Mallory Park, New Era Spring Cup 18.03.01

First outing, and it had to be wet and cold, of course.
Many Thanks to Pete Wileman Photography.

Arriving as per usual the night before, we were a bit behind schedule but thanks to Dave Wilson, I got a decent pit space and a mains hook up. Cheers Dave (No.20 - SP1), I’ll try to get there first next time !!

The snow that fell over night made for a cold morning, and looking at the two hour queue for tyre changing made me glad I’d slipped into Frettons to have my wets fitted when I picked up their van on Saturday !!

I went out for morning practice full of the joys of spring. Splashing around on my cold wets for a few laps until I got some heat into them, then gave a little push to see how sticky they were, the answer was a back end slide around Gerards. I did a few geometry changes for race 1 in a bid to get some rear end grip and put the tyre warmers on just for good measure. They are a lot of theories about wets, and most say don’t use warmers, but it’s worth it to me just for that turn 1 confidence!

Now that's a big Grid !!!

From a back row start, Row H for Christ sake, I knew in my heart of hearts that I wasn’t on for a trophy position. There were 30 bikes on the grid all as big as mine and it was VERY Loud at the back I can tell you.
From the flag I had the back end out sideways on the gas and trying to get around as many people as possible to avoid any first turn melodramas !

Head Down, wide open about mid pack I was picking off a couple more on the drive out to the back straight. After three laps I hadn’t got a clue where I was in the race, it was chaos what with the spray and all, but I could see some familiar numbers up ahead and gave chase. Thanks to the Suomy Helmet and "Fog City" I could see clearly while all around the paddock there were tales of woe, misting and leaking visors. I just laugh and tell them to get a decent helmet !

First scalp I claimed was Dave Wilson who’d had a front row start and led lap 1, then Ben Hodges on his Ducati, I was up behind Lee Reveley on his SP1. We played with a few guys and he had the pick of the passing spots as he hit them first. I tried to ride around the outside of Gerards, a puddled place in the wet, and got along side Lee the long way around only to be blocked by two bikes on the exit. He boxed me in a treat. Nice one Lee. 

From there I had one lap to make up the gap and it just wasn’t on. I went the long way around Gerards again only to be rewarded with a front end wash out when I hit the biggest puddle available, but still managed to despatch the two guys that had held me up through the Bus Stop and I saw Lee again, but could only watch as he nipped past two more bikes going into the hairpin for the last time and that was that.
I came back into the paddock convinced I’d struggled to get anywhere but the guys were suggesting I’d taken 8^th from a back row start, and it turned out they were quite correct. I was happy with that. A bike in one piece and a few exciting moments was more than enough for me as the rain continued to fluctuate between snow and drizzle.
We had a long wait for the second race, the rain came and went, just as soon as a drying line appeared and every rider scrambled to get his intermediates fitted the heavens would re-open and make my day. With only one set of wheels all I could ask for was a consistent day, wet or dry, and save all that messing about changing tyres back and forth. I made a couple more changes to the bike, reducing the droop on the rear by half in a bid to get it turn a little better, and softening the rebound damping a little as the back end was pumping down over the bumps of Gerards.

The rain had held off for almost an hour and the spray had stopped appearing from rear tyres, so I was a little pensive. I really didn’t want to have to change tyres at this late stage, but on the other hand my wets would soon shred if it got any dryer. As I went to the line I told the guys that I’d give it a try but if it started to get greasy it was a sure sign that the wets were struggling to find enough water to work properly so I’d pull in. As we sat on the grid I pointed at the dark black cloud behind us and we all started laughing. Brilliant. Sure enough lap 1 it started raining, then by lap 4 it was sticking to my visor in lumps, I thought it was snow, it turned out to be hail ! And didn’t it come down in buckets !

I’d made a much better start, entering Gerards 2^nd and holding it all the way around the first lap, watching Peter Baker pulling away steady but surely. He’d won the first race by a large margin and I was determined not to let him get away so easy this time. Too much gas at the Esses on lap 2 span the back end up as I leaned right then left, and I’m pretty sure the resulting slide must have made anyone behind me back right off ! I got straight back in the groove and got my head down. When the hail started I was still running 2^nd place but Peter was long gone. The noises all around told a tail. I was not alone !

I ran at my own pace conscious of the fact that this was just a play day and there were some guys behind me that were determined to get some good points towards their championship. As we started to lap the slower riders I tried all I could to make good use of them, and with just two laps to go, afforded myself a look over my shoulder along pit straight. A mistake, there was Lee right up my rear. Keen to pick up the "Sound of Thunder" Trophy this year I knew he’d be more than keen to pass so I stuck to my lines and waited for the passing manoeuvre. I’ve seen Lee throw it away more than once even without provocation so was more than happy to give him the entry of Gerards once he’d shown me his wheel on a very wide line going in. I followed him home for the last lap in a contented third place.

Lee looked as good as I’ve ever seen him, the bike was planted and very quick. I’m sure he’ll do well in the New Era Club championships if he can ride like that all year.

I came into the paddock with a grin, stuck the bike straight into Frettons Van and commenced the arduous chore of hiding everything away in the van and caravan to join the snake that was building at the paddock exit.

Well, I’m almost ready for round 1 next weekend, I just need to get the bike on the dyno for a check up now that it’s all freshened up and all the cobwebs have been blown out.
Many thanks to Graham and Jamie for helping out and getting some wonderful video of the awful conditions.

Thanks also to Groucho and family for nipping me out to the petrol station and cash point when all the power went off about 10.00am (I hadn’t stopped off to get Genny fuel since Dave had kindly phoned me to let me know I’d got a hook up)

Dez #82