CARNABY (S YORKSHIRE) 19.05.02
The Spiders are barking !
Our second visit to Carnaby and Colin Stewart’s first went extremely well.
I didn’t want to take the FZR racing so close to TT and I’m extremely grateful to Lawrence Shepherd for lending me his ZXR 400.
I must admit I was really nervous about racing so close to TT because if I injured myself, I would have no time to recover.
Anyway, Colin took all three bikes down in the van, which allowed Neil and me to drive a little faster by taking the car (Thanks Colin).
Carnaby 2 uses the short circuit I raced on before and another loop which is almost as big, to give a track over 2 miles long. It is all super grippy tarmac, so we were looking forward to it. There were a lot of chicanes and tight technical corners and this would make racing quite physical and testing.
There was a lot to do, on the Sunday morning. Graemes bike had to have a different sprocket fitted, and a new brake master cylinder fitted.
Lawries bike also needed a little work….the battery had exploded at a previous meeting and the bike wouldn’t run properly without a good battery. Luckilly the shop had one. The brakes were also er….well…..SOFT !?
In the first practice session things were going really well, Graeme was right up my tail all the way round. So he was obviously feeling more confident with his new set up.
Going through a chicane with room for one bike, an R1 cut right in and forced me to clip a bale, which moved out into the track and Graeme hit it full on.
Luckilly he stayed on and we finished the session, but there were a few words exchanged with the rider with no etiquette, later. Even under race conditions this sort of thing is not acceptable, but in practice it was a bit too much.
The 1st Formula 400 was great. Despite going from 4th to about 9th at the first corner, because of a two rider fall, I managed to get back up the field. Graeme was in front of me, but theyre’s no team orders with the Barking Spiders, so we diced it out for a few laps, until I got past him. To finish in 4th position. This was more than I had expected on a borrowed bike which I had never ridden before, on track which was new to me.
Lawries bike was going really well , it handled really well. I hadn’t touched the suspension at all and it felt great on the corners.
In the Second class (Clubman’s 400) I got boxed in by two TZ 250’s, after a blinder of a start. Lawrie’s bike is really quick off the line. Graeme got past me again and I had to play catch up. It was great, I had some really good dices with RS 250’s and 400’s and I finished this class in 7th, which was great considering I was up against GP 250’s
In the Second Formula 400 race my start went well and I got away from ROW 5 grid position very well. Again I had some great dices with quite a few guys and in particular with an RS 250 who passed me. I followed him and could not get past for a few laps, but I picked my moment and slingshot him at the last corner, beating him over the line by a half a bike length to come in 6th. As the results are taken as an aggregate of the two races I was given 4th, which meant I was awarded a trophy. My first of the year!
This means that I won the sweep with Colin Stewart and Andy Bennet(drag racer) (in the Blind Beggar) for which of us would win a trophy first this year. So get the wallets out boys!
The day had been going really well, Graeme was finishing well up the field with a 6th in the first race and a 9th in the second.
In the last Clubman’s 400 race, I was put on a 4th row at the grid…again…but I got a blinder of a start and got up to third at the first corner. A TZ passed me just as I was going in and put me back to 4th. It was great, even although there was hard competition behind me I managed to hold my position and I finished the race comfortably in 4th.
The prizes again were based on aggregate and I got an aggregate 5th, which meant prize money for the first time in my race career (£20). It wasn’t the money (it might as well have been 20p. But it was the principle. I had won prize money.
So a trophy and prize money in the same day against very good opposition was brilliant.
This racing is really fast and furious….just what we want!!!!!!!
I could not have done it if it had not been for the efforts of Neil, who worked like a navvy to sort out some of the running problems we had, and there were a few I can tell you.
THANK YOU Mr BLACK………
Have you had a look at www.twattit.co.uk yet ? if not why not. We are in there with a write up of the team.
Duncan