Five weeks since Brands seemed forever! The hectic cycle of racing, recovering, preparing and racing again that has kept me busy all season had been broken and it felt strange! Still, it did give me a chance to give Spidey a thorough look-over and do a few chores on the truck. I even managed to get some ‘proper’ work done without staying on too late! Finally the weekend was upon us and in a bid to get some small area of tarmac to park the truck on, decided to leave Friday morning. I met up with Chris on route, along with his boys Liam and Michael and Tracy with her daughter Rhiannon all in the new people carrier we collected at Brands. We made good time, and made one short stop at the Tesco’s near the circuit to stock up for the weekend but when we arrived, the paddock was full; I couldn’t believe it! I must have done three laps of the infield trying to find somewhere to squeeze the truck but to no avail. I’d just about given up and had found somewhere on the grass that would do, when Bill, Damien’s dad, said there would be room next to them if they moved a van and rolled their truck forward a few feet. I didn’t need a second invitation! It was a tight fit but we got in and managed to get the awning out. Being on the hard standing was a real relief as it just makes life so much easier. A practice day was running but I was happy just to gently get everything set up and get my head back into race weekend mode. Things weren’t so calm in the Fricker camp next door. Damien was doing the test day but every time he came in there was a lot of head shaking, followed by people frantically fiddling with the bike. This isn’t too unusual for them though, in fact the contrast between the two awnings over the whole weekend was remarkable. On the one side, there they are, running around, constantly altering the suspension, forever pulling the fairings off, fiddling with things and generally getting in each other’s way. We’re much more laid back; if there’s a problem, we fix it. If tyres need changing, we change them. Everyone has their own little jobs, we do them, hassle free. Even just prior to a race, they’re still running around in circles, while we’re having a little dance to whatever music we’ve decided will get us going (Pete’s choice this time, ‘don’t stop me now’ by Queen!). Even though it usually seems to work for them, this time they’d drawn a blank trying to cure the bike’s sudden instability, and asked for my advice. I adjusted the play out of the steering bearings and suggested that they threw their steering damper bracket in the bin and sorted one out that didn’t flex so much! The bike was much better and they were happier. They still spent the evening messing about with stuff on it though, oh well! We assembled the luxury accommodation (tent) that Chris had bought for his lot to sleep in and we did the usual catching up with people and even got to see some of the practising. The bikes were scrutineered and I signed on to give us less to worry about in the morning. Just for a change, we ate in the circuit’s restaurant, then walked the track and had a quiet evening before retiring. It was bliss in the truck on my own: I put out the double bed and stretched out in comfort!

I woke Saturday morning feeling really refreshed after my peaceful night’s sleep. The same couldn’t be said for Chris though; he stumbled into the truck, bags under his eyes and announced that he was never going to sleep in a tent again! Tracy didn’t surface until later but when she did, she clearly had every intention of making up for her restless night by catching up throughout the day! With no scrutineering queue to have to contend with, we did the morning routine of getting the bike ready, tyre pressures, fuel etc, and showed Liam and Michael how the tyre warmers came off and how the paddock stands operated, in case they wanted to help out later. I had two practice passes (well, I have got two bikes to test out now!) and knew I had to make the most of the tracktime available. First practice was called, the boys took the tyre warmers off, and lowered Spidey off the stands, good job! I stabbed the starter button and…. nothing: The battery didn’t have enough in it to fire the motor up! Not a problem, we quickly pulled the seat off and jump-started it, and I headed up to the warm up area. A crash in the previous session had delayed us going out so no tracktime had been lost. As I sat waiting to go out, I remembered that the rev light would have zeroed itself and needed re-setting. I could have done without it but I really wanted to ride fast straight away and for that, I needed to have the light set at 10, 000 RPM. I was sure the battery was charged up enough now, so killed the engine and re-set the light (you can’t do it with the motor running). I pushed the start button and again it wouldn’t go! Luckily, the truck wasn’t too far from the holding area so I pushed the bike back as quickly as I could to jump it again. Of course, I had to do it on my own this time as the crew had all gone track-side to watch the session! I fired it up, put the seat back on and headed back up. By now, my group were already on track but I was allowed to join them. Because of the messing about, the tyres had cooled off a fair bit so I took it steady for two laps to get some heat back into them. Of course, everyone else was already warmed up so it was a bit tricky. I glanced behind when I was ready to pick up speed and there was the familiar sight of Mark Compton right behind me. Not wanting to give away anything, I spent the rest of the session slightly off the pace and chose a few ‘interesting’ cornering lines to give him some duff information, tee hee! Second practice session and the bike fired up perfectly. I did a couple of brisk laps straight away and caught up with Phil Bevan on his Ducati, former NG Champion, and holder of the outright lap record of Pembrey. He was obviously taking it steady, but the opportunity to follow him and watch his lines was not to be missed. I stayed behind him even though the pace had slowed, noting his braking and turn-in points, and hoping they were the same ones he uses to go fast (I mean, he wouldn’t be underhand enough to intentionally take ‘wrong’ lines now, would he?!). As we (steadily) approached the hairpin, Deano came along the inside of me. I wasn’t worried as I was having my free lesson, but it looked like Deano couldn’t resist a chance to overtake Bevan (a rare opportunity, I admit!). As we exited the hairpin, I saw Deano give the throttle a big handful to squirt past before the next bend. Too big a handful unfortunately. His rear tyre spun up instantly and slid out big style to the left. He shut the throttle and it came back in to line. I thought he’d saved it, but the rear wheel kept coming around, full on to the right and then the bike slammed itself to the ground throwing Deano down and into the dirt with it, ouch. The session was red flagged and Deano was whisked away to hospital.

