Well, the weekend is the final race of the season for me at Anglesey circuit with the Wirral 100 club. It is the main event of the year with actual, real money available for the podiums in the Anglesey Grand final race. Sadly, you have to be invited to race in this following consistently good results over the year, which I haven't been able to do. Never mind, it is my first year and there is always next year! Fingers crossed the weather is decent and stays dry, don't mind the cold as it actually works better with my tyres. The van is all loaded, fingers crossed everything is packed, so we should be ready to race first thing on Saturday.
That's it, the racing season is over and what a year it has been! I have had a fantastic weekend of racing, got 6 races done over the 2 days and the bike ran flawlessly. Even though I didn't get any great results, I was just over the moon to feel more confident on the bike and really starting to get back into the swing of it all. Having just said that the bike ran flawlessly, I did get one problem which was with the foot peg. It is a flip up design, which I have never really liked, but have stuck with, but half way through my last race of the day yesterday, the actual foot peg bolt had worked lose. Doesn't sound too bad, until you come into the first corner at about 90, put your weight onto said foot peg, only to find it has spun through 180 degrees and is now folding up when you put your foot on it. Not ideal, as my foot hit the tarmac, ran me wide to the extent I was on the rumble strip hanging on for dear life. Luckily I regained control but had to retire from the race. A bit of a shame as I had started in 6th out of 41 and today I had to start the follow on race in 32nd. With a lot of battling, I managed to get up to 14th place by lap 4 and remained there until the end. The racing all weekend has been of a very high standard, with people travelling from as far away as Holland to compete. We saw a new lap record being set by Ian Mackman on his GSXR1000K7 and a truly phenomenal trophy invitation race taking place. Pretty much a grid full of ZX10s, a few Blades and a couple of GSXRs. Overall, it has been a superb weekend and I am just a bit sad to think it is over until March next year. Time to start looking for a trail/enduro bike for winter training now. I had some really tough times earlier on in the year with my crashes and it has really set me back, but I went with an open mind this weekend and it sure did pay off. Sure, my lap times are still a bit off, but they will get back there no matter what. And the best bit of all is that I have got my tenth signature and no longer have to wear an orange novice bib. Time to apply for the next level of licence. If anybody is thinking of taking up racing, all I can do is say go for it. You will never experience a thrill like it. Ever!
It was mayhem with that number on the grid, but it made it even more fun though, as you could really get mixed up with it. The first corner after the start was a bit manic, but we all survived. Somehow!!
Well done Robin good way to end the season I have really enjoyed my trackdays this year and can't wait till next year but plan to do a lot more different tracks .Donnington ,Silverstone,Anglesey been on the list. Can't wait doing my Acu licence Wednesday just waiting for no limits to release the dates/tracks where racing will be also planning on doing solo racing as well . How did mark get on ?
Good luck with it Jason, you will be fine. As I said, the ACU don't want to fail anybody and so it is dead easy to get through. Good luck with it. Mike got on well, managed to get carried away and ran off into the grass 4 times, but somehow he stayed on. Oh he did have a small off, lost the front under very heavy braking into a sharp left hander, but both he and the bike carried on in the next race. You will have to come to Anglesey to race, as it is a superb circuit. Good luck again and keep us posted.
I was close Mike sorry not Mark getting as bad as Sinewave names not my strongest thing.A guy I know was there this weekend watching his mate race not sure of his name but he is 52 and winning most of his races .So there is time for me yet .I fancied Anglesey on Saturday but weather not looking the best the same for Wednesday I am at Oulton doing a Trackday and the ACU licence but weather looks crap .Think I need to accept that's it pretty much now in the uk for this year .Still got Jerez to look forward to and my first time on Track using Slicks .
Any ideas what you are looking for? 600? 1000? Lots of choice and a good time to buy as a lot of people are changing ready for the new season. Exciting times ahead!!
Yeah I can't wait . I'm thinking stay with the 6s for a year or 2 get me into it . Just waiting for the new formulas rules and regs to come out with hottrax then the hint begins