Members racing thread
Discussion
Great weekend - loved every minute of it - will leave our race report to Gavia, but safe to say : good result for Team113 and Graeme , you had a couple of quick boys on board there - you went very well too , Neil Mc above went superbly - top result and huge thanks for top cooking and good food on Friday night. Great to see Tony ( teammate) Fleegle again after a long gap and Team Manager Lesley , top work , John BN and Sandra ( Mrs.) down to see us and do his track day today ( Sunday ) going well John - saw Birky too , a spirited rider !
Knackered but happy - will be back for more
Knackered but happy - will be back for more
Good write ups guys. Here's a stab at ours, although if I miss anything out, then I'm sure hebegb and Fleegle will be along to add some views of their own.
Pretty well all of us arrived at the circuit on Friday in a foul mood, a journey that should've taken c2 hours took me 4.5, similar for hebegb and even worse for Fleegle at 6 hours, so we were all knackered and really didn't fancy setting up, but it had to be done. The track, paddock and even garages were soaking wet, as it had rained all day without a break.
Signing on was easy, as it looked like it was going to start wet and then dry for qualifying, I nominated hebegb to go out first, then Fleegle, then me. That'll teach them to make me team principal
Then time for a few beers and retire to Motel Vito for the night.
Amazingly on Saturday the ground was dry, the sun was out and it looked like that side of things were going to go well. We had a good team of helpers, a few ex-racers, mechanics and all friends, so all we had to do was ride and they'd take care of everything else for us.
Qualifying went Ok. For hebegb and fleegle it was their first time at Donington in a few years so the instructions were as simple, as going out and reacquainting themselves with the track.qualifying positions aren't overly important in Endurance, especially this one due to the lottery style Le Mans start and length of race, at least that's my excuse. We started 41/46 with an average time of 1:50 (1:47/1:46 & 1:56).
I volunteered to start, hebegb wanted to finish so he could pull a wheelie over the line, which left Fleegle to do the middle stint. The start was a crazy as ever and I thought I got a decent one, but on replay it looks like I only picked up a few places compared to the 10 I thought I got. As usual someone ruined their race inside the first 40 seconds with a big crash at Craner. Anyway, I let the field settle down for a few laps and then got my head down and started to push. We were doing 40 minute stints, so tried to just get a rhythm and ran 45/46s with the odd 44 thrown in. I was happy with that, as I'm not at mckeann's pace. When I came in we were up to 33rd overall (not sure about class standing).
I didn't really pay much attention to my teammates riding, if I'm honest, as I was either recovering and drinking gallons of water, or getting hyped up on adrenaline waiting to go out again! However, fleegle had asked for a pit sign at 20 mins to let him know he was halfway through. Unfortunately our pitboard guy, left the "IN" sign on the board. Fleegle duly came in and we were all taken by surprise, cue some rushing about and then hebegb was out and flying.
My next stint was uneventful, albeit a second a lap quicker in the 44/45s. There were some great battles, although you never really know if it's for a place, or you're just lapping / unlapping others.
Fleegle then had a moment at Coppice and unfortunately came a cropper at Coppice, which meant we lost around 10 minutes in the race. Thankfully he was fine and the bike wasn't too badly damaged. Our trusty pit crew were on it and the bike was fixed, albeit with some egg in the radiator ingenuity.
The rest of the race seemed to fly by, although we did have to play around with timings a little, whilst the bike was being fixed. For the final stint we worked out that there was around 1:30 left, but we weren't 100% confident on the bike fix. I volunteered to do a longer than normal stint, just so that we could get Fleegle out for a short stint on his and then hebegb got to finish the race.
We finished 35th overall, so up six places and 14/20 in class. Pretty pleased with that overall and on a personal level was happy with my times, getting down to 1:43s and enjoying some great stint long battles with a few riders. I recognise anyone out in track, others than mckeann when he passed me two or three times. One time we nearly had a coming together, as a guy came out of pit lane at jogging pace and cut right in front of us on the apex to Redgate, cue lots and lots of heavy braking, shaking of heads and bowel movements.
