The only other event on the NG Roadracing Club’s calendar was the annual Dinner and Dance. A proud time all round as we were not only presented with the Sound of Thunder Championship award but also, for our team efforts in getting the paddock involved with the whole ‘Spidey’ experience, the Virgo Family Award for Racing Personality of the Year. Very chuffed. Spidey itself was invited along too and took pride of place on the stage for the presentation evening!
So, plans for 2006 were needed. The bike had been fantastic all year so I just planned on giving the motor a freshen-up which would give me a little something to do over the winter. I did think about putting the number 2 bike back on the road too but there was no rush on that. We also decided that instead of doing the whole championship series again, we’d pick and choose a few rounds, try a few different clubs maybe and even investigate the possibilities of trying a meeting abroad, I mean, they must have a form of club racing abroad. I have always fancied having a ride around Assen in Holland: It just looks awesome on TV and if the likes of Valentino Rossi and the late, great, Barry Sheene have classed it as their favourite track, it must be worth looking in to!
Then I had a phone call from Lance Mascall. Lance was one of my main rivals earlier in the year on a big black Mille, but a crash while practicing at Brands put him out of the rest of the season. “Hello Andy, do you want to buy my bike?”. It turns out that his machine was pretty much the same spec as mine, made a couple more horsepower at the rear wheel and was fitted with an STM slipper clutch. He also had all the road gear with it including a completely standard engine. How could I refuse??!! All of a sudden we had plan B. I bought the bike, and had a proper winter project. I didn’t really need a road bike anyway so I would rebuild Lance’s bike back to standard, and use his tuned motor and suspension etc on my sad looking (er, thanks Ricky!) number 2 bike and have two fully kitted race bikes! I waited till the New Year and set to work. Two weeks later and there was a mint-looking Mille in the workshop, just waiting for some sunshine so I could sell it to hopefully not only get the money back that I’d paid Lance, but also have some left over to fund some racing! I hadn’t touched the other bikes up until this point but hey, there was loads of time. Three weeks before the start of the season was probably the time I started to panic! Work had been so manically busy, mostly painting everyone else’s race bikes for the new season, that I still hadn’t looked at mine! Still, all I needed to do was drop the motor out of Spidey, set the valve clearances and check the valve timing and put it back together. It took one Saturday morning to get the bike stripped out and have the motor on the bench but there was bad news. One of the front cylinder’s exhaust valves had closed up, usually a sign of a damaged valve seat of stretched valve stem, so off came the heads and they were duly posted to FW Developments for them to sort it out. Luckily I had Lance’s motor so I checked the clearances on that one while it was out and, happy that this one was healthy, I fitted that motor into Spidey 1. At least I would have one bike to use! I decided to use Lance’s bodykit for the first round too and, as if I didn’t have enough to do, sprayed that up in the same style as last year’s Spidey kit, but in Flouro yellow and silver just to be different.
The only other job was to fit my new rear brake system. I’d toyed with the idea before but on a cost versus effectiveness basis, I’d not done anything about it. Now, I don’t usually touch the rear brake at all when racing. That may sound a little daft but hitting the front brakes hard in a race situation transfers most of the bike’s weight over the front wheel, giving very little traction on the rear wheel, to the point where quite often the rear wheel is a few inches off the ground for some of the time. Obviously, the rear wheel can’t help slow you down when it is in the air but when it is back in contact with the road, anything other than very light application of the rear brake has the wheel locked and trying to slide around making the whole thing unstable. Still, it does make sense to apply a very light amount of rear brake to stop it pushing forward when it is back on the deck, and any aid to braking, however small, has to be an advantage. The only trouble is trying to apply a small amount of rear brake with your foot while wearing boots and all in the heat of a race is very difficult and usually results in a stamp and a skid! Hence the new piece of trickery, a thumb operated rear brake. These have been used on MotoGP bikes for a few years, are mounted under the left hand handlebar and are designed not to lock the wheel, as your thumb isn’t as strong as your foot and it also has much more feel. A few photos and sketches from MotoGP bikes at the London Bike show were sent off to my good friend Roger Allmond (famed custom bike builder and top engineer) and within a week, he’d produced a beautiful bracket and thumb lever that I could use with my existing brake cylinder! If it didn’t work, I’d be no worse off (seeing as I never used it before) but it was worth having on the bike whatever it worked like as it was just so cool! I eventually got the bike together, but then realised I needed to do a few things on the truck too!
