RACE REPORT CADWELL PARK

ROUNDS 1&2    25-26 MARCH

Well here we go. The start of the NEW ERA 2006 season kicked off at a cold and windy Cadwell park. We arrived on the Thursday evening, to set up for the official test day which was scheduled for Friday the 24th of March and all was not well. The fantastic weather of Thursday had been replaced with torrential rain and my first track outing of 2006 was to be on a soaking wet track, with two brand new tyres and new brake pads,

 I looked at Stacy, and suddenly wondered what I was doing here!

       The final preparations were made to the bike (affixing all of the new bodywork, painted fantastically by Mick from A1 custom paint, the R&G crash protection supplied by Simon Hughes of R&G, and the decals supplied by Jen Rock from AnarchyUK.

Once the bike was finished, looking at last like a race bike, it finally dawned on me that this defiantly was not just another track day and that I was finally going to compete in my first ever race! It’s amazing how quickly adrenalin can hit you!

 After what seemed like ages, it’s finally my turn to take to the track. For those of you who have never been to Cadwell park, it’s a daunting track at the best of times, let alone in the pissing rain with two new dry tyres! The tracks surface was incredibly slick and I had more than a few front and rear slides before I force myself to relax and ride smoother. It was my mission just to make it round, and try to remind myself of the track layout which was nothing like I remembered having not been there in four or so years.

I managed to make it round right way up for the two sessions and the track was now starting to dry, lap times coming down with every lap and I’m now starting to feel comfortable on the bike, deciding to make some fairly big changes for the third session which I never got to try, as our last session was cancelled due to oil from a crashed bike in the session before we were due to go out. Bugger. But mission accomplished, the bike was still in one piece, and I had worked out where the track went so all was fairly good.

                                    Saturday 25th round 1 qualifying

Saturday morning and I feel like I have hardly slept. The rain came down all night and drummed off of the top of the transit keeping me awake, not an ideal start to say the least.

I decided to make the most of being woken up at ‘o my god it’s early’ and walked the track. Its amazing how much more detail you pick up from walking the track, being able to get a better look at the way the track flows, surface changes, and camber changes.

 Back in the paddock, the final checks are made to the bike, oil, water, tyre pressures and a general look over to make sure nothing is falling off. Then it’s on with the tyre warmers and the waiting game begins.

  Qualifying takes place on a damp but drying track and I have to keep reminding myself to run at my own pace, its easy to get sucked in by someone faster than you and for it all to go wrong, after all, there is no glory in crashing before you even make it to the grid! The bike feels good, but is still set up a little too soft from the wet practice, and for some reason the new clutch is slipping for three of the seven laps of qualifying and I still don’t have the confidence that the bike will grip, new tyres still playing on my mind.

Results are in, I have placed 18th out of 45, not a bad effort as I still feel that im tip-toeing round, and I know that I have so much more to come. The tyres are scrubbed in, the track is nearly dry, and my head is in good shape.

                                                                      Race 1

We are called into the collecting area for the formation lap, and it’s the first real chance to get a look at the competition. There is a wide mix of bikes, ranging from near stock to bikes that wouldn’t look out of place in a works team garage! We are directed to the grid for the warm up lap and released one row at a time, and I can’t believe it the clutch is still slipping! I do my best to get some heat into the clutch on the warm-up lap and pray it will be ok for the race, and for the last half of the warm-up lap, it stops slipping. Things are looking good. I take my place on the grid and wait for the flag man to warn us that the grid is ready to start. Flag goes up; engage first gear, waiting for the lights to come on then disaster! The bike starts to creep forwards as the clutch drags and the only thing I can do to avoid a jump-start is to hit the front brake which causes the engine to stall! I desperately try to get the bike restarted but the clutch wont disengage, and then the grid lights go out and the entire field passes me on the start. By the time I finally manage to get the bike going, the whole grid is out of sight around the first corner talk about a difficult start! The rest of the race becomes a blur as I try to claw my way back through the field. Six laps later, and I cross the line in 21st over all and 6th in class, not a bad recovery but hardly a good start to the weekend.

Race 2

After my riding in the first race I know that if I get a good start for the second race I can get a decent result. The clutch problem now sorted by adjustment and I’m well pumped for the start. I take my place on the grid, staring at the first corner knowing what I have to do. I wait till the very last moment to engage first gear and the lights go out. Revs rise, clutch fed out, and I’ve done it! I manage to leap everybody on the row in front of me but as we get away, a rider on the front row has managed to flip his bike and im now heading straight for it as all hell brakes loose around me. I manage to just avoid the carnage but get clipped on the arm by a bit of stray bodywork but five other riders turned out not to be so lucky as they either hit the fallen bike or hit each other as they try to avoid it. I keep the throttle pinned anyway to the first corner but the red flags come out as expected. Twenty minutes later we are reformed on the grid and told we will have one more warm up lap, and that the race will be cut to 4 laps from 6 and we are also told that everybody got away without injury from the start line crash. The only problem is that the adrenalin I was riding high on for the first start has now gone and I feel drained, the lights go out and I make a decent start but my riding is anything but consistent, and I fail to get into any sort of rhythm but manage to hold off a cluster of riders to finish 16th over all and 4th in class.