On a wider note, the fast guys were unbelievably fast, it's amazing to be out there and have them come past like you're standing still. The race was scheduled for up to 8 hours to cover the 1000kms, but as it was such a clean race, with no adverse weather, only one safety car for a few laps for a bit of debris and lots of good riding, then it was over in just shy of hours, which in some ways was a shame, as another hour would've been good.
All PHers finished and had a great time, the after race BBQ and piss up was well deserved and very much enjoyed.
Great to see Bikers Nemesis too, who turned up amongst others to offer support.
Pretty well all of us arrived at the circuit on Friday in a foul mood, a journey that should've taken c2 hours took me 4.5, similar for hebegb and even worse for Fleegle at 6 hours, so we were all knackered and really didn't fancy setting up, but it had to be done. The track, paddock and even garages were soaking wet, as it had rained all day without a break.
Signing on was easy, as it looked like it was going to start wet and then dry for qualifying, I nominated hebegb to go out first, then Fleegle, then me. That'll teach them to make me team principal
Then time for a few beers and retire to Motel Vito for the night. Amazingly on Saturday the ground was dry, the sun was out and it looked like that side of things were going to go well. We had a good team of helpers, a few ex-racers, mechanics and all friends, so all we had to do was ride and they'd take care of everything else for us.
Qualifying went Ok. For hebegb and fleegle it was their first time at Donington in a few years so the instructions were as simple, as going out and reacquainting themselves with the track.qualifying positions aren't overly important in Endurance, especially this one due to the lottery style Le Mans start and length of race, at least that's my excuse. We started 41/46 with an average time of 1:50 (1:47/1:46 & 1:56).
I volunteered to start, hebegb wanted to finish so he could pull a wheelie over the line, which left Fleegle to do the middle stint. The start was a crazy as ever and I thought I got a decent one, but on replay it looks like I only picked up a few places compared to the 10 I thought I got. As usual someone ruined their race inside the first 40 seconds with a big crash at Craner. Anyway, I let the field settle down for a few laps and then got my head down and started to push. We were doing 40 minute stints, so tried to just get a rhythm and ran 45/46s with the odd 44 thrown in. I was happy with that, as I'm not at mckeann's pace. When I came in we were up to 33rd overall (not sure about class standing).
I didn't really pay much attention to my teammates riding, if I'm honest, as I was either recovering and drinking gallons of water, or getting hyped up on adrenaline waiting to go out again! However, fleegle had asked for a pit sign at 20 mins to let him know he was halfway through. Unfortunately our pitboard guy, left the "IN" sign on the board. Fleegle duly came in and we were all taken by surprise, cue some rushing about and then hebegb was out and flying.
My next stint was uneventful, albeit a second a lap quicker in the 44/45s. There were some great battles, although you never really know if it's for a place, or you're just lapping / unlapping others.
Fleegle then had a moment at Coppice and unfortunately came a cropper at Coppice, which meant we lost around 10 minutes in the race. Thankfully he was fine and the bike wasn't too badly damaged. Our trusty pit crew were on it and the bike was fixed, albeit with some egg in the radiator ingenuity.
The rest of the race seemed to fly by, although we did have to play around with timings a little, whilst the bike was being fixed. For the final stint we worked out that there was around 1:30 left, but we weren't 100% confident on the bike fix. I volunteered to do a longer than normal stint, just so that we could get Fleegle out for a short stint on his and then hebegb got to finish the race.
We finished 35th overall, so up six places and 14/20 in class. Pretty pleased with that overall and on a personal level was happy with my times, getting down to 1:43s and enjoying some great stint long battles with a few riders. I recognise anyone out in track, others than mckeann when he passed me two or three times. One time we nearly had a coming together, as a guy came out of pit lane at jogging pace and cut right in front of us on the apex to Redgate, cue lots and lots of heavy braking, shaking of heads and bowel movements.