Needless to say, instead of travelling down to Pembrey on the Thursday night, finding a decent area of hard standing in the paddock and getting some tracktime on the Friday’s test day, I eventually got on the road late Friday afternoon and arrived just as the last test session was finishing! Still, with the winter flashing by so quickly, I felt like I’d had no time at all off of the bike (even though it had actually been getting on for six months since I’d ridden!) and I was sure I’d be able to pick up where I’d left off. Guess we’d find out the following day! Ricky was already there, not riding, but looking after his SV650 Minitwin (which we had painted to match his ‘Front Row Motorcycles’ van), with his friend Matt who was going to be doing the riding. Luckily they had managed to claim a spot out of the way, with enough room for us both. The place was out on the grass, as the paddock was well full by now, but the ground was so cold that there were no worries about sinking or having to deal with mud! It was real cool to be taking in the paddock atmosphere again. And cold too. Chris soon arrived, and we set about getting the awning up as quickly as we could so we could get inside the truck and take advantage of the gas heater on board. We did make it to the Pembrey bar for a while but the four of us spent most of the time in the truck playing the ‘Buzz’ music quiz on the Playstation; a brilliant game that had us in stitches at some points, then in deadly serious competition at others! I wouldn’t like to say who won but, er, the other three all lost…..Ha ha! So, after a particularly warm and pleasant night’s sleep, (have I ever told you how much I love my truck?!) we woke to a chilly but bright day.
Scrutineering and signing on was a time of constant hellos to people we’d not seen for so long but we got back to the truck and got Spidey fuelled and on the tyre warmers ready for the first practice. Heading out for that first practice got my mind thinking; how long ago was it that I last rode??!! It was all very well convincing myself that it didn’t feel too long ago, but six months is an age! I shouldn’t have worried; as soon as I got out on track I felt at home. It was hard to tell what sort of pace I was doing as my lap timer wasn’t picking up a signal and there was lots of traffic but I was happily picking people off and I felt it was a good shakedown. As I pulled into the pits at the end of the session, I realised I hadn’t even touched my new thumb brake, Doh!
My first race was the Open qualifier. I knew I needed to do more than treat it as just another practice as I was fully aware that my Sound of Thunder rivals had all been testing both the day before and at the official test a few weeks previously. I got away cleanly but lost sight of the front runners early on as there were a couple of incidents ahead of me on consecutive laps, both with people losing the fronts through the Dibeni left-hander. I still managed a 12th place finish but more importantly, got to push the bike a bit harder than I had in practice. I even remembered to try out the thumb brake this time and I have to say I was impressed. The combination of not having to worry about having the rear wheel locking up on down-changes courtesy of the slipper clutch, and the assistance of the rear brake to the overall braking force meant I could brake much later than I ever had done, especially into the hairpin. Best of all was the fact that Chris was smiling when I arrived back in the pits. “Now that was racing” was his comment, cool.
Next was the Sound of Thunder qualifier. I have to say I was amazed at the number of people gathering in the warm up area! It seemed our efforts last year and over the winter of spreading the SoT word had worked and for the first time in a long time at Pembrey at least, our race was full. The sound of thirty eight big noisy twins all heading out to the grid was impressive. Ah, actually, the noise was coming from thirty seven big noisy twins and one little revvy triple. Adam Tempest was the culprit and the unknown quantity. The SoT rules allow twins and triples of any cc to enter, but the front runners have almost entirely been on either Aprilia or Ducati 1000cc twins in recent years. Tempest (former runner up in the SoT a few years ago on a 1000cc Suzuki) was now working for Triumph Motorcycles and had secured one of the brand new 675cc three cylinder machines. Now, the 600 class bikes have always run similar lap times to ours, as any horsepower advantage we have is balanced by the lighter weight, quicker steering and better braking of the smaller bikes, though we usually run in totally separate races. Now, for the first time in the SoT class, was this small, light, cutting edge sportsbike. Admittedly it is slightly down on outright horsepower than the twins, but, because of the weight advantage, the ratio of power to weight was pretty much the same as ours with the added advantage of being able to turn faster and stop quicker due to it’s lack of mass. One of two things could be about to happen; either 1, it’ll be left behind down the straights, with the bigger bikes getting in it’s way in the braking and turning areas, or 2, it’ll be at the front and making a break. I’ve been friends with Adam for a few years now but having raced against him in the past, I know he is a hard and gritty rider. And he never, ever gives up. My money was on option 2.
