Dirttrack National Championship - Round 1 - Leicester

Got the flattracker and gear loaded for tomorrow's racing at Coventry... came here to post an update and realized that I haven't yet posted the happenings of the DTRA Dirttrack National Championship Round 1 that was held at Leicester 3 weeks ago! Doh.

Thanks Ian Roxburgh for the pic

Okay... let's go back a wee while. A leisurely drive up to my nearest dirtrack on Sunday morning 27th April. Unloaded, parked up, set-up and a bit of banter for Round 1. A lot of new riders and bikes... some guys from France too.

Paul Sheldon with his souped up KTM EXC Thunderbike

Some riders came out from France

I had made a couple of changes to to bike on the advice of Kenny Noyes. Lower bars allowed me to swing them forward a few inches to pull me forward... need more weight on the front on the turn entry. I also stiffened up the rear suspension a bit - more pre-load and compression to try keep it more stable. Less traction, but a more predictable slide. I also tweaked my tyre pressures on the advice of UK's own AMA dirttracker, Alan Birtwhistle.

Riders' briefing

Out in practice an the bike already felt better. More control. Still needed to work on moving my ass forward in the seat for the turn entry. As usual, I was competing in Thunderbikes and the Pro classes. The first objective of the day is to not fall off, the second is to make both finals by doing well in the 3 heats run for each class.

Sideburn Gary Inman and Drogo Mitchie - Team FTWco

First heat is Thunderbikes. I get a good start. I ride well, make my way through the field and take 2nd place. Great start to the day! Bike is feeling a lot better. More control = more confidence = go faster = better results. Yeah! Pro heat 1 goes well and I get 5th or so.

View from the SpeedTherapy pits

I'm working on getting my weight forward for the turn entry, then moving it back for the exit. It;s working, but in the process, the dzus clip holding my seat unit breaks and my seat is adrift. I botch it with big-ass cable-ties (thanks George Pickering!), but it moves around and I have to re-attach it for every race for the rest of the day.

Thanks Ian Roxburgh for the pic

Next Thunderbike heat is similar to the first. Good start, pick a few riders off and finish 2nd. Sweet! Next Pro heat and around 5th or 6th. This is good going... the Pro class I'm up against DTX bikes that are a lot lighter and easier to ride fast. Its tough to get into the Grand Final (the top 12 scorers from the heats), but I did it a few times last year.

Lock-wire, cable-ties and duct tape are essential to keep race bikes racing

Thunderbikes heat 3 - another good start, steady and fast ride. I catch Ross Herod going into the last lap and nip past him to take the heat win. Yeeeeha! My first heat win in a long time. In the 3rd Pro heat I am drawn on the front row and reckon if I can get into the top 3, I got a good chance of making the Grand Final. I line up at the front, watch the lights. The green light comes on and 'braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'. Shit! I'm standing still! Must have knocked it into neutral on my way to the line. Bugger! I hook 2nd gear in disgust and hoon off the line, chasing last place. I manage to catch and pass only 1 rider by the time the flag is out. Bollocks!

Drittrackin' is a family sport...

My consistency on the Thunderbikes puts me 3rd on the front row for the final. This is the first time I am starting from the front in a final. Cool as! The start line screw-up in the last Pro heat threw my chances of a Grand Final away... but I still get an extra ride in the 'B' final. I'm feeling pretty knackered though. Been having stomach cramps all day and not eating properly. Just got to dig deep for the Thunderbike final.

We roll up to the line for the start. The 5 second board goes up... the revs rise and we watch the lights. I feel the clutch just starting to bite and the bike strains forward. The green light appears and 'braaaaaaaaap!', 'braaaaaaaaaaaap'. I hook 3rd gear and slide her into turn 1 between Tim Neave (2013 champ) and Dave Chadburn (2013 runner-up). They get me at the apex and through the exit... I'm in 3rd place into turn 3. I chase. Lap 2, lap3. I get on the gas too early out of turn 2, she spins up sideways and I have to get off the throttle to not lowside. Co-Built Anthony Brown gets up my inside. Bollocks!

Battling with Co-Built Geoff Cain

Thanks Tom Whiting for the pic

Lap 4 and I do the same thing. This time Co-Built number 45 - Geoff Cain gets me. Shit! I ride hard to get back at them, but I make more mistakes. They make a few bike lengths on me. I get back up to them, then make another mistake. I run wide, of slide too much on the exit. I do this for the rest of the race while Anthony and Geoff have their own hum-dinger for the podium position. I finish 5th.

Broken leg, but still smiling... this is Dirttrackin' !

It's a good result - but a bit disappointed that I didn't ride well in the final. In the Pro 'B' Final I ride well again and have a great battle with Dave Homan and Vince Hurst. But I'm knackered and come home 3rd - I think I get 1 point in the Championship for that :-)

Some cool old bikes in the new Vintage class...

8 races and I ride well in 7 of them. Even though I messed up a bit in the Thunderbikes final and didn't make the Pro final, I'm happy with the result. (the wonky seat didn't help either) I have found something in the bike that is making me more competitive. A step in the right direction.

Thanks Tom Whiting for the pic

Thanks Ian Roxburgh for the pic

Tomorrow we are at Coventry for Round 2 of the DTRA Championship. I've fixed the seat, welded two other brackets that were broken and made a few more suspension tweaks. Looking forward to seeing how they work tomorrow. Also trying something different with the gearing.

Thanks Tom Whiting for the pic

We're Going Dirttrackin' in the Mornin'

Tomorrow is the first round of the 2014 DTRA National Dirttrack Championships at my 'home' track - Leicester. I've been away since the Noyes Camp UK two weekends ago, so didn't have a chance to prep the bike till last night.

I made a few adjustments to the suspension and found out the new bars I had bought were pretty narrow. Then I hit the start button to check everything and nada. Hit it again. Nente. Shit. I look, check and put my multi-meter on a number of wires. Out with the wiring diagram. Check. Test. Check.

With my overly simplistic understanding of moto-sickle wiring, I narrow it down to one of the two starter relays. I removed the kick-start from the bike because it was in the way of the custom footrest I made and I had also never started the bloody thing on the kick-start despite many, many attempts. I find my closest KTM dealer online... just 1 hour drive away. Yipee.

I call them first thing - I'm in luck. They have both relays on the shelf. I pay for them on the phone and head up to Peterborough. I get the bits and pick-up a perfect set of Renthal bars as well :-) Back in the garage I fit the first relay. Still nothing. Shit. Fit the second. Hey-fuckin-presto!

With a bike that now starts, new bars, rear tyre and some suspension tweaks - she's ready. Bike, spares, tools, fuel and gear loaded. We're goin' Dirttrackin in the mornin'!!

Racing starts at 13h00 - Leicester Lions Speedway Track & Pavilion, Beaumont Sports Complex, 1 The Lions, Leicester, LE4 1DZ. Com'on down and watch the action!

Flattrack Practice

Yesterday, Pete Boast held a practice day at Leicester Speedway. I had committed to going, but really wasn't up for it on the day. Not wanting to let anyone down, I managed to reluctantly drag my kit into the van, and loaded the flattracker. As I was man-handling it in, I felt a muscle in my back go "poing!". Fuck, that hurt!
 

 

I shovelled some pain-killers in my mouth and headed to my 'local' track. Overnight rain left the track really soggy - not the conditions I like. I just watched the first few sessions glumly. Not up for it. Not up for getting my bike and kit covered in shale. Being surrounded with Paaarp-paaaarping bikes and a drying track and my mood slowly changed. I popped another pain-killer in and got my kit on.

First session I is was super slow. It started to come to me by the second session and actually started to enjoy the third session. I just went round and round and round. I wanted Pete to ride my bike and give some feedback. I have never ridden another flattracker.. so have no idea if my bike is good or bad.

It was a good turnout with 2 sessions being run.

Thanks Mark Hall for the pic.

Unfortunately, Pete didn't get a chance to try out the bike but gave me a great tip on my handle-bar position. I swung them forward about 2 inches... much easier getting into corners (which is where I struggle). I found the throttle control a bit awkward with the bars that far forward, but I got used to it. By the end of my third session, my back was killing me. So I quit while ahead.

Some of the usual suspects were there...

Thanks Mark Hall for the pic.

 

 Young Oliver Brindley was flying... passed me a few times.

Thanks Mark Hall for the pic.

It was a good day on the clay and a great track - I hope we get to race there next year. Hopefully I'll get to see the doc today about my back - still fuckin hurts. Also just realised I didn't do a post on the last round of the DTRA National Flattrack Champs... I'll get onto that soon.

ShorttrackUK Club Championship Round 1 - Leicester

Last Sunday was the first round of the ShorttrackUK Club Championship at Leicester Speedway. I entered the Thunderbike and Restricted classes...

Sunshine, Flattracker in the back of the van and on the way to the races :-)

Riders Briefing

Getting stuck into the first turn melee

My pit crew...

There were a few new bikes... and a full newcomers class



I ran well in the heats... starting off with a 5th, then 2 x 4th... then bagging my first heat win and a couple of 2nds :-) 

Skooterfarm

I made good starts all day - this one from the back row.
Thanks Steve Baldock for the pic

Four beautiful Co-Builts



George Pickering on #38 was demon-fast. I got good starts and kept it smooth and steady... thanks Jim for the advice... it works!
Thanks Steve Baldock for the pic

I saw Geoff's back all day. In 2 of the heats, the Restricted and the Thunderbike final, I followed #45 home

Getting on the gas early in one of the Restricted class heats

The way to do it... out in front

6th in the Thunderbike final and 3rd in the Restricted final... my first flattrackin' silverware!
A great day on the clay!

We're Goin' Flattrackin'

Tomorrow is the first round of the ShottrackUK Club and Grand National Championship at Leicester Speedway...


...it's gonna be a hum-dinger!

Leicester Vids

Fredy got some phone vids of a few of the Leicester heats
 last Sunday:

This is how to crash and still salvage 3 points... it was the shouting that got me going again!



Love this one... all happy in 3rd until Guy Sutherland mugs me on the last turn... and I almost land up in the fence...



Thanks Fredy and Ferdi for coming down to watch and all the support!

Flattrackin - GNC at Leicester

I was out on the clay this weekend past. Entered the Shorttrack and Thunderbike classes at Sunday's round of the Grand National Championship held at the brand new speedway track in Leicester.

Thunderbikes! Thanks Tim Coles for the pic...

Practice went well and the bike was feeling good. Those mods have worked and I can now get a steady slide going out of the turns instead of the sideways snapping I struggled with before. Just 4 degrees difference in swing-arm angle!

'747' Travis Newbold was out in Blighty after a podium at Pike's Peak Hillclimb... we went well on a borrowed bike in borrowed kit... he's going home with another trophy!

Went well in the first Shorttrack heat... I think I finished 5th from a middle row start ;-)

First Thunderbike heat... another middle row start and a 4th :-)

Next Shorttrack heat and more good points... well on track to make my fiest Shorttrack semi-final...
 

It sure was dusty out there for the first few heats...


The weather had held up till then. Despite the threat of rain it stayed dry and dusty... so they watered the track... of course the rain gods saw this so it started to rain lightly. The track was slippery.

Next Thunderbike heat and I'm up there again... think I was running 3rd... into turn 1... "Shhhhhhheeeeessssshhhhk" the slide in just carries on as I hit a wet patch and I'm half-under the bike, grinding along the dirt on my left elbow. Shit! I'm turned, facing the oncoming bikes... under the bike. I watch them dodge me under the waved yellow flag.


The flattrack paddock is a family and pet friendly place!


I'm still holding onto the right handle-bar... so strictly speaking doesn't qualify as a crash. Engine still running and in gear. I dig the left bar out of the clay, pull the clutch in and scramble to my feet... haul the bike up... jump on and get going again before the leader is into turn 4.

Dusty as a mofo!

I have no chance of catching the last guy... but if I can finish I will still get at least a point. Every point counts in these heats. I ride around steadily, feeling everything tentatively, trying to assess any damage. The bike felt really unstable going into the turns so I just get around for the remaining few laps to finish before the leader laps me. Only then do I think that perhaps I should have laid on the ground under the bike as if I'd just been shot... to force the heat to be restarted. You'd have thought I'd learned that from the speedway guys by now? Nah! Not really sporting, is it?

Alex was there with the boys... and brought along the spares box that I'd forgotten... my day would have been scuppered without her!

Back in the pits and the decompression lever is a bit mangled and the cable sticking. Rear tyre lost about half it's pressure and the gear lever is a little bent, but still intact... more bodywork damage... but otherwise everything ok! Pump up the tyre and ready to rock!

Travis Newbold, Guto Llwelan and Wayne Drake ready for the next heat

Next Shorttrack heat and I'm going well again... the semi-final beckons! Into turn 1... "Shhhhhhheeeeessssshhhhk" and I get that sinking feeling again as my elbow grinds the dirt. Shit! Shit!

Almost a carbon copy of the previous heat... I watch, they dodge, I scramble. This time my right hand came off the bars - it's now a crash. The lanyard pulled and the engine cut out. The gear lever is snapped off. Nice going... 2 race meetings, 4 crashes and 3 gear levers... at 40 quid a pop this is getting expensive!

I clutch the bike and get off the track before the pack comes around again. I blow the best chance I've had at a Shortrack semi-final. What a muppet!


First turn mayhem... getting a bit tight in there... contact!


Besides the gear lever... the bike is okay. The side of my left calf is hurting but other than that I'm just a bit pissed off at myself.

After finishing 10th in the last Thunderbike heat (there were 2 DNFs), I need a good result in the final heat to make the Thunderbike final. I'm drawn at the back of the grid... position 12 - far inside in the loose chummed up dirt. Grrrreat!

Ferdinando (who has the best Italian restaurant in britain - La Taverna di Fedinando) and Freddy made the trip down from Sheffield to see what this flattrackin malarkey is all about

 Tapes go up and the race is on... turn 1 and I'm 12th - dead last. From then on I take no prisoners and get another place or two on evey lap. After 6 laps I cross the finish line in 4th right on the heels of 3rd. Yeah! Now THAT's more like it!

Points tallied and as expected, I don't make the Shorttrack semi-final... but I make the Thunderbike final! Whooo-hoo!


Gettin the sliiiiiiiide on... pride before the fall. Thanks to Ale for the pics!


Thunderbike final: I start in the shit again - in 12th spot. Tapes up and race on! I try and do what I did in the last heat... but this is the final... only the 12 best are here. I make a few passes and by lap 6 there's a big gap to the next group which is a ding-dong 4 way battle. I stretch my legs and make to onto the back wheel of Wayne Drake at the back of the group.. but it's too late and the chequered flag is out. I finish 8th.


The usual suspects were there


From 2 crashes and last on the first lap of the final... I'll take it! :-)

The mods have worked and the bike is getting better all the time. Now... I just gotta stop falling off!

Yup, dirt can hurt!