On a wider note, the fast guys were unbelievably fast, it's amazing to be out there and have them come past like you're standing still. The race was scheduled for up to 8 hours to cover the 1000kms, but as it was such a clean race, with no adverse weather, only one safety car for a few laps for a bit of debris and lots of good riding, then it was over in just shy of hours, which in some ways was a shame, as another hour would've been good.
All PHers finished and had a great time, the after race BBQ and piss up was well deserved and very much enjoyed.
Great to see Bikers Nemesis too, who turned up amongst others to offer support.
Edited by Gavia on Sunday 30th July 22:18
cmaguire said:
What's the story as regards ownership/fettling of the bike you used?
We all used our own bikes. Other teams ran one bike shared with other riders. Once scrutineered bikes should only have tyres / fuel / brake pads changed as needed. If you crash then you need to be scrutineered again before they'll let you out again.
Gavia said:
We all used our own bikes. Other teams ran one bike shared with other riders.
Once scrutineered bikes should only have tyres / fuel / brake pads changed as needed. If you crash then you need to be scrutineered again before they'll let you out again.
You ran 3 bikes? Your new R1?Once scrutineered bikes should only have tyres / fuel / brake pads changed as needed. If you crash then you need to be scrutineered again before they'll let you out again.
What are rules on spec?
cmaguire said:
You ran 3 bikes? Your new R1?
What are rules on spec?
No, although that will be used at Silverstone a week tomorrow. What are rules on spec?
The bikes have to be in race trim and meet some tight criteria. The basics are no road lights, indicators, mirrors etc. All engine cases must have protective covers, rain light that can be operated at speed via the bars, lockwired sump plug, oil filter & oil filler cap, shark fin under the swingarm, to cover the sprocket in event of a crash and race numbers in set colours and background in set points on the bike. I've got an S1000RR that I've used for tracks for the past 4 years.
Gavia said:
No, although that will be used at Silverstone a week tomorrow.
The bikes have to be in race trim and meet some tight criteria. The basics are no road lights, indicators, mirrors etc. All engine cases must have protective covers, rain light that can be operated at speed via the bars, lockwired sump plug, oil filter & oil filler cap, shark fin under the swingarm, to cover the sprocket in event of a crash and race numbers in set colours and background in set points on the bike. I've got an S1000RR that I've used for tracks for the past 4 years.
Ah OK.The bikes have to be in race trim and meet some tight criteria. The basics are no road lights, indicators, mirrors etc. All engine cases must have protective covers, rain light that can be operated at speed via the bars, lockwired sump plug, oil filter & oil filler cap, shark fin under the swingarm, to cover the sprocket in event of a crash and race numbers in set colours and background in set points on the bike. I've got an S1000RR that I've used for tracks for the past 4 years.
What are tuning regs?
cmaguire said:
Ah OK.
What are tuning regs?
All details are here for the engines and other parts. There additional Endurance regs, just go back on the link to find them. All clubs have slightly different rules so you need to check their regs before doing anything. What are tuning regs?
https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-1873...
Well I suppose I should report on my first race weekend....I got my arse well and truly handed to myself and was a huge wake up call.
Got there setup, signed on, bike passed, all I had to do was 3 laps in practice so I could start at the back of the grid for the rest of the races. I went out it was wet, I was happy.
Then after a few delays it was time for the first race, it had dried right up, so stuck the Michelins on, a tyre I'm not that happy with but it didn't matter, we went out for our warm up laps and the heavens opened. It was red flagged. I had to rush back to the van, so did my pit crew and queue the most frantic tyre change I've ever carried out, thanks to my pit crew I got out on wets only to find out that 80% of the track was bone dry now. I looked about everyone was on slicks or just a wet front. I am no utterly f
ked from all the rushing about, ready to start my first race.
I started at the back due to missing qualifying on saturday, fk me, its a strange feeling waiting for the lights to turn out. I murdered my start, had to have the brake on whilst on the hill at the back, lights went off front came right up. fuuuuck. After I settled in I actually overtook some people, three in fact, but by the end of the race the track was 100% dry and I lost two places I'd made up.