Taking my spot on pole position and looking behind at the full grid was a proud moment. Still, a moment was all I had. We were waved off on our warm up lap, well, warm probably wasn’t the word, and came back around to form up ready for the start. Deep breath, lights on, lights off and away. I had a fantastic start, probably one of my best ever, maybe I ought to have breaks from riding more often! I took it gently through the hairpin and up towards the left hander, the air so cold it didn’t inspire much confidence in tyre grip. I was quite pleased when my adversary from last year, Mark Compton, came past on the basis that he could set the pace in the tricky conditions. I was less pleased when Adam Tempest came past but as he started battling with Compton I was happy to hold back and watch them battle with each other for a while. On the third lap, Compton had Tempest tucked right in his slipstream as we passed start/finish line, only to have Tempest pull out as Compton started to brake at his normal marker and sail past into the lead. Hmm, I thought so. Tempest was obviously keen to make a break and his body language showed it. Trouble is, the track was still very cold and the tyres weren’t ready for heroics and as he tipped into the Dibeni left hander, his front tucked and he gracefully (not!) slid towards the grass. I had to back off a little to avoid spinning bike but soon got back in touch with Compton. The next laps were taken steadily through that bend I can assure you! Compton took the win, although this was only to determine race positions for the points scoring final so I was very pleased with my efforts. I’d even enjoyed getting through the backmarkers as being forced to vary my racing lines without sacrificing lap times was good practice. Talking of lap times, Compton and I were running in the high 1.03s and despite the cold temperatures I felt sure I could go quicker in the final. Still, even running at this pace gave me a couple of reminders of some of the straight line instability problems I had with the bike last year. Any small bump taken upright when on the power would make the handlebars shake, so bad sometimes that I had to back off the throttle to compose it then get on the gas again. Ricky noticed it happening from his spot on the pit-wall and suggested it looked like it could have been a rear damping problem that may have been the initial cause.
With the absence of Tracy to feed us, Chris made us some lunch which went down very well and it was nice to get out of the cold wind for a while. Ricky and I discussed rear suspension options and not wanting to do anything too drastic, we decided on adding two clicks more compression damping to the rear shock. One more click on the steering damper was added to try to calm things down some too. I didn’t go out in the Open A final for a few reasons. Firstly, the cold weather was catching a few people out and I didn’t want to risk any incidents. Secondly, as this was the first race of the season, my normal tyre swapping routine was out of sync. Last year I’d practice and qualify on an ‘old’ tyre, scrub in a new tyre in the Open final and have freshly scrubbed rubber for the SoT final, and use that tyre as my ‘old’ tyre for the next day. To get back into that cycle, I thought I’d save the tyre I had on use it in the final and then in the following days qualifier and have a new one for the Sunday final. Thirdly, even though my mind seemed to be race fit, my body was struggling. I’d spent lots of time under the instruction of Pete and Zoë at their circuit classes over the winter and felt fitter and stronger than ever before but there are some muscles and movements you use when wrestling with a superbike that you just don’t allow for! The worst bit, believe it or not, was the back of my neck; nothing I had done over the winter had got me used to being in a crouched racing position and looking up to see through the screen! I dare say Pete will read this and devise some evil exercise using a fit-band and a medicine ball or something equally nasty to rectify that in the future!
So on to the final, and a 10 lapper for the first time ever too! I trusted Chris had calculated the additional fuel amount right but wondered if everyone else had remembered! I lined up on the front row with Chris Richardson on his brand new Ducati 999 and Deano (on an older but very trick Ducati 998) both to my right. The Tempest was starting at the back of the grid due to his qualifying spill, but it was him that showed me the concrete strip on the outside of the track that I’d used so effectively when I’d been in the same situation. I knew what he would be planning and also knew it wouldn’t take long for him to be right up with us. Again I had a cracking start. One day, I hope Chris will be able to make himself watch the start especially when I get that right! It is the scariest part of the race when you’re watching someone you know take off being followed by some 37 other machines I know, but sometimes it’s worth it. I took the lead straight away but my caution through Dibeni for the first time let Compton through, albeit a bit sideways as he gassed it! As I came down the start / finish straight, Richardson’s Ducati came past me at quite a rate. I was still struggling with some of the instability, and although less pronounced I still had to be gentler on the throttle, but still, that thing of his has got some power! Luckily, my braking setup was much better than his, (now I was getting used to the thumb brake), so I closed the gap right up into the hairpin, his corner speed however, was a fair bit slower than mine. Comfortable behind him, I felt the lap times were slower as he was in my way through the twisty stuff but gapped me whenever we were upright. The problem with the slower lap times meant that Compton was edging away. The other problem with the slower lap times was it meant people could catch us, demonstrated a lap later by Mr Tempest. He took me by surprise when he came underneath me but he couldn’t get past the Richardson rocketship. We’d started catching backmarkers by mid race distance, which slowed Compton slightly and allowed the three of us to close the gap. My confidence in overtaking the slower riders was still on a high, and I felt sure I could get a higher placing than my current fourth position later in the race. Only trouble is, I had no idea how far we were in to the race let alone how many laps we had left (something for the lap board next time out I think!)! Fitness wise, I was feeling great, and I’m sure I could have kept that pace up for an hour if I needed to, but as I wasn’t really tiring I really didn’t expect it when the last lap flag was shown. Ooh, er, I’d better pull my finger out! I closed up on Tempest, in turn closing on Richardson and Compton. A couple of backmarkers, side by side, legitimately having their own race, slowed my progress and again I had to back off to avoid yet another one as I entered the fast kink. Running out of time, I wound myself up for a leapfrog move out of the last corner but there were four or five backmarkers across the track as we headed for the line and there was just nowhere to go! I finished fourth but the four of us crossed the line within one second of each other, it really was that close. Oh well, not a bad start to the season, and at least I knew I still had it in me! Matt started Ricky’s season as team manager off to a great start by winning the Minitwin race, and we all headed to the bar to celebrate and watch the rugby on the TV. Ricky fed us, before we returned to the bar again, but with it all to do again in the morning, none of us were late to bed.
