Cadwell Park - Round 3 - March 25th

Nic and I slept soundly in the back of the van, to be awoken by...

"Race 1 to the holding bay"

Oh shit! We had forgotten that the clocks went forward and had slept in. I was in Race 2!

What followed was like a sketch from Benny Hill and we managed to get everything out of the van, petrol in, tyre warmers on and leathers on in about 5 minutes. Instead of waking up and having coffee and cereal, I was taking to the line for the 600cc Clubmans race that was postponed from yesterday, luckily I still had my wets on from yesterday as it was a horrible damp morning.

Mike Hemsworth shot off and there was no way I could catch him, but I ended up in a great battle with Mr I.O.M. Right up to the point where he completely cut me up and it was only by the luck of God (me in this case) that he didn't take my front wheel out. Bastard! I shot after him and worked out that I was better than him coming onto Park straight, so I got a great run on him, passed him on the power and held it on the brakes. Another solid lap of hitting braking points and gears and 2nd place was in the bag. I was really chuffed as I had only been able to see out of one eye due to a really bad misting visor. I was also chuffed because it was my Birthday!

35years old today!!

Still no time for breakfast as I was out pretty soon after for the postponed Senior cup race. Considering how I had been asleep an hour earlier, I rode a really mature race. It was obvious after the first 3 corners that the leader, Liam Marchant(on his ZX10) was way faster than me, so I just put in consistent laps until the final lap. He's the sort of bloke who needs to be doing well though. He has two bikes (dry setup and wet) and was in a massive hundred thousand pound (and then some) motorhome and had a posse around him all the time - seems a desent bloke though

I had a couple of good long looks round to see that there was nobody there and started to ease the pace. There was no point in frying my wets on a rapidly drying track. I brought the bike home in 2nd place, just over 3 seconds ahead of a still charging Steve Degnan. Well chuffed. My visor was still misting up badly though (even after I had used a compuer screen wipe on it which clearly has no effect).

The races came thick and fast but I had enough time to change onto my dry tyres. Well only just!

Front wheel done. Back wheel done, just put the caliper back on.... like this........ Why isn't the caliper going on? Try again... no luck. Try again.... no luck..... no luck, no luck, no luck - ARGGGGGHHHH!!!!

As it turns out, the brake hose had somehow moved round and was getting trapped against the rear bobbin lug, so it was a quick twist with a socket and hope that too much brake fluid doesn't come out. Result.

What followed was one of the best races I've been in. We were touching elbows, leaning on each other and racing really close, but every single move that we did was clean and safe. Mr I.O.M was holding me up and eventually I went down the inside of him on Park Straight (again), just as James Stokoe went round the outside of him. We both came up to Park corner at the same time and braked at the same time. We both tipped it in for the corner and went round with just a crash bobbin between us - brilliant. I put my head down and thought I had broken the tow of James, but I should have had a look back! As I crossed the line, he shot passed me, bashing his petrol tank in frustration. As it turns out, I beat him by 0.047 seconds! My fastest lap was 0.007seconds faster than his. Places 3rd - 8th were split by 3 seconds. What a great race and a well deserved 3rd. For this race I had opted for my spare helmet and a lot of saliva to try and cure my misting problems - it didn't work - so we bought some de-mister from the parts van (why didnt I do that this morning?)

Next up was the Senior cup. This time the field cleared off a bit and I was playing catchup straight away. As we approached Mansfield I had caught up to them a bit and then as I came to the chicane I saw one of them go down. It was Steve Degnan (poor guy really wanted a 2nd in this race). So now I was behind Liam, Mick Gooding (he's good - the clue is in his name!) and Gary Graves who I was trying to keep on to. As it turns out Gary's 1000cc was just too much for me and I had to settle for 4th. At least the visor demister was working!

Finally we had a break in the day but instead of feeling refreshed after it, I felt absolutely shattered. A full race weekend is bloody hard work.

So back to the grid for another Clubmans 600 race. Adam child was in this race (he's a journalist for Motorcycle News) so I really wanted to beat him. I got a good start but was a bit early on the brakes going into turn one and Adam screemed passed me - bugger. Head down and I could see he was very late on the brakes so I started to think that I'd have to try and get him on the power. I chased him for a lap and got right up to him coming on to Park straight (my new favourite overtaking place) and I got the drive to push me passed him, then left my braking as late as I dared. I then tried to relax and keep things smooth and luckily I stayed ahead of the rest of the pack - until...

Suddenly the bike was labouring at full revs. I couldn't understand what it might be but it kept going. I had about a lap and a half left. Each time I went over about 10000 revs it would stutter. With half a lap left, the inevitable happened. It wasn't Adam though, it was Mr I.O.M (the git). I chased hime all the way to the line but I just didnt have the power to beat him. I finished 3rd by 1 second - damn.

