Round 9 - Teesside Autodrome 16th July

After sleeping outside the track, I awoke to find that about 10 racers had arrived while I was sleeping and taken up most of the tiny Teesside paddock. I grabbed a spot and set up.

Then it was time to find out what the track was like so I walked round it, twice. It’s so ridiculously twist in parts that it should really be used for racing anything with more than 50bhp.

Because nobody had ridden round the track before we got 2 practice sessions and then 2 qualifying races per event. After calculating my tyre situation I decided that 1 qualifying session per event would be enough and promptly got changed and watched the other riders belt round, safe in the knowledge that I would be on the front row with my first qualifying times. This decision was also based on the fact that it was about 100 degrees and I was feeling a bit faint.

From the front row, I got an okay start in the rookie trophy race and was soon in second position. Normally Ben manages to just pull out a few tenths here and a few more there and starts to disappear but at this track I was staying right on him. Then on the run in to the twisty section I got better drive and managed to beat him into the first corner, tight left-hander. I managed to hold him off as he tried to put a move on me in the twisty section and again got good drive onto the back straight. Powering back towards the twisty section I braked hard, set the bike up nicely for the tight left-hander and leant it in.

Half way round this corner there are two rather severe bumps that you just have to ride through. Up until now, the bike had coped with them but this time they unsettled the front enough for it to break traction and down I went, sliding out into the scrub land. I tried to pick up the bike and restart it but it wouldn’t. Another DNF!

I wheeled the bike back to the pits and felt like I was going to collapse. Sweat was dripping from my whole body and I thought it was going to shut down.

As it turns out, it was lucky I didn’t set off again as the crash had loosened the brake banjo bolt and brake fluid had leaked out causing front brake failure. This is when Scott gets his "best friend" award as he nonchalantly started to fix the brake. Together we bled the brake with new fluid until it was back to normal. I had missed the clubmans trophy race but it looked like I would make the rookie points race.

However when Scott went out for his Open race, my body just couldn’t function properly and I thought I was going to faint again. Slowly I took off the fairing and removed all the scrub land from the engine and belly pan. I put it all back together and got ready for the race. However as I pulled in to the holding area, I realized all the other bikes had already gone onto the track and were finishing their warm up lap. I pleaded with the marshal to let me join at the back of the grid but he wouldn’t and all I could do was watch as they set off without me. Another no score for my rookie championship – for the sake of 30 seconds!

After drinking lots of water to regain my voice (after the 5 minute swear and shouting fest I had) I got ready for the last race of the day, the clubmans points race. It was important to try and put my crash behind me and I managed to get a good start and allowed the bike to ride through the bumps that had previously caused my crash. Starting from the back of the grid after my DNS trophy race, I worked through the small turnout to finish a respectable 4th.



I left this place feeling very low. Those 30 seconds could cost me dearly when it comes to totting up points at the end of the season – we shall see!