Sunday morning greeted us with sunshine and the bitingly cold wind had all but gone. One thing about Pembrey is that you can never predict the weather! It was still chilly out but like a summer’s day in comparison to the day before. Pete and Zoë arrived bright and early and we filled them in on the previous day’s activities. No scrutineering to worry about and no practice session today so I took some time to think about the bike’s shaking problem. I added one more click on the rebound and the compression damping on the rear. I also decided to go one tooth smaller on the rear sprocket to fractionally raise the gearing ratio (thus softening the power delivery slightly), but mainly to allow the rear wheel to be pulled back as the chain was adjusted to match the smaller sprocket, hopefully meaning more stability. This amused Chris. After spending most of last year hardly touching the bike’s settings (on the basis of ‘better the devil you know’), watching me change the gearing prompted him to call as many people as he could to say “quick, quick, look over here, Andy is changing something”! Mickey-taker. Anyway, the Open qualifier showed that things had calmed down a bit but being amongst the four cylinder bikes with their totally different cornering characteristics didn’t allow me to push really hard. Still, the warmer weather had increased grip levels a bit so I was looking forward to getting out with the similar bikes in my class. Still on the tyres I’d had on the whole day before, my plan was to fit a new pair for the Open final, to scrub them in, to have a fresh set for the SoT final later in the day.
Back on pole position again for the SoT qualifier, I wasn’t going to make the mistake of getting tripped up by the backmarkers as had happened the day before. I practised my start on the warm up lap, though Deano got a flyer and was clearly on a mission too. We assembled on the front of the grid and waited for the rest of the riders to form up behind us. The flag man walked off the grid and the start lights came on, then off and away we went! My start was faultless; a smooth getaway and full power towards the hairpin. Without the full length of the straight to get up to full speed, my normal braking marker was irrelevant but with the confidence in my slipper clutch and thumb rear brake I waited much later than I ever had done before I started to slow for the hairpin. Again I timed it perfectly and smiled to myself in the knowledge of getting it right. First around the hairpin, I got the bike stood up and on the power. Up one gear towards the Spitfire’s right hander and short shift up another gear for the entry into the Dibeni left hander. As I came around, I had no idea where I was. Someone was asking my date of birth and what day it was. I managed to recite my DoB but answered that it was either Saturday or Sunday, I couldn’t be sure which. I did tell them not to worry too much about that as I never know what day of the week it is anyway! I slowly realised I was looking up at the ceiling of ambulance and that I was very cold. The ambulance crew were very good. They told me about the crash, the huge highside at Dibeni, the fact that they were with me within 30 seconds of me hitting the deck (which I thanked them for), that I had been knocked out for about three minutes and that the reason I felt cold was that they had cut my leathers off and had strapped me to a bodyboard. They reassured me that this was just a precaution but they weren’t allowed to unstrap me until I’d been given the ok at the hospital. The drive wasn’t too far but the sensation of the movement of the ambulance while I was strapped on my back, with no windows and no fresh air made me feel quite nauseous. I told the ambulance crew that they were going to have to stop so they swerved to the side of the road and opened the side door. As my head was taped to the board, I couldn’t do anything but lay there and I was worried that if I was ill, that it’d have no-where to go! They called to Chris, who was following in his car, and fearing the worst, he ran towards the ambulance. The crew explained I ‘only’ felt carsick and got him to help them tip me on my side and towards the door for some cool air! That did the trick and I instantly felt much better and could continue onwards. The hospital gave me a real thorough looking over, took some X-rays and, happy that I hadn’t broken anything, unstrapped me from the board. I did feel bruised and battered, especially my shoulders and my ribs, and I had taken the top layer of skin off my right shoulder. They dressed the wound and eventually discharged me. Thankfully, Chris had the foresight to grab my kitbag so at least I could get dressed, and he drove me back to the circuit. Ricky, Pete and Zoë, pleased to see me in one piece, had packed up the truck, loaded the bike in and put away the awning. I gave Pete a quick lesson in truck driving and he took the wheel for the trip home.So that was it. Not the greatest start to the year but I was lucky not to break anything so can’t complain. There are four weeks before Donington giving me plenty of time to heal and to fix Spidey up again. Oh, Marion emailed me a get well message with a link to the Spiderman 3 website. Looks like another change of colour is in order too……………….!