Not to much to write here really – lots happened but don’t wanna bore you all away! We sold the Triumph and have a GSXR 1000 K8 road bike that we are converting into a race bike. All standard with exhaust and race tyres.

The bike was as ready as it could be at the moment, all road gear removed, painted and stickered with some sticky rubber. Friday test day was HOT, and we ran it in through the first few sessions, the standard suspension was a mile out so Colin worked his magic which improved it a lot. Was lovely being back on a proper bike again and I felt really at home on it –remember I haven’t ride a thou since 2003 and that was an underpowered old R1 back then! By the end of Friday I was getting somewhere near the pace but lots of little things were holding me back, the bars were too narrow and were really killing my upper body trying to heave it around and the suspension was cooking in the heat and giving up after 4 or 5 laps which really didn’t help! My feet were draggin on the floor with the standard pegs and right up my ass with the rear sets on.

Saturday was race day, although I was really treating it as a test session rather than a race – I was 24th on the grid and really enjoyed the bike fighting through to 13th and getting faster every time I sat on it. For the 2nd race we had qualified earlier in the day and I was 8th on grid, not too bad again for a first ride I thought, I got a great start and got through to 4th before losing a spot or two when I over shot Mansfield – I thought the front tyre had gone flat but it ended up all being ok so I guess the suspension was cooked again in the heat - I pulled in to give it a bolt check and everything was to be ok for the next race.

In between events Colin from 100% Suspension continued his valuable support and we arranged a deal to get a Ohlins on the rear as I was just getting knackered every time I rode the bike because I could not make it turn, we couldn’t do anymore with the forks and they were all over the place.

For the last race the shock made a big difference and I could tip it in much better, it was still not holding a line due to the front end but much improved – I got another good start but unfortunately the damage was done and I was so tired I couldn’t really improve and ended up 7th again.

Sunday
Much the same, relentless heat really finished me off, I qualified 7th for the mail race and started 7th on the grid for the first heat, I was holding 3rd popping in my fastest times of the weekend when the red flags came out and we were held on the track cooking in the heat – from the restart I was in third but getting very tired, on lap 3 I over shot at mansfiled onto the grass – again – and lost a place so I pulled in and called it a day.

Over all a really good start on the new toy, kinda competitive on the first outing in a fast grid with a couple of BSB superstock boys out to play too. Watch this space!