Thruxton round 2!!

Do you know what, I was really, really looking forward to Thruxton, I really enjoy riding there for one but more importantly and believe me I mean this bit, the weather forecast was dry, certainly for the first day anyway, Brands hatch a few days ago seems to have left me feeling like I haven’t actually ridden my bike in the dry for what seems like forever!!

First practice came and went with no dramas at all, we actually started the session on used tyres from Brands hatch because Thruxton is notoriously hard on tyres so we didn’t want to start on new ones and waste them just getting up to speed, as it was I managed to get up to speed pretty quickly anyway and topped the session on the used ones, I came in to make a few changes and had been bumped down by the WFR bikes but we exited with new tyres and despite getting held up a bit by slower riders I managed to go P1 again so a good start to the weekend.

The second session actually went pretty well too, we worked a little bit more on our chassis settings and got the bike working pretty good, in fairness a few of the boys fired in super soft tyres at the end of the session so we put in a new pair of race tyres I felt very confident of remaining at the top of the time sheets without using a super soft but I got a bit of traffic through the fast turn two and up into the complex which ruined my lap a bit, that said I only ended a 10^th off the best time but in P4 so no big drama.

Saturday morning we woke too yep, you guessed it, rain!! I couldn’t believe it, that said Thruxton is a mega place to ride in the wet or dry and lets face it after my performance at Brands it’s not like I didn’t need a bit of time on the bike in the wet, initially I went out and really struggled with the bike, we seemed to have loads of rear grip but no stability or feeling from the front tyre whatsoever, we used the session as a bit of a test though and made a few changes and got things quite a bit better, I still felt like we needed to make some big steps but nonetheless I actually ended up P4 and only a couple of 10^th’s off fastest so to be so close with not such a good feeling from the bike was pretty positive.

Qualifying started out pretty tricky, not fully wet yet far from dry, we waited for a bit before exiting and then went out with a wet front and intermediate rear, I got to P1 real quick but the track was drying pretty quickly, I managed to put a lap in to get through to Q2 despite the front tyre feeling like a bit of chewing gum so we were all set and ready for Q2.

Immediately we exited for Q2 with an intermediate front and slick rear as the track was drying quickly, I checked with my crew chief that we’d have time should I need it for a slick front and he said yes so I exited, immediately went P1, then went half a second quicker but after that lap I thought right, time for a slick front, I pulled into the pits and the boys set to work but something happened and delayed things and to cut a long story short I never had enough time for a final flier so I got dropped out of Q2, I was not happy!!!

Obviously starting from the 4^th row was far from an ideal situation however looking at things positively it was a massive improvement on last year starting from the back of the grid, with this in mind for morning warm up due to the cold track temperature we tried the harder rear race tyre as there was a strong chance the softer version would cold tear anyway and not only that if the temperature didn’t pick up a bit throughout the day racing the softer one was going to be a bit of a risk, we also tried a slightly different front fork setting although after just two or three laps it was clear that whilst it fixed part of our problem it instigated some bigger ones, we made a quick setting change during the session then I went back out and managed a pretty respectable lap time on the harder rear so at least now we knew we had the option of running either depending on the track temperature.

Sitting on the grid for race one despite being on the 4^th row I actually felt really confident of a good result, I knew that if I got some work done early on hopefully I’d be able to tuck in and get towed around for a bit in order to preserve my tyres a little, we’d decided to race the softer option and knew we could be fast on it and if a little careful could easily do the distance too, I got a decent start and made up a few places straight away, it’s fair to say that throughout the race I had my fair share of dramas, the biggest one being the front brake lever bending down meaning I couldn’t pull it enough, this was causing all sorts of dramas because I kept running in everywhere way too hot then panicking and workingthe rear tyre to hard, I had a couple of big moments and then scared the shit out of myself alongside Michael Laverty because I got a run on him but couldn’t get stopped and thought we were going to collide, as I rounded turn 1 I put my hand up and had to use my throttle hand to rectify the problem with the lever, I thought there was only one person behind me but as soon as I sat up about 4 of them passed me, b*****ks I thought, now I’ve gone and done it, straight away I got back on the gas and got going again but on the approach to Church (the fastest corner probably in the UK) I grabbed the brake shifted from 5^th to 4^th but the angle I’d put the lever to was right against the hard plastic protector on my finger so I squeezed but the levercouldn’t move so once again I steamed in way wide, I finally got myself together and eventually got back to 4^th which was far from ideal but considering the dramas I’d had it was something to build on for race two which going forward I’d now start from P6 so second row.

We opted for the same type of tyres for race two as we knew that starting from closer to the front we should be able to slot in straight away and manage the job, as we lined up to start I knew I needed a good start and thankfully I got a half sensible one, I immediately slotted in around 3^rd or 4^th and very quickly made a move or two, before I knew it I was chasing Tommy and feeling incredibly comfortable, I couldn’t tell you the lap times I didbehind him but I felt so comfortable that I decided to try to pass him and see if I could get a bit of a run on my own, now Thruxton is traditionally a really hard place to get a break from the pack but I gave it a bit of a go regardless and managed some pretty fast times early on but always riding on the side of caution in terms of not hammering my tyres,

Leading the way in race 2!!

I was riding so much smoother and trying to be as kind as possible to my rear tyre whilst lapping fast enough to keep everyone else behind, as the laps started counting down I was thinking just keep it going, just keep it going but the rear tyre was starting to roll a bit and was spinning a fair bit in places, it got down to about 3 or 4 laps to go and I missed a gear due to wheelspin on the run down towards Church which messed things up a little and lost me some drive, I felt that horrible feeling of my bike being sucked backwards and knew someone was slipstreaming me, sure enough Tommy came passed and held me off on the brakes into the final chicane, at that point I just thought right, don’t panic, just follow him and lets see what he’s got, I had a bit of a slide trying to get a run on him through Church and then Josh passed me and I was like for gods sake give me a break, there was nothing left to give other than 110% which I tried but whilst they never got away I never got them back, I had another wheelspin miss gear on the run to the finish line and nearly lost my 3^rd place which was close but fortunately we managed a podium, I feel good about the fact I gave my all but I’m pretty gutted we didn’t take the win, in fairness to Tommy and Josh they did the sensible thing and let me do all the work, I used up a bit too much tyre and when they saw that they pounced, in hindsight maybe I should’ve done that but on the flip side I really enjoyed leading and riding too and that’s what it’s all about.

Using all the track and some!!

We know now what we need from our bike to go forward and where we’re lacking a little so the boys have a plan already, a few days scrawling through data just to confirm my comments should see us start at Oulton park with a good plan, one that will hopefully take me two steps higher up the podium!!!

Massive thanks to all the fans for coming to say hi and showing their support, to everyone in my team for their effort and to you my followers for sitting reading this and last but not least a BIG GET WELL SOON to our hospitality man Baz who badly broke his ankle over the weekend slipping down the stairs, see yuo soon buddy!!!! Take it easy, Shakey 67

Brands hatch round 1 2012!!

Well, what a start to the first round of the MCE British Superbike Championship season last weekend was, sat here typing this now I’m still struggling to get over all the shenanigans that went on, I’ve been pretty excited about getting to Brands since our test the other week up at Knockhill, I felt far more comfortable on the bike and couldn’t wait to get back on track to see how the new feeling helped as we had tested there just recently too it would almost be like a true back to back test. Seeing the BSB paddock all set up again for the first time every season is something pretty cool, it seems to just grow a little every year with more and more teams splashing out on all the hospitality units etc, I have to admit it’s a cool place to be a part of, trouble is though seeing it all gets you even more revved up to get out riding and being at the track a day or so before things get underway every second feels like an hour!!!! ;-)

We had a steady start to the weekend, we worked only on the hard rear race tyre in the first session as the track temperature was so cold in the morning, it’s always nice doing that because no matter where you end up position and lap time wise you know you have something in the bag when you eventually fire in the slightly softer version so to end up 3^rd in the first session but on the hard tyre boded well.. We did a little bit more work in the 2^nd session but this time on the softer tyre and ended up fastest in the final test on Good Friday which felt good because like I said before it isn’t until we all get out on circuit together after pre-season testing that you know where everyone stacks up without all the bull****, as it turned out my lap time in the practice session was the fastest overall for the whole weekend but anyone that rocked up at Brands for qualifying or the races will know exactly why, things weather wise definitely took a turn for the worse!!

When the sun was shinning!!!!

Throughout free practice etc we just worked through some changes which meant we were able to confirm a few things from a chassis setting point of view but we still knew we had some work to before the races, this weekend was going to be all about preserving tyres whilst riding fast and it seemed we had things kind of covered with both tyre options as I was able to lap very consistently over more than race distance on both which was good news!!!
By the time we got around to qualifying we knew we were getting closer, we had done some long runs, in fact pretty much full race duration runs on the race tyresand my times were very competitive even right at the end, I actually went out and took the tyres way over race distance at the end of one of the sessions for our information and because there is nothing quite like sliding a 200bhp Superbike for a bit of badness on a nice sunny afternoon!

Things were all shaping up quite nicely but just before qualifying the weather turned and qualifying was held in real difficult conditions, not wet but not dry either, the type of conditions you dread as a rider, but you know it was the same for everyone so we had to just get on with it, nothing like trying to qualify for the first race of the year having never ridden your bike in anything other than bone dry conditions ;-) I ended up finally qualifying third so on the front row which is always important at Brands hatch, I tried to push harder because a debut pole position for the Rapid Solicitors team would’ve been great but it wasn’t to be,not for a lack of trying though as the following lap I pushed too hard into turn 1 and things got a bit too sidewaysso I went straight on into the gravel. Not sure if it was the motocross chat from the boys in the garage but I managed to keep her upright through the gravel and out the other side. I did have another go but that was it game over but third on the grid was a good place to start, especially on the Indy circuit.

Raceday came and typical UK weather hit us at Brands Hatch. We hadn’t ridden in full wet conditions so it was something of a first date for us again, I tried to get a bit of a feeling for the bike without driving myself too crazy as the last thing you need is to go down the road in morning warm up so I rode pretty within myself and whilst the bike felt far from terrible it was clear we needed to make a few more changes to it if the race was to be fully wet, that said though we ended the session P2 so it was far from disaster…

Kel Brook the boxer came along to offer some support, top guy!!!

As the lights went out to start the first race of the year I got a great start and lead the first lap but in a stupid way I wanted someone to pass me so I could see someone else as a gauge, the conditions were horrible and I definitely didn’t want to be the one finding the limit,

Leading the way...not for long!!!

I had a few moments out there but the points were important and with Thruxton just a few days away I didn’t want to do a stupid move that could have jeopardized the next round as I know that the conditions can catch you out when it is like that, we saw that from Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty. I have to admit I absolutely hated the first race, not because I had crap result but because the conditions were so slippery you might as well have ridden with one arm tied behind your back just to make it a little more difficult, I couldn’t ride nowhere near how I know I’m capable and finishing 7^th is just basically pants!!!

I had a similar kind of smile but one of relief when race 2 got cancelled!!

I was gutted that we didn’t get a second race, but I went out upon request of the organizers and did some laps but the conditions just weren’t right at all, a few mechanical problems had dropped fluid on the already wet track and turned the place into an ice rink, if we’d raced it would have been a case of riding so reservedly that we’d probably all end up falling down because our tyres would’ve cooled down too much!!!!, One consolation is that we only have to wait a few days until Thruxton now when we can get back out on track and amongst it to show we mean business.

Thruxton up next is one of the fastest circuits on the calendar and we will definitely be doing all we can to top the podium there, no traction control on some parts of the track there is going to make for some proper sideways action that’s for sure!!

I’d just like to say a massive thank you to all my Rapid Solicitors team for all their hard work over the weekend and to all the great fans of BSB who probably froze more than us riders stood out there cheering us on all day, sorry for the pants result and sorry for the cancellation, hopefully we can make it up to you at another race real soon, until then it’s onwards and upwards, well geographically south westwards for me to Thruxton, hope to see you there, take it easy, Shakey #67