Weather was very cold 3-6degrees, wet in the morning, dry by lunchtime for the rest of the day.
Managed to get out in 6 sessions, two wet, four dry. I spent most of the day sorting out various issues and problems on the bike as it was my first time out on it. Sorted out brake lever positions, throttle position, handlebars, gear lever angel (so I could get my foot under to change gear).
Main jets are very important on two stroke GP bikes so I jetted it rich to help stop hot and cold seizures.
Due to the cold weather and the requirement for these bikes to maintain corner speed for good lap times most people where taking it pretty steady with few crashes during the day.
The quick shifter on the bike was one of issues that I wanted to get used to, never having used one, but I could not get it working so I dismissed it as something to fix another time.
The bike was also losing water every session making it run hot, as I could not find a leak whilst stationary I tighten up all the hose clamps which seemed to work. I had also to figure out what was the best final gearing to use and ended up running with high gearing to help stop wheel spin in the cold weather.
I had also fitted new disc’s to the front wheel from my old bike and for the first couple of sessions I had front end wobble, until I had the wheel balanced in between sessions.
The Superb fresh paint job by Anarchy got a few compliments from others in the paddock.
All in all the day went well with no mishaps, so went home looking forward to Qualifying, but it would be touch and go as to what the weather was up to.
Saturday
Qualifying 1
Our first qualifying session was wet/damp with temp still under 5 degrees. I went out on wets and gave them a couple of laps to warm up before upping the pace a bit. Towards the end of the 15 minute session a dry line started to appear just of the apex of most corners.
The bike was running well jetting wise but there seemed to be something a bit weird about the front end, both on the brakes and tipping into the corner.
I ended the session qualifying 16th which was pretty good on 57 second lap without pushing hard as it’s a long weekend to get through.
It was good to see some of AWOL crew who turned up to support the cause at this stage.
I was also still convinced that the front forks are slightly out of line (twisted).
Qualifying 2
Out mid afternoon on slicks this time with the same drill of letting the tyres get up to some sort of temp before upping the pace. I had tried before going out to bleed my front brake system as they had been spongy since Friday but without much luck. In fact they got worse! As such all through the session I was being out braked by people.
I finished my qualifying for the races in 22nd on a 55 second lap, which for me is quite slow, but confident I could go at least a couple of seconds a lap quicker in the races.
Superpole
This is a new format for GP class in MRO. It’s a short race for the top boys to ballet it out for the front row of the grid, for everyone else its just track time!
It was getting to dusk by the time the race formed up on the grid (1655hrs) and some riders had voiced concerns about racing in the cold in bad light conditions but any way we all formed up after the warm up lap.
I had a bad start, bogging the engine. I managed to make some ground going in to the first corner but then got baulked by another rider going round the outside just as I was planning to do! I managed to ride round two or three people at Druids and then going into Graham Hill Bend all hell let lose. Four bikes went down, I had to take avoiding action and take to the grass, but not before hitting another bikes offside exhaust which when it drove away, was bent up at a 45 degree angle!
By the time I got onto the track again (swearing and cursing) the red flags came out to stop the race. One rider had broken his wrist and there where some second hand looking bikes a while later in the paddock. The race was postponed for completion until the following morning.
On inspection back in the pit garage I found that the other riders exhaust has smashed into the left front of my faring, ruining the pristine condition of the paint job! Swine.
Sunday
Race Day
The weather was still cold at 4-5 degree but dry and the sun trying to make an appearance once on a while. I changed the gearing to give me more acceleration and fitted a new slick to run in during the 5 minute warm up, which ended up going quite well with 3 laps completed and another 55 second lap putting me 12th quickest, but making no difference to my grid positions for the races.
Superpole Race – Rerun
Another warm up lap done and we formed up on the grid, me in 22nd, row 6 in the middle. Lights went out and I got an OK start, not losing ground on the first corner. At Druids I managed to get past a couple of riders and going down to Graham Hill got stuck behind a rider who was penny biting the corner so for safety a decided not to overtake going in. I got past him on the ‘Cooperstraight’ towards Surtess with my eye on the next three or four riders perhaps 30 metres ahead.
I got into Clearways well and made ground on them, as they where bunched I decided to go on the outside to get the drag on them on the start/finish straight. I had been on the power coming out of the corner when one of them had a massive high-side (I assume cold tyres with too much power on).
I had to make a very quick decision what to do. His bottom faring had been ripped off and was going across the track followed by the bike AND the rider. The chance was I would hit one of the three at 70-80mph with some very painful results, so I took to the gravel trap.
I managed to miss everything and scrubbed off a lot of speed in the gravel and kept the bike up right however the tyre wall was coming up quickly and I knew I would not stop before hitting it. I made the decision to dump the bike into the gravel before it hit, which I did.
I stood up PDQ and got over the tyre wall just in case anyone else had been caught up in the accident and was coming my way!
Once out of the way I then started F##ing and Blindin at the rider as my bike looked well trashed. Gravel is not good to a two strokes with airscoops! The rider actually looked a little second hand limping and being carried out the way by the track Marshalls. He ended up in the Medic Centre for a check over. I had twisted a knee, banged my shoulder and wrenched a wrist back a bit and looked a bit dusty from the gravel!
Our bikes where recovered after the race for inspection and that was when I saw all the damage done in the crash. All three pieces of the bodywork where either broken or scratched. One exhaust was flattened, foot peg gone, brake lever bent, front brake master cylinder broken, exhaust brackets cracked and about 4lb of gravel in the airbox!
Although I could have probably found the spares for most of the parts I had spent most of my budget getting the bike ready in the two weeks since I had bought it so I decided to finish the day at that point and put it down to racing. A point to note is that the rider that came off was the same rider who’s exhaust I had ran into the day before in the Superpole race!
By the time I got the bike back to the pit garage I realised how lucky I had been as of the three GP250’s in our garage none of us had finished the race. One had lost the front end and slid into the barrier punching a hole in his helmet, and the others bike had seized the crank.
So I packed up my kit and took a very frustrated journey home. It had been a long hard two weeks from getting the bike to getting on the track. AWOL and Anarchy had done an excellent job turning round the paint job in the time available.
Anyway at least we are at a stage where we know what all the issue’s are with the bike, so we should have them sorted before we go out again.
