Brands GP

With the next round of the BSB championship using the GP circuit being only 2 weeks away it was a sure fire bet that the grid would be full of riders testing for that event – and that’s exactly as it was!

I had ridden the gp circuit on the Hornet in 2005 on a track day and haven’t been back since so the first session I was just finding my feet and seeing which way to go, predictably we were pretty low down the order but I had an idea of settings now and better indication of braking points – although we only got 6 laps in first qaul to find these things out.

2nd Qual and we weren’t expecting miracles but I clicked with the circuit ok and knocked another 3 seconds of the time to get us 14th on the grid with a pretty decent time really – considering we were still on old tyres and had only done 12 laps of the circuit against a grid full of lads who have been and done it all before.
At this point I feel ok about the track and make some subtle changed to the bike – the go slow weekend at Snett recently paid off as the bike was very good - the best its been for sure. We had a couple of new rear tyres (thanks! – you know who you are!) so we popped on a new one for the 1st race. I nailed the start and was up into the top ten round druids – I was behind a blade and he got trapped mid corner meaning I also got trapped and all the places I made where lost, I rode really well for the rest of the race and had some lovely overtakes with a gaggle of riders I was with - learning where I could make a move and where I couldn’t – I tried into the left hander that takes you onto the gp circuit – ran wide and lost loads of time losing me a few places and dropping me from the group – I try to catch and cross the finish line next to him again after making up the lost time –setting my fastest lap on the chase. I dropped another second from my times and feel really good about my achievements from the day. 13th over the line but 6th MRO regular (5th in class)

Sunday morning and we try some more settings in morning warm up that seem to work. For the first race I get another corking start but track knowledge plays against me a bit here – I try a few overtakes that don’t work and make some mistakes – my fastest lap was quicker but I don’t feel I have ridden as well – but saying that I went faster again and had been and trying to get past people so I can’t be too hard on myself, If I had just sat there and followed people it would kinda defeat the object! 14th over the line and 6th MRO regular again (5th in class)
About an hour before the last race it starts to drizzle and track is wet one minute and dry the next, we don’t have any inters so we leave on the same tyres and save the new rear for another day – I had the intention that if it was too wet I would pull in. However on the line its dry and again another good start – its still drizzling over the back of the circuit and I back off a bit too much early on and lose the group, the Indy circuit is dry and I still don’t have the grip I had earlier so I hold station with then but the rain gets a bit heavier and with a huge gap behind me a call it weekend and cruise the last few laps to cross the line in 15th (7th MRO regular 6th in Class)

All in all a very worth while weekend – I learnt the track – got some good settings and posted some times that in the superstock races of last year would have been very competitive on my first visit – I am sure in the right condition I would have bettered that on the last race.

Anyway the next round is back to Snetterton and I start the search for the funds to get back there with the new settings and really get stuck in. As always any help is always appreciated!