2nd last
or I like to think of it as 16 out of 23 as a few crashed....1m01s on wets on a dry track..eh
I came in I was fine, but fk me when I got my helmet off my stomach was killing me, I think from adrenaline. I lay down for the next hour with a horrible stomach cramp, I should have eaten. I didn't even want a fag so I knew it was bad.
The second race was dry. Again a st start, and after a few laps I was dropped. I didn't like my dry setup I got during the week, but that's a st excuse. I got dropped and gave up, went into track day mode. I just went round like I was on a trackday, no aggression, just smooth lines and that was the problem. My train of thought was don't bin it, due to this I achieved a pathetic 58 second lap, got lapped and finished 2nd last again. 
or 18/22 thank fk for the guy that finished last on a zx10r in my class.
After much piss taking from my pit crew and others, I felt like going home This isn't for me...wtf am I doing here. The guy on the zx10 that had been my saving grace from finishing last has now decided to pack up and go home. fk I'll officially be last. Aw ffs
But then it rained, thank fk. I'd been praying for this all day. Went out it and the track was fking soaked, proper running water over the track, st visibility. I was fking delighted by this.
Started last again, but after a few laps started to overtake people. I managed to actually overtake 3 people and stay in front. I was chasing another daytona and if the race wasn't shortened to 8 laps, I think I'd have managed to get pass I'm pretty sure. 12/16 I think that actually scores me 3 championship points I mean its not great but its kinda respectable, a 1m02.03 in the pissing rain was ok I guess, its under 10% of what I did in the dry. So wtf was I doing pissing about in the dry.
That's it really, a big wake up call, its fk all like a trackday. I need more dry track time. I tried on my 11 year old shag heep of a daytona which I have occurred literally no expense on, up against a fking competitive class, at least i have that.
Got there setup, signed on, bike passed, all I had to do was 3 laps in practice so I could start at the back of the grid for the rest of the races. I went out it was wet, I was happy.
Then after a few delays it was time for the first race, it had dried right up, so stuck the Michelins on, a tyre I'm not that happy with but it didn't matter, we went out for our warm up laps and the heavens opened. It was red flagged. I had to rush back to the van, so did my pit crew and queue the most frantic tyre change I've ever carried out, thanks to my pit crew I got out on wets only to find out that 80% of the track was bone dry now. I looked about everyone was on slicks or just a wet front. I am no utterly f
ked from all the rushing about, ready to start my first race.I started at the back due to missing qualifying on saturday, f
k me, its a strange feeling waiting for the lights to turn out. I murdered my start, had to have the brake on whilst on the hill at the back, lights went off front came right up. fuuuuck. After I settled in I actually overtook some people, three in fact, but by the end of the race the track was 100% dry and I lost two places I'd made up. 2nd last
or I like to think of it as 16 out of 23 as a few crashed....1m01s on wets on a dry track..eh I came in I was fine, but f
k me when I got my helmet off my stomach was killing me, I think from adrenaline. I lay down for the next hour with a horrible stomach cramp, I should have eaten. I didn't even want a fag so I knew it was bad. The second race was dry. Again a s
t start, and after a few laps I was dropped. I didn't like my dry setup I got during the week, but that's a st excuse. I got dropped and gave up, went into track day mode. I just went round like I was on a trackday, no aggression, just smooth lines and that was the problem. My train of thought was don't bin it, due to this I achieved a pathetic 58 second lap, got lapped and finished 2nd last again. or 18/22 thank fk for the guy that finished last on a zx10r in my class. After much piss taking from my pit crew and others, I felt like going home This isn't for me...wtf am I doing here. The guy on the zx10 that had been my saving grace from finishing last has now decided to pack up and go home. f
k I'll officially be last. Aw ffsBut then it rained, thank f
k. I'd been praying for this all day. Went out it and the track was fking soaked, proper running water over the track, st visibility. I was fking delighted by this.Started last again, but after a few laps started to overtake people. I managed to actually overtake 3 people and stay in front. I was chasing another daytona and if the race wasn't shortened to 8 laps, I think I'd have managed to get pass I'm pretty sure. 12/16 I think that actually scores me 3 championship points
I mean its not great but its kinda respectable, a 1m02.03 in the pissing rain was ok I guess, its under 10% of what I did in the dry. So wtf was I doing pissing about in the dry.That's it really, a big wake up call, its f
k all like a trackday. I need more dry track time. I tried on my 11 year old shag heep of a daytona which I have occurred literally no expense on, up against a fking competitive class, at least i have that. 