Waiting for the Open qualifier seemed to take forever. More crashes in the practice sessions and the first race causing the delays. It always seems to be the same when the sun shines at Pembrey; everyone goes nuts! Eventually we were called to the holding area and I made my way up. At the gate, they gave me my grid position and checked my transponder was working. The transponder is a little box of tricks that enables the timekeepers to log each bike as it comes past the start line giving lap time and race position. Mine was working fine, only I now realised that it was sat in the truck, plugged in to its charger! Not being allowed to ride without it, I parked up the bike and ran back to the truck to grab it. I’ve got to stop all this running around in full leathers in bright sunshine, phew! As I arrived back at the gate, bikes were turning around and coming back in to the paddock from the holding area, eh?? Turns out there had been another crash and they were going to delay the start for 15 minutes while they cleared it up, typical! I got back to the truck, put the bike on the stands and got out of my (hot) leathers. I decided to sit out the Open race in the hope that everyone would calm down a bit!

Eventually the SoT qualifier was called. Pete and Zoe had arrived and they headed down to pit wall with a Spidey duvet cover to wave! The bike fired straight up and the transponder was fitted and working!

It is cool lining up on pole position! No Deano alongside me, but I was joined on the front row by Mark Compton and Garry Smith. Mark Baldock, last year’s SoT champion was on the back row with Phil Bevan as they hadn’t done any other rounds so far this year, though I knew it wouldn’t take them long to make their way through. I got a bit too much wheelie off the line but was first into the hairpin and got my head down. I was kind of pleased when Baldock came past because it gave me a chance to watch his lines and I hoped I could hang on to the back of him to pull me away from the others. Unfortunately, he was on a mission and his ex-BSB Ducati left me down the straights like I was stood still! I couldn’t back off though. My pit board was showing +0 every time I passed it and a glance behind confirmed that Compton was stuck to me like glue. He made a couple of moves on the last lap but each time I got him straight back and I finished just ahead as we crossed the line. It felt good to turn the tables on him after Cadwell and Brands! My best lap was a personal best at 1.02.21 but I knew I’d have to go quicker in the final.

We changed the rear tyre for a fresh slick and because I didn’t ride in the Open qualifier, I had to start at the back of the B final to scrub it in. “Just do a couple laps and pull in if you want to” said Chris, and added “but stay out if you’re having fun!”. I replied to say that I’d see how I felt but that he needn’t go all the way down to pit wall to watch, just in case I came back early. I couldn’t hear the commentators, Keith and Russell, of course, but I’m told that because they didn’t have me on their list (as I didn’t compete in the qualifier)I caused some confusion:
“Well, there isn’t anyone particularly interesting on the grid for this B final!”, they announced.
As I came past the control tower on the warm up lap one of them spotted me.
“Isn’t that Andy Peck out there?”
“No, I’m sure it’s not, it must be someone with a similar bike”.
Right at the back of the grid, with 38 bikes ahead of me, I had the option of following them all down to the hairpin to stay out of trouble, but I decided to try out the concrete strip on the left of the track (remember it from last year?) to try to pick off as many people as I could. It worked well and I safely ran around the outside of half of the grid by the first corner. Still taking it a bit steady on my fresh rubber I completed the first lap.
“I’m sure that was Andy Peck out there.”
Next lap and I’d picked a few more people off.
“No, I know I’m usually wrong but I’m right this time, it’s just someone with a similar paint job.”
I spotted Gordon ahead of me and thought I’d just have to overtake him before pulling in. Then, a few bikes ahead of him and there was another SoT runner. I’ll just get past him too.
“You may be right, his pit crew with the Spidey banners and flags and masks are nowhere to be seen so it can’t be him”
Chris, Pete and Zoe heard this and realising I was staying out (obviously having fun!) headed down to pit wall.
There was a fair gap ahead of me to the next group of about five riders but I started closing in on them.
“Ah, my mistake, it IS Andy Peck! Not sure what he’s doing out there in the B final but we’ll keep an eye on him”
I saw the team on pit wall waving at me to ‘Go Go Go’ and as I headed down towards the hairpin, I looked to the right and realised there was no one ahead of the gaggle of riders in front of me, and this was the leading group! I got my head down.
“Well, Andy still has a lot to do, he is capable but I’m not sure the bike has got the performance”
I caught the group within a lap, and started picking them off, one rider at each corner. I drove past the leader onto the start-finish straight as we started the last lap.
“Peck is in the lead!!!”
The last lap was fairly quick with clear track ahead of me and as I rounded the last corner, I realised I had a huge gap. I stood up on the bike, put my hands behind my back and hung my head down in Rossi style as I took the chequered flag!
“Andy Peck WINS!!”
I came back in to huge smiles and said to Chris “well, you told me to stay out if I was having fun!”!

Playtime over, the Sound of Thunder final was serious business. I lined up on the front row with Baldock to my left, Compton and Bevan to my right. I had a blinding start and headed around the hairpin in the lead. Baldock soon drove past and a little moment as I was exiting the hairpin let Bevan through. Not a worry, and a good opportunity to get a tow. Compton was on my tail and desperate to maximise his points tally. Ragged as ever, he tried a couple of moves and each time ran wide enough for me to get straight back. He tried again at the back hairpin. He ran underneath me approaching the corner but ran right out of room on the exit and onto the grass! I could see him still upright as I powered away, saying a little thank-you inside my helmet! A couple of laps later and I’d started to bridge the gap to Bevan. Chris held the lapboard out to let me know Compton was back up to 4th some 8 seconds behind me, but I pointed forward to let him know I was after Bevan! I didn’t bridge the gap to 2nd but trying helped me push my fastest lap time to an excellent 1.01.61, a full second quicker than my best from last year! A third placed finish was my worse result all season but I was still the first man home of the Championship regulars so I was very pleased.

Saturday evening was relaxing. Chris and Liam fired up the Barbeque while Tracy, in the dog-house for sleeping through my race, prepared food for us all. I popped to the bar to get the team a cold beer each, where I met Marion, negotiating a rather large gin and tonic!! Chris’s tiredness showed and he retired early to the truck’s double bed, while I settled for my usual cabin bed. The kids were up till gone midnight, but we locked the door and were oblivious to it all!

Sunday morning and we were up early, Chris thoroughly appreciating the comfort of the truck. We gave the bike a good check over and tidied the awning area before breakfast. No scrutineering or practice so I was soon getting suited up for the Open qualifier. Missing out on it was not an option today, as I needed the tracktime to get my head up to speed for the SoT race. The race went without incident, I just took it steady at first then built myself up gradually, picking people off as I went. I finished a respectable 13th but because of the amount of traffic, I couldn’t get a real fast lap going; good practice none the less.

Fewer crashes than the previous day meant the SoT qualifier came along quickly. Back to being on pole position, I again had a good start. I led the first lap but my pit board showed I had a shadow in the form of Mark Compton. Not a worry. I took my usual, sweeping line into the hairpin for maximum drive out but as I leant the bike over it just kept leaning; Oops, looks like Dunlop Slicks do have limits after all! Both wheels slid from under me and I ended sat on the track sliding gently towards the outside. As I slid, I realised Mark had gone down too! Seems that he was so close behind me that as I fell, he grabbed his front brake to avoid me and his front tucked on him! I did say ‘thank you’ for not running me over and we sat on the tyre wall and watched our race, powerless to do anything about the outcome. I wasn’t upset about the tumble. Spidey was hardly damaged and I was unhurt, so I rode back to the paddock and we went into action to do the repairs, fit a new rear slick and to get the bike scrutineered ready for the next race. I’d qualified for the Open A final, but went off the back of the grid to use it to scrub the tyre in and to make sure everything was ok with the bike. It was also a useful bit of overtaking practice, something I was going to need later!

Everything felt fine and we waited for our last event of the weekend, the Sot final. In the meantime, I popped to the race office for some advice. I wanted to see if there was any ruling against somebody giving up their allotted place on the grid and starting in last place if they wanted to. The general opinion was that it was perfectly ok, but when asked ‘why’ I just smiled and said I had a plan! So, finally we lined up on the grid, me in 19th, Compton in 20th (which is on the inside of the back row). I can imagine that there may have been a little nervousness in some of the riders ahead of us, I mean, knowing that we were both starting from the back and that we were both going to be on a complete mission! I got away quickly on the warm up lap, crossed in front of Compton and made my way up the inside of the traffic, by way of a dummy run. I slowed early as the pack reformed, and joined the grid last, and made my way to position 21, effectively behind Compton, but this time on the outside of the grid; concrete strip time! The start lights went out and I flew away, down the outside along my reserved pathway and passing loads of bikes on my way. I chuckled to myself at the thought of Compton getting caught up trying to go up the inside but as I arrived at the hairpin, so did he! Seems my dummy run had backfired a bit and everyone had left a clear piece of track expecting us both to come up the inside, damn! Oh well, race on. I took the early advantage and started carving through the rest of the field. Compton was getting through well too and my pit board showed he was still right on my tail. As soon as I got through to 3rd, I really got my head down to put some quick laps in. Each time I passed the start line my laptimer showed I was in the 1.01s and now, for the first time all weekend, the lapboard told me I had a +1 second gap over Compton. I soon realised that I was also reeling in Bevan and even Baldock was in sight ahead. I tried to push some more, sure I could close the gap some more, but my rear tyre had done enough and gave me a few slides to tell me so. Happy to finish 3rd again I decided not to push any harder and to bring it home. As I crossed the line to start my penultimate lap, I still had a +1 advantage but as I reached the hairpin, a backmarker hesitated and moved right across my path, costing me valuable time. I pushed as hard as I dare but I crossed the line for the last lap back to +0, knowing Compton was on me again. I took the defensive line towards the hairpin and braked just a little bit later than usual. It was a bit too late unfortunately. I was pulling the brake lever as hard as I dare and could feel the rear wheel hopping off the ground, but I couldn’t stop quite quickly enough. I went deep and Compton got through. I finally turned it and lined him up through the long left handers but he ran wide on the exit blocking my move into the right hander that follows. I ran my sweeping line into the back hairpin but he did the same this time and I couldn’t get ahead of him before the kink. One chance left. I built my speed approaching the fast, final right hand bend, gaining all the time, I got tucked in right behind him ready to draft him to the line but as we fed the power on, he gave it too much and went completely sideways, right in front of me! Remembering what had happened to Deano, I braked and swerved to avoid him but he got it back in line. I looked at him. He looked at me. We both looked at the finish line. We looked at each other again and cracked our throttles against the stops! I tucked in as tight as I could but I crossed the line inches behind him, gutted!

Still, a cracking race, and although Compton had overtaken Deano to place himself second in the championship, he hadn’t gained a single point over me so my lead has effectively increased to 72 over second place with only a possible 100 (for four wins) left. A good weekend’s work but Deano’s accident and his no points score has served as a reminder that it’s not over yet. Donington next, and a venue that usually attracts plenty of ‘ringers’ to mess with the points…..