DTRA Flattrackin Round 3 - King's Lynn - DIRTQUAKE II

Saturday morning I drove up to King's Lynn with a couple if dirttrack bikes, my gear and a whole packet of enthusiasm.

The day started off well... I finally collected my silverware from last year's Championships :-)

I unload, unpack and get setup for a day's racing and the crazy-ass DirtQuake II. Get the bike warmed up and kit on. First up, practice. At the gate onto the track, the bloody bike doesn't want to start. I wheel it back to my pit and give it a battery-boost. She starts, but the gate is closed and practice session underway. Bollocks! At least with 2 Classes I get 2 practice sessions. I get out in my second and try get up to speed quickly in the 4 laps we have on track.  Still feeling my way around a bit.

First heat and I'm drawn on the front row. With so many riders, to qualify decently for the final, one needs to get into at least the top 3 in every heat. Especially if you're starting on the front row. I get a decent start, but get passed and land up 5th or something. Crap.

Pikes Peak and desert racing legend "747" Travis Newbold came out from the US for the party... he was super-fast on loaned bike and kit... and bagged 2nd in the final. Great ride Dood!

Next heat and I start to get into things. I think I get a 2nd and a couple of 3rds in the heats after that. Sweet! I'm feeling fast and comfortable and riding steadily to make sure I qualify well. Last heat in the Pro Class. We wait to go out on track.

When waiting I leave the bike off - with a dinky wee radiator and no fan, she boils over quickly if standing. We get ushered onto track. I hit the start button. Crrrrrrrrrrr.... hit it again... Crrrrr.... again... Crrr. She normally fires up straight away. Fuck.

Drogo Michie donning battle-gear for a heat

 

I grab the nearest person to me, hand them the bike and shout over the noise of dirttrack bikes heading out onto the track "Just hold this...". Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! I do the steel-shoe lope-run back to the pit, grab my battery boostpack... Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!

I plug it in and ask the guy who held my bike "Stop them closing the gate!" He can't hear me, or understand what I mean. I point at the gate and repeat. He has no clue. Shit. I try get the bike fired up... Crrrrrrrr. Crrrrrrrrr. Crrrrrrrrr. Bollocks. I check the fuel, choke off, ignition, cut-out and lanyard switch. All ok. Try again... Crrrrrr. Crrrrrrr. Brraaaaaaap! Yeah!

Foot massage, anyone?

I look up just as the heat starts. Fuuuuuuuck! They hadn't realised I wasn't on the start line and started without me. Sitting in the pits is not the way to score points to get one into the final. Poor tactics. When the bike didn't start, I should have just asked Andy at the gate to wait 1 minute. Instead, I thought I could get it all sorted in less than 1 minute. I know for next time.

The nicest battery pack I've ever seen!

As a result, I didn't get into the Grand Final. I scored enough points in my two heats to only qualify 14th. Damn! On a brighter side, I qualify 8th in the Thunderbikes. What is it with me qualifying 8th? Third race meet in a row. It's not great... you gotta be on the front row (first 4) to have a good chance of a podium.. but its ok. Frustrating because I know I have the speed to be nearer the front. I still need to sort out my slow-burning first heats.

"Sideburn" Ben Part fettling his chop for the DirtQuake II showdown. In the Chopper final he had an epic battle with "747" Travis

For the next few hours we were entertained by the antics of DirtQuake. It was brilliant. There must have been 7 or 8 photographer types buzzing around with big cameras and a 'helicopter' camera. Riders came from all over Europe and a few from the US including "747" Travis Newbold - great to see him again. There was even a celebrity - Charley Boorman was riding a Zaeta. I didn't take many pics of the event because there was so much other exposure... I'll post links to them soon.

Cool toys! An awesome hi-tech VTOL camera drone - it was buzzing around taking film all evening. Can't wait to see the footage.

Had to get kit and race face on after about 3 hours of DirtQuake shenanigans and do the business in the Thunderbike final. I started middle row, far inside. Revvs up... and we're off!

I get a decent start and am into the thick of it in turn 1. Get hooked up nicely out of turn 2 and am in 5th or so into 3. As I get into turn 4, the bike just washes out and I'm on the floor again. I didn't feel over the limit or off-line so might have been nudged from behind. With the pack so close behind it is inevitable that I'm hit by a following rider...as I hit the dirt, I brace myself for the second impact.

Checking the heat results. Guy had another great qualification... front row in Thunderbikes and second row in Pro

Clatter! Scrunch! Thud! I see a front wheel and another rider with a red helmet off their bike in the dust. The wheel slides under me and I'm sandwiched between two bikes - Gary Inman's bike under me and mine on top of me. I'm okay.. no second impact. I manage to wriggle out and push my bike off. Gary is getting to his feet and trying to get his bike up. He must be okay, so I try get mine up. But I'm snagged by his bike, by then the red flags come out.

Okay... no panic. Let's get the bike up check the damage. Mullered gear lever. Shit. It's still attached and although out of place, still does the clickety-click change. Cool. Let's get going. I hit the start button. Crrrrrrrrrrr. again. Crrrrrr... Sonnofabitch! Crr.

"Sideburn" Gary Inman raced in the Thunderbikes... got taken down by someone on the ground in the final and also managed to run the DirtQuake II event! Top man!

A photographer offers to push start me. I try... but I know with the compression it's just about impossible. I've tried many times but have never managed to bump start that flattracker. We give it a go and land up pushing the bike all the way to near the gate. Gary's bike won't start either, so is beckoning for his starter form the pits. Great idea!

I hand the bike to Andy near the gate and say "I'll be back in a minute". Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! I lope-jog to get my battery boost pack. Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! By the time I get back to the bike, there is a crowd around it checking and straightening things. Derek Brindley just finishes off sorting my gear-change. Awesome! Thanks guys! I plug in the booster and after a few tries. Braaaaaaaap!

Jason Cursley looking badd before a heat

Jason Cursley looking not so badd between heats

I hussle her back to the start line and in seconds we're off on the restart. I get an okay start and am again in the thick of it in turn 1. Turn 2 I spin her up too much and lose a place. Damn!

For the next few laps I have a close battle with Geoff Cain - he's faster into the turns. He gets alongside me on the outside going into turn 3. We're side-by-side coming out. I'm spinning up the rear too much. Too much adrenalin and haste. "Just take it easy... feeeeeel the traction. Get her hooked up and DRIVE".

Pro heat - Co-Built Geoff and I were pretty close all day/evening

We're locking elbows as we drift out of turn 4. It's close, real close. Neither of us give an inch. I get the inside through turn 1 and 2. But he's back at me into turn 3. I work on getting drive out of 4 and I get ahead of him. I'm clear.

Next lap as I get form turn 3 to 4, I feel a nudge on my outside arm. It's like someone walked up to me and gave me a tap. Weird. Surreal.

 Co-Built Geoff sporting a cool Ruby helmet

I glance over and see a flash of yellow. It's Geoff again! I dig in and push harder. I'm onto the back wheel of Guy Sutherland now. He's trying to get past Tom Clemens ahead of him. I just keep to the lines and protect my inside from Geoff... waiting for an opportunity to get by Guy. I daren't not try anything bold on Guy because Geoff will have me as soon as I'm off line. The race winds down and last lap flag is out.

Guy makes a push for the pass on Tom into turn 3. He makes it stick and is ahead of Tom as we go into turn 4. But he overcooks it and goes down in the dust cloud. I wind up taking 6th. A close, hard-fought race. AWESOME!

Disappointed to not make the Pro Grand Final... but very happy with a 6th in the Thunderbikes after coming off in the first start. Got to take the good with the bad... missing a practice, a heat and a place in the Grand Final - kinda balances out with crashing in Thunderbikes and still salvaging 6th in an great race. Think my battery is on its last legs.

A good day on the clay! Thanks "56" James Boddy for the pic

What a day! Thanks Gary Inman, Dave Arnold and all the folks involved in the DirtQuake event. It was an absolute cracker! And thanks Anthony Brown, Anna, Andy and all those making the racing happen - awesome job!

Desmo Due at Oulton Park

Drove up to Oulton Park on Friday afternoon for the Ducati Desmo Due qualifying and racing on Saturday. Lovely sunshine, but a cold breeze kept it at about 12 degrees. Through skrootinering, sound test and signing-on. Bike fuelled, tyre pressures checked and pretty soon we’re out for qualifying.

Oh dear - all that winter effort and now she's bent...

 

Just about all the guys have been out for a few sessions in the morning practice. I need to take it easy and work it up to speed. We get waved onto track at about 17h00. I go out last, leaving a big gap to the next guy. I hang back… testing the new clutch, scrubbing the new brake pads and discs in. Lap one done… lap two with a bit more welly to get some heat into those tyres. 

Postman Pat engineering vs. metal. Postman Pat wins!

 

The Wee Monster is pulling well… maybe it’s just the placebo effect, having spent money on her I believe she is faster :-) The corners are rushing toward me a bit faster than I expected - a bit rusty. Lap two… all’s steady. She’s feeling a bit too much on the front – falling into corners and then having to stand her up before reach the apex. Need to sort that. 

 

Half-way through lap three and into the second chicane… tight right, tight left, short-shift and bring her around the next right… clunk! Screeeeeeessssshhhhhhh... My shoulder hits the tar and I'm sliding down the track on my side... I come to a stop on my back just a metre into the gravel. 

Gravel down the poor girl's throat...

 Surgically removed with a chewed wine-gum.

“Shit! Fuck! Bollocks! What the hell happened there?!” I wasn’t pushing or going hard… tyres not up to temp… maybe. The front just washed out as I passed the apex. Never had that before.  Even on a Ducati. I’m fuming and stalk across the gravel to sulk behind the barrier.

Ploughing the field...

I go through it umpteen times in my head. I don’t know what happened… front just washed out. Maybe I should have been taking it even easier on those new tyres. Dunno. After the session, the recover van comes around. They’ve already collected Kevin Ellis whose bike and body looks a lot worse for wear than mine. Load the bike and get back to skrootineering.

Doing!

Damage didn’t look too bad at first, but it took me a good few hours to get it straightened out. Gravel and chunks off grassy soil everywhere – cleaned. Tank front clip broken – repaired with lock-wire. Airbox ripped off – gravel cleaned out of throttle bodies and cable tied back. Throttle damaged – repaired. Number-board broken – fixed. Brake master cylinder ripped off and pipe stuffed with soil – cleaned, repaired and brakes bled. Rear-set and foot-peg okay but brake lever not returning – repaired from bits of other rear-set parts. Rear hub filled with gravel – cleaned out. Seat lock broken – cable-tied. Tank dented and handle-bar bent – gonna have to live with that. Looks like there is some sort of fluid on the front-right tyre... but hard to see with all the gravel dust and soil. I spot a bit of weepage from the brake calliper nipple. Think it must have been that so I sort it. 

 

Miraculously the footpeg survived... but rear-brake was binding so needed changing

 

Three spare rear-sets... and they're all for the left side! Doh!

I find a local eatery in the dark. Fill my belly, get back to the paddock and hunker-down in the van for some shut-eye. It's only 3 degrees outside and am just barely warm enough - not a great night;s rest. I wake to a glorious sunrise and frost... I forgot to cover the bike and she's a bit frozen. Sorry old girl. 

Early morning frost

I only qualified 29th of 31. Starting form the back of the grid… all I was going for was a finish. Didn't go to all this effort and expense to not get a qualifying signature for the Manx GP. 3 lap warm-up goes okay. I think I fixed my turning in problem... but not comfortable on the bike. Pretty soon and we're lining up on the grid. It's been a while since I've been near the back of the grid... it's miles to the front row. A confidence boost knowing that things can only get better :-) 

Breakfast of Champions!

Celebrity racers. Jakub Smrz (beanie) and the Padgett's Team using the race day at Oulton as a test for BSB in 2 weeks

 

That new clutch is a dream. The Wee Monster wheelies off the line and I'm up to the next row before carnage unfolds ahead of me. I see bikes and bodies going down and sliding across the track. Off the gas, onto the brakes and pick my way through the strewn bikes, bodies and debris. At least 3 bikes are down. 

A bit wonky... but functional... kinda

Within 15 minutes, we are back on the grid for a restart. I don't get as good as start, but am still up to the next row by the time I join the first corner melee. I make a pass or two but generally keep out of trouble. I need that finish. I'm not riding with confidence... don't feel great on the bike... and the bike is very slow for some reason. I get passed by class 'B' bikes down the straights and land up battling for the lower positions. I finish 17th. My fastest lap is 10 seconds slower than the fastest of the race - I'm a million miles off the pace... but I get that signature!

There's something on my front tyre... not good for grip.

 

After the race I find oil on my boot... and some on the front wheel. The front fork had popped a seal and was pissing oil. Could explain the crash I had in qualifying. My hopes of doing better in Race 2 are dashed. I pack up and leave Oulton Park with what I came for - a Manx GP qualifying race. Five done... just one to go.

Oily boot - bad sign

The downfall...

Rye House Practice

After wallowing in the usual post Manx depression of normal life for two weeks, I got out to Rye House today for some flattrackin' practice.

 A beautiful, sunny day on the clay

All felt good... then I high-sided coming out of turn 2. Bike landed upside-down, I sprained both my thumbs. Not too much damage to the bike... decompression lever, gear lever, bent foot-peg and foot-peg bracket and a rear subframe that's now and inch and a half skew. Still rideable.

I got back out after they had watered the track. It was slippy as fook. I took it easy and got some more practice in - you never know when you might race on a track like this.

A newbie rider enjoying teh experience of sliiiiiiide

Between turn 3 and 4 I slid a bit too much... "I can save it..."... "I can save it..."... I can save it..."..."No I can't." I go down in a low-motion low-side. I guess I should have given up when my shoulder was grinding into the muddy dirt. I'm waiting to slop sliding... "Wham!"

That familiar feeling of being hit from behind. "Crunch!" The impact folds me over like an envelope and I grind to a stop with my face in the dirt and a front wheel pinning my head to the clay.

"Ooooofffff!" I'm winded. I scrabble out form under the other rider's bike... watch for other traffic and then bend over and breathe deep to get my breath back. Ronald Shamier had nowhere to go on that slithery surface and hit me square in the back. This is gonna hurt in the morning!

I did one more session but am starting to feel really beat-up. I pack up and leave early to give myself time to fix the bike. I got the bike all fixed, but not feeling to clever at the moment... not looking forward to getting up tomorrow... but looking forward to the last flattrack racin' of the year. :-)

Mobile workshop - I made it to my local bikestore before they closed to refit my rear tyre... the bead wasn't seated proper

 

Wear Protection

10 days ago I came off at King's Lynn and got hit in the back by another bike. Here's a good reason to wear proper protection when riding... especially when racing...

At first I thought is was just a smack in the back and some ripped leathers...

... then I got to the back protector. A few inches to the left and I would have been in trouble...

... 10mm alluminium honeycombe... NASA stuff and a hole mashed right through it!

A nice chunky flesh gouge over my lover spine and some bone 'n muscle bruising is all I got.

Getting hit with a pointy bit (rear brake lever) really does some damage. Pukka thick leather, ABS plastic and 10mm ally honeycombe saved me from a nasty injury. It still hurts now but sure am glad I went the extra mile and shelled out the cash for what I believe is some of the best protection out there.

Forget about tarty anodised bolts, bits of carbon, paint and bling that doesn't make you faster or keep you safer. Spend your moolah on practice... and protection.

Oh - and a bit of luck helps too.

Flattrack Practice

Sunday morning I was down at Rye House for a pre-season flattrack practice session

There were many sparkly new bikes there... including Stuart Lovell's beaut two-smoke



Most of the regulars were there... some, like me... had hardly touched thier bikes since the last ride of 2011

Stevie Coles has spent some time modifying his Thundarbike into this badd-ass mad-max creation... brilliant!

First session and all was going well...

Until too much rear brake locked the rear and stalled the engine... I go into the Graziano Rossi leg-drag style

As Jamie 'Full Lock or Death' Croydon says... "You can still save it dude". Lord knows... I tried. 

Doh!



Sometimes you just gotta pray...

A good time was had by all and despite many riders getting caught out by the slippery turn 3 (it almost got me in the fence a few times...), everyone left on thier own two feet.

Thanks driverchris for the action-shots!

Down the field

Found this pic from last winter when the fourfiddy hub got smashed and wasn't going anywhere. It was a long way back so tried getting a push from Ant and Mike on either side. It ended in tears... of laughter!