moanthebairns said:
That's it really, a big wake up call, its fk all like a trackday. I need more dry track time. I tried on my 11 year old shag heep of a daytona which I have occurred literally no expense on, up against a fking competitive class, at least i have that.
You did it though mate, and that's what counts.k all like a trackday. I need more dry track time. I tried on my 11 year old shag heep of a daytona which I have occurred literally no expense on, up against a fking competitive class, at least i have that. It was a real baptism of fire for me too. I've quite a few mates who race, so I knew the pace would be quicker at my first race earlier this year, but I found it dragged my pace up a bit although I was s
tting myself the whole time and probably didn't breath from the start lights to the finish flag.When's the next one then ?
Mixed feelings about the weekend. It was a great experience and a fking disaster in equal measures. The journey up there was an absolute nightmare. What should have been 2.5hrs took 6 hours. Every road was at a standstill. Once we arrived the van was unloaded into what little space they had allocated us which added to my frustration. I didn't hang around for beers as I had booked myself and Mitzy into a local hotel for the weekend. We managed to get their just in time before the kitchen closed, so I chucked some training food down my neck (okay....a burger) and hit the sack
An early start to the circuit and arriving I thought I had gone to the wrong garage. It was full of big aluminium aero cases. I thought the McClaren Formula 1 team had rocked up. Talk about overkill.
I went out for Qualy and couldn't really gel. I last did the track approx. 2 years ago were I was able to stick 45's in all day long, but was really struggling at 56. My first session out and just as I'm trying to find a rhythm the safety car came out in front of me. This was out for about 3 laps before I got the green to pass. The pace we were running had cooled the tyres down so I took it steady for a lap before aiming to the catch the group. Once the car was in I tried to find my pace again. Unfortunately I ran on at Coppice. I was having a real fight with the front end. I managed to get back on track after about 30 seconds but wasn't happy with the front. A couple of laps later I saw my pit board IN so thought they must have seen a problem with my bike, as it turned out there was miscommunication from the pit crew.
I was running Metzellers for the first time, and once in after the first session the pressure was checked to discover that both front and back were about 5psi high. I was hoping that was the answer to my difficult front end but the second session disproved that theory when again I was fighting the front after tipping in. This time though it resulted in the front washing in the gravel. The bike wouldn't start immediately when it was picked up so it got pushed to the fence. After a few tries it fired up and I slowly made my way back to the pits.
The guys had a look at the front end again and couldn't find anything wrong which made me wonder if I was attacking Coppice wrong. Next time out I tipped in earlier and clipping the apex which seemed to work better but still felt the front trying to stand up. This was odd as it didn't happen at any of the other right handers. This started to get in my head a bit ! I did a full 35 mins this time and probably could have squeezed a bit more out, but my times were still short of what I know I could do. I hit 51's a few times but just couldn't get round any quicker.
Overall it was a great experience but left feeling quite frustrated. I don't gel with the ZX10 the same way as I did my old R1 and maybe that's part of the problem. Add to that I'm 53, fat and unfit !!! Maybe its time for me to throw my licence in and leave it to the quick lads who were there.
Well done to Gavia and Hebegebee for throwing in good consistent laps, also to McKeann and Graeme on there results. A big thanks to the guys who looked after us in the pits, they were calm when all around them was tense riders.
Here's my No.1 fan who's questions kept me amused all day, especially " Grandad, why's your bike all dusty?"
king disaster in equal measures. The journey up there was an absolute nightmare. What should have been 2.5hrs took 6 hours. Every road was at a standstill. Once we arrived the van was unloaded into what little space they had allocated us which added to my frustration. I didn't hang around for beers as I had booked myself and Mitzy into a local hotel for the weekend. We managed to get their just in time before the kitchen closed, so I chucked some training food down my neck (okay....a burger) and hit the sackAn early start to the circuit and arriving I thought I had gone to the wrong garage. It was full of big aluminium aero cases. I thought the McClaren Formula 1 team had rocked up. Talk about overkill.
I went out for Qualy and couldn't really gel. I last did the track approx. 2 years ago were I was able to stick 45's in all day long, but was really struggling at 56. My first session out and just as I'm trying to find a rhythm the safety car came out in front of me. This was out for about 3 laps before I got the green to pass. The pace we were running had cooled the tyres down so I took it steady for a lap before aiming to the catch the group. Once the car was in I tried to find my pace again. Unfortunately I ran on at Coppice. I was having a real fight with the front end. I managed to get back on track after about 30 seconds but wasn't happy with the front. A couple of laps later I saw my pit board IN so thought they must have seen a problem with my bike, as it turned out there was miscommunication from the pit crew.
I was running Metzellers for the first time, and once in after the first session the pressure was checked to discover that both front and back were about 5psi high. I was hoping that was the answer to my difficult front end but the second session disproved that theory when again I was fighting the front after tipping in. This time though it resulted in the front washing in the gravel. The bike wouldn't start immediately when it was picked up so it got pushed to the fence. After a few tries it fired up and I slowly made my way back to the pits.
The guys had a look at the front end again and couldn't find anything wrong which made me wonder if I was attacking Coppice wrong. Next time out I tipped in earlier and clipping the apex which seemed to work better but still felt the front trying to stand up. This was odd as it didn't happen at any of the other right handers. This started to get in my head a bit ! I did a full 35 mins this time and probably could have squeezed a bit more out, but my times were still short of what I know I could do. I hit 51's a few times but just couldn't get round any quicker.
Overall it was a great experience but left feeling quite frustrated. I don't gel with the ZX10 the same way as I did my old R1 and maybe that's part of the problem. Add to that I'm 53, fat and unfit !!! Maybe its time for me to throw my licence in and leave it to the quick lads who were there.
Well done to Gavia and Hebegebee for throwing in good consistent laps, also to McKeann and Graeme on there results. A big thanks to the guys who looked after us in the pits, they were calm when all around them was tense riders.
Here's my No.1 fan who's questions kept me amused all day, especially " Grandad, why's your bike all dusty?"
I may do the next one in September, I wont be on those fking Michelins though. I have a trackday there in a few weeks, I really don't like my dry setup since I got it changed Wednesday, so gonna try dropping the front. See if I can get a second back off my dry, If I do I might enter.
It very much depends on my pit crew, my Dad was bored out his fking box and couldn't wait to get home.
king Michelins though. I have a trackday there in a few weeks, I really don't like my dry setup since I got it changed Wednesday, so gonna try dropping the front. See if I can get a second back off my dry, If I do I might enter.It very much depends on my pit crew, my Dad was bored out his f
king box and couldn't wait to get home. Fleegle, you did well mate and there's no reason to chuck anything in. Let's have a go at snetterton which is one of your favourites and not one of mine.
MTB - well done. You finished all 3 races and that should always be the target early on. There will always be guys at the front who are quicker than you, your challenge is to find those of a similar pace and try to match them then try to pas them and move onto the next pack. You do this over multiple race days not your first one (unless your name is McKeann).
MTB - well done. You finished all 3 races and that should always be the target early on. There will always be guys at the front who are quicker than you, your challenge is to find those of a similar pace and try to match them then try to pas them and move onto the next pack. You do this over multiple race days not your first one (unless your name is McKeann).
Edited by Gavia on Monday 31st July 11:56
Fleegle said:
Mixed feelings about the weekend. It was a great experience and a fking disaster in equal measures. The journey up there was an absolute nightmare. What should have been 2.5hrs took 6 hours. Every road was at a standstill. Once we arrived the van was unloaded into what little space they had allocated us which added to my frustration. I didn't hang around for beers as I had booked myself and Mitzy into a local hotel for the weekend. We managed to get their just in time before the kitchen closed, so I chucked some training food down my neck (okay....a burger) and hit the sack
An early start to the circuit and arriving I thought I had gone to the wrong garage. It was full of big aluminium aero cases. I thought the McClaren Formula 1 team had rocked up. Talk about overkill.
I went out for Qualy and couldn't really gel. I last did the track approx. 2 years ago were I was able to stick 45's in all day long, but was really struggling at 56. My first session out and just as I'm trying to find a rhythm the safety car came out in front of me. This was out for about 3 laps before I got the green to pass. The pace we were running had cooled the tyres down so I took it steady for a lap before aiming to the catch the group. Once the car was in I tried to find my pace again. Unfortunately I ran on at Coppice. I was having a real fight with the front end. I managed to get back on track after about 30 seconds but wasn't happy with the front. A couple of laps later I saw my pit board IN so thought they must have seen a problem with my bike, as it turned out there was miscommunication from the pit crew.
I was running Metzellers for the first time, and once in after the first session the pressure was checked to discover that both front and back were about 5psi high. I was hoping that was the answer to my difficult front end but the second session disproved that theory when again I was fighting the front after tipping in. This time though it resulted in the front washing in the gravel. The bike wouldn't start immediately when it was picked up so it got pushed to the fence. After a few tries it fired up and I slowly made my way back to the pits.
The guys had a look at the front end again and couldn't find anything wrong which made me wonder if I was attacking Coppice wrong. Next time out I tipped in earlier and clipping the apex which seemed to work better but still felt the front trying to stand up. This was odd as it didn't happen at any of the other right handers. This started to get in my head a bit ! I did a full 35 mins this time and probably could have squeezed a bit more out, but my times were still short of what I know I could do. I hit 51's a few times but just couldn't get round any quicker.
Overall it was a great experience but left feeling quite frustrated. I don't gel with the ZX10 the same way as I did my old R1 and maybe that's part of the problem. Add to that I'm 53, fat and unfit !!! Maybe its time for me to throw my licence in and leave it to the quick lads who were there.
Well done to Gavia and Hebegebee for throwing in good consistent laps, also to McKeann and Graeme on there results. A big thanks to the guys who looked after us in the pits, they were calm when all around them was tense riders.
Here's my No.1 fan who's questions kept me amused all day, especially " Grandad, why's your bike all dusty?"
Good to meet you at the weekend. The garage allocation was a little cramped in places, and I'm not sure how they worked it out. I know the FWR guys well, who we shared a garage with, and when they'd spoken to NLR about them sharing with us, we assumed we'd be on one garage and they'd be in the other half, but it turned out we shared the same side with another team with 4 bikes in the other side, so it was cramped to say the least.king disaster in equal measures. The journey up there was an absolute nightmare. What should have been 2.5hrs took 6 hours. Every road was at a standstill. Once we arrived the van was unloaded into what little space they had allocated us which added to my frustration. I didn't hang around for beers as I had booked myself and Mitzy into a local hotel for the weekend. We managed to get their just in time before the kitchen closed, so I chucked some training food down my neck (okay....a burger) and hit the sackAn early start to the circuit and arriving I thought I had gone to the wrong garage. It was full of big aluminium aero cases. I thought the McClaren Formula 1 team had rocked up. Talk about overkill.
