over and out
 

well for this year anyway :D

I started Doom hating it, and ended hating it no less. Flat (not the tarmac), featureless, boring place which demands point & squirt riding on a surface that can only be described as a Surrey B road transported to a small village a few miles from Chippenham

Still, had a couple of great races, and few trials and tribulations like the 0345 gazebo incident and beat my best by over 5 seconds. Also helped with my improvement ion braking and carrying speed thru chicanes

Close, fair and fun....but please lets not go back next year!! :lol:

Won't be at Oulton so I'll hopefully see a few DD'ers at the Hottrax dinner thingy, and a few at the end of year curry I'll be organising soon------need to collect my winnings ;)

But what a great year. Never, ever, did I think I could win a race. Of course I tell myself its possible, why do it otherwise, but to have 4 big trophies come August is amazing :D and if I can do it, anyone can :)

Mostly been great year, had a few disappointments, but generally good enough to make me want more. So bike will be stripped, sorted and ready to go come march :biaggi: who knows, maybe I will be competing at the last round for the title this time in 2012 :)

Been great sharing with the Dentist, who next year will be improving as I have; he has the racing instinct already ;) a very calming influence....or is that the drugs! :lol:

TTFN

Noooooooooooooo you gotta do Oulton, it's your sort of track? ;)

Will miss you at Oulton Paul, it was fun to scrap with you in the first race yesterday, think its the first time this year i have been even close to you :) like yourself though i hated Castle i dont think there was a smooth surface to be found anywhere and hope we are not back there next year unless they resurface it over the winter.

Congrats on your trophys this year all well deserverd.

See you in the paddock and on the track next year all being well.

?????
 

What you talking about man!!!

Castle Combe is awesome!

2 wins last year and 2 wins this year for me mate. :)

Castle Combe rewards good lines and smooth riding. One of the fastest circuits in the country! not point and squirt,

bumps are o.k. in a straight line,

Pot hole nearly had me off when I was off line in that first right hander though, Dallas got the front row seat to that one.
If your on the right line they arn't too bad.

If all tracks were the same it would be boring - adjust your riding to suit the track.

and what a crowd................. where else do we get that?

If I did crash I would chainge my opinion immeadiately!

Matt 'Awesome' Lawson - The Great!

You,ve had a good year. I am unsure of Castle Coombe. Yep it is a terrible surface and silly chicanes. But thats what makes it different! Now theres an A class bike up for sale are you tempted ????

Mark
:)

etc...

well I'll disagree; 1 fast chicane, two stop start chicanes and long straights especially the start/finish with the uphil portion...and smooth is normally how I ride, its difficult when your teeth are rattled from your head at full lean! :lol:

all I know is it felt like Pembrey all over; catch in the corners, and on the exit, feck off down the straights....story of the year :)

mallory's the biggest point and squirt circuit.

at Combe, you can carry plenty of speed through the first chicane then the tightish right hander afterwards is flat out giving you plenty of a start down the down hill straight with a super fast corner at the end leading into the second chicane which again is a lovely right/left then you can hug the right hand kerb all the way down to the tight chicane, go in tight brush the orange tyres with your elbow, by which time you can be full on the gas all the way round the next right and over the start line :(

the first 2 chicanes have smooth kerbs that you can run over on the entry with no problems as well. (not that I did,,, that would be cutting corners and cheeting!)

*simples :)

You were very gracious to me in that second to last chicane. Especially as it was to the flag.

kerbs are part of the track - not cheating to cut them ;)

pretty much what I did...maybe I am over estimating my exit speed and catching on exit isnt really helping drive up the straight??? Phil and Kevs bikes pulled a bit, not too much and no where what the did at Pembrey, Paul's flew by as did Hugh's. Weight, set up, gearing, torq, power, better exit take your pick :) Just an average riders single-perception :)

Mallory is all balls into Gerrads and then into chicane, from there its harder to pass on the power imo up to the next corner as its mainly fast corners not really straights other than start one....

Phil - not sure if thats a good thing or bad...hopefully good in that I didnt take a lunge (dont remember doing but then don't remember the close pass on my mate Craig) and bad as in I let you have it ;) I was very conscious you and Kev were going for the tit;e amd taking either out would not have been a good move, so held back on a few passes which i would have tried before...and did on Mr Pullen ;)

All good clean passes though Paul. I should have tried defending the line better :)

Either my bike is so badly set up that I am used to being all over the place, or I like it rough and loose……. But thinking about the lap, there are only a couple of bumpy bits worth worrying about.

My lap….
Start/Finish straight – Fine
Avon rise – a few bumps, but in a straight line, so no worries
Quarry – as smooth and flat as any bend anywhere
Farm Straight – Fine
The Esses – a nasty dip on the apex of the left that I just make sure I go wide of, then there is no problem. Not slow though as it is easily flat in 3rd.
Old Paddock Bend – proper bumpy and probably the worst section of track for bumps, but the bike goes through there with no problems if you are brave enough.
Hammerdown – No problems
Tower corner – A strange downhill bend, but plenty smooth enough
Bobbies – again, I find I cannot cut the left at all because it has quite a dip, but it is still a 3rd gear chicane, so not exactly stop/go
Westway – some undulations, but not really bumpy
Dean straight hairpin – down to second gear (but high in the revs, so not exactly crawling), but a bit bumpy on the way in, so you can’t leave braking too late because there is nowhere to go….. an easy place to make up time on everyone by making sure you are slow in and on the power early.
Camp Corner – as smooth as any corner anywhere, and as fast as you are brave enough to take it.

…so fast and smooth for 80% of the lap (or I’m just not as sensitive to bumps as the rest of you).

dont know the names much but...straight bits bumpy but its straight :D quarry very - when on the brakes deep into the corner trying to catch up I closed my eyes a couple of time with throttle wide open as I though it was game over...esses were but not enough to back off, the corner before second chicane was very - enough that I had to feather throttle a little or again front felt so choppy almost as if I shut throttle and braked...and the last corner exactly the same especially if taking a wide line and late exit to try and get under the bike in front on exit, although a tighter line in/wider exit was not that bad but everyone in front was using that :)

now last year I had no issues with bumps, but bike was very soft and I was riding 5 secs a lap slower...so combination of the two means I was closer to my edge

and other than the first chiance, no brakes for me, the rest needed heavy braking to get in and out so I'd say point an squirt as drive is all important; not fast in fast out

all comes down to a simple thing, no excuses; I rode as hard and fast as I could and it was enough for a 7th and 5th. The guys in front rode faster. As they have most of the year.

Now its just decsion time still; sell B bike and buy an A (like Neil's or the other on here) or spend a hefty wedge on sorting mine and go for a top 3 finish next year. To B or not to B, that IS the question :D

not that bumpy eh....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AstsSrRvCRw

I have to agree with Ron on this one. My front was moving around a fair bit in race 2 but I was pushing quite hard to catch-up. I dont remember one corner being that bad and honestly the bumps werent a distraction. Yes I certainly remember my front bouncing and chattering away when braking late into the chicanes but I got use to this.

It might be the setup of my bike but I found Cadwell more worrying on my front. Also I was shocked that I could make it by you on the straight at Castle but couldnt really gain on you at Cadwell on the straight?

I am not sure whether I will be doing class A, B or nothing at all next year. My issue this year has been that my lack of mechanical know-how has left me quite out of pocket with all my off track excursions.

Anyways shame not to see you at Oulton!

Cadwell is flat almost everywhere (as in throttle not no undulations :lol: ) so my exit speed is pretty high and that may have helped, plus very few corners were so low a gear or low in the revs in 3rd - again better drive maybe :puzzled:

hope the kitchen blokey does a quick job; I want to be at Oulton to watch the end to this and see my partner Dentist win the novice title ;) :lol: :D

I am yet to fully understand much about drive and bhp etc in this series. Some days I gain and somedays I lose. However, there are only two constants for me this year and they are than KevP will always outdrag me off the start (especially if I wheelie and then stall) and that Alan will always be able to outdrag me at will on any straight at any track!

As for the novice title Im not sure what to say without sounding like an arrogant tw*t which I have already been accused of being today on FB.

No disrespect intended to anyone but think the scoring is a bit off if I can have over double the points of the next person in the actual series and have never been beaten by any of the other novices (without leaving the race early;) ) but yet not be able to win the "novice championship".

The problem of having seperate points table is that it means that you have to just focus on one or the other. If I focussed on the novice championship I would not have to push so much and would likely have been able to keep it sunny side up all year but that would be useless for the actual championship.

With the rules and point system that was set out clearly earlier this year it looks like The Dentist shall rightly reign supreme. I am not trying to contest this because I made a decision to pursue the main championship at the risk of losing the novice if I crashed out but perhaps it might be something to look at next year.

if my calculations are correct, phil would still be beating you with a points system the same as the main championship.

and my constant excuse is everyone is faster in a straight line than me ;)

Matt reckons 620 helped him a lot; maybe the same for me :)

Sorry perhaps I wasnt clear. The points system that is exclusive only to novices is a bit flawed because I was not racing only novices and there are people finishing between me and Phil and the other novices.
Basically to try and win the novice cup my tactics would have to be very different because I know there is not enough of a buffer offered in the points if I make a mistake while pushing harder. Instead I would just have to pass the fastest novice and then riding cautiously home rather than pushing for a podium. However I will always push to do the best I can (hence my spill at crashwell park).

I worked this out early on in the year that I would risk losing the novice cup so again I say that Im not trying to alter the inevitable outcome just a thought for next year. Dont most race series just use the points from the main championship?

stop moaning, you cant have it all ways :p

Phil has finished every race, ridden as hard as he dare and done the best job with a very budget bike he personally could, and tbh I find your responses quite offensive and dismissive of his effort.

We cant all be superstars in our first season, same as we cant all win a title in any season and we cant all spend a fortune on our bikes or change tyres every race or cant whatever you choose.

The rules were there at teh beginning, the same rules which stop Alan winning the title because he has to drop loads of points and helps You, Ron etc in with a shout of winning it

Winning comes with responsibility. Please show a little humility to those not as good :)

Concentrate on the big prize

[/quote]


Bradders think if you bothered to actually read my posts I might have already done just that.

Also dont try and stick it to me pal. You dont have a fking clue about my financial situation and it sure as fk is none of your business how many sets of tyres I use or not. I change them when they are getting worn... would it be better if I run the worn ones with how hard I push in bends? I think surely that would cost me more in repairs!
Perhaps I might go without in other areas of my life in order to spend a bit more racing? Last time I checked I didnt have a road bike... I see you only just put the Multi up for sale.
Perhaps my bike lives outside chained to a wall cause I cant afford to rent a garage? Perhaps I have had to miss most of the practice days this year because of trying to keep my business going.

You are quick to forget that it was me that was defended your effort in the Sunday race at Pembrey when others talked it down.

mate, wasn't digging at anything anyone spends, in fact I was trying to purposely NOT by saying about tyres etc. Some spend lots coz they can, some spend lots when they cant, some choose not to or cant. Life is tough

And this isn't about me Hugh; this is about a guy who has been riding for years who had a go at racing and did his best. And your post, which I read, re read then read again, while talking about you and not having a go at Phil, doesn't change the fact that you were derisory about his performance in passing.

this isn't about keyboard warrior status; we know each other and having met you in person I'd be amazed to read the arrogance that comes thru in a couple of your posts. But hey, you have to have confidence to win, that's one of the key requirements, but not as someone's else's expense eh.

And as often said, opinions are like areseholes, we all have them

Communication is in what is understood, not what is said, in that way I've ****ed you off coz you've misunderstood my comment and you've ****ed me off coz in my mind you are being very disingenuous to a good mate of mine. Pub arguments ;)

Anyway enough of argueing bollix back on thread please :)

Forgive the ramblings of a 41 year old fat boy...I still struggle believing this year. In no way did I think I'd do as well as I have.

I started with a few gaols and couple of aims. Goals were top 10 or 50% of starters and to get close enough to race senna and goastie and by the ernd of the year have beaten them once.

Surpassed my aims by a living mile, and have been flattered and a little embarrassed by some of the positive comments I've had.

Roll on 2012

Plus 1 to all that Paul. You should be rightly pleased with yourself.

Last year one of the points made was that if a novice turns up and is running at the front picking up say 20 points then the next novice picks up a mere 5 points then the novice championship will be wrapped up quickly. Maybe for next year bonus points for novices who achieve a podium may balance that out??

Dont think it detracts from what you have achieved this year
Mark
:)

+1

best of luck to all at Oulton

With my bike. ;)

....................

;)

Well done paul m8 you were as matt would say awsome this year you supprised a lot of people including myself you came from being a back marker to a winner in one season with some fantastic riding some very close racing we all enjoyed racing with you hope you come back next year m8 your a top bloke :D