Well, today I had booked a track day with No Limits at Anglesey to get some setup time before my first meeting at the end of the year. As it turned out, the weather had different plans and the day didn't get off the ground. Pretty much every thing else got off the ground, as the wind was insane. It was a very wise decision by No Limits to cancel, but all who had paid can get refunded or the opportunity to use the funds towards another day. So the bikes didn't get out of the van, however, I also picked up my old R6 from James at Infront motorcycles. I dropped the bike off with him about a month ago for it to be fully rebuilt after my last off. I was in two minds about what to do with it, but between myself and Mike (my racing teammate), we decided to do the bike up and have it as a spare bike. It has had full new bodywork, respray, new chain, K-Tech fork internals, full service and a good going over. The garage is starting to look like an R6 breeding ground now!
After 5 and a half months, the time has come to finally load the van and caravan up with 2 bikes, spares, tools, compressor, etc etc etc and head over to Anglesey circuit tomorrow night for a weekend of racing with the Wirral 100 club. Saturday is a practice and set up day, which is always a good warmer for the start of the season, with a full day of racing on Sunday. Fingers crossed for decent weather for the first meeting of the season please!
Nice one Gary, many thanks for that. Am keeping everything crossed that the weather does as forecasted.
Thanks guys. Currently it is raining and pretty miserable, but hopefully all will turn out ok by morning.
That's the first weekend of the year done and what a weekend it was! Yesterday was a day devoted to practice with 4 sessions per class over the day. Unfortunately, the day started off very wet, but the forecast promised dry and warm conditions by late morning. I therefore decided to not bother changing to wet wheels, instead deciding that a kip in the caravan was a better option. True to the forecast (amazingly) by about 11 the rainy stopped and the circuit started drying out nicely, helped along by the sidecars who do a nice job of drying things out, unless they are blowing up and spewing out more oil than you would imagine possible. I had my two afternoon sessions and the bike was feeling good, but needed a bit of adjustment to the rebound on the forks, as it was running wide in the faster corners. With that all done, I parked up for the night and got a good nights sleep. Today, the conditions couldn't have been any better at all. It was clear, sunny and more importantly warm. The day kicked off with qualifying and I managed to get a 16th place. No brilliant but I was happy with it, as the competition was high. The first race was held and went without any problems and I managed to knock 3 seconds off my qualifying time. Spurred on by this, i treated the bike to new tyres, as my set had done the last Anglesey meeting, plus a day at Oulton. As i got back to the garage, i met Restone and Rich from this very forum. Top guys and great to meet you both. Thanks for the support, it does make all the difference. Race 2 went well, had some good battles, but having changed the rebound on the forks yesterday, I found that the front end was chattering when pushed hard round mid speed corners. The new tyres had worked well though (Michelin Power Cup Ones) and despite a taller front profile which caused the bike to tip in quicker, I was pretty consistent. I had also entered a championship race which had a big grid of 38 bikes, known as the senior open. It includes the top running 1000s and 600s, so there was some great riders up front, but luckily there was a good spread of riders lower down the grid. I am not sure how the grid positions were worked out, but I got 31st on the grid. Got a flying start, had some great battles on the way, including reeling in a guy called Cookie on his R1 who Barney and The Firebloke know. managed to sneak past him on the outside of a left hander on lap 5 and then spent the next half a lap waiting for the yellow and black R1 to come past me on the straights, but somehow i managed to hold him off. I ended up finishing in 21st, which I was quite pleased with. Overall the bike went faultlessly, it never missed a beat and is a phenomenal bit of kit. Love it!! Some of the other guys in my class weren't so lucky though. Two of the front runners went down in separate incidents. The first is a British Supersport rider who is supremely talented, but lost the front end under braking at the fastest bit of the circuit. He took a lengthy slide/roll/tumble across the grass, but came away just bruised. The other was a mate on his ex British Supersport Triumph 675, whilst battling for 3rd place. He got high sided off the bike coming on to the start/finish straight, managed to hold on to it whilst skiing alongside it, but then as he hit the rumble strip, he let the bike go. It carried on into the pit lane wall and suffered major damage including snapped frame, bent forks, twisted exhaust system....... You get the idea. Not cheap. He picked himself up and is again bruised and a bit fed up with the outcome of the day. So, overall, a great weekend of racing, great weather and great to meet some forum members too. Next up is Tonfanau on 20th April.
Awesome right up mate and glad you down well!! Was a few biggies today as everyone started to get tired / hungry for positions.... But glad you got through your first meet without incident.... Where's the next meet for you mate?
