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Round
1: Anglesey, 17th July 2011
Saturday 16th July: We had
a trackday booked to get used to the track & bike ('97 Honda
Fireblade CBR 900 RRV) and the weather at 9am was wet, wet and windy.
So we had to change the tyres to wets. Unfortunately our bike has
a 16 inch front wheel and they don't make the control wets for a
16 inch wheel! So we had a wet on the back and a dry on the front.
I went out first.... I had two sighting
laps behind a control bike and then the open track began. I slipped
off at the hairpin on the first real lap!! No gas and no brakes
- just slipped off. Nothing wrong with me or the bike but ego and
confidence not in good shape. Then
the track dried out and we had to change back from wets to drys.
Experts at changing bike wheels now. The three of us did 20 mins
each hour on the two bikes and things got a wee bit better.
Sunday 17th July: Next morning is race day and we have 3 hours
to practice and qualifying to set our grid position - and it is
raining again first thing. The rain stopped during the briefing
and the 35 mph winds dried the track out quickly so we stayed on
drys. I felt much better. Jimmy, Ian's boy, 20 years old not long
passed his test and only been on a 30 bhp bike was improving every
lap. All in all we were doing ok. Qualified 36th out of a grid of
38 bikes but we were happy to still have the bike in one piece ready
for the race. We were about 15 second adrift from the pole sitter.It
was supposed to be a 4 hour endurance race for novices but we found
out that there were some race school instructors on the grid!
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Stopped for lunch and race briefing and when we came out the weather
was atrocious! 35mph wind and driving rain and complete grey skies.
Everyone runs back to their pits to change to wets. They had to
delay the start for 15 minutes. I am first out on a bike with a
wet on the back and a dry on the front - again.... and there was
driving rain and and standing water everywhere. Two sighting laps
behind the control bike and then a rolling start when he pulls in.
By the time he pulled in I was miles behind the first guy as I was
absolutely terrified of dropping it again. I stayed out for 35 mins
and then came into swap riders. By the time I was half way through
I was comfortable and made up 4 places. Well chuffed!!
Ian went on and did 20 mins before the race was stopped for a big
crash. He had to go out again as you cannot change rider or fuel
up when they are waiting in the pit lane. He later came in and changed
out and Jimmy went out. He had an off near the end of his stint
but manage to get the bike up again, get it started and ride it
back to the pits with no footstand at the gear lever side.
Got all the grass off the bike, put a new peg on, had the control
check on the bike and I went out again for another 35 mins. After
that Ian did his second stint, Jimmy went out again and we were
nearly finished!
Teams were getting into trouble with mechanical problems and crashes
and we were still running. I went out for the last stint and it
was still raining but by now the worst part was the wind at the
top of the hill - it was difficult to keep on line and lean going
round the hairpin.
Soon the flag was out and we had finished our first four hour endurance
race. We were 28th out of 38 ( 9th in Class with 8pts) and were
well pleased to have finished!
Ian and Jim had never been on a track
until the day before. Jim had never been on a powerful bike before.
None of us had ever been in a race before. We were on a road bike
cobbled together into a race bike. We had loads of stickers and
things but we had no idea what we were doing - we even forgot to
bring a wheel wrench so we had to borrow one!! And we were racing
against some excellent riders.
And in three weeks time we are at
Cadwell Park to do