Cadwell Park Final Round

We turn up at Cadwell Park only needing 4 points to wrap it all up and be the National 1000cc Endurance Champions. We have already wrapped up the Michelin Cup Championship so the double is on.

With the potential for the weather to be a bit Grim and cold and have slicks for the weekend it could have all gone wrong...
Saturday morning and the track is soaked and cold and not drying any time soon so I sit out of morning warm up not wanting it all to end on a damp greasy track for no reason.

Andy’s out first for qualifying and the track is still greasy but dry, at the end of his session the track is looking good and I’m ready to go. With the mixed classes again it’s very hard to get some free track but I manage to get us on 5th position against some very fast teams knowing that with some free air we are not far off the pace.

Come the race and the sky is clear and the track is as dry and warm as it will ever get at the end of October. Game on. I get a cracking start into 3rd place and hold 3rd in line for some time matching the pace, Hudson comes past pretty quickly after a few laps to put us in 4th on track but 3rd in class, I hold this until the end although I do lose some time in the traffic and Mick on the sweatshop R1 closes time on me in the last few laps and is on my rear wheel as I pit. The stop goes well and Andy’s off for his stint.

2nd stint is soon upon me and its pretty drama free and goes very quickly – we are now holding 3rd place in class and as I come in I am told that the 2nd place team are out with engine problems so we are into 2nd place in class and 3rd on the road.

For my third stint we get in front of sweatshop to put us in the lead with one stop each to go – we suspect they will need a tyre change so the race for the win really is on now, I give it my all and the new Michelin slicks are holding fast and I can maintain my pace from the 1st stint – I am aware that I am not being forceful enough through the back markers even though I am trying to get through them quicker – again Mick is closing me down – they have had their last pit and gambled on not changing the rear tyre to save time which seems to have worked out ok for them. As I pit we are still P1 but Mick is very close, by the time Andy is on track we are p2 and not able to close the gap.

We finish in 2nd but close and it was a great race and once again we have proven our worth against some top riders and teams.

So, we are now National Endurance Champions. Excellent.

Big thanks to ALL involved, great season, great team, great win.

We are now looking at plans for 2011, TM72 will no longer be running as Andy is to hang up his gloves so we are looking at more options for next year – including more endurance and maybe some MRO racing as well if we can.

The biggest thanks has to go to Team TM72 for offering me the ride this season – I think I have done ok for you and I know we have had a lot of fun!