I went out for Qualy and couldn't really gel. I last did the track approx. 2 years ago were I was able to stick 45's in all day long, but was really struggling at 56. My first session out and just as I'm trying to find a rhythm the safety car came out in front of me. This was out for about 3 laps before I got the green to pass. The pace we were running had cooled the tyres down so I took it steady for a lap before aiming to the catch the group. Once the car was in I tried to find my pace again. Unfortunately I ran on at Coppice. I was having a real fight with the front end. I managed to get back on track after about 30 seconds but wasn't happy with the front. A couple of laps later I saw my pit board IN so thought they must have seen a problem with my bike, as it turned out there was miscommunication from the pit crew.
I was running Metzellers for the first time, and once in after the first session the pressure was checked to discover that both front and back were about 5psi high. I was hoping that was the answer to my difficult front end but the second session disproved that theory when again I was fighting the front after tipping in. This time though it resulted in the front washing in the gravel. The bike wouldn't start immediately when it was picked up so it got pushed to the fence. After a few tries it fired up and I slowly made my way back to the pits.
The guys had a look at the front end again and couldn't find anything wrong which made me wonder if I was attacking Coppice wrong. Next time out I tipped in earlier and clipping the apex which seemed to work better but still felt the front trying to stand up. This was odd as it didn't happen at any of the other right handers. This started to get in my head a bit ! I did a full 35 mins this time and probably could have squeezed a bit more out, but my times were still short of what I know I could do. I hit 51's a few times but just couldn't get round any quicker.
Overall it was a great experience but left feeling quite frustrated. I don't gel with the ZX10 the same way as I did my old R1 and maybe that's part of the problem. Add to that I'm 53, fat and unfit !!! Maybe its time for me to throw my licence in and leave it to the quick lads who were there.
Well done to Gavia and Hebegebee for throwing in good consistent laps, also to McKeann and Graeme on there results. A big thanks to the guys who looked after us in the pits, they were calm when all around them was tense riders.
Here's my No.1 fan who's questions kept me amused all day, especially " Grandad, why's your bike all dusty?"
I feel for the guys that had to share a garage with a team they didn't know, as at least with the FWR boys, we could work a plan out in advance of what to do and make sure we didn't end up doing changeovers at the same time.
Regarding coppice, I never know the best line. I tend to hang out a bit late and miss the first apex curb so i can drive at the second one, although I followed Mckeen around for a couple of laps and his line was totally different, but faster then mine. I could just about catch him down the back straight (new ZX10R vs old ZX10R and a 15kg weigh difference
), but then he'd use pretty much all the curbs on both sides going into Foggies, whereas I'd try and straight line it as much as possible and just hang on. I guess that's why he's faster then me I've got a mini fan too , although mine does more donut and burger eating than actual pit crewing
Edited by graeme4130 on Monday 31st July 11:07
Coppice, I don't know if it's right but I went in tight to the first apex kerb. It's blind so I used one of the trees in the background as my marker. I tried to run it in too fast so I was still on the brakes scrubbing speed. Ideally I wanted enough speed to make it to the outside kerb but never really managed it as my strength faded fast. When you get out to the outside kerb, you should have scrubbed the speed off to allow the bike to turn, so come off the brakes, turn the bike quickly, then as soon as your facing the second apex pick up the throttle. I was full throttle by the second apex kerb, just a shame I'm 109 kg 
moanthebairns said:
I may do the next one in September, I wont be on those fking Michelins though. I have a trackday there in a few weeks, I really don't like my dry setup since I got it changed Wednesday, so gonna try dropping the front. See if I can get a second back off my dry, If I do I might enter.
It very much depends on my pit crew, my Dad was bored out his fking box and couldn't wait to get home.
Wasn't bored at all, just said that there is a lot of hanging about, all the sodding delays didn't help right enough.king Michelins though. I have a trackday there in a few weeks, I really don't like my dry setup since I got it changed Wednesday, so gonna try dropping the front. See if I can get a second back off my dry, If I do I might enter.It very much depends on my pit crew, my Dad was bored out his f
king box and couldn't wait to get home. I'll try and get more than 4 hours sleep the next time and not be half pished.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff