ShorttrackUK Club Round 5 - Buxton

Weather forecast was good. Woke and loaded up in the sunshine. 2 and a half hour trip up North and all sorted well before practice.

Love this shot from James Boddy.. Geoff and I giving it sum beans!

I tried a different swing-arm angle for practice. It felt good... Went back to my original settings for heat 1 to get a back-to-back comparison. I has running in the Thunderbike and Restricted classes... 3 heats on each.

Riders briefing

Despite the bike losing some turn-exit drive, I still got two 2nd places on the first two heats. The bike was running well and I was feeling good. For heat 3 I went back to my new swing-arm angle. It hooked up more consistently on the marbly surface - Three 2nds from three heats :-)

The Co-Built 'Garage'

Heat 4 and I get a 1st. Feeling really comfortable with the bike... Not having to ride the wheels off it. I can catch the rider ahead, sit back for a lap and setup a move. I do this lap after lap. I can hang it out on the marbles, or hold it tight on the apex. It feels awesome to have this control!

Neil Martin stylin it up like Speedway

Thanks Tim Coles for the pic

Seems I've sorted the bike's carb and she doesn't bog down or stall on the line. It wasn't all faultless though. In two heats I somehow managed the knock her in neutral on the start line. Standing still as the tapes go up isn't the way to do it. Luckily, on both these occasions, the heat was red flagged on lap 1. Could have been taken out by the crashes. Sometimes you need a bit of luck!

Pete's new pukka 80s Triumph framer shipped in from the States - sweet!

Heat 5 and I get up to 2nd. Reigning Champ Anthony Brown is ahead and get onto his back wheel for the last few laps. We catch a back marker on turn 3 and 4 of the last lap. Anthony gets squeezed in the inside and like a plonker I follow and get squeezed too. Shoulda gone for the outside - 1st was for the pickins. I just knick 2nd... shouldda, coulda, woulda. Heat 6 and I get another 1st. On a bit of a roll here!

A twin with magphones = glorious sound!

Thunderbike Final - I get way cleanly but get pushed onto the crap on the inside of turn 1... I come out in 4th. I soon take 3rd and am lining up 2nd... just more of the same please.  The bike feels really loose... I think it's just the marbles from the grading done before. The bike starts losing grip getting out of the turns and running deep into them. I get a big slide on out of turn 2 and super-consistent Anthony Brown is onto me in a shot. Down to 4th.

Qualifying #1... just had to get a pic!

I hang onto Anthony's back wheel, but the bike is feeling quite a handful to ride. I can't make a move but keep in touch with the front three. Its a close fought battle to the line and I get 4th. Back in the paddock and I notice my tyre is flat. Shit! Explains the sudden change in the bike's handling.

With only 2 races between finals, I get out the foot-pump and get to work. As hard and fast as I pumped I couldn't get more than 10psi in the tyre and within two minutes it would be completely flat again. Nice time for a puncture. Shit! Fuck and Bollocks!

Paddock can be a busy place betwen heats... Pete had a collapsed wheel bearing...

...Sideburn Gary doing a gearing change

With points on the line and the King's Lynn rounds' misfire, I decide to give it a go and scurry out late for first pick. I can feel the flat tyre squirming around just rolling around the track. Let's see what happens here... gonna be interesting!

A great shot from Tim Coles with Neil Martin and Alan Birtwhistle all crossed up

Restricted Final - Tapes go up and I make an okay start... I manage to get 3rd into turn 1 but the bike is all over the place. One lap later and the tyre must have been completely flat - the whole bike is chattering down the straights and slewing from side to side going into the turns. It's bearely rideable but I just think of the points on offer. I push and it feels worse and worse, she's bucking and bouncing all over the place.

I was getting great drive out teh turns all afternoon... until the pucture

I get passed regularly. I'm hanging in, determined to bag a few points. I get pipped to last place by 2 riders on the last turn. All in vain. Should have saved my brand new tyre and watched the race from the fences. After feeling so strong and knowing that for the first time I could challenge for the win... what a downer.

This was a brand-new tyre - an expensive day on the clay

Flattrack Buxton - Grand Final Video

Today is the next round of ShorttrackUK - it's the TT event at King's Lynn. Sorry that I'm missing it :-(

But it reminded me that I had uploaded a vid of the Grand Final at Buxton a few weeks ago but never posted the link.

Here it is:


A good race - great battle for 4th between Darren Trapmore (#20) and Marco Belli (#6)  :-)

Flattrack Buxton - Vids

Had my helmetcam wired up for a few of the heats at Buxton two weekends ago...

Shorttrack Heat 3 - Geoffo gets it all crossed up half-way through... saves it and stops... and then still comes through and pulls a move on me before the finish... red mist! Nice one dood!

Thunderbike Heat 3 - Close quarters combat! This is the race where I got pipped for the last place in the final... I hit No.22's back wheel on the last lap trying to get past.

ShorttrackUK - Buxton

Right... without any more fart-arsin' around... this is what happened last Sunday...

One of teh great things about my recent house move is that all the ShorttrackUK race meetings are not on the other end of the frikkin' island. So no more 04h00 starts for me! It was overcast and a bit breezy up in the Peak district... and the rain held off.

 The Team Co-Built 'garage' - Factory! 

Cool flattracker

The Duke II flattracker is continuously morphing... I got the trick Talon rear wheel and proper dirt track tyre sorted. A couple of clearance issues to sort out (and new battery-box to build!)... but worked like a charm! The bike got sideways much easier... and it was much easier to hold a controlled slide :-) Also fitted a quick-action throttle... mabe too quick, so I'll tone it down for the next meeting. But I could now get on the gas and open her to the stops in one motion.

Check out the difference between 17" roadie wheel and tyre on the front and a pukka dirt-track wheel and tyre on the rear - thanks Talon (one of my sponsors) for the sick wheel!

 Not even a season over and my ill-fitting steel shoe already has a hole worn in it!

I went ok in the heats. They over-watered the track before the practice and that non-dirttrack 17 incher is awful in the wet. I got a 5th and 6th in the first two Thunderbike heats... so needed at least another 6th to make the final - the day's objective. I didn't deliver. :-( Got pipped on the second-last lap and missed the final by one place. Shit! I got a helmet-cam vid of that heat and will post it soon... 

Learnin' to go sidee-ways

 The Cain and Brown show nattering with Dan Walsh - the author of the brilliant book These are the Days That Must Happen to You. Buy it - read it. Julian Ryder was around the paddock too.

Slidey-slidey-sidee-ways!

Wilky brings on the oranges at half-time...

I was a bit angry at myself for not making the Thunderbike final... but was still having a whale of a time getting the old girl sideways. So... I channelled that anger and energy into the Thunderbike 'B' final.

I was on pole and got the holeshot off the line... sliding her into the first turn with just a clear track of dirt ahead. Man, that felt good! I had no idea how close the pack was so just pinned my ears back and attacked! No mistakes... lots of slides!

Turn 1 - Yeah boy! Get in!

Geoffo and the lovely Cassinia (apologies if I've got the spelling wrong...) 

I just focused on the clear track ahead and rode that flattracker with more agression than I ever have. I wanted the win!

The last few laps I was feeling really tired... all that crossin' down the field the day before and the 6 heats and Shorttrack 'B' final were taking it's toll. I gee'd myself up... shouting encouragement to myslef. "C'mon Paul!"... "Fight!"... "Keep it going!"

Team Zaeta - Marco Belli and the team owner (is it Paolo? I forget...) drive out from Italy for every ShorttrackUK meeting (Jacopo Monti too!). Now that's dedi-fuckin-cation!

I had no idea how close the others were till I crossed the line under the checquered flag. Yeah! My first win!

I'm so happy that I overdo things a little on the cool-down lap - I almost take Gary out as my bike cuts out mid-slide. Outta gas! Gotta push her back home. A marshal tells me on the way: "I don't know what you were shouting, but it sure worked!" 

Geoffo looking for a way past

1st place brings that kind of grin to one's mug!

Ok... only the 'B' final... but a win! With riders behind me that normally whoop my ass.  :-)  Geoffo, Gary and Wilky were breathing down my neck the whole race... but I made no mistakes and they couldn't get a wheel in on the very short and dry track.

I won a helmet for my efforts - thanks Helmets4U. It was a great day on the clay at the most picturesque of British tracks. The bike development is coming along nicely and I'm learning loads. Looking forward to sorting out my new front end for the next round!

Flattracker got a new number-board... with some fresh pin-up art! 

Flattrack photographer Stephen Baldock had a good day too - finishing 3rd in the minibikes. Smiley-time! Thanks for the race pics dood!

:-)