Yep, it still amazes me. I guess that even though most of them are in their early 20s or younger, they have just got so much experience under their belts. Still bloody good to watch though.
Just a quick update, tomorrow is a day of racing at Tonfanau circuit in Mid Wales. A great little circuit, very frantic as it only takes about 45 seconds to do a lap around the triangular layout and a great feel to it. Proper club racing and even the paddock is a traditional paddock, covered in grass, not a stretch of tarmac in sight. I hope to leave work about 6, head there in the van with caravan in tow with my racing partner in crime Mike, get there for about 8ish, hope somebody has saved some food on the bbq and a couple of beers, ready for a grand day tomorrow. Lovely!
Well, I have returned safe and sound from an awesome weekend of racing at Tonfanau. I got out of work as soon as I could in Saturday, went home, jumped into the van, made sure the caravan was hitched up and picked up my mate Mike and made our way down to Tonfanau circuit. Had a good run down there and got to the circuit at about 8pm, found our usual crowd and parked up next to them. First things first and food was chucked onto the bbq and a beer or two was consumed, all sitting around a fire while swapping tales from the race track. Properly good stuff! Sunday morning and I was up at 7 for scrutineering. The weather was just superb, not a cloud in the sky and the sun was already out. It was going to be ideal for racing. Scrutineering out of the way and it was a bit of a break until the first of 2 practice sessions at about 9.30. It was only my second outing at Tonfanau, so I knew the layout of the course and just needed a refresh. All went well in practice, the bike was flying and more importantly, my confidence was improved again from the meeting last weekend. The first race was at 11.45 and as they don't have a timed qualifying session, you pull a number out of a bucket to determine your grid position. I got 15th out of 25, so felt happy enough with that. All went well, with the exception of Mike, who got a monster wheelie off the start line, landed the front on one the kerbs and headed off into the undergrowth. Luckily, he stayed on and joined at the back of the pack. The first corner is always a tight squeeze, as it is literally a crawling pace hairpin. However, we all got around it in one piece, but I took a different line in and lost 3 places. I failed to get past any more bikes, apart from those that had got past me into the hairpin, one of which was an Aprilia RSV, which as I was closing in on it, decided to spray me and my bike in oil. Not ideal, so getting past him was a must and I managed to outbrake him into the final corner. So, race one saw me end up in 16th and slightly oily. Scrutineers advised of the leaky RSV, I got ready for race 2. The second race was a belter and I had some real good battles, outbraking a lad on a GSXR1000 into the hairpin and getting the inside line on a CBR600 around the fast right hander before the run toward the start finish corner. I ended up going up to 13th place this time. Bizarrely, race 3 start order was not determined by the finish order of race 2 and I ended up in 16th again. This time I got a cracking start and gained 2 places. I then rode like hell over the next 6 laps and ended taking another 2 bikes with a finishing place of 12th. All in all, I was really happy with that and my confidence had been restored big time. I felt I was on race pace, riding well, getting quicker and really looking forward to going back there next year. To top all this, I got a signature on my licence, so I am now only one signature away from losing the orange novice bib and gaining my next licence which is the Clubmans. If anyone is in the mid Wales region and the racing is on, I would strongly advise you to go and see it. It is truly superb and a proper club circuit feel about it. Entry to the public is a poxy £6 and there is non stop racing all day. The scenery is stunning too with a cracking beach a stones throw away. A real must.
Was you mate flying or were the rest of the riders slow as he was passing them like he was right on it.The track looks mental a lot of our roads look in better shape.Is the standard of track most club races have to ride on ? I really fancy starting racing with No limits just dont know if i am to old at 43 and if i have the bottle
No, Jamie is a seriously quick rider and has competed at British Superstock level, so yes he does go flying past pretty much everybody in sight. It is a mental track, but awesome fun to ride. Pretty much unique, as it must be one of the last of its kind around, as everything else is billiard table smooth and purpose built. In terms of age, don't let that put you off. My mate Mike who I race with is 66, I am nearly 40 and a lot of other lads are around the 40 mark. Sure there are some young guys who are phenomenal riders, but there are plenty who are doing it for fun. The only way you will get to find out is to give it a go. Get a 600 and try it for a year. It is genuinely the best thing ever!!