As I looked at the bike in the pits, I wondered what the problem might be. The battery seemed okay, as previous battery failures had happened abruptly and the bike had stopped within half a mile of the first occurance. Then I spotted that the fuel cap was loose. Could it be that the fuel hadn't been pressurised which was leading to poor fueling at high revs (don't ask me, I'm no mechanic). Let's just hope so.

Unfortunately on the warm up lap for the final "points" race of the day, the problem was still there. I lined up for the start, still hoping it might be a glitch that would clear itself, but as I stuttered away from the line, it was obvious that I wasn't going to finish this race. Nil point.

Not the way I wanted to finish the race weekend but on the whole it had been a sucessful two days. I'm trying not to get stressed about the racing this year so I'll just look at the weekend as good fun and some excellent results. I'll have the bike washed and the battery charged for the next meeting (and a spare battery) and we'll see if we can keep on the podium.

See you in two weeks.

Cadwell Park - Round 2 - March 24th

We were late setting off so after 4 hours at the wheel without stopping, it was a dark Cadwell Park that greeted us on Friday evening. We put up our marquee (instant pop-up my arse!) and heated up our spag bol that we'd brought with us. Washed down with a cold San Miguel and it was soon time for bed (in the van).

We awoke to the sound of the tannoy system and started to prepare for the day. Bike out, genny on, fuel in bike, tyre warmers on, check oil and water levels, check chain tension, charge battery...The it was scrutineering and the bike sailed through (phew). Sign on and pretty quickly it was morning practice.

The track had been wet but had totally dried out. I started to up the pace and hit my braking points and racing lines. At the end of the lap, at the hairpin, I clipped the white line and soon found out that, unlike the tarmac, it was still very wet. The back and slid out and gripped again. This could have easily been a lowside or even a highside but luckily the bike stabilised and I carried on. Phew, didn't want to crash on the practice!

Which is exactly what Matty Handley did! And he broke his knee! He's gonna be out for 6 weeks. What a pisser.

It started to drizzle, nothing serious, but persistent. I thought that it wasn't wet enough for wets so I stayed on my standard tyres. Just as I was about to go out for qualifying, it got heavier and it was soon far to wet for my tyres. I frantically tried to get my tyres changed but it was too late - I missed qualifying.

We waited for the Senior cup qualifying to come round. At the last moment we started to take the tyre warmers off but the back tyre wouldn't move! I thought that the brake might have seized on (it had happened at Teesside), so I let out a touch of brake fluid - with no effect. As it turns out, in my mad rush to change tyres, I had left off a spacer. That was both qualifying races missed. Not a good start to the weekend.

The day progressed really slowly and it wasn't until 3pm that I actually got out in the Clubmans 600 trophy race. Starting on the back I had my work cut out for me but I fought hard and managed to get passed a few guys. I was messing up my gears though and didn't feel that comfortable on the bike. Also my damper wasn't wound up enough so I would get tankslappers every time I got hard on the throttle. I finally caught up with a guy from the I.O.M. We had a real dice and there were some desperate moves going on. I managed to get him back going into Park in a late braking move and held it for the rest of the lap to take 4th. I even got a 4th place egg cup trophy for my efforts. That was too much like hard work!

The next race was better. It was the Senior cup with bikes up to 1300cc. Again, I was starting near the back but I got a great start and was getting my gear right. I flew passed a few guys and caught Steve Degnan (a mate from last year). I followed him around the back of the circuit and got right up to him coming into the mountain. I timed it just right, got on the gas and nipped in front as we went into Hall Bends. With a 1000cc, I thought he'd pass me on the straight but he never came passed. I held on to take 2nd place.

That was it for day one. Races had taken an age to get through so they were postponed until tomorrow.

Instead of eating from the burger van, Nic and I headed off to a gorgeous country pub and had Jumbo Grimsby Fish and Chips with mushy peas and a pint of beer - what a great way to finish a race day. Let's hope we have better weather for tomorrows racing though.

Phil Seton - you let me down

Even with the arctic conditions, spirits were high last night and we started to put the engine back in with a new found positivity. Engine slotted in, new crash bungs went on (very nice vortex ones - lets see if we can keep them nice!), airbox, radiator, exhaust.....

About 45 minutes later we looked at each other - "Go on then, start her up"....

The engine burbled into life and we smiled and congratulated each other.

I started to recall how last time, I'd stood there, blipping the throttle, smiling to myself until I stared down and saw oil pouring out.

"There's oil pouring out!"
"Yeah - it must have been a pisser"
"No, I mean mean there's oil pouring out NOW!"
"WHAT!!"

Yep - for the second time, we had rebuilt the bike, only to find that Phil had let us down again. This time the error was pretty simple and avoidable. He had misaligned the cam chain tensioner gasket and it was leaking. I won't bore you with the new swear words I thought up.

To be fair to Phil, he's done all he could to rectify each problem. He holds his hands up and admits they should never have happened in the first place, but given that we live at opposite ends of the country, he has done all he could to rectify both problems and that means everything. Phil - you messed up big style, but your still a top bloke.

The suggested procedure for rectifying this would be to take everything off the top of the engine (petrol tank, airbox, valves) and then remove the cam cover and tackle it from there. Luckily, Scott was able to shortcut this procedure and we removed the gasket pretty quickly. The gasket wasn't looking too pretty, considering it should be a spanky new one (I paid £370 for the engine refresh remember!) but it was positioned correctly and backed up by some extra sealant and put back together.

So with another top up of oil, we were ready to go

This time the starting of the engine wasn't met with cheers, just anticipation....

We ran it for 5 minutes and saw no further leaks. "She's good to go" said Scott... "Cheer up mate - you're going racing!" I was happy, but completely absorbed by the fact that I had lost confidence in the engine. An oil leak in the garage is one thing, but an oil leak at 150mph is something completely different. I was trusting my life in Phil's hands and from what had happened up to now, that wasn't really a safe place to be.

The bike was wheeled into the van and I headed home

Today, with the snow falling, I'll be phoning up to pay my £300 entrance fee for this weekends racing. I'll be sleeping in the van, with my wife, and the bike, with temperatures just above freezing. I just hope the weekend goes well so that I remember why I do it. Why I put myself through so much stress and pour in so much money into something so demanding.

Then I think of the feeling of winning, and I just want to get out there and do it again!

Tonight's the night

I've still not got it in! (insert joke here)

The engine is still not in the bike - but tonight's the night.

It was meant to be in over a week ago but Scott's flat out so it was postponed to last Thursday - but Scott was still flat out

He's promised me we'll do it tonight, even though he'll still be - flat out!

It's still a case of keeping fingers crossed to see if the engine runs okay without puking its guts out. If its okay, I'll be putting in a very late entry into this weekends Cadwell clash. I feel so unprepared its untrue. I wonder how Rossi would get on if he didn't sit on a race bike between Valencia and Qatar? Yeah, you're probably right... well lets just hope I do as well as him then.

On a cheery note, I forgot to share my end of season trophy picture with you. Nothing like a bit of ego massaging eh! Check out the HeadRacing hoodie.

...and breathe!

I'm trying to relax a little now. We did all we could to get the bike ready for the first race of the season, but it just wasn't to be.

The engine was sent back down to Phil Seton in Colchester and he got to work on it right away. He had to helicoil the bolt hole, so fingers crossed it'll be okay.

The weather for the race at Elvington was a bit crap, but I still wanted to be there rather than watching World SuperBikes on TV. A potential 25 points lost already!

The engine was sent back up - but instead of going up to Scotts, it came to my house - so my neighbour ended up taking it in for me while I was at work! When I knocked on the door that night, Tim didnt seem too pleased to have a dirty pallet with a cling wrapped engine stuck in the middle of the hall - then I had to get him to help me carry it round to the garage. Another race fan lost!

And there it still stands, in the garage. Scott is flat out at his workshop at the moment so the engine will have to wait until next week to get put back in.

On the plus point - I managed to successfully do my fibreglass repair to the body work. It looks a little bodged but at least its strong enough to take another fall!
I'll get some silver hammerite on it and it'll look fine ;-)

So fingers crossed everything goes okay next week. I can't wait to race it again.

...and kicking...and kicking...

So... after a 1hour 45minute lunch break trying unsuccessfully to buy putoline syntec 4+ oil, I finished work at 6pm and headed up to Scotts to solve the oil leak problem

It was nearly 7:30 by the time we'd got round to looking at the engine but 20 minutes later we had found the problem. A bad seal on the ignition plug cap.

50minutes later I was on my way and thought I'd ring Phil Seton to tell him the good news. Phil told me that he didn't understand the problem and would talk to Scott to clarify what had been the root problem. I trundled back home, 20miles away.

As I approached Tynemouth, the phone rang - "turn round mate - we've not solved it!!"

I bit my lip and tuned the van round and back up the A19. As it turns out, there must be something else leaking to get oil into that chamber so that needed investigating.

I reached Scotts at about 9:30pm and set about taking off the rocker cover. No sign of a bad seal, but further investigation found a loose bolt. Phew - we just needed to tighten that up and all would be well... err, no!

The bolt had been stripped and wouldn't tighten at all. Sure enough, one small tug on it and out came the bolt, thread and all.

So it was back on the phone to Phil and we agreed that it needed to be shipped back to him to solve. That meant another 40minutes of stripping the bike down, draining the oil and taking the engine out, ready to be shipped down to Colchester - again!

The crux of this means that I will now not be racing at the opening round at Elvington this weekend. Not the way I wanted to start the season and its left me with a strange empty and gloomy feeling inside.

All that effort to get the engine refreshed and this happens. Something good needs to happen soon or I'll be out of racing forever. And that thought leaves me cold.