Access 2007 reports here
NGRRC – Brands Hatch 12th & 13th April 2008
Friday
An early morning start for my ½ day on track, during which we tried out some alternative gearing and suspension settings and running higher levels of fuel to get me used to the additional weight in the tank – something I struggled with last year. The suspension was improved helping line holding, though there could be more to come but my gearing from last year was best for control round the corners and power out of them.
I found a really smooth and quick, late entry - early power line round paddock though had to be careful not to take it too late else there’s a bump that the front end doesn’t like. I was feeling fairly good for the rest of the track, but not up to pace. It had been hard to string a good lap together as many people out there were just learning the track.
I was glad I’d only booked the morning as the afternoon was rather variable weather wise and didn’t want to wreck wets on practice day - I’d likely be needing them for the racing and wets are difficult to get hold of this year.
Saturday
Out I went for practice to shake down and wake up, but I was out there with a right mixture of classes including minitwins, GP250’s and F400s so it was a struggle to get a good rhythm. Everything seemed to be working well though.
Race 1 (Qualifier)
I was gridded 15th which is the closest to the front I’ve ever been and I got lucky as 11th was a no show, giving me a clear line to row 2. I had problems getting neutral like I had at Pembrey, but got away from the line reasonably well, then struggled to get the gear changed properly, even with all that I only lost 1 place during that first lap as I managed to get back past a few people particularly at Druids. I started to fight it out with a few of the guys trying to get the best position I could, but was crippled with cramp in my right quads and calf and barely got through to the end of the race.
A quick look at the cable ties round the rear shock showed that I was bottoming out the rear, this was no surprise when we discovered that there was virtually no compression damping set, so a few clicks added in preparation for race 2. We also made some adjustments to the clutch cable and lever to help me in finding neutral. During fuelling it seemed that there was very little fuel left in the tank, this strange seeing as my race times showed that I wasn’t quite back on my best pace of 2007 yet had used almost twice as much fuel in a race that was only a couple of laps longer – oh well, extra fuel added for race 2 which was scheduled to last 12 laps.
Race 2 (Final)
Slow reactions to the lights and being squeezed by other riders resulted in a whole load of work for me to do to make my way up to the positions I should be racing for as I crossed the line at the end of the first lap in 23rd and this was after I’d got back past a couple of them. I lost count after 3 or 4 laps, so had to pace myself a little until the last lap flag was shown - in the end the race had been shortened to 9 laps. Not a great result of 21st.
There were no problems with the clutch to report, that not having added to my poor start. During the race the bike turned great and generally felt much better than it had earlier so those adjustments to the shock must have done the trick. Strangely, when checking the fuel I took out as much as the total that we had put in!! The siphon must not have worked properly earlier.
Sunday
Race 1 (Qualifier)
Last minute decisions had to be made with the weather being changeable again. I made the right decision and kept with my dry tyres, and to be on the safe side wore my waterproofs and clear visor as we looked set for some mid race rain.
I was even luckier today, back in my grid spot of 15th, both 11th and 7th were missing giving me a nice clean view of the front row and the track ahead. I got a reasonable start heading for the outside at Paddock, followed by some nice decisive moves passing people at Druids and Graham Hill, then it was a case of trying to get my head down. Had a little battle with a few of the guys, but couldn’t quite keep with them round Clearways, though I would catch them back round Paddock and Druids, in the end I couldn’t quite keep the pace, and from a highest position of 12th or 13th I ended up 17th but only 0.4 of a second behind the next rider.
I was struggling to get the bike to turn in and hold its line through the corners in comparison to yesterday afternoon. A quick look at the cable ties round the forks showed that I was not using as much travel, and I was still using a little more than I should on the rear, so before race 2 Rich made some adjustments that should help. Maybe that added fuel load had assisted my suspension.
The clear visor didn’t help in the end as the sun did make a brief appearance and I kept getting some problems with trying to look through the edge of the pinlock, I know you are meant to look through the middle of it, but at certain places on the track I need to be able to look through the upper part of the visor, so the pinlock will be removed for future races.
Race 2 (Final)
With a race to go I made my tyre choice – wets, and some rapid wheel changing followed. The track was drenched and I’d made the right choice along with most of the field.
Not my best ever start, struggling with the downhill slope of the track at my grid position, but I enjoyed making my way past people getting great feedback that my tyres were well stuck to the wet track. I got up to a highest position of 15th with the points and national licence signature positions just in front of me – not that I knew where I was while I was out on track. My lap times improved with each lap and the bike was handling much better than the earlier race tipping in and hold the line as I wanted. I was still struggling round clearways, though I’ve come to the conclusion that this is likely to be more to do with the extra few winter pounds that I haven’t yet shifted which are limiting my manoeuvrability than the bike set up. As the track started to really dry out getting the power on out of Clearways became interesting (and fun in a bizarre way) as my bike began to squirm, then hustle, I kept the power on – just wasn’t able to use it all. As the race unfolded I lost contact with the group in front, finishing 17th.
Thanks to Rich for all his support, help and useful technical suggestions. Thanks also to Alex Bailey and Liz Corbey (Trix) for their help – Well done to Alex for his third place in the 600s.
I could really do with being able to soften the front suspension off even more particularly in these wet conditions we seem to be getting this year, yet this is barely possible with the current set up of my forks, so they’ll be off to be rebuilt and resprung. I’m off to try to shift those excess pounds and improve my fitness further in readiness for my return to my favourite track of last year, Snetterton, on 10th & 11th May.
NGRRC – Pembrey 29th & 30th March 2008
2008 sees me taking on a new challenge - racing in a different club, NG Road Racing, and racing more independently than before, with both Deb and Susie being based in Europe this year. To start the year off I’m also racing at a new track. Its not that I’ve never been to Pembrey before, but the last time I rode here I was still a comparative newbee at track riding. Sections of track and runoff have been resurfaced since then and my riding has come on in leaps and bounds so I knew that the track was going to feel very different. Last year I visited, but only to watch the other girls as my own class was not racing here, however I did get to walk the track with them and some of the points made in that track walk were still in my mind as I headed out onto the track on the Friday afternoon – I just hope that I remembered them correctly.
Having set up our little pit space (my new awning) between rain showers and prepared the bike for going out on track (swapped the batteries over to a spare but charged one – more about that later, checked the tyre pressures etc) in the morning I was heading out onto the track with a few sessions to shake down my newly refreshed bike and my slightly out of shape self, and to find my way around and try to get up to pace. I was pleased that the hairpin did not seem as tight as I remembered, that I seemed to flow fairly well round most of the bends. The fast Woodlands kink actually required me to lean the bike a little, something that was not really required on my last trip round this track 5 years ago. I could not get a good line round the lefts at Dibeni though.
Saturday
Up bright and early (unlike the weather) on Saturday saw us go to scutineering. A couple of slight modifications and we were through. Dry/damp practice concentrating on the line round Dibeni (improving but not there yet) then the heavens opened. Frantic tyre changing and tool finding commenced as we discovered that one of my brake calliper bolts had been rounded off resulting in me running around to find someone with the appropriate tool to enable us to remove it. My race ahead would be the first time I had got to ride on a good set of wet tyres in anger. I was looking forwards to it while trying to convince myself that they really are as good as people say and that there is not much cause for having to ride any slower, just a little smoother, than in the dry.
Race 1 (Qualifier)
Gathering in the collecting area had me seeing my competitors for the first time randomly collected about me all of us having been informed of our respective start positions. I might have known where I was to start from, but I had no idea as to which side of the grid this needed me to head for, so a slow trundle to the grid soon had me placed. Next the guy with the red flag walks to the side of the track and points to the starter with a green flag and we are all waved off. Everyone charges down to the first corner, the hairpin, bundling in there with elbows out wide, I begin to doubt as to whether this is actually a warming up lap and decide that I best get a shift on just in case. Thankfully it is a warming up lap, and we all reassemble for a start from the lights. Not that my was all that great having not been able to find neutral and go through my usual pre-start routine. We all headed into the first corner sorting out our positions, then needing to work out how to get past people. My favourite move became on the brakes towards the hairpin up the outside of people who were taking the “defensive” line, then late apexing, so if they did manage to get back inside me into the hairpin I could get them back on the power coming out. I could tell that generally I was quicker than the people I was racing, so I needed to get a better start next time, but it felt great to have a good number of competitors around me, really feeling like I was racing. Visibility was difficult, with rain and spray but this just added to the sense of exhilaration each time I tipped into the fast Woodlands kink, trying to persuade myself not to shut off, but having to ride by the force as I really couldn’t quite see where the track was going!
I finished 20th out of 28th, with my lap times reducing lap on lap as I became more accustomed to the circuit. My fast lap time was akin to that of the group finishing ahead of me and I knew that I had more to come, a good start would be needed though. The wet tyres are absolutely fantastic, and the bike tips in a dream on them, but it does like to shake its head a little over the bumps out of Woodlands. The clutch was slipping for much of the race (after the race we discovered that the adjuster had come loose) giving me a few problems, and some elbow sharpening was required for the start of later race.
Race 2 (Final)
Although shortened from the program due to the weather, this was still to be one of the longest (mileage wise) races I had entered, but I felt ready. The track was still wet, but at least the rain had stopped for now. Again we lined up for the start, out went the lights and off we all went, I got pushed back a little (elbows still weren’t sharp enough for that first corner) then made steady progress back up through the field, the track developing a drying line as we went, so I tried to stay a little on the wet stuff to preserve my tyres where I could. It really felt like everyone had lit the touch paper for this afternoon race as suddenly it was much harder to get by and they all seemed a lot quicker, maybe the fact that they could see where they were going had helped them speed up too. My times improved lap on lap once again, but this time only until about mid distance when my right knee really began to ache with all the pressure that it was being put under (Pembrey is one of those tracks that you spend a long time leaning off the same side of the bike always turning). I finished 21st out of 29 and began to realise the difficulty of the task that I have set myself in trying to finish in the front half of the field.
Sunday
Thanks to Rich my knees should be under less strain from now on as a slight modification to the seat (raising the front) should stop me sliding forwards as much, and with the weather improving on went the new dry tyres – new profile compared to last year’s tyre too so something else to try out in race 1.
Race 1 (Qualifier)
At the start of the race there was a wide dry line for most of the track, with water still in a few places. I’m hyped for the race, for which unfortunately I do not get a much better start than I did yesterday. The drying line helps me sort out my own line on a couple of places that I had been struggling a little with and lap on lap once again my times drop and I keep passing people, the approach to the hairpin still being my favourite, but finding a couple of other places to make a move or two as well – I just love this racing lark!
The position of the seat was so much better that I felt like I could have carried on for twice as long and the tyres handled well. I finished 16th out of 28, only 2 more places to get for my aim of being in the front half, and with a fastest lap of 1:12.22. I was pleased with my performance and looking forwards to getting back out there in the afternoon.
Race 2 (Final)
Out went the lights and off I went, they were not going to push me out of the way this time – sure enough this was my fastest opening lap of the weekend, 5 seconds faster than my previous attempt. Yet again the lads had got their fingers out and were racing for the afternoon, but I was riding well too, each lap being faster than the respective lap of the earlier race, right up until the point that my battery started to fail me – not that I realised that this was happening at the time, that is not until I pulled onto the straight on the last but one lap and it was firing on three, then as I tipped into the hairpin it cut out altogether, and didn’t it just tip in, for a moment there I thought I was going to fall off! I managed to coast to the side of the track then pushed it across the bog that had been grass, to the tyre wall, only to be told that the race was over and it was time for me to push it back to the track ready to be collected. Oh well, my first ever DNF. Time for a new battery and to get rid of that old spare.
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