Team Lucking Fast rides again at Oulton 13th Sept
Discussion
Well ,a thoroughly enjoyable day at Oulton Park,and a great ride by both of the boys ,consistent and steady at all times, a really good performance and nice to see them both lapping regularly at what they qualified at. It was good fun, no stress ,no worries, nothing too serious,just a great dry sunny day's racing - well done and thanks for having me along,great to meet Fleegle and Mitzy,Jazoli and Mr.OCD,see you again.GB.
Time for my write up and I'm sure Fleegle will be along soon to tell his story too.
The day started early for us with a 6am get up ahead of warm up at 8.45.we woke to another gorgeous autumn day, that was only ever going toget warmer. The weather for the whole weekend could not have been better. Even after only doing two races previously it felt a bit strange being first out. Onto warm up and clearly none of us had listened (or been told) where to assemble. We all headed to the end of pit lane and after 5 mins were turned around and pushed up to another area at the top end of pit lane. It was clear a few us are going to pooling round our three laps as we had brand new tyres that needed scrubbing and were now stone cold. Oops.
Anyway, three laps out of the way and then back into the pits for a jittery 30 mins whilst the other classes did their warmup. Race start and, as neither of us really fancied the start, I volunteered for it. Out onto the grid and another few minutes wait for the sighting lap. Have to say the way we set off was interesting, and it was just the sighting lap!
At race start all the bikes are lined up for a LeMans style start. Fleegle held the bike for me, whilst I crossed the track amd waited for the lights. By now the butterflies were going crazy and this was compounded with another delay as one team ran off to get their transponder. I mean, what kind of a daft team forgets their transponder
cough, Anglesey.
The lights went off and I jogged across the track and onto the bike. Just as I swung my right leg over it, my calf muscle cramped and it was agony! No choice but to ride through it through it. The start / finish "straight" at Oulton is thankfully longer than Anglesey, so the first corner was a bit less hectic and things had settled down a bit by then. That was after a hairy moment though, as Russ Mountford of Silicoen Engineering's bike bogged down and lost all power. I was accelerating hard and just moved over to try to overtake a rider and was on his barely moving bike in a flash. I reckon I'd be OK on the Mod 1 swerve test! There's a video on my FB page for those connected to me (about 10 secs in)
After that the first stint was about trying to find a rhythm and keep up the pace, whilst managing my cramp! I settled into a run of 1:55 / 1:56 laps, which was consistent, if a bit slower than I was hoping for, but not too bad considering my cramp. That's a bit of an excuse though as I was too focused on the riding to worry about the pain. I came in in P23, so had lost us 2 places from our grid position, but that's not a surprise as I didn't fancy fighting too hard in the first couple of corners.
Next stint for me after an hour and I'd managed to eat about 5 bananas, a bag of ready salted crisps and some anti-cramp pills wall of which did the sum total of f
k all to ease the cramp! Again I was trying to get into a rhythm and managed to get some more consistent 1:53 / 1:54 so a bit happier and had some good dices out in this session. The really top guys would occasionally go flying past amd there were some top, top riders out there, such as Hudson Kennaugh, Gary Mason, Gary Johnson, as well as some up amd coming riders like Malachi Mitchell-Thomas and Jonathan and James Lodge (who won it). I think I managed to keep us in P21 that Fleegle had got us up to and was having a real tussle with the team just in front (who were competing in the National 1000, so two levels up form us). I just couldn't quite catch the roder though as the gap something's closed, then opened up a bit, as we hit traffic, or I made a slight mistake.
I did notice that I was getting the bike a lot more out of shape and StuB's words were ringing in my ears about the suspension being too stiff and the tyre doing too much work. He was right.
Anyway, I completed that run and then had a 30 minute break ahead of my final stint.
More of the same, was all I could think as I went out, knowing that I had to survive this amd not fall off, as some teams were starting to crash and that a as costing them time and places.
Steady 1:54 / 1:55 this time and again I just tried to keep closing down the rider in front who was exactly the same rider that I was chasing in the second stint. This time I seemed to be succeeding in closing them down until a mahoosive rear end slide coming out of the first chicane lost me a load of time and a bit of wee too. After that it took me three laps to be confident enough to push any harder and I settled for where I was.
The inboard came out and a lap later I was trundling down pit lane realising that it was all over for me. Despite being absolutely shattered I wanted to carry on, amazing what adrenaline can do for you. We were still in P21 and Fleegelw as out for our final run.
I'll let him tell you about his time, but suffice to say he was riding faster than he's ever done before at Oulton.
It has made me realise though that I need to do quite a few things, one being to sort out the suspension, the second is to get some more talent!
The day started early for us with a 6am get up ahead of warm up at 8.45.we woke to another gorgeous autumn day, that was only ever going toget warmer. The weather for the whole weekend could not have been better. Even after only doing two races previously it felt a bit strange being first out. Onto warm up and clearly none of us had listened (or been told) where to assemble. We all headed to the end of pit lane and after 5 mins were turned around and pushed up to another area at the top end of pit lane. It was clear a few us are going to pooling round our three laps as we had brand new tyres that needed scrubbing and were now stone cold. Oops.
Anyway, three laps out of the way and then back into the pits for a jittery 30 mins whilst the other classes did their warmup. Race start and, as neither of us really fancied the start, I volunteered for it. Out onto the grid and another few minutes wait for the sighting lap. Have to say the way we set off was interesting, and it was just the sighting lap!
At race start all the bikes are lined up for a LeMans style start. Fleegle held the bike for me, whilst I crossed the track amd waited for the lights. By now the butterflies were going crazy and this was compounded with another delay as one team ran off to get their transponder. I mean, what kind of a daft team forgets their transponder
cough, Anglesey. The lights went off and I jogged across the track and onto the bike. Just as I swung my right leg over it, my calf muscle cramped and it was agony! No choice but to ride through it through it. The start / finish "straight" at Oulton is thankfully longer than Anglesey, so the first corner was a bit less hectic and things had settled down a bit by then. That was after a hairy moment though, as Russ Mountford of Silicoen Engineering's bike bogged down and lost all power. I was accelerating hard and just moved over to try to overtake a rider and was on his barely moving bike in a flash. I reckon I'd be OK on the Mod 1 swerve test! There's a video on my FB page for those connected to me (about 10 secs in)
After that the first stint was about trying to find a rhythm and keep up the pace, whilst managing my cramp! I settled into a run of 1:55 / 1:56 laps, which was consistent, if a bit slower than I was hoping for, but not too bad considering my cramp. That's a bit of an excuse though as I was too focused on the riding to worry about the pain. I came in in P23, so had lost us 2 places from our grid position, but that's not a surprise as I didn't fancy fighting too hard in the first couple of corners.
Next stint for me after an hour and I'd managed to eat about 5 bananas, a bag of ready salted crisps and some anti-cramp pills wall of which did the sum total of f
k all to ease the cramp! Again I was trying to get into a rhythm and managed to get some more consistent 1:53 / 1:54 so a bit happier and had some good dices out in this session. The really top guys would occasionally go flying past amd there were some top, top riders out there, such as Hudson Kennaugh, Gary Mason, Gary Johnson, as well as some up amd coming riders like Malachi Mitchell-Thomas and Jonathan and James Lodge (who won it). I think I managed to keep us in P21 that Fleegle had got us up to and was having a real tussle with the team just in front (who were competing in the National 1000, so two levels up form us). I just couldn't quite catch the roder though as the gap something's closed, then opened up a bit, as we hit traffic, or I made a slight mistake. I did notice that I was getting the bike a lot more out of shape and StuB's words were ringing in my ears about the suspension being too stiff and the tyre doing too much work. He was right.
Anyway, I completed that run and then had a 30 minute break ahead of my final stint.
More of the same, was all I could think as I went out, knowing that I had to survive this amd not fall off, as some teams were starting to crash and that a as costing them time and places.
Steady 1:54 / 1:55 this time and again I just tried to keep closing down the rider in front who was exactly the same rider that I was chasing in the second stint. This time I seemed to be succeeding in closing them down until a mahoosive rear end slide coming out of the first chicane lost me a load of time and a bit of wee too. After that it took me three laps to be confident enough to push any harder and I settled for where I was.
The inboard came out and a lap later I was trundling down pit lane realising that it was all over for me. Despite being absolutely shattered I wanted to carry on, amazing what adrenaline can do for you. We were still in P21 and Fleegelw as out for our final run.
I'll let him tell you about his time, but suffice to say he was riding faster than he's ever done before at Oulton.
It has made me realise though that I need to do quite a few things, one being to sort out the suspension, the second is to get some more talent!
Race prep started the day before. I came with tyres shod with a pair of KR108/6's that had only 4 sessions on them, and my wets. I never travel up North without them. After 3 sessions in the morning followed by qually in the afternoon I was in a bit of a quandary over what to do. The tyres had started to show a small tear but I didn't want to fork out another £300 if I could get away with it. After umming and arring, my sensible side got the better of me and new slicks were bought and stuck on the bike, unfortunately the choice was limited.
After a good feed and a couple of beers on Friday night we touched on strategy for all of about 2 minutes and set off for a good nights sleep. Another early start to arrive at Oulton with nothing but the smell of bacon wafting in the air. Tyre warmers switched on, a quick check over the bike, the tank full to the brim and it was time to get down to race weight. Once back to the garage, time to get kitted up and get out for a warm up. After coming back in it was time for a bit of breakfast.....no bacon butties for us. Its the first time I've ever eaten Tuna and Pasta at 9 in the morning!
A little teamtalk followed on pit board and individual jobs for the handovers and that was it.....we were know good to go
Loon started which I was thankful for, after bruising my heel on Thursday I didn't fancy running on it in bike boots. I was unaware of his cramp issues as I thought he ran like Forest Gump normally.
The 2 laps board was put up and that was when the butterflies kicked in. Helmet and gloves on at the ready when Hebegb let Jazoli know the IN board had been seen. 2 minutes to get the warmers off and bike into position. Loon rocked up alongside and within seconds I was on my way. The handovers were as smooth as silk throughout - Well done team!
It took a couple of laps to get settled in and managed to find a rhythm, 5 laps back to back within 2/10's of each other in the low 53's before hitting a bit of traffic. Once through it I picked up my rhythm again and coming past the pits I noticed the 2 lap board was out. Time to dig deep with the thought of 30 minutes rest ahead, and managed to set what was to be our fastest lap on the 29th of 1:52:64, within 3/100's of the qually time. Coming in I nearly forgot to stop and put my foot down, braking hard and rear end lifting, I managed to avoid any penalty.
The half hour break seem to pass really quickly. My crew had everything under control, pressures checked, fuelled up and visor cleaned. My heartbeat slowly recovering while Loon is banging in 53/54's, when the call comes to get ready again.
My second stint was a mixture. I managed to put in 3 52' laps but also managed to drop a few clangers. First one being messing my line up at Clay Hill. Pinned in 5th over the crest drifting over to the right and inches from falling off the edge of the tarmac st me up a bit and made the entry to Druids a bit more interesting. I then had a blunder at Hizzy's, tipping in at the first kerb which is for the short circuit. I stood the bike up and went across the right kerb, the track and the grass before rejoining the track after costing about 3 seconds. Towards the latter part of the stint, my upper arms and shoulders were beginning to ache which made Deers Leap a real struggle
Half a lap into my last stint the safety car came out. There was only a few crashes throughout the race that I noticed, but this one had left the bike on the edge of the track. I used the time to get up to the pack and take a breather for the next 5 laps. The car came in and the race was on. I managed to overtake a good few bikes with other bikes set in my sights, one of which was the team just in front of us. I was able to pull a few seconds back on him and was close enough to have a go, but the tyre had started sliding about more than I liked so decided not to ruin 2 teams weekend by going for it. Had I have been on the KR's I wouldn't have given it a second thought.
The flag came out and it felt like instant relief. We had finished, both upright having put in 91 laps between us. Not to shabby for a pair of old duffers with the average team age of 48 and the fitness levels of a chip eating, beer swilling, roley smoking doley
A fantastic weekend overall. Having not competed for 4 years I felt 'that' buzz again, something you will never get from a trackday. I found the best part of 2 seconds on my trackday times, and surprised myself with the consistency, no matter how knackered I was feeling. Our crew did a great job in handovers and keeping us updated - a new experience for me that made it even more enjoyable (I felt like a factory rider)
A couple of things I learnt doing this.....
- I need to take fitness a little more seriously
- An endurance race is no place for a 10 year old stter
After a good feed and a couple of beers on Friday night we touched on strategy for all of about 2 minutes and set off for a good nights sleep. Another early start to arrive at Oulton with nothing but the smell of bacon wafting in the air. Tyre warmers switched on, a quick check over the bike, the tank full to the brim and it was time to get down to race weight. Once back to the garage, time to get kitted up and get out for a warm up. After coming back in it was time for a bit of breakfast.....no bacon butties for us. Its the first time I've ever eaten Tuna and Pasta at 9 in the morning!
A little teamtalk followed on pit board and individual jobs for the handovers and that was it.....we were know good to go
Loon started which I was thankful for, after bruising my heel on Thursday I didn't fancy running on it in bike boots. I was unaware of his cramp issues as I thought he ran like Forest Gump normally.
The 2 laps board was put up and that was when the butterflies kicked in. Helmet and gloves on at the ready when Hebegb let Jazoli know the IN board had been seen. 2 minutes to get the warmers off and bike into position. Loon rocked up alongside and within seconds I was on my way. The handovers were as smooth as silk throughout - Well done team!
It took a couple of laps to get settled in and managed to find a rhythm, 5 laps back to back within 2/10's of each other in the low 53's before hitting a bit of traffic. Once through it I picked up my rhythm again and coming past the pits I noticed the 2 lap board was out. Time to dig deep with the thought of 30 minutes rest ahead, and managed to set what was to be our fastest lap on the 29th of 1:52:64, within 3/100's of the qually time. Coming in I nearly forgot to stop and put my foot down, braking hard and rear end lifting, I managed to avoid any penalty.
The half hour break seem to pass really quickly. My crew had everything under control, pressures checked, fuelled up and visor cleaned. My heartbeat slowly recovering while Loon is banging in 53/54's, when the call comes to get ready again.
My second stint was a mixture. I managed to put in 3 52' laps but also managed to drop a few clangers. First one being messing my line up at Clay Hill. Pinned in 5th over the crest drifting over to the right and inches from falling off the edge of the tarmac s
t me up a bit and made the entry to Druids a bit more interesting. I then had a blunder at Hizzy's, tipping in at the first kerb which is for the short circuit. I stood the bike up and went across the right kerb, the track and the grass before rejoining the track after costing about 3 seconds. Towards the latter part of the stint, my upper arms and shoulders were beginning to ache which made Deers Leap a real struggleHalf a lap into my last stint the safety car came out. There was only a few crashes throughout the race that I noticed, but this one had left the bike on the edge of the track. I used the time to get up to the pack and take a breather for the next 5 laps. The car came in and the race was on. I managed to overtake a good few bikes with other bikes set in my sights, one of which was the team just in front of us. I was able to pull a few seconds back on him and was close enough to have a go, but the tyre had started sliding about more than I liked so decided not to ruin 2 teams weekend by going for it. Had I have been on the KR's I wouldn't have given it a second thought.
The flag came out and it felt like instant relief. We had finished, both upright having put in 91 laps between us. Not to shabby for a pair of old duffers with the average team age of 48 and the fitness levels of a chip eating, beer swilling, roley smoking doley
A fantastic weekend overall. Having not competed for 4 years I felt 'that' buzz again, something you will never get from a trackday. I found the best part of 2 seconds on my trackday times, and surprised myself with the consistency, no matter how knackered I was feeling. Our crew did a great job in handovers and keeping us updated - a new experience for me that made it even more enjoyable (I felt like a factory rider)
A couple of things I learnt doing this.....
- I need to take fitness a little more seriously
- An endurance race is no place for a 10 year old s
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