Hi robin pm me your mob number please , Ticket arrived this morning , Good luck and see you Saturday AM . Giv text me if your thinking of turning up . .
Well, I have certainly in my last two meetings experienced the highs and lows of racing. Following a successful meet at Anglesey a couple of weeks ago, I was at Oulton Park yesterday. Myself and my friend Mike arrived there about 8pm on Friday night to the sight of a very full paddock. We set about finding our garage and the guys we race with and got the bikes housed safe and sound for the night. Time for a quick pint in the bar before bed as we had an early start for scrutineering the following morning. By the time we got back to the caravan at about 11pm, even more vehicles had arrived, making the paddock look more like a BSB meet. The following morning we were up at 6.30 to get a good start for scrutineering, which we had no problems with. The weather was glorious and dry, so all should be good. Barney had very kindly agreed to come and take some photos of the day for us, which I was made up with, so we met him in our garage at about 8.30. He let me know where he would be around the circuit and I briefed him on the day. Next up was noise testing at 9.15, which we both scraped through at 103db, with a 105db limit for the day. The grid positions and race order were announced and I was surprised to find that the Formula 600 and Powerbikes (1000cc) were mixed up in 2 separate heats. I was even more surprised to find that the heats weren't split into Heat 1 (faster group) and Heat 2 (not so fast group), but were basically a mix of all abilities. I will be honest and say I was a bit nervous as this was only my second time at Oulton, the first was a track day in October last year, so it wasn't a circuit I was terribly familiar with. However, there was nothing to be done apart from go out and do the best I could. With the day being only a single race day, they combined practice and qualifying, so it was a case of giving it all for the 5 laps we were allowed. Again not ideal, but that's the way it goes. Our practice started at about 10.15 and out we went. I went out about midfield, mixing it with some of the quick riders, but was hanging back as I needed to refresh myself on the circuit. Lap 3 went well, but I lost the front slightly going into Old Hall, so made a note to try a different line. By lap 4, I felt comfortable and thought I would go for a flying qualifying lap. The bike was running well and I felt pretty confident. Coming up towards the start/finish straight, I started my final lap. Went through the timing beacon flat out in fifth, knocked it down into fourth for Old Hall and tipped it in. Half way round though, the front went from under me and down i went. I slid across the track, onto the grass and came to rest about 2 feet from the tyre wall. I got up and was ushered to safety by the marshalls. I couldn't see the bike, but knew it was a big one. At this point the adrenalin was still flowing, but even so i could still detect that something was up with my left shoulder. The marshals were superb and got me a seat and offered me a toffee. I couldn't however get my gloves off as my left arm wouldn't move. The pain in my shoulder was becoming pretty intense now and I decided it was either a broken collar bone or shoulder blade, however just as I leant back in my chair to eat my toffee, my shoulder popped back into place. The relief was fantastic, but the pain was still bad. As the session ended, I got the bike recovered and was taken back to the pits. I surveyed the bike and it wasn't a pretty sight (photos to be uploaded later). I was more annoyed with myself than anything as there was nothing but myself to blame and I was now faced with a broken bike, dislocated shoulder and no signature for the day, which I need to get rid of my novice licence. I resigned myself to a day of spectating and helping out with Mike and the other guys where I could, until one of my friends asked if I would like to use his bike for a race, as he was in a different class and therefore we weren't out at the same time. I weighed it up and thought "hell yes". i took myself off to the medical centre where i was met by a very lovely female medic, who was obviously into S&M or torture as she made me do 5 press ups and numerous other arm bending exercises. How I managed not to faint with the pain I do not know, but I knew I had to get the signature for the day. I now had an hour until my first race and went around collecting ibuprofen from people. I took a couple and hoped that this would be enough to let me do 1 sighting lap and a 5 lap race. I was also wondering what it would be like to ride a bike I had never ridden before (a pre injection R6), with a race gear shift, that belonged to somebody else. Oh and it was now raining, so I would be going out on wets. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though, so out I went onto the grid. I was 29th which was fine by me, as I was at least not going to get in the way. I merely wanted to finish the race and get the magical signature. We formed on the grid for our sightig lap, I ran through the gearbox layout in my head and made sure I was in first and then waited for the lights to go out. Decided that 7000rpm would get a good launch without wheelspin or wheelie and then away we went on our sighting lap. So far so good and we all made it round to form on the grid. Same things going through my head and again off we went. Got neutral instead of second, but survived without getting hit from behind. The laps went by, the pain in the shoulder got worse and then my arm started to go numb, but all I could think of was the chequered flag. Crossing that line with the flag being waved was just the biggest relief. I made my way back to the garage, but had to be helped off the bike as I couldn't move my arm, however I eventually got there and got breathe a sigh of relief. First thing was more ibuprofen and then try to get out of my leathers, which required assistance. For the remainder of the day, I helped out wherever I could, made tea, got biscuits and generally tried not to look at what was at the start of the day an intact R6. I got my signature and learnt some lessons. i am not Rossi or the like and this first year is a mission to get rid of my novice licence. It doesn't matter where I finish, i just need to finish. it is a long and steep learning curve and one that has cost me financially and physically. I won't be able to do Donnington in 2 weeks time, but I will go with Mike to support him. I would also like to add as a final note that Barney is a total star and a genuinely great and caring guy. His phone calls today to see how I am have meant a lot and I can only thank him for his encouragement, support and for what I am sure will be some epic shots he got in practice. Huge thanks Barney.
