We travelled out on the Saturday to collect the re-built Twin Cam engine that was damaged earlier in the season and ended up sharing a relaxed day with Eric (tuner) and his family, including warming through the engine and going to watch the Dutch Golden Helmet at Veenord Speedway in the evening.
After a good night's sleep we were fairly up beat for the meeting on the Sunday. Roden is a 600m speedway circuit that can have quite a deep surface on occasion. To begin with we kept the bike set up for the grass with a 22” rear wheel in. During training the engine felt slow so we decided to swap the rear wheel for the 19” speedway wheel. Start training felt a lot quicker although we changed the rear sprocket to gain more speed during the lunch break....More Report ↓
We had gate 6 for our first race, right on the outside. We got pushed out wide and were relegated to 4th. We had the speed to catch S. Harvey but wasn't fast enough to get past him. The track was fantastic though, damp underneath from all the rain but dry and slick on the top.
We changed the rear sprocket again to get some more speed out of the bike, however making the starts was the hurdle to over come.
Was given gate 2 in our second heat. Banged straight out of the start in front of W. Matthijssen – lead him for nearly a lap until he took the wider outside line and sped past us. P. Wierenga took a more direct approach and barged his way underneath us in turns 1 and 2 to claim second. We finished third with A. Goodwin in 4th.
For our third race we had gate 3, in the centre of the track. Had a poorer start than in our previous race and had to fight past V. Toucheport to claim 3rd place.
So with a 4th and two 3rd's we had first choice of gate position for the B final. We decided to go with gate 2, after another change of rear sprocket.
Made a blinding start to lead the B final from S. Harvey in 2nd. The engine was coming into its own, the opposition could catch us slightly in the turns but we had the drive in the straights to pull comfortably away from them.
We ended up with gate 5 in the Final. Got a poor start to finish a close 4th behind W. Matthijssen (1st) S. Holstein (2nd) and M. Detz (3rd). The track had started to break up in the turns and the bikes' steering damper broke causing the suspension to not work properly.
All in all a good days racing – we even had the weather on our side! ...Less Report ↑
Uithuizen is a traditional floodlight meeting in the racing calendar. We travelled through some pretty heavy rain to get to the track, arriving a little before lunchtime in glorious sunshine. Practice was not scheduled until 3pm so we had time to do last minute adjustments to the bike and have lunch/socialise.
The club had held a national youth meeting on the Friday afternoon, this had taken the top layer of grass off and due to the heavy rain they'd had during the week the track was still very wet with holes in the exit of the corners. During the winter the track is used for speed skating so is designed to hold water rather than drain. The club used all the resources available to them to prepare a surface that could be raced on, rolling tonnes of dry fine earth onto the track all afternoon. ...More Report ↓
The riders briefing before the start of practice was held on the track, giving the riders a feel of what the surface was like - "sponge", "puddingy", "blancmange" were words that came to mind. The ground was very, very soft still and sprang back up when your foot was lifted.
It was easy to see that riders already had reservations, however we got changed and were determined to do practice. It was as bad as expected, especially so for the sidecars. On a typical track the driver shuts the throttle on the entrance to the turn then winds it back on again in the middle of the turn – on this track the driver shut off the throttle and the front wheel got caught in the dirt, effectively working as a brake, throwing the driver and passenger forward on the machine. This is dangerous as the back end becomes very light and could flip the machine over.
Down the 2 straights was just as bad as the bike was not stable, effectively "walking" as the back and sidecar wheel were not touching the floor for long periods of time.
We struggled through start practice; started off with 3 on the line ended up with only us finishing as the other 2 pulled out.
The Dutch riders did not want to ride on a dangerous circuit, out of 12 crews only 5 wanted to continue. After discussions with the referee and clerk of the course it was decided to cancel the 500 sidecars. So we ended up leaving early and travelled down into Belgium for our next event on the Sunday. ...Less Report ↑
Our plan was to reach the track early on Saturday morning so as to fit an engine we were borrowing having damaged our last competitive one at Melsungen. However, around 2 hours outside of Eenrum one of our rear tyres blew out, causing us to swerve across 2 lanes of traffic. Thankfully the traffic was still fairly light and Peter managed to get the van safely onto the hard shoulder without too much drama.
The tyre was changed for the spare which wasn't that safe in itself due to it already having a puncture repaired. So we had to travel to the nearest town to find a replacement, which as you can imagine put us quite a few hours behind schedule. ...More Report ↓
Arrived at the track and managed to shoe-horn the engine into the bike. Spent a relaxing evening with Jack and Diana Dijkstra alongside other riders.
Sunday arrived and finally some sunshine!! The meeting was only for 500cc sidecars, EVLS (Vintage Longtrack Series) and adult short track, having had the national solos on the Saturday.
The track was perfect in training, smooth and slightly damp to keep the dust down. The borrowed engine felt really comfortable and fast. For start training the club adopted an FIM approach by having 2 starts with 2 laps for each. We were just happy to be mixing it with the others, although visibility became an issue.
Before the meeting was to start there was a Bahnrekord for the sidecars. The four teams were: Philip Wierenga/Hessel Auwema (21.94 secs), Mark Detz/Bonita van Dijk (21.69secs), William/Natalie Matthijssen (21.45secs) and the winners Sven Holstein/Henk Auwema (21.44secs).
The format for the sidecars was 4 heats each then a B and an A final. Our first heat saw us up against W. Matthijssen, M. Detz and N. Radley. We had a good start alongside Detz, however Matthijssen and Detz pulled away from us. A third place was a good start to the meeting though.
Our second heat saw us come home 5th as did our third race (in front of S. Harvey).
Our 4th and last heat saw some controversy, having to be re-run twice. The first start saw two crews coming together in the first bend. The referee deemed it an unsatisfactory start and all 6 back for the re-run, however C. Grenier's front end had broken so he had to pull out.
The second start saw the disqualification of S. Dunn. We had gate 1 and he was in gate 2; when the tapes went up he made the start before us, but drove across our line forcing us into the centre green to avoid an accident with him.
The third start saw only 4 crews come to the tapes. We made a blinding start alongside F. Ducousso and managed to hold him out down the back straight, leading the race. However, towards the end of the race the club home crew P. Wierenga/H. Auwema got passed us. A comfortable second place brought our final points score to 9.
The top four points scorers, Matthijssen/Matthijssen, Detz/van Dijk, Holstein/Auwema and Wierenga/Auwema went straight through to the A final. The next 6 point scorers went into the B final to fight it out for the last 2 places available in the A final.
Our 9 points saw us have second choice of start gate, we chose a central gate and we made a good start alongside N Radley, however we were pushed out wide on the first bend relegating us to third. Two laps later that third turned into fourth place as we were undertaken by S. Dunn. Fourth place in the B final meant we finished 8th overall.
This was a fantastic meeting, the club were welcoming as usual and the track was perfect all day – Eenrum fully deserve to host the EM Solo Final in 2012. ...Less Report ↑
After much wrangling during the week leading up to the event we managed to secure our place in the line up, eight sidecars in total; five Germans and three English. A new engine was fitted into the machine ready for the weekend.
On the Saturday afternoon there was training for all the adult classes in amongst the youth quads and solos. The first training session did not go as planned – there was a horrible grating noise from the engine after only half a lap. By pulling the clutch early the engine was saved from totally seizing, but it was totally unusable. ...More Report ↓
We changed the engine during the youth races to our indoor engine as it was the only one we had left. The second training session was much better although with the vibrations neither of us felt we could hold on.
An hour after the training ended the thunderstorms struck; heavy rains lasting at least two hours and even then not completely dying away throughout the night. However, the team were safely ensconced in the beer tent enjoying a relaxed evening with other crews.
On Sunday morning the damage to the track was visible, with huge puddles covering most of the surface. Official training was put back an hour in the hope that the track would dry out. When official training did start, we missed our slot by a whisker leaving only start practice in which to see if our over night changes had any effect. We came second in our start training, managing to keep up with Stephan Brandhofer, however there was only one racing line with deep mud waiting if you deviated from it.
Laughs came on the parade lap! The club had waited until 12:30 (racing started at 13:00) before starting remedial work to the track. The tractor and blade they were using to scrape the top layer off made the exit to turn 2 look like a ploughed field and the fire truck that was “tyre packing” got stuck in the mud in the entrance to the 3rd turn.
After the riders parade the decision was made to postpone the start of the meeting an hour in order for work to be carried out fully.
So at 14:00 promptly the racing started. Our class was a round robin, so we sat out the first sidecar heat. The track was rough but fast when we did come to race on it. We made very good starts, however the others passed us easily down the back straight. We managed to keep up with the front runners but did not have the grunt to over take any of them. By the third set of heats the dust was well and truly up making visibility terrible, but the weather was gorgeous reaching 24°C by the end of the day.
We finished 7th overall and at least we've now ridden the famous Melsungen circuit. Well done to the club for getting the meeting to go ahead and a massive thanks for having us there. ...Less Report ↑
Saturday
The track was the same as it was the last time we rode there over four years ago, but the weather was bad (cold, windy and overcast with rain showers) and was threatening to get worse.
Had free training in the afternoon in between the youth and quad races; took us a while but we managed to solve the problem of the front end chattering. Altogether 5 out of the 8 crews trained (this training was not compulsory) so we had a basis for comparison and we felt confident of our set up and speed. ...More Report ↓
Sunday
7am the rain started; it was only light but persistent, however the wind was up so the clouds were moving quickly overhead. By the time official training came around none of the other 500cc sidecars were unloaded and 3 had yet to be scrutineered.
The B-licence sidecars and the I and B-licence solos went out for training. Everyone could see the track was slimy but could be ridden if care was taken.
The club officials called a meeting with the riders and explained that 6 heats of quads would be run first and then the start practice for all classes. These 6 heats lasted approximately an hour in which time the rain had become very light but still persistent.
The track looked better for those heats though as most of the mud had been moved to the outside of the track giving a fairly decent racing line. Only a thin layer of mud remained which made the corners a little tricky in start practice. Only Maik Domscheit and ourselves lined up for the start practice when it was the 500cc sidecars turn; we won and looked and felt fairly comfortable – the track had reverted to a similar condition to what it was in Saturday's training. None of the other German crews came out for start training.
The rain had stopped after this and during the lunch break the other 6 German crews began to unload their vans and get their bikes prepared.
30mins later a short sharp shower dampened everyone's spirits again but it did stop and the the skies brightened ever so slightly. At the end of the break, the club officials called another meeting to discuss who was/wasn't going to ride.
Our class was under the impression that if 50% said “no” then the class would be cancelled. 6 out of the 8 drivers said they would not ride. Domshceit and ourselves, having inspected and ridden the track, agreed to ride. All of the other classes were reduced to some extent but none so much as ours.
So the Sidecar Super Cup went ahead with only 2 international crews. As all the quads had completed their heats, the timetable was reduced which didn't give us much time between races.
As there was only 2 of us we only had 4 heats. We won all of our heats and the track got better throughout the day as the rain held off and most of the sludge had been removed by the quads.
So Team Kerrison won the Sidecar Super Cup, the only Brit to do so since its inception. A big well done and thank you goes out to the club for putting on a display for the public and even with all the meetings etc. the event was finished by 5pm. ...Less Report ↑
This was our traditional night event that we’ve competed in for three years now. It didn’t really start off well, rained constantly from early morning until after lunchtime. Although the surface of the track was seemingly flooded the ground beneath was still hard due to the previous spell of dry weather; the drainage system to the field also worked well, dispersing most of the water after it had stopped raining. ...More Report ↓
The club worked really hard to remove the remaining surface water and re-shaped the track slightly to remove the wetter parts of the track.
Although all this work was carried out, practice was only slightly later in starting than originally timetabled. Everyone had four laps practice, however the track was still so damp that nothing much was really learnt. The referee cancelled start training in order to preserve the start line.
In our first race we had the favoured outside gate and had a decent start coming home 3rd behind W. Matthijssen and S. Holstein. The track however was not holding up well even after a short amount of racing with the turns being unbelievably rough.
The first set of sidecar heats were run before the riders’ parade as there were a lot of programmed races to get through. This allowed us to have a fairly long break before our next race and also allowed the club to do some more track preparation.
Our second race was a bit of a disaster, we were 3rd behind S. Radtke when Andy’s visor system stopped working due to the shear amount of mud hitting it and damaging the blow pipe, slowing us down dramatically. N. Radley took full advantage of Andy’s impaired vision and knocked us back down to 4th.
After the second set of heats the referee made the decision to re-shape the track again and narrow the turns by one and a half sidecar widths in order to avoid racing over the huge lumps that had appeared during the meeting. The top layer was also bladed off so the track was not so deep.
Our third race was simply a case of holding on for four laps. We ended up with another 4th place.
Our point’s hall gave us 4th choice of gate for the B Final; chose gate 6 which was our best one from the heats. Had a reasonable start but got filled in along the back straight so again another 4th place, giving us 8th place in the overall standings.
Brilliant effort by the club to give the riders a useable track, shame the weather was against them. The riders decided not to race in the A final after another heavy burst of rain, as many of them have the European Final coming up in two weeks.
Top 6 in the meeting (on points): 1st – W. Matthijssen, 2nd – M. Detz, 3rd – P. Wierenga, 4th – N. Radley, 5th – S. Holstein, 6th – C. Grenier. ...Less Report ↑
After Loppersum on the Saturday the team travelled to Eenrum to spend the rest of the weekend with friends, Jack and Diana Dijkstra. We spent the Sunday preparing the bike for the meeting on Monday.
An early start on Monday saw the rain follow us all the way to Stadskannaal, but the team had a much more relaxed atmosphere compared to the start of the weekend. We had some trouble, before scrutineering with the front damper again but this time there was an easy solution. ...More Report ↓
Training was understandably wet although the rain had stopped, so nothing much was really learnt. The fairly long interval between training and the races allowed the club to do some rack preparation which helped the riders a lot. The track was now drying out with the wind and became grippy in places.
The first set of sidecar races was fairly processional as the racing line was very narrow, but still we seemed to lack speed compared to the Dutch finishing 4th. After a discussion the sprocket size was reduced and we went out for our second heat. The start was much better this time and we were 2nd behind Matthijssen, but Sven in third was a lot quicker than us and we lost the place at the start of the 3rd lap. Even though we held on for third place, the gap between ourselves and Sven was enough to show that our bike still did not have the speed required. A second sprocket change – were definitely in uncharted territory with these sizes- and we went out for our third and final heat.
Lady luck was with us for this race, we had a poor inside gate leaving us in 4th place at the start of the race. By the end M. Detz and C. Grenier had dropped out due to mechanical failures and we ended up in 2nd.
This position gave us second choice of starting gate in the B final, with a chance to get into the A. We chose an outside gate and had a good start; however we were squeezed back into third on the first bend. An altercation on the last bend saw us getting into the A final.
Finishing 2nd in the B final meant that we were last choice for the gate positions in the A final and we were left with gate 1, right on the inside where the track was still damp. The track was freshly prepared after the Shorttrack final which effectively removed the small amount of grip gained during the day. We made a fairly good start but got slotted off in the first bend and finished 6th.
Results: 1st W. Matthijssen, 2nd S. Holstein, 3rd M. Detz, 4th S. Harvey, 5th P. Wierenga, 6th A. Kerrison. ...Less Report ↑
Travelled out early on the Thursday night/Friday morning to collect an engine from our tuners Slager and Postema, spent an afternoon fitting it into the bike. Friday night was spent at a local campsite and we enjoyed a relaxing evening with Eric and his family....More Report ↓
On the Saturday, we had a good training session, the track was superb as always and the bike felt fast and responsive. Our start practice went the same way; in the first one we came 1st in front of Marco Hundsrucker and Shaun Harvey.
The second one saw us come 2nd behind Hundsrucker and in front of Harvey.
So going into the interval the first bike felt good and fast enough to keep up with a German. However:
- Broken chain adjuster
- Rain
- Front suspension damaged (Damper broken)
- Puncture
- Another broken chain adjuster
- Another front damper
- 9th place – enough said
Here are some photos and a massive thank you to Eric, Karen, Roy, Jack, Diana, Lars and Neik for their help and hospitality over this weekend.
This was the second round of the Dutch Championships and we were hoping to improve on our last visit abroad. We had already ridden at Joure some 7 years ago, but the track had changed drastically; having been shortened from around 800metres long to around 450metres. However it was still very narrow just as we remembered, with a slope on the indie leading to the centre green. The officials were more sensible this year with only 4 riders on the line down from 7!...More Report ↓
We turned up at the track early expecting the usual early start that Dutch meeting shave, only to be told that practice was at 1pm with first race at 4pm. So once we had the bike prepared it was tea and relaxation for a while.
Practice went well; the bike was comfortable and felt fast. In start training we gated first but got pushed wide by Shaun Harvey. We finished second but the bike didn't feel fast enough at the end of the straight.
During the rather long break we changed the jetting and the gearing to hopefully find the speed we needed. In our first race we gated second behind William Matthijssen. Again though we ended up losing speed at the end of the straight, although gained some distance on the team in 3rd place, just enough to stay in 2nd.
Another change of gearing and jet followed in between our first and second heat. Initially the changes seemed to have worked as we made a fantastic start alongside Sven Holstein and the race seemed to be shaping into a good one by the time we had exited the first corner. However after the first lap the bike visibly slowed along the back straight and died as we entered the third and fourth turn.
Initially it was thought that there was a problem with fuel, probably the carburettor as the engine picked up again when the throttle was twisted open. Although on closer inspection it was found that the valves had been bent. Lucky we were in Holland and the engine could go back to the tuner straight away.
We finished 9th overall, our good luck over the previous weeks not lasting. Our next meeting is our European Semi-Final in Loppersum Holland three weeks away. ...Less Report ↑
Cleaning the bike during the week after the Fenland meeting led to the discovery that the deck had broken and several bolts off it were missing. Bit of welding here and there and hey presto – a working bike ready for High Easter.
Arrived at High Easter and the despondency set in almost immediately – the clouds over the horizon looked menacing and the wind was up as well. The track however looked a decent size and shape as always and thorough watering throughout the previous week would keep the dust to a minimum. ...More Report ↓
We kept the bike set up pretty much the same as last week due to the track size and shape during first practice, however the track was very green and slippery. Between practices we changed the rear sprocket to compensate for track surface. During second practice the front end of our bike collapsed with the front spring breaking and oil leaking out of the breather all over the deck and rear end. So all in all not the best start to a meeting – although certainly not the worst (Vries).
During the interval we managed to fix the front end and drain the oil out. Another change of sprocket was required due to grip coming through as the long grass was removed.
First race we lifted unceremoniously on the start line but managed to keep it under control and came 3rd behind Nick Radley (1st) and Simon Beard (2nd). Another change of sprocket and a fairly long wait then out for our second race. This time we missed the start completely and finished 4th. Our third race was a little more interesting. Again we lifted on the line and again managed to keep it under control, however we were 4th again going into the first turn behind Ant Goodwin. On the second lap we lined him up for the undertake as we were entering the third and fourth turn, pushing him slightly wide to claim 3rd spot.
Two 3rd places and a 4th saw us qualify for the final in 6th place leaving us with last choice of gate. The final riders were : Nick Radley (3 wins – top point scorer), Shaun Harvey, Simon Beard, Paul Morcock, Dean Norton and Andy Kerrison.
In the interval before the final we decided that the engine lacked the sharpness it once had off of the start and turns, so Andy moved the exhaust slightly to see if that would have an effect.
We were left with gate 3 in the final and lifted again – that's 3 out of four starts! When we had it under control, before we had a chance to put it in second gear, Simon and Mark crashed heavily and we had to take evasive action to avoid hitting their bike. Understandably the race was stopped in the interest of safety.
It looked as if the meeting would have to be stopped as both the ambulances were needed to take the injured riders to hospital. However it was decided that Simon would be taken to hospital in a car, leaving one ambulance and the paramedic on site for the last race of the day.
During the stoppage Andy decided to swap the clutch springs over from the hydraulic ones to the normal ones. Exhaust tweaking and clutch spring change worked! We made a blinding start alongside Shaun Harvey. Four outfits abreast going into the first turn, it seemed it could have been anyone's race. However, Shaun pushed us wide into the long grass on the outside of the track allowing Dean Norton through so we were 3rd going down the back straight with the favourite for the win in 4th. Try as we might we could not get passed Dean so the race finished: 1st Shaun Harvey/Danny Hogg, 2nd Dean Norton/Joe Richmond, 3rd Andy/Laura Kerrison, 4th Nick Radley/Jon Cook and 5th Paul Morcock/Gareth Winterburn.
Third podium finish in three meetings in three weeks! Hopefully this good luck will follow us to the continent were our next meeting is on 21/05/11 in Joure, Holland. ...Less Report ↑
We entered this meeting to continue testing the new bike and also to get some practice starts in before our European Semi Final in June.
The club used the same track as last year when they hosted the 500cc sidecar British Championships. Having watched this meeting we had a rough idea of what to expect. We left the bike pretty much as it was from last weeks meeting at Ashorne as the two tracks were of similar size and shape. Nothing untoward happened in practice except we found out that it was particularly rough, but with some grip so a change of rear sprocket was necessary....More Report ↓
There were eight sidecars, therefore we had three point scoring heats and a final. There was some confusion after practice as the original riders line up had changed so the sidecar races had to be re-organised into two heats of four.
When we came to warm up the bike before our first race however things began to look bleak as our bike wouldn't stay running. Fuel and carburettor were found to be the problem as the bumps in the track had caused the flakes of coating on the the inside of the tank to come loose and fall into the fuel itself. We applied some filters to the carb and this seemed to cure the problem. Although a rapid solution we only just made it in time for the start of our race.
