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| #12  13-Mar-2011, 10:04 | ||||
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| March 12th Brands 2011. Finally finished painting the fairings and adding the stickers late in the week, so all that was left was to load the bike and gear and head down to Brands, There were allot of things going through my mind on the drive down, the 18 lap races were of a concern to me, could i handle 18 laps, due to an old back injury any gym training was out of the question so it was going to be a case of how long could i keep the pace up for. Unloading the bike in to the garage and there was just time to catch sight of a few DD guys out on the track who had been there during the day testing, had i made a mistake by not testing, as it turns out i don't think i did because as i write this the day after race day i ache in places i never knew i could and doubt i would be able to even swing a leg over my bike let alone go out and do two 18 lap races, Anyway bike unloaded and it was time to catch up with some of the guys who were in garages around my allocated one, everyone was full of banter and in good spirits it felt like only yesterday we had all been together at Cadwell, event though it was over 5 months ago, how time flys. Trudi was on form as usual and had knocked up a cracking stew that she insisted we stayed and ate before we retired to the hotel for the night, so a small group of us collected in a garage to chow down and shoot the bull. then off to the hotel for what should have been a good nights sleep, but traffic and a soft bed put paid to that, or it could have been nerves about what was going to happen on race day. Back in the garages and a few more DD riders had turned up, the day was looking as though it was going to turn out to be a nice dry day, and as the morning clouds drifted away we were blessed with some lovely March sunshine all in all everything was looking good, after signing on and scruting, i took a walk along the garages to see who else was kicking about, in one garage i came across a single DD bike, i never knew the owner so i introduced myself only to find i had stumbled upon (Stormchaser) Gary Wootton and his lovely wife Samantha, Gary was new to DD and this was going to be his first race, as we had loads of room in our garage i invited him up so that he could get to know a few of the other guys, he jumped at the chance and so his bike and gear were duly moved up to share a space with Myself, Paul Payne,Tom Roberts, Paul Bradbury and a few others in the same garage. Our practise session was called and so it was off to the track for my first foray out of the day, i was just getting into the swing of things when the flag came out, 5 laps done wish it could have been more, but at least i had got a feel for the tires and re learnt the track. Qualifying saw me doing my best lap and pipping Bradders by a gnat's whisker at a reasonable 1.01.141 putting me on row 4 of the grid, a personal all time best for me, so i was well chuffed. Race one As i lined up on the grid old memory's were pushed to the back of my mind as i concentrated on watching the lights, i know my weak point is grid starts and today was going to be no exception, the lights went out and we were off, i made a reasonable start which could have been better, i need to be more aggressive something that Bradders seems to have come to terms with as i was soon chasing him down paddock hill as he cut round the outside of me, i did not really have a plan of action other than to finish the full 18 laps, Chris.P and Cathy were doing a pit board for me and i could see i had gotten off to a slow start however i managed to get back on pace lapping with some consistent 1.2s falling to 1.1s giving me a finishing place of 7th in class B with Bradders crossing the line a few bike lengths ahead, my best time was a 1.00.791 which surprisingly i put in on the last lap, considering how shattered i was as we pulled off the track, i know i can do well i just need to put it all together. Race two I was tired, to many months sat on my ass doing nothing over the winter months had taken its toll  but despite that i raring to go, the lights went out and i knew i had fluffed my start as bikes from the rows behind passed me even before we tipped into paddock hill, getting into my stride i set off chasing them down, managing to claw a few places back to see me finishing in 11 place with my fastest lap again towards the end of the race with a 1.00.928.Conclusion, I need to get off the line faster and be more aggressive into the first corner, i think if i can master that then i have a good chance of staying in the top 10 for the rest of the season. Thanks. Huge thanks once again to Trudi for all her hard work and the great stew, my brother Kingo and his wife for coming along to watch and support me, Chris.P and Cathy for all the hard work they do for me and all the other guys out there in DD who make it so much fun just to be there. Paul  |
| #16 14-Mar-2011, 11:45 | ||||
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| I'll need some help at Mallory for sure, as I havent been there for nmore than about 4 laps since 2008 and the Edwinas incident EEK BUT - Brands crash of that year well put to bed after this weekend, so Edwinas will be too  Is it really 5 whole weeks?!  |
| #17 14-Mar-2011, 12:44 | ||||
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| Well done this weekend, another Paul that pulled my trousers down at the start of the race and left me standing there. I'm sure everyone that was behind me last year had 3 wheatabix instead of my two that day. Storming ride in race one Paul.  Craig |
| #19 18-Apr-2011, 11:43 | ||||
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| Its only Monday and already Mallory seems distant history, that could be due to my brain still rolling around inside my skull after my early departure from race 2 (more on that later) As Mallory is only just up the road we did not need to set off until around 6.30am as I drove down to pick Chris and Cathy up the whole village was enveloped in fog so there was no real indication as to what the weather was going to turn out like although all reports were for a good dry sunny day, as we pulled in for egg mcmuffins breakfast at McDonalds Newark the sun was already burning the fog off and blue sky’s were overhead. Arriving at Mallory it was clear there were little groups of DD guys scattered around the paddocks and very few spaces available, fortunately we were able to slot the van in to a space beside Ghost. Bike and rider scruted it was time for a wander round and listen to those who had arrived Friday for practice to hear what the new surface was like, from all accounts it was as gripy as my knee slider Velcro. A walk up to the track and I could see they had pulled the Armco back at Edwina’s making it easy to see straight through where as last year it always seemed to look daunting as I was approaching it. Practice was called off we went, I was not out to set any fast lap times, more to get used to the circuit again and get a feel for the adjustments Chris.P had made to my front forks, all seemed well and the track was as grippy as I had heard so I had good feelings for a quick time in qualifying. Qualifying called and I headed off to see if I could better my fastest lap of last year which stood at 1.09.15 I thought I would try to slip in behind Bradders and follow him round as I knew from what I had heard he had been going well in testing on the Friday however this was not to be as the only time I saw him was as he excited Gerrards and was lost from view, it was then I realised I needed to pull my finger out if I was to set a decent lap time. Not having a lap timer on the bike I had no idea what I had been doing until the timing sheets were out at the end of the session, I was happily surprised to see I had set a new record for myself of 1.05.405 putting me on row 5 of the grid an knocking 4 seconds off my fastest lap of last year, things were looking good. Race one and I had no real plan in mind other than to go as fast as I could, a slow start off the grid saw a few riders pass me into Gerrards, I spent the rest of the race picking off as many of them as I could and watching my pit board to see what lap times I was putting in, the first few were quiet dismal in the 1.07 s and I put this down to having to try to pass slower bikes that had I gotten a better start I would not have had to contend with them, but hey ho that’s racing, with three laps to go I was starting to suffer with fatigue and was having to dig deep for some extra stamina to keep the pace, while I like these longer races this year I know I need to try to get myself a bit fitter to keep it up. Race over and I was shattered I wanted to get out of my leathers and jump in the lake, but with such a short time before race 2 I kept them on and tried to relax as much as I could, looking at the timing sheet I was happy to see I had finished 7th in class with a fastest lap of 1.04.588 knocking a second off my fastest lap in qualifying and not far behind Bradders who had been lapping in the 1.04s for the whole race, Hats off to Paul he has really upped his game and this could be seen in some gutsy passes going into Gerrards in race 2, but I had learnt a few lessons and felt I had a good chance to stay with him in race 2 Chris.p and I sat down to discuss where I could be doing better and how to achieve it, all to soon race 2 was called. Race two and I had a better idea of what I needed to be doing and was soon putting it into practice as the lights went out, unfortunately 3 laps in and the race was red flagged so we all lined up on the grid again, we were held for quiet a while which was actually helpful as it gave me a chance to reflect on my first start, determined to get off the line quicker for the second start I was pumped up, I saw a bike move in the corner of my eye and dumped the clutch… bugger the lights were still red, I realised it was Bradders who had jumped the lights fooling Craig and myself to follow suit, ah well what was done was done and we were still racing, sticking to my plan of going wide round Gerrards I passed 4-5 other bikes and was feeling good as I came out onto the straight to Edwinas in front I could see Bradders ahead of Phil The Drill (Phil Daruvalla) and Skidlids (Kev Ellis) with determination I stayed wide on the left and pushed past both Phil and Kev braking late for Edwinas I smiled in my helmet as I passed them and tucked into Edwinas cleanly, exiting Edwinas my only thought was on catching Bradders when all of a sudden my world turned upside down as I parted company with my bike and from spectator accounts did an amusing head slide down the track, coming to a stop I realised there would soon be a number of bikes bearing down on me so started to roll off the track and onto the grass out of the way, picking myself up I had no idea what had happened, one of the marshals said it looked as if number 88 (Skidlids) had clipped me but he could not be certain, anyway that was it race over for me and all I could do was sit and watch the rest of the guys battling it out.After the race I got a chance to look at the damage to the bike, as far as I can see a scuffed fairing busted brake lever and throttle body was all the damage it had sustained unfortunately my helmet was retired to the skip Speaking to kev it seems his boot somehow caught up with my fork crash bungs causing me to loose the front, personally I think he was miffed at me passing him into Edwenas and took the opportunity to kick my front wheel as he drew level The end to another exciting round of DD and the next race at Anglesey to look forward to, hope that Matts shoulder heals fast and that all other fallers bikes are soon back in full fettle. On a side note it was great to see such a full grid, and the amount of interest in DD racing shown by some of the spectators was encouraging, so I best get my forms filled in and in the post to secure a place on the grid for the next race. And once again a huge thanks to Chris and Cathy without their help and support DD for me would not have been possible See you all at Anglesey |
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