View Susie, Deb and Amanda's individual sections for race reports
HMRC Six Hour Endurance at Snetterton, 2-3 August 2008
Two weeks before the race Deb suggested we entered this event since we enjoyed it so much last year. A couple of days later we had a team selected (Deb Cartwright, Susie Grayson and Amanda Wake), a few volunteers to help (Rich Arnold, Rob Wittey, Mo Guiberteau, the Chuffster and his son Aaron) and had put our race entry in. Dunlop supported us with D211 tyres for qualifying and the race, for which we are extremely grateful. Deb had to repair the clutch after her last race in Hungary and Amanda had to book the practice day as she races a 400 - completely different to the very fast and high revving 2008 Superstock R6 and with race shift.
All this done, the team were gathered at the wet track for the weekend and looking forward to a competitive entry in the National Supersport class. All riders had a little preparation to do during practice and qualifying on Saturday and Sunday morning: Deb hadn't tried Snetterton on the 2008 bike and was not used to 190 D211 tyres (which really make you feel every bit of movement); Amanda was still getting to grips with the incredible feeling of a 125HP plus bike, and Susie has aclimatised herself to riding her R1 so had to get back into high revs and tucking in.
We're not sure who managed the best qualifying time of 1min14.7 - Susie or Deb, but this put the team 8th overall on the grid. Deb decided to have a play in the Motogrande 20-lap race on Saturday to get her into gear. She stormed it, coming first in the 600 class and second overall.
For the race start Deb was the first rider out so was stood across the track from Amanda who was holding the bike. Union flag down, and Deb made a great start, getting her head down for a truly stunning first session. She was regularly in 1min14s and got her best ever lap time round Snetterton of 1min13.7. She was on fire, battling for the whole 50 minutes (not what you normally see in an endurance race) and coming in bouncing and raring for more.
Deb took the team to 3rd in class, however, we knew we'd be hit by a few factors. Firstly the R6 was Superstock spec not Supersport. Secondly, we had a standard tank which only allowed a 50min session (regular teams often extend their tanks so riders can be out for 70mins) which meant we had to have more rider changes. Thirdly, both Deb and Susie are very hard on the front tyre; after last year we had expected not to change the front tyre for the 6-hour race, but the compound wasn't as hard as we needed and badly needed changing after only 3 hours (removing at least 3 or 4 laps from our tally). Lastly, Amanda really needed a few days to get to grips with race shift and the R6; she did very well considering the lack of time on the bike, managing a best time in the 1min20s.
Amanda and Susie took their first stints, with Amanda struggling to stay out for 40mins as she'd never completed more than 30mins in one stint on a track before. The weather deteriorated during Amanda's session and stayed changeable to about hlef-way through Susie's first session. As usual with Snetterton's own micro-climate this meant that the pitlane could be dry and sunny and it would be raining hard on the back section. This added to thge challenge and at one point the team prepared wet tyres for a changeover. Luckily the rain petered out. All riders completed a second session each with fatigue setting in very quickly. With 1hour5mins to go, Deb embarked on another full session and managed to stretch it out to 5mins before race end at 6pm. Susie got on and completed the last three laps to the chequered flag.
The team came 4th in the Supersport class ahead of some regulars so were pleased with the result and very pleased to finish with no incidents.
Thank you to the volunteers mentioned above for their tireless support. To Martin Landmann and Duck Cross Racing for lending us the refueller, tyre rack, spare wheels and lots of pointers, and for lending us a team marshal. To Dunlop for supplying the tyres. To Leila and Paul for trying to come and help, shame their van broke down.
Deb, Mo and Rob relax after practice
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Deb goes qualifying
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Chuffster takes an arty shot of Susie
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Preparation for the 2008 season: testing in Cartegena, Spain, December 2007
Feisty Racing comprises relatively few racers compared to previous seasons, with founder members Susie and Deb concentrating hard on expanding their racing horizons during 2008, with the plan to expand the team again for the 2009 season. One of our 2007 rookies, Amanda Wake, moves across to join Feisty Freedom and plans to compete in a full season (funds permitting) of the BMCRC Superbike 400 Championship on her ZXR400. The team has no new recruits for the 2008 season as yet.
The Cartagena away team consisted of Susie, Deb and Amanda riding; Buddha, Tammy, Rich supporting and there for the holiday as well as David from www.bikesportnews.com with his CBR600. We all stayed at La Manga about 20 minutes from the circuit, spending Christmas and New Year together in the Spanish warmth.
Unfortunately Susie's trusty Sprinter van decided to give up the ghost two weeks before the trip so we couldn't take Deb's R6 or David's motocrosser to play with. Deb wasn't too bothered as the 2008 R6 which she'll be racing this year is completely different to the 2006 model, so it wouldn't have prepared her well; she'll go testing again when she gets her hands on the new bike. Susie's 2007 R1 was there for both Susie and Deb to learn as this is the steed for the planned World Endurance rounds. Amanda was sticking with her ZXR400 from her rookie season, so her plan was to learn how to get to grips with a new track and improve her riding skills.
Susie's Report:
I was really looking forward to trying out my new 2007 Yamaha R1, having raced and R6 for just over a year and decided I needed to make a change. I've got to admit to being nervous since a "friend" had been warning me that the bike would spit me off if I continued to be hard on the brakes and didn't give the bike enough respect. My aim for the five days was to get used to the bike, try to get "to grips" with Dunlops (having been on Metzeler and Pirelli for three years) and learn the ins and outs of the Ohlins suspension. I also hoped to try to match my best time on the R6 of 1min49, but honestly wasn't expecting it.
My R1 was as new, purchased from British Supersport Cup and Superstock rider Jamie Wheatley. He had a single bad crash early 2007 and replaced all damaged parts with new, also admitting to being very fussy and particular. Good news for me as I honestly couldn't believe how clean and pristine my new ride was. Jamie was also keen so reassure me how forgiving this bike is, and what a good example this one is.
Luckily, David had been given a batch of Dunlop 209GPs to test, some of which he was able to put on my R1. My only experience of them so far had been a single session at Snetterton on the R6 where my reaction was, in a nutshell, cornering like a dream and tank slapping crazily on the straights. It would have taken lots of time messing with suspension to get the benefits and I didn't have Dunlop support or the time so I didn't bother.
I honestly expected to spend the first two or three days in Spain getting the suspension set up to make the tyres work. Not so. I couldn't believe how wonderfully it went. Day one: warm up tyres, leathers on, warm up bike, calm nerves, into first set of corners - OH MY GOD this bike is just brilliant and it turns like a dream! I stayed out for about 20 minutes and came back with the biggest grin on my face. My immediate conclusion was that R1 + Dunlops works beautifully, R1 + me is a great idea and that I should have done this a year ago!
The bike was definitely quite something to get to grips with. My R6 was powerful enough with around 130bhp, and the leap to around 175bhp means piling into corners that bit faster, carrying more corner speed and an amazing feeling when putting the power down, with the nose just itching to come up and sniff the air. I was very surprised to be in the 1min49s by the end of day two, but I think that was a measure of just how powerful and forgiving this bike is, and how at home I was already feeling with it. Gone is the fight to get the gearing right and the speedy up and down changes to make sure the power is there. With the R1 I wasn't really worrying about what gear I was in, and could abandon that horrible struggle to change gear mid-chicane - something I've always struggled with (apparently due to my immobile lower back).
After a couple of days on the same front tyre, I actually started to get some feedback, with mid corner chattering in one long, low right-hander. We tried tweaking the suspension but didn't seem to get an improvement. Eventually we decided to change the front tyre even though it wasn't really showing much wear It seemed to cure the problem so maybe the Dunlop front just doesn't show you when it's used up. We're not sure so will have to delve into it with people who know these things.
Day three saw us split into a variety of qualifying sessions with the prospect of a few races. I intended to compete in the ladies' race and the open. I qualified with a very pleasing 1min47.9 - in fact I was quite made up as I hadn't expected to beat my best R6 race time and I wasn't anywhere near getting the R1 out of shape - this testing was about learning the bike and tyres preferably keeping upright and being consistent, not pushing too hard. I won the ladies' race by 12 seconds with a best time of 1min47.5. Unfortunately, after qualifying on the front row of the second open with a leisurely 1min48, the open races on day four were cancelled and the track closed for a couple of hours after an incident in race one. I decided to call it a day having got myself very comfortable with the R1 and looking forward to the next testing session, probably early April just before the first European Women's Championship in Misano on the 13th April. View the Feisty calendar here.
Follow this link David Miller's take on the testing session, with a lap of the circuit as dictated by me and word-smithed by him - bikesportnews.com
Other stuff:
At a Rehm Racedays track session it's totally different to the UK trackday format. They split the days into things like open pit lane, novice half hour, groups sessions based on your lap times and also qualifying and racing on the later days. On the last day there's a four-hour endurance race in which anyone may compete. Amanda and Rich took advantage of this, with Rich borrowing David's CBR600 for the occasion.
Rehm also have a great session for half an hour during a lunch break which is for children and mechanics. This basically allows just about anyone to get on a bike with no licence or experience, and allows pillions out.
David writes: "As Buddha decided to have a day on his wanking chariot it fell to our resident half-pint Tammy Milsom to have a short outing on the R1. Penfold, as she hates to be called, struggled into Deb’s leathers (and then we sent in some miners to find her). To give you some idea of how small small-pants’ pants are, Deb is about five feet four and we had to put Tammy on blocks on get her into the leathers. However, getting Deb’s boots on proved to be another matter as Penfold’s legs were shaking so much.
To be fair, she has only just taken delivery of an R6, so putting her on a new R1 with a race-shift (upside down) gearbox at a foreign track wasn’t fair. It was just funny. We found a forklift lurking about near race control and parked Tammy on the bike, only to discover that even on the highest position, the rearsets were still too low. Someone was heard to mutter something about stabilisers, but was politely told to run along, or words to that effect. Tiny-trousers had one toe on the right foot on the ground and the other foot waving about a metre in the air. However, in true comedy sidekick style, she looked heroic as she wobbled off down pitlane (we were all praying they didn’t stop her before she took to the track as that would have been a short ride) and off she went.
She came back after four laps grinning from ear-to-ear and mentioned something about Rossi not being all that and she could take him any time."
Thanks
As always to Buddha for being a stalwart driver and Tammy for allowing him to talk her ear off... white noise anyone? :-)
Thanks to Dunlop for being OK about me half-inching a couple of sets of 209GPs - they're awesome.
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