A great? write up Robin, with perhaps if i dare to say so? a better outcome than the one we first anticipated. It takes balls to do what you and every other up and coming racer do, and the ability to get up and get on with it, even more so. I hope you soon get sorted out with the bike, and you heal 100% in readiness for your next crack at it. P.S did you get the young lady's number? For the reason of future personal consultations only of course
Thanks Gary and yes I reckon I was lucky. there were so many offs yesterday, including a 6 bike pile up a the start of one race. I don't think I have been to a race meet where so many red flags and restarts have happened. As for nursey, I think that 999 and ask for Oulton Park Medical centre may work. I believe she is called Ivana, Queen of Pain. Or maybe it was Sarah? Not sure. Hope you don't mind if I don't find out for you.
Like I discussed with you on the phone pm me if you want them and I'll forward them on to you via email , ( no charge ) .
Hi Robin, sorry to hear about your mishap on Saturday, but you're ok that's the main thing. I tried to get round to see you but as you can vouch for it was one of those days. I got to the circuit a little late and was told when signing in there was a free brekky in the Chequers, so putting my stomach first it was the brekky so I thought of popping over during the lunch break as we normally get around an hour...on a good day!! Unfortunately the lunch break turned out to be 20 minutes. I did you see you briefly in the assembly area before your practice session as we were dropping one of the many bikes back off at scrutineering. In all during the day we collected 16 bikes in our recovery van and we were one of three recovery vans!! so a kind of reflection on how the day went for everyone. My next track is Aintree on May 11th but I guess you'll be at Angelsey 29 & 30 June, has to be better weather in June you'd expect?? Hope the shoulder is holding up ok and you get the Arrr6 fixed up ready for your next meeting.
Following my little detour into the gravel trap at Oulton Park some weeks ago, I have been frantically trying to get the bike rebuilt. Sadly I had to miss out on Donnington 3 weeks ago (decided I didn't miss much as the weather was hit and miss), but I have finally got sorted for a meet at Tonfanau circuit in Mid Wales. I have no idea what the circuit is like, but it is an old airfield, with a length of 1 mile. Should be quite frantic! I had my entry forms through the post and did have to laugh when in the information section it said "any competitors wanting to turn up on Saturday are welcome to do so to help clear the circuit". Apparently, sheep graze there and make a mess of the surface. Anyway, I shall report back on this later on. As for the bike, the damage was purely cosmetic fortunately. Well, shall we say that things such as frame and forks were all ok. I have had to replace the entire exhaust system, entire right hand rearset, right hand clip on, front brake master cylinder, bodywork, right hand crash bung, have the fuel tank dent removed and filled and then have the rear sub frame welded up. it has cost a fair few quid to do, but these things do happen. the bodywork is going to get painted up after this meeting, as I simply haven't had time to sort it out beforehand. It is a shame my shoulder can't be fixed quite that easily, but that will just take time to repair torn tendons, muscles and ligaments. Another addition to the garage has been a generator, as it can come in very handy if you can't get near power sockets for tyre warmers or hooking up the caravan. Looking into the spec required for running 2 pairs of tyre warmers, I was amazed that they draw about 1900 watts a pair, so a hefty generator was needed. It is more of a small power station than a generator, requiring 2 of us to lift it into the van (which is now getting more full with every race meet attended). As the bike looks now Generator in action:
