Members racing thread
Discussion
Lindun said:
Totally agree on the tyres. I think the change was that they wanted a guaranteed sell out and by making it a championship round it pretty much guaranteed it. That then forced their hand on tyres.
I had two pairs of RacetecRR K1s put aside for this race. I used both sets and the rear from stints 1 & 2 is paper thin on the right. I’m guessing the second rear is simIlar. It was all over the place at the end of my last stint round Rocket Out and Peel, but it was pretty cold up there by then anyway. I certainly won’t be riding on it again though.
All in all I thought it was a brilliantly run round and really well ridden in general with minimal flags / Safety Cars and the riders deserve a lot of credit for that too as it was done at a fair old pace.
Yeah, it was a great event and Mark and the team at NLR should be very proud I had two pairs of RacetecRR K1s put aside for this race. I used both sets and the rear from stints 1 & 2 is paper thin on the right. I’m guessing the second rear is simIlar. It was all over the place at the end of my last stint round Rocket Out and Peel, but it was pretty cold up there by then anyway. I certainly won’t be riding on it again though.
All in all I thought it was a brilliantly run round and really well ridden in general with minimal flags / Safety Cars and the riders deserve a lot of credit for that too as it was done at a fair old pace.
The riding was on the whole really good, and I didn’t see half as many crashes as I expected
There’s were quite a few bikes on the side of the track towards the end (including one from my team), but the marshals got everyone back quickly to sort transponders out
I’m not sure how they’re going to beat it next year, maybe a 12hr somewhere
Lindun said:
It’s what Toni and Mark were talking about on Sunday. It would need to be a stand-alone probably international event to make it viable though.
I'm not trying to sound like it's impossible, as I think it'd be great However, I can't see them making it happen without it being part of the EWC, which is run by the FIM and even they only have 2 24hour rounds
Is there a market for a privateer club level 24hour race, I'm not sure ?
I can't see me putting a team together for it though, as the costs would be silly.
Just to get an idea, I reckon you're looking for a team:
20+ sets of tyres
300ltrs of Fuel
4 sets of brake pads
And that's before you even start to think about oil etc which although is fine for a 10hour race, if you add another 140% onto that, you're going to want to figure in an oil change per bike
Then, all the electronics that go with fitting lights, and the implications of fitting s
tty ones that fall on the track.I was lucky at the Anglesey 10hr, as the ride was paid for by the team, but I think it was something like £1400 to enter, so a 24hour is going to be double that at least, as the cost of the circuit to have around the clock staff will be huge
Here's my report from the Anglesey 10hour round
Originally, we had a team together to race at this round, but as with all things, trying to get everyone to fully commit was proving tough, and one of the members then had a bike smashed up racing somewhere else, so it just wasn't meant to be and we decided against it.
Fast forward to a couple of months back, and Nathan from CT racing gave me a call and asked if I'd like to guest on their team along with James Skelding, who I race with in Sprints and I know is a quick lad. A free ride's a free ride, and Nath and the team are a real good bunch, so it was a no brainer and I joined CT for the 10hour.
I raced at Snetterton a couple of weeks before, and unforutnately, my engine expired, so a few quick phone calls and it was booked in for a refresh to be done and ready to collect on the Thursday night on the way up to Anglesey
Friday test day started off wet, so I missed the first session. 2nd session came around and bike appeared to be running great until I pulled out the pitlane and realised I had no quickshifter. I know that some people ride without a quickshifter perfectly well, but I've never actually had a sports bike without one in the 3 and a bit year's I've been riding motorbikes, so for me it was a tough learning curve on the test day to learn how to go 'Old school' on an R1 and use the clutch and throttle to change gears. I do it on my CRF150 Pit bike, but it's a different animal to my R1, and after locking the back wheel a few times going into corners, I had to quickly get the hang of it.
Test day went without issue other than the QS and we got all set up and ready for Saturday.
The guys in CT racing are super well organised, and although it's the riders that tend to get credit when things go well, it's what happens behind the scenes that can make or break a good result. We had a good team meeting friday night, and we went though a load of strategies. Little things are covered that might not be instantly obvious, such as nominating certain points around the track for getting a transponder back, as lots of time is wasted in Endurance racing where a rider crashes or a bike breaks down, and the rider then runs one way around the track, whilst the team are going the other, and it's easy to lose a lot of time if the rider has to run 1.5 miles or more back to the pits. CT had a track map with a process for no matter where you crashed or broke down, you always knew your closest point where the team would find you on a mountain bike and get the transponder back to the garage for the next rider. They also had a masseur (who happened to have some big old jugs, which is always a bonus) and someone who would prepare food and teas for everyone. That, along with a really well organised garage and pitfall crew made for a very slick operation.
Qualifying was pretty hectic, and it was hard to get a clear lap in, so we ended up qualifying in 9th with a time that I set of 1:34, which although wasn't going to set the world alight, James was due to start, and he's mega at starting races.
The race got underway at 10:30, and James was in P2 by the first turn. We settled on a plan of 40min stints initially, and then drop down to 30mins later in the race.
The strategy got mixed around a little bit when James' rear shock let go, and we stepped back around 30mins on the stint allocations, but the team quickly had the shock out the bike, and over with the KTech engineers, who had it rebuilt and back with us in 30mins (and £110) which was great service
Unfortunately, when refitting the tank, there must've been a fuel pump wire trapped and damaged, as James's next stint ended up with a bike abandoned on the side of the track, and a lap or so lost to getting it back onto the next bike and out the garage.
Time wise, Anglesey's a pretty physical track with the hard braking and low speed drive out the corners, so it wasn't possible to go super hard lap after lap. I found I could settle into a pretty ok rythm constantly hitting high 33's/low 34's and my best laps of the race were only high 32's. Jame's pace was pretty similar or a little quicker on his own bike, but on one of the other team bikes, he could still hit regular 35's.
Best team lap of the race was James with a 31 on about his third lap, which he soon realised wasn't sustainable for anything more than about 5 laps
We finished up in third place in the Club 1000 Class and 7th overall, which although isn't a win, was very welcome as towards the end of the race after the incidents, we had to fight hard to get back past the team that ended up in 5th and the team in 4th were hot on our tails for the last hour or so.
All the boys and girls in CT racing were exceptional and really welcomed me in. They run such a good show for endurance racing, I might end up doing a few more rounds with them in the future. The team has a real mix of ability in it, but the fun is there and after all, that's what we're here for and no one's getting a motogp call up on the Monday.
Here's a few pics
Originally, we had a team together to race at this round, but as with all things, trying to get everyone to fully commit was proving tough, and one of the members then had a bike smashed up racing somewhere else, so it just wasn't meant to be and we decided against it.
Fast forward to a couple of months back, and Nathan from CT racing gave me a call and asked if I'd like to guest on their team along with James Skelding, who I race with in Sprints and I know is a quick lad. A free ride's a free ride, and Nath and the team are a real good bunch, so it was a no brainer and I joined CT for the 10hour.
I raced at Snetterton a couple of weeks before, and unforutnately, my engine expired, so a few quick phone calls and it was booked in for a refresh to be done and ready to collect on the Thursday night on the way up to Anglesey
Friday test day started off wet, so I missed the first session. 2nd session came around and bike appeared to be running great until I pulled out the pitlane and realised I had no quickshifter. I know that some people ride without a quickshifter perfectly well, but I've never actually had a sports bike without one in the 3 and a bit year's I've been riding motorbikes, so for me it was a tough learning curve on the test day to learn how to go 'Old school' on an R1 and use the clutch and throttle to change gears. I do it on my CRF150 Pit bike, but it's a different animal to my R1, and after locking the back wheel a few times going into corners, I had to quickly get the hang of it.
Test day went without issue other than the QS and we got all set up and ready for Saturday.
The guys in CT racing are super well organised, and although it's the riders that tend to get credit when things go well, it's what happens behind the scenes that can make or break a good result. We had a good team meeting friday night, and we went though a load of strategies. Little things are covered that might not be instantly obvious, such as nominating certain points around the track for getting a transponder back, as lots of time is wasted in Endurance racing where a rider crashes or a bike breaks down, and the rider then runs one way around the track, whilst the team are going the other, and it's easy to lose a lot of time if the rider has to run 1.5 miles or more back to the pits. CT had a track map with a process for no matter where you crashed or broke down, you always knew your closest point where the team would find you on a mountain bike and get the transponder back to the garage for the next rider. They also had a masseur (who happened to have some big old jugs, which is always a bonus) and someone who would prepare food and teas for everyone. That, along with a really well organised garage and pitfall crew made for a very slick operation.
Qualifying was pretty hectic, and it was hard to get a clear lap in, so we ended up qualifying in 9th with a time that I set of 1:34, which although wasn't going to set the world alight, James was due to start, and he's mega at starting races.
The race got underway at 10:30, and James was in P2 by the first turn. We settled on a plan of 40min stints initially, and then drop down to 30mins later in the race.
The strategy got mixed around a little bit when James' rear shock let go, and we stepped back around 30mins on the stint allocations, but the team quickly had the shock out the bike, and over with the KTech engineers, who had it rebuilt and back with us in 30mins (and £110) which was great service
Unfortunately, when refitting the tank, there must've been a fuel pump wire trapped and damaged, as James's next stint ended up with a bike abandoned on the side of the track, and a lap or so lost to getting it back onto the next bike and out the garage.
Time wise, Anglesey's a pretty physical track with the hard braking and low speed drive out the corners, so it wasn't possible to go super hard lap after lap. I found I could settle into a pretty ok rythm constantly hitting high 33's/low 34's and my best laps of the race were only high 32's. Jame's pace was pretty similar or a little quicker on his own bike, but on one of the other team bikes, he could still hit regular 35's.
Best team lap of the race was James with a 31 on about his third lap, which he soon realised wasn't sustainable for anything more than about 5 laps
We finished up in third place in the Club 1000 Class and 7th overall, which although isn't a win, was very welcome as towards the end of the race after the incidents, we had to fight hard to get back past the team that ended up in 5th and the team in 4th were hot on our tails for the last hour or so.
All the boys and girls in CT racing were exceptional and really welcomed me in. They run such a good show for endurance racing, I might end up doing a few more rounds with them in the future. The team has a real mix of ability in it, but the fun is there and after all, that's what we're here for and no one's getting a motogp call up on the Monday.
Here's a few pics
J B L said:
We need to be careful here and ensure the French is used correctly.
"Masseur" would be a bloke. Not a problem in itself but completely different type of massage.
"Masseuse" would be used for a lady. With or without big jugs, but a lady.
Sorry to be pedantic but I don't want to start seeing funny pics of massive moobs in BB.
Maybe that's just me.
Haha, point well made "Masseur" would be a bloke. Not a problem in itself but completely different type of massage.
"Masseuse" would be used for a lady. With or without big jugs, but a lady.
Sorry to be pedantic but I don't want to start seeing funny pics of massive moobs in BB.
Maybe that's just me.
Seeing as there doesn't seem to be any official pics from the 10hr race anywhere yet, here's one that got sent to me from the army team
Coming into a pit change a little hot
Good to see that Stu, the CT racing crew chief isn't fazed by the pace and is still taking the transponder off despite my back wheel being a few inches off the ground
Coming into a pit change a little hot
Good to see that Stu, the CT racing crew chief isn't fazed by the pace and is still taking the transponder off despite my back wheel being a few inches off the ground
Good work Simon and team. I was watching it on TSL, and looked a good race.
CT racing have asked me back for Donington, so it's a shame you're missing that one. I think they want some good points to try and bridge the gap, so they've asked Jake Ebbage to race with us too, who's flying at the moment
Should be a lot of fun
CT racing have asked me back for Donington, so it's a shame you're missing that one. I think they want some good points to try and bridge the gap, so they've asked Jake Ebbage to race with us too, who's flying at the moment
Should be a lot of fun
Yesterday was my last race of the year up at Oulton with NG.
Test day was soaking all day, and then yesterday was wet/dry/wet/dry/wet/dry repeat
After a couple of large moments in the two morning qualifiers, I decided to call it a day and put my back in the van.
Not an ideal end to the season, but I just wasn't feeling it and after crashing at Donington three weeks ago when I really didn't want to ride, I told myself that next time I wasn't feeling it I'd just call it a day for that race rather than risking smashing up my bike and myself again.
Had a good year though, and picked up some silverware with a few 2nds and 3rds. No wins this year, but generally went a lot faster at all tracks than I did in 2018, and had lots of laughs along the way.
Roll on 2020
Test day was soaking all day, and then yesterday was wet/dry/wet/dry/wet/dry repeat
After a couple of large moments in the two morning qualifiers, I decided to call it a day and put my back in the van.
Not an ideal end to the season, but I just wasn't feeling it and after crashing at Donington three weeks ago when I really didn't want to ride, I told myself that next time I wasn't feeling it I'd just call it a day for that race rather than risking smashing up my bike and myself again.
Had a good year though, and picked up some silverware with a few 2nds and 3rds. No wins this year, but generally went a lot faster at all tracks than I did in 2018, and had lots of laughs along the way.
Roll on 2020
Lindun said:
Having seen the forecast and then seen what actually happened on Friday / Sat I didn’t envy you one bit. Makes sense not to ride if your gut is telling you not to. Crap way to end the season though.
I’m out in a fortnight for the last round of our season up at Croft. Possibly my last ever race, so hoping to go out on a high, but not expecting much in reality, other than to hold onto 4th place in the championship in the endurance.
You giving up racing after this year Si ?I’m out in a fortnight for the last round of our season up at Croft. Possibly my last ever race, so hoping to go out on a high, but not expecting much in reality, other than to hold onto 4th place in the championship in the endurance.
Jazoli said:
A pic from Croft on the 12th Oct for Team Lucking Fast, (as it would appear Lindun has been banned again!) at the final round of the No Limits Endurance Championship.
A well deserved P2 and a podium place finally!
We were blessed with great weather and the race went really well, there were a couple of hiccups during the race but Si put in a monster 75 minute stint at the end of the race and his laptimes stayed very consistent which resulted in a 2nd place in class, so well done to Him and Brad
The other guy's got much better looking birds on his side compared to Simon A well deserved P2 and a podium place finally!
We were blessed with great weather and the race went really well, there were a couple of hiccups during the race but Si put in a monster 75 minute stint at the end of the race and his laptimes stayed very consistent which resulted in a 2nd place in class, so well done to Him and Brad
StuB said:
IanUAE said:
I am very lucking in that both teams I help (TMR and MSK) go about their racing seriously but want to enjoy their racing.
So many people get this wrong IMHO. Taking stuff too serious sucks all the fun out of so many things,stew-STR160 said:
graeme4130 said:
StuB said:
IanUAE said:
I am very lucking in that both teams I help (TMR and MSK) go about their racing seriously but want to enjoy their racing.
So many people get this wrong IMHO. Taking stuff too serious sucks all the fun out of so many things,George29 said:
CaptainSlow said:
How does it work with the higher level racing teams re rider payments?
At what level does it switch from the rider paying the team to the team paying the rider? Or does it depend on the team? The reason I ask is that I saw an advert for a ride in the Ducati based BSB support championship for the cost of £22k for the season...I always assumed the rider would either get a small fee or at least not pay for the ride at this level.
People in BSB are paying to ride. Not many get paid at all.At what level does it switch from the rider paying the team to the team paying the rider? Or does it depend on the team? The reason I ask is that I saw an advert for a ride in the Ducati based BSB support championship for the cost of £22k for the season...I always assumed the rider would either get a small fee or at least not pay for the ride at this level.
Also the Ducati championship isn’t that high level. There’s some really fast lads at the front then some fairly slow people at the back. Don’t really see the point in it myself.
I'm good mates with the lad that won the championship this year, and he didn't take a penny from it, but was lucky enough to have a sponsor that paid for his bike and entire season costs.
I think pretty much every other rider in that class is either providing their own bike etc and running themselves, or paying a team for the season at a cost not dissimilar to what you've been quoted
The economics of BSB racing are as said above, most riders are bringing money to the teams, even quite a few of the 'big names' too
There's really very few riders that are actually taking a salary, and for most of the really good riders, not having to bring cash is a good deal. Typically, a very good rider in SST1000 would be paying his tyre/fuel bill at least (Circa £2k/round) plus accident damage, and there's only a couple that take any form of salary in SST1000
I know of a rider in the Superbike class, who's bill for his team this year was a few Hundred £k. Luckily, he has very well off parents
Edited by graeme4130 on Wednesday 18th December 16:46
IanUAE said:
A bit of a late update but we raced in Dubai a couple of weekends ago. The rider stuck the bike on pole position but crashed out of 2nd place on lap 3 of race 1 (at ~100 kph), which resulted in twisted forks / top yolk amonght other damage. We rolled out the bike we retired from racing duties and swapped the wheels, fitted bodywork, bled the brakes, changed the battery and just managed to get him out for formation lap.
I told the rider to take it easy and get used to the bike...... From last place on the grid he finished lap 1 in 3rd place and went on to finish 2nd overall and 1st in class. Riders hey, any message goes in one ear and straight out the other.......
This weekend I am off to Bahrain for round 3 of their championship, where we will have 6 riders racing in our team.
Good work that guy. I bet your heart sank as a pit crew when the bike came back in pieces ?I told the rider to take it easy and get used to the bike...... From last place on the grid he finished lap 1 in 3rd place and went on to finish 2nd overall and 1st in class. Riders hey, any message goes in one ear and straight out the other.......
This weekend I am off to Bahrain for round 3 of their championship, where we will have 6 riders racing in our team.
So my racing budget's going to reduce somewhat for 2020 as my 13 year old son is going to start racing on big tracks on a new Ninja400 we've just had built by MSS this month.
He's got his ACU test on Feb 16th at Brands, and we're off out to Cartagena for 4 days of testing before his season starts in March.
It'll be good to have him on big tracks as after a few years of racing mini motos then a Metrakit 50 and later a KTM65, he's looking forward to actually riding on big tracks instead of glorified Kart tracks
I doubt I'll do much this year, if any at all, as my 15year son is racing and that takes all my time and money now days, and is only getting more expensive as time goes on
I raced a bits and bobs last year, and had a win with No Limits at a very wet Donington and our team won the Club1000 class at the brands 8hr endurance and came 4th overall which was a nice way to see the season out
This year I'll mainly be doing the odd trackday, and a few winter euro's and Spanish testing with my lad once his season finishes
I raced a bits and bobs last year, and had a win with No Limits at a very wet Donington and our team won the Club1000 class at the brands 8hr endurance and came 4th overall which was a nice way to see the season out
This year I'll mainly be doing the odd trackday, and a few winter euro's and Spanish testing with my lad once his season finishes
GYTRDave said:
Hi bud, yeah I've been watching with interest on your Instagram with how your boy was doing, great it seems ??
Also saw you had a mishap on the R1, how's all that looking now?
We are heading to Carta again in Dec and probably the same in early in the new year after the years racing is over, BTW, any pointers for cadwell or Brands GP please do share.
Cheers, yeah he's having a good season so far and training hard too, although his size is against him this year in Junior Supersport. Also saw you had a mishap on the R1, how's all that looking now?
We are heading to Carta again in Dec and probably the same in early in the new year after the years racing is over, BTW, any pointers for cadwell or Brands GP please do share.
R1's all back together again now, although looking very plain in black after the painted fairings got smashed up at Snetterton
I rode it again Tuesday at Doni to test it out, and all seems ok. Was very windy that day, so no meaningful laps, but it worked well for the few laps I did before the day ended
Edited by graeme4130 on Thursday 30th June 14:30
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