Melville F600 Champioships at East Fortune 17/18 April 2004
After Darley Moor, the bike only needed an oil change, although Neil gave it a full check over to make sure it was OK.
Most of my time since Darley Moor has been spent getting the FZR 400 sold and sorting out a place for the team caravan to be stored. A caravan is a wonderful thing when its cold at the beginning of the season and when we have two day meetings at Croft and East Fortune………….but its like having the plague when you want somewhere to store it…..well, would you like a caravan in your front garden ?!
Ironically enough, there is a storage area for caravans no more then 200m from the East Fortune circuit gate…..problem solved !
The spare forks had arrived back from Maxton and we replaced the standard units with these on Friday night at the circuit.
The weather throughout the weekend was forecast as changeable and IT WAS….very changeable.
Saturday morning started off lovely and dry, which meant I could get out and get some dry practice, which went well. The bike was very lively going into fast corners, but I left the settings as they were, because I was getting faster and didn’t want to change too much right away (this was a bit of a mistake).
Saturday
Race 1
I got an average start; the 600 is a difficult bike to get off the line, it just wants to wheelie! It takes a completely different start technique to the 400, which demands full revs and throttle.
I got through the first corner in about 7th or 8th and began to work my way up the field, getting into 6th by lap 2. Unfortunately, the race was stopped due to a crash at Snake.
The re-start saw me get a similar start to the first, but I got into about 6th place by end of lap 1. There was a bit of hairy riding going on in front of me and I began to hunt down the two in 5th and 4th. On lap three, I was closing on them, but as I came into the 4th gear Pates, I lost the front end on braking and slid the bike about 100m down into the run off area.
That was my lesson in not adjusting the front suspension, when I had the chance. I reckon it was (as well as me braking too hard) the compression damping being too low and the forks were bottoming out under braking, leaving no room to absorb any small unevenness on the track surface.
Luckily there was not much damage (just a few scrapes and a footpeg), thanks to the Harris fairing protectors that Neil had fitted.
Race 2
It had rained and was not dry yet, as we went out onto the circuit. I had decided to just take it steady and finish, especially when the conditions were damp. I held a steady pace and finished 10th. No heroics, but I needed to finish to get my confidence back.
On Saturday night we all went up to Edinburgh to see Read It and Weep play at L’attache night club. The band had agreed with the promoter, that 2 of the £3 from tickets sold before the event could go to the Barking Spider Race Team. Together with Neil, Orla and Mette; Helen, Elaine, Jeff and Rachel were there along with Keith from the Saddletramps.
Sunday
When I got up at 6am, I was full of confidence that the torrential rain, which was falling, would stop and it would be a glorious day……….it didn’t quite work out that way!
It was raining all the way down to East Fortune and just kept raining all through practice.
It went well in practice however, the suspension settings were very good for the wet and the bike felt really stable, despite being on full wet tyres.
Race 1
The rain had just stopped, but there was no way it was drying, there was just so much surface water.
My start was quite bad, due to a monster wheelie, but I settled in quickly and had a lot of confidence in the suspension settings, so began to get faster….and faster. I was getting my knees down on several corners. I’ve never done this in the wet before!
I kept as smooth as possible and passed people on each lap, to get into 6th by lap 5. This was the way the race finished and I was very happy, I knew I could improve on this in future races.
Race 2
It rained off and on throughout the day, but due to stoppages we managed to change the wheels about 4 times, going from wets to dry tyres and back again. By the time the second race came, we had opted to go for full wet tyres. It was a gamble !
On the warm up lap I discovered that most of the track was dry, so I knew my tyres would get too hot and begin to lose grip early.
I got a blistering start!…Third, behind the lead tuned bikes (and in front of 32), I stuck with the lead two (who were on dry tyres) until lap three when I had to back off due to the tyres getting too hot and drifting badly on several corners. I was passed by one bike then on lap 4 I was passed by another. The race was stopped due to an accident on lap 4 and declared as a result.
So a fifth place was my result, the best of the weekend. It was definitely a good move adjusting the suspension, as it really helped the stability into the fast corners.
I will be racing at Darley Moor (Derby) on the 8th of May to get the last of the suspension settings sorted before the TT.
I have had my entry accepted for the Junior TT (No 74), but not the Production race. This is because the event is so oversubscribed, but I will put my name down on the reserve list for the Production race in the hope that someone drops out and I can get a second race.
Thanks to Al Cameron of www.dominioncinemas.co.uk for donating a set of his ex race tyres for us to raise money for the team and thanks to Keith Wright from the Saddletramps for being the pit bimbo for the weekend (sexy!!???).
Lastly but not least; thanks to Orla for taking care of us with food and lots of coffee during the weekend and promoting SABD at the same time.
Thanks to all the sponsors and everyone who supports the team.