheel from spinning, meant that he was on a mission. I concentrated hard on being in the right position for each bend and although I found it really hard to move very far to the left I gave it my all in getting over to the right and weighting the rear wheel as much as possible. It paid off as we crossed the line 3rd in our class and I had a very happy driver! I, in return, had very sore hands, knees, ankles and arms and I’ve still got the bruises on my ribs!
At last, the SoT final and my chance to hopefully score some points (very important as Mr Baldock hadn’t turned up for some reason). Still raining, but 2nd on the grid with Lance up and running but right on the back of the grid due to him failing to make the start of the qualifier. An average start behind Damien and the confidence boosted Ricky and I settled in for what looked like a repeat of the earlier race. A glance behind me down the back straight and I saw Lance right behind me. It turns out he took the ‘straight through’ line across the chicane (road, grass, road, grass, road) and gained a load of places (the cheat!!) but all I thought was the need to get my head down as I just needed to come away with more points than him to give me a chance of taking 2nd place from him in the championship. Seems he was pretty desperate to keep his championship place as he overcooked it in the nasty left hander before the hairpin trying to gain on me, totalling his bike and causing the race to be stopped. The rest of us went back to form up on the grid for a re-start, but we were kept there for a long time while they cleared the debris from the track. Sat waiting, I opened my visor but hadn’t considered the consequences of the rain soaking the inner lining of my helmet. As we prepared to go again, I shut and locked my visor as usual but almost as soon as the lights went out and pulled away, my visor started misting up. I managed the first few corners and as soon as I got on the back straight I tried to unlock the visor to get some air under it to clear it. Trouble is, it wouldn’t undo! I took the chicane, the left hander and the hairpin with failing vision and again, down the home straight I tried to release the visor. I guess my soaking wet gloves didn’t help but I still couldn’t get it open. Another lap I battled with it, getting slower and slower and having bikes pass me all the time as I ended up peering through the tiniest of clear areas to try to see through the intense spray at the track ahead. I was almost at the point of pulling in and taking a DNF but one final wrench and the visor lifted clearing enough mist for me to continue. I gained a fair few places back but I was absolutely fuming that something so simple had robbed me of a decent result. See what I mean about luck?! Still, at least I stayed on which was more than the unfortunate Ricky did (binning the Benelli must have been emotionally painful as much as anything else!) and I actually ended up 6th after all that and bagged 8 points for my efforts but I knew I was capable of so much better. Chris was fuming too, though not realising my vision situation, assumed I’d given up after a bad start and he walked away before seeing the end and started cooking instead. He did make a lovely spaghetti bolognese, but skulked off soon afterwards to leave me with the washing up and to tidy the pit area. I got an early night but was absolutely determined to make up for the poor result the following day.
Sunday morning and I was woken by bright sunshine: I got up early and slotted the slicks back in the bike with every intention of leaving them on all day! A blagged practice ticket allowed me to ensure the tyres were fully scrubbed in and get my head up to speed now that the track was fully dry, although I had to contend with having to wear Chris’s Hawaiian shirt and shorts over my leathers to fully absolve myself of the poor result the day before! It certainly got me noticed! With no sidecar to contend with today (phew!) my first outing was the ‘open’ qualifier (this time without the additional clothing, thankfully!). Keen to stay out of the way of any incidents, I stayed at the very back of the grid and let them go. I moved to where the front row had been and as soon as all the bikes ahead had made it through the first chicane, I made a practice start and headed off after them. I guess I must have learned something from the previous year here because I’d soon caught the pack and felt confident overtaking people, especially on the approach to the scarily fast chicanes where a lot of riders backed off a little earlier than I was prepared to. By the last lap I’d caught Damien up and heading down the home straight, I pulled out of his slip stream and draughted past. I gave him a long look as I went past and he did a double take at me as if to say “oi, cheeky!”. He braked later and deeper than I did into the final right hander but I was on the inside line and got my bike turned quickly, stood it up, and powered towards the line, just beating him past the flag. A good little confidence booster prior to my main event!
We went and watched some of the track action while we waited for the SoT race, and as we were about to head back to the van Lady Luck was obviously looking the other way; as I turned round, I tripped over the stupidly placed, low level chain fence that had been behind us and I fell heavily on my right wrist. For a few moments I felt like I’d broken it and was considering who I could sue for robbing me of my chance in the SoT race! The pain eased, however, and Karma was restored.
So, front row of the grid for the SoT qualifier. I got a superb start, though Damien got a better one, and I settled in behind him. Not wanting to slow us both up, I kind of rode shotgun behind him for the first couple of laps. A glance behind and I could see we were pulling a gap on the third placed man but Damien, desperate for his first win was starting to pull a bit of a gap on me too. By lap 4 we’d made a pretty big gap on anyone else and I had to make a decision; either settle for a safe and sensible 2nd , (this was only a qualifier after all and non points scoring) letting Damien take his maiden win, or make a push. I chose option 2. I took a deep breath, got my head down and, bike length by bike length, I started closing the gap. A glance over his shoulder warned Damien I was coming and I could see he was pushing hard. I was right on him as we approached the hairpin for the final time and I’m sure he could hear the Mille growling behind him! A little mistake onto the home straight lifted his front wheel under acceleration and I drove alongside and past him. No cheeky look this time, I concentrated on my braking point for the last right hander, but wasn’t surprised to see him trying the inside line that I’d showed him in the open race earlier! I kept good corner speed even though I was slightly wider and beat him past the flag by the length of a wheel and, I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a feeling! Smiles and congratulations as I came back into the pits and even Chris had forgiven me for the result of the previous day! Brilliant! Checking out the results was just so satisfying; seeing my name at the top, having the fastest lap, and realising we’d pulled some 17 seconds over the 3rd placed man! In fact our lap times would have been good enough to be right at the front of the local Championship’s races even though they use the circuit every month!
I think Damien had pinched a copy of our plans A, B, and C from Pembrey, (remember those??!!) because my move on him in the open qualifier had landed him a front row start in the open ‘B’ final ( I, of course, qualified last in the ‘A’ final, Doh!). I skipped my open race but watched Damien run away with the B final, his first win, finally!
So, on to the SoT final, the important one, as this was for points and a position in the championship. My poor result on Saturday had meant everyone else had closed a gap on me so I had it all to lose if I wasn’t careful. As we formed up on the grid for the warm up lap I glanced up at the sky to the left and saw big black clouds, all heading our way. I gestured to the startline man to show him what was coming in a bid to not have us hanging about too long; a quick warm up lap and ready for the start. Lights out, GO! Damien flew off the line, as did Ricky. Determined not to let Damien get away, I draughted past the Benelli down the back straight as assumed the ‘wing-man’ position behind the SP1. Again we pulled a gap on the rest of the field pretty quickly, motivated partly by trying to get the race over before the rain hit us! Third lap in and heading down the home straight the first drops of water hit my visor. I could see the red / yellow (slippery surface) flags being waved by the last corner. Damien looked behind over his left shoulder to see where I was and as he did so, I made a move to his right. I thought crossed my mind “am I allowed to pass under an oil flag?”; after my fine and exclusion from the open race results at Pembrey for passing under a yellow I wanted to be sure! I convinced myself it was ok to pass and carried on, out braking him on the now damp approach and taking the corner like it was still dry! I guess my practice in the wet on slicks the day before really paid off because I was loving it! I kept it smooth but while the slicks were still hot, they were still gripping and I was almost disappointed when the organisers stopped the race after 4 laps because of the conditions! I wasn’t sure whether we’d done enough to class the race as completed and was half expecting a re-run. As we pulled off the track, the organisers signalled that the race had been considered run, and hey, that meant I won, AGAIN!!!! As I pulled up back at the van Chris and Pete were ready to celebrate; a shook up can of beer each that was unleashed over me took me totally by surprise but what an end to the weekend. Even better was the news that, having done a quick bit of maths, Chris was sure that I’d done enough to take the lead in the championship standings too! Cool; Happy rider, happy team!
It has to be said I’ve got quite an affection for Darley Moor now!
Roll on Thruxton in two weeks….