EAST FORTUNE 13/14 SEPTEMBER 2003

Going into the last round of the championship I was leading the Open F400 class and 2nd in the Club Championship.
I needed to win !

We didn't have a great run up to the meeting. The weekend before, we changed the ignition system to a total loss type, which would save about 2.6kg and give better mid range power and response. It appeared to work, but we had to set the advance on the ignition before racing it to ensure optimal performance.
Down at the dyno however, the clutch started playing up and we found out that the pushrod bearing had collapsed. We still managed to get a couple of runs and set the ignition, but we had to fix the clutch through the week and it wasn't before Friday night at the race track that we got it completed.

Saturday was a great day, very windy, but warm. In practice the bike felt it was going well.

Formula 400 Race 1
I got away very well and led out of the first corner. I began to pull out a healthy lead and was well settled by the third lap. That's when I passed a bike lying in the field and one on the track and it was at the next corner that the red flags were out.
It turned out that my friend Colin had a bad accident and needed to be taken to the hospital. He had broken his left wrist, two right fingers and some other bones in his hand.

The re start didn't go so well for me, but I didn't find it too difficult moving up the field and was leading be lap 3. I held the lead and kept going to win the race healthily. This was great and as I came in to the paddock was informed that I had won the Open Championship !!!! (with a race on Sunday to spare).

John had come down from Moto-cal to help with the supermoto and he had worked wonders with the brake and engine to get it running the best it had been all season. I had no fears going out on it and felt comfortable going fast on it.

Supermoto Race 1
I've always had a problem getting into second of the line and this was no exception. For some reason it dosen't like going into second from a fast start, so I got into the first corner last.!
It wasn't long before I was catching and passing people and each lap I moved up the field.
I was really enjoying myself on the MZ (for the first time since my accident in April)
I felt also that I was faster than before on it and was closer to the guys in front. I got a very creditable 5th.
Neil was out in a one off race on the Husqvarna and did very well considering he hasn't raced for 9 years. He was doing it for sponsorship for the Benevolent Fund and Scottish Association Of Bikers With A Disability.

Formula 400 Race 2
My start was a bit average in this race, but I got into the front after lap 2. I felt OK and continued to go at the front. On lap 7 however I saw a front wheel at the hairpin and knew I was going to have to really defend my lead in the last lap.
Coming into the hairpin on the last lap, I took a defensive line, but was passed on the outside and inside at the same time. "No problem" I thought, these guys have lost speed getting past me I'll get them back on the drag up to the last complex….when No. 26 came steaming right across me and nearly put me and one of the other guys off. As a result I was up out of the seat and only managed to recover, to finish 4th.
I was really pissed off at the guy who cut me up as It meant I lost 6 points to the guy I was contesting the championship with.

Supermoto Race 2
I had my usual start, last into the first corner, and was enjoying myself catching up and passing guys on the brakes.
The MZ was still braking well (no fade) and the engine was revving better than before, but the wind was holding it back, so I made a mental not to change the gearing for Sunday.
I finished 4th, my best finish to date.

There was a bit of bad feeling about No 26 that cut us up at the hairpin in the F400 race that evening in the pits and it wasn't just from our team!

SUNDAY
I sneaked off home on the Saturday night, to get a good night's sleep and was picked up by Orla on her way back to the circuit the next day.

There was only one practice and it went well on the Supermoto. I was black flagged (told to leave the circuit on the F400 practice as my fairing had become loose) this was because of the incident the day before and we hadn't noticed that one of the fasteners had been torn out.
It was no problem and we got it fixed.

Formula 400 Race 1
This was the club race and I had to do well in it.
My start was only OK, and I was 4th out of the second corner, It was difficult getting a good pace up and I was passed by another bike on lap 3. After this things began to pick up and I monopolised on the inconsistencies of the guys in front to pass them.
By the last lap I was in the lead, only to be passed by my adversary (in a good move) at the fast Esses 1. It was a good result, but made the job of winning the championship even more difficult.
I was experiencing a lot of movement at the back at the fast Pates corner and Snake (an off camber right then left), and when I looked at the tyre after the race it was badly torn as if it was past its usable life. We opted to change it for a new Supercorsa SC1 before the next race.

Supermoto Race 1
John and I had decided that I would just not use 1st gear to pull away, but use 2nd instead. It would mean less acceleration but at least I would have drive instead of fishing for 2nd gear, while everyone else disappeared off round the first corner.
It worked quite well and I got a better start. We had a larger back sprocket on as the wind was still strong down the back straight and it was working very well. However the bike was now dropping out of 5th gear a wee bit which didn't help, but was still going well despite this.
I got a 5th in this first race.
Neil was out on a borrowed KTM Duke to complete his sponsored race and finished very creditably in 10th and earning £700 for the Benevolent Fund and SABD.

Formula 400 Race 2
I managed to get in front of my adversary quite early and the new tyre was a world of difference. It installed a lot more confidence in my cornering and I felt a lot better. I was in third by lap 3 and was closing in, on no less than No 26 !
Coming round Pates I could sense I had him within a lap or two.
Closing in, coming round Esses 1 I saw a wee puff of blue smoke come up in front of the tank and I lost power.
I looked back at Esses 2 to see a huge cloud of blue smoke coming out the exhaust. RACE OVER!

We were a bit gutted, but then there's nothing you can do. At least I had won the Open Championship.
It looks as if it was the head gasket that blew !!

Supermoto Race 2
John had lowered the gear lever to see if it would give me more leverage to change gear but it didn't work too well. I found that I just couldn't change gear at all and I ended up finishing 7th. Oh well at leat we tried it.

Supermoto Race 3
Back to the standard gear angle I got a good start in second gear, and was with the lead pack until I had to change to 5th. Then it kept jumping back to 4th.
Every time I came up to pass someone and change up to 5th it would drop back down to 4th.
I still managed to make this the best Supermoto race of the day for me and I was having an absolutely great time on it, dicing with the people I had just passed, who had passed me back as the bike fell back into 4th gear.
Coming into the last corner I so very nearly got Third place as I tried to cut inside the No 3 guy, but he just closed up before I could get passed.
5th gear would have meant an easy 2nd place in this race !! Oh well….

So all in all a very mixed weekend, but I had proved what I could do on the Supermoto and I had won the Melville F400 Open Championship.

So The Barking Spider Team will be off to the Melville Dance this year to collect the trophy.

Thank you to John for giving so much of his time to get the MZ to a competitive level over the last month. If the gearbox can be sorted, It is definitely a force to reckon with in 2004, so watch out for it!

Thanks to my sponsors and everyone who helps make it possible.

Peter Drummond Investments
www.MAGsport.com
www.sabd.org.uk Scottish Bikers with a Disability
Moto-cal (Edinburgh)
www.readitandweep.net
www.saddletramps.org.uk
Race Paint Ecosse by Andy Thompson
City Couriers
Cheers Brian Bud
Russell at York Barbers, Edinburgh
Zoom Racing products
EBC
Swona Exhausts

John Harding
Herbie Maclean
Howard Selby Motors (North Berwick)