Our heats followed a similar pattern throughout; we were quick out of the tapes and lead for the first lap then got over taken as the track took its toll on Andy's damaged shoulder. The track was rough all day with the bike becoming air borne on a few occasions. Was really fun at the time but looking back could've gone horribly wrong if we had landed badly. In the end we had three 2nd places after three rides; twice coming home behind Simon Beard and once behind Scott Dunn, giving us second choice of start position in the Final.
The Final start wasn't particularly great. Three abreast with Scott on our left and Simon on our right; we got squeezed out in the first turn into 3rd with Simon in the lead and Scott second. This was how the race finished, we us taking 3rd overall.
Quite a scary track but really enjoyed ourselves; the new pieces on the bike were working really well we made some fantastic starts and had the speed to keep up with the front runners except fitness got the better of us every time. Well done and thanks to the Fenland Club for letting us ride.
Our next meeting is on the 15/05/11 at High Easter, Essex. ...Less Report ↑
This weekend was going to be spent training in Belgium, however after the poor start to our season we needed some actual competitive track time to test a new carburettor and engine. Although we were initially only a reserve for this meeting, due to some unfortunate accidents on the Sunday a space became available for us. This news reached us late Sunday night so it was a bit of a rush to get the van packed. It was an early start but without the seemingly endless travelling that we're used to!...More Report ↓
The track looked good; nice size and shape, rolled with the grass cut.
Practice went well although a bit of a shock to ride an English track again! We did encounter a couple of problems, one being the loss of our clutch at the end of the sessions. We solved this by reverting back to a manual clutch, replacing a leaking hydraulic one. The second, unfortunately, was the dust already being kicked up but we could do nothing about that.
Our first race saw a full line up with six runners at the tapes. We were not the quickest team away from the start but when the gear lever was pulled the bike came into its own, pulling away from the five other teams. The track was not as slick as it looked, but still our bike appeared to be too fast for the turns and we had to visibly slow down on the corner entries. However this did not hamper us and we won the race convincingly. A much better start to the meeting than 3 weeks ago!
Our second race was again a full line up, but this time we were up against the current and ex-British Champions. The start was not the greatest, entering the first turn in 3rd. This is where we stayed for the duration of the race, close on the tails of the leading two and towards the end of the straight we even seemed to be carrying more speed than the team in second. However visibility was poor with the dust cloud getting thicker limiting the opportunity to over take safely.
Discussions were held to determine what changes needed to be done to the bike in time for our next race. Another strong position like our first two heats would see us comfortably into the final. However, it was not to be. The officials of the meeting decided that the dust was too bad to continue racing and were going to cancel it after everybody had completed two heats. This decision put us in joint 2nd place overall with three other teams.
A big thank you goes to the Grassroots Club for allowing us to ride. Our next meeting is the Jon Underwood Memorial Meeting at Wood Walton on 8th May – here's hoping we can build on this weekends success. ...Less Report ↑
Saturday saw us trying desperately to put the finishing touches to the “new” race van, but all to no avail. Instead we threw everything we could possibly need into the back and started our journey. Two weeks ago saw the arrival of our new engines and ignition systems, to complete the set up of our brand new bike for the 2011 season. Ta Da! ...More Report ↓
Arrived at Vries with a sense of optimism, everything that needed completing on the bike had been done during the previous week so it was a matter of waiting until training to see how it handled.
Training came – bike wouldn't keep alight. The team tried everything to get it fixed, finally resorting to changing the engine to one that had the old ignition system on. Three laps of late practice left us with uncertainties but thankful we had a bike to race with.
Having missed out on the Start Practice, we went into our first race not actually knowing how the bike would react. A poor start saw us last in our first race, but we realised we had the straight line speed despite having a serious issue with vibration. Jetting changes and gearing changes between our races helped, but could not compensate for poor starts. We qualified for the B final with a chance of the top 2 going into the A final. The first time this race was run saw another poor start although by lap two we had caught up with the top 3 and were lining up for the under-take when the red flags were put out stopping the race. With this little boost of confidence we made a much better start in the re-run only to have our front wheel taken out along the back straight on the first lap. Race was stopped again and alas we were excluded.
Close inspection revealed not too much damage done to the bike as it didn't go over on itself, however we were pretty battered and bruised but thankfully no broken bones.
As a team, we've decided to for-go our arranged trip to Wagenfeld on the 23rd and 24th April to concentrate on getting the van habitable, our next event instead being Belgium in 2 weeks time. ...Less Report ↑