Quote:
Originally Posted by ageing biker
How did you get on at Brands?
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Bit of a mixed bag, but more fun than expected given the weather.
The test day on Friday was near freezing, and I thought hard about skipping the first session, as most others did, but opted to make the most of the time available. That turned out to be a mistake, as it was greasy as hell and I binned it at Paddock on my out lap. Didn't even manage one corner! Spent the rest of the morning repairing the bike (bust brake pedal, smashed screen, knackered crash bung, damaged upper fairing and chamfered through the oil pump cover, which took a while to fix) and getting rid of gravel, which got absolutely everywhere.
Went out again for the first session in the afternoon, to ease myself back in gently, and had a good last couple of sessions getting myself up to a fairly pathetic pace before lining up for scrutineering.
Saturday morning I was out for P1, and told myself to take it easy and only do the bare minimum, as it was cold and greasy again. I was double-cautious and opted for wets, on the grounds that it was still damp and they were unlikely to get hot enough to tear up. That saw me 10th fastest in the session, as most others were on dry tyres and bailed out as soon as it started to spit with rain.
I was 3rd on the grid for the qualifier, thanks to getting my entry in early. In the assembly area I'd been wondering why I'd bothered turning up at a notoriously slippery track at the end of Winter, the memory of Friday morning's crash was still all too fresh in my mind, but as soon as I was lined up on the grid I remembered why I was there. As expected I was swallowed by a swarm of R1s at the start, my old banger of an R6 being no match. Someone cut my nose off going into Paddock, with a big old clunk as we made contact, and at Druids I found I had no clutch lever! Managed to bash the remains vaguely into place and finished 9th in class, one lap down. Not great, but I trimmed three seconds off my lap time over the course of the race, and if nothing else it blew the cobwebs away.
Saturday's final was hard work - I'm a lazy sod at the best of time, and spending six months on the sofa drinking beer meant 11 laps at race pace wore me out good and proper. 11th place, one lap down, and well outside the 90% cutoff for a signature. Still, I found another third of a second, and I was feeling more comfortable, if tired.
The Newcomer race was a waste of time - I was the thick end of a hundred horsepower down on half the bikes there, and probably had the only carbed bike on the grid. Finished last and worst of all I had to wear a daft orange bib again to take part. I might not bother with the Newcomers again this year.
Sunday morning I skipped practice completely, opting for twelve hours in bed at the hotel. The qualifier felt much better - I found another second a lap, wasn't lapped in the race, and was under the 90% cutoff, though being a qualifier and not the final I don't think it counts for a signature. I got under a minute for the first time on the R6. I've done 54s on my gixer thou, so I know I can do better, but not on that bike in those conditions. Annoyingly, I was so expecting to be lapped that when I noticed a bike behind me on the last lap I eased a bit to let it past on the straight, and discovered afterwards I'd given away a place. Reminder to self - the guys at the front don't need help to get past, and the guys behind don't deserve it!
Sunday's final was great fun, if knackering. I scored some new rubber over lunch, as I'd been running the same rear since Anglesey last year and the same front since Castle Combe, and both were getting a bit tired, feeling squirrelly through Druids in the morning race. I was quicker overall than on Saturday, but so was everyone else, so again I was just outside the 90% cutoff, mostly due to taking it slightly easy for the first couple of laps to let the unscrubbed tyres come in.
All in all, good fun, despite Friday's mishap, and got me back into the swing of things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ageing biker
I hope to be at Donington with North Glos, Will you be at that meeting?
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Yep, assuming nothing goes awry at Cadwell. I've done a couple of trackdays at Donington on the gixer, but never raced there, so I'm rather looking forward to it.