                                                 Sunday 26th  round 2 race 1 

Wake up again at stupid o’clock as its freezing in the back of the van, Stacy still sound asleep beside me. I lie there with my eyes closed and visualise the track in my head trying to see what im doing and how I can change it for the better. I know that if my head is in the right place I can defiantly score a top three finish and must complete at least twenty laps in my head. I know I can do this. The day’s events start a little later on the Sunday as the qualifying positions from Saturday dictate the grid positions for Sunday. Its rained again over night but the sky is now blue and a strong wind is drying the track nicely. I get myself psyched up for the first race and try to forget the dramas of the day before. I arrive at the holding area and find that the organisers have decided to send the GP 125 class out with us. A little unexpected but not a problem as they have there own race to run. I arrive on the grid to see that all the victims of the start line crash are all back on their bikes and un hurt. But I guess I have an advantage because I’m sure the incident will be playing on their minds, or so I hope. Lights go out and I make another good start but manage to get muscled out a little at the first corner, damn some of those bikes are fast! I manage to make up a few places over the next two laps and end up in a dice with another VFR who completely rips away from me every time we get on a straight bit of track, but I manage to make it all up in the fast corners and under braking, but he comes back past me on the start/finish line on the fifth lap only for the race to be red flagged because a 125 and a 400 have had a fairly big off at one of the fastest sections of the track. This means that the results are taken from the last completed lap so I manage to finish 15th over all and 3rd in class, top three in my first meeting! Not a bad effort if I say so myself.

                                                        Round 2 race 2

I get the results confirmed from the first race, and discover that the results are decided on aggregate so if I finish third or better for the second race I get to take a trophy home! I try to not let this play on my mind as I prepare for the race but the shiny silver cup is stuck in my head and I want it! I form up on the grid and look around me, searching for the orange vests of the other novice class riders, I can see five in front of me but have already told myself that I can beat them, I just have to hope my body agrees with my head! Warm up lap completed and its time for business. Hook first gear, revs rise lights out go! I make a terrific start and manage to pass two of them before the first corner but the no.6 kawasaki ahead of me on the grid also makes a great start and we are side by side into the first bend but he has the line for the second bend and once we are on to the back straight, his extra 20 bhp makes itself clear as he starts to pull off into the distance, he’s clearly not going to make it easy for me! We blitz through a fair few slower riders but every time I make ground on him, the extra power just puts him clear of me again. Time to start out thinking him as well as out riding him. I plan to make my move at turn two and three which leads onto the back straight. I let him gap me into turn one so that I can have a clear run through the fast complex of turns two and three and hope I can carry enough corner speed to get the drop on him onto the straight. It works! I carry massive speed onto the back straight and manage to get into his slipstream so he can basically tow me down the straight. I’m close enough to know that I can out brake him at the end of the straight and as I prepare to make my move, his team mate does exactly the same thing to me! Two people to pass for my trophy! Time for a rethink, I brake hard and early for the end of the straight in the hope that he will out brake himself and I can run in hot to re-pass him for forth. It almost works, and we end up running side by side all the way round the fastest section of the track. knee down, forth gear and close enough to each other to be able to read his rev counter!    He cuts across me at the next bend called the goose neck and I try and out brake him at the down hill left hander of mansfeild but he cuts across me again, this continues for the run through hall bends and onto the start finish straight. I decide to try to go around the outside at turn one, easier said than done, turn one being taken flat in fifth gear at approx 120 mph. I manage to get along side him but he has the line for turn two and we almost touch as he swipes across the front of me causing me to brake hard while still lent over but he also manages to upset his own rhythm and as we exit onto the back straight he misses a gear and allows me to close on him! I set myself up to out brake him at the end of the straight and he has no reply as I sail past on the brakes. One down one to go. I manage to spot the other Kawasaki some 60 meters ahead of me and we are on the penultimate lap. I try not to focus on him and only think about my riding knowing that I have to be inch perfect to stand a chance of catching him up and I pull it off, gaining ground on him all the way round the fastest section of the track towards the goose neck. I brake late at the downhill left hander of mansfeild, and he is within touching distance. I exit mansfeild and head towards the chicane and plan to out brake him there as he has left some space on the inside, so I put my bike where his bike needs to be. He sees me and try’s to muscle me out but I hold my ground and we touch as he turns into me but I stick to my guns and he has to give way, and exits across the grass as I go through the chicane and manage to get in front of him at last I keep the advantage to the start finish line and start the last lap, expecting to see the Kawasaki come past at any moment but he doesn’t come past and I put my head down and end up setting my fastest lap of the weekend on the final lap, touching my left foot peg down through turn one at 120mph and keep it tidy for the rest of the lap coming in seven seconds ahead of the two kawasakis. As I come into the paddock, Stacy informs me that I have actually finished second in class as one of the guys in front of me crashed out. So on aggregate I end up second in class and take my first trophy and a hat with a big number 2 on it not a bad weekend’s work I suppose!

  I would like to thank all of the following people, without whom I wouldn’t have been racing and they are;

 Mr Roland Nowak of Nova Consulting who is my title sponsor,

 Mr Mark Willsmore who runs/owns the fantastic ACE café and sponsors my transport,

Ms Jen Rock of AnarchyUK for the excellent design of the bike and all the vinyl stickers, Mick at A1 custom paint for the fantastic paintwork,

Mr Simon Hughes at R&G for the excellent crash mushrooms, toe guard and knee sliders

And the boys of AWOL, the best up and coming stunt team in the UK!

Extra pictures and all race reports can be viewed exclusively on the AWOL web site

And a huge thank you to my lovely girlfriend Stacy for being my pit crew, putting up with me over the weekend, and generally just being lovely.

 Contacts at www.novaconsulting.co.uk  www.acecafelondon.com www.awolstunts.com   www.anarchyuk.co.uk  anybody wishing to join the band wagon with sponsorship can contact me, MATT LIDDY at slider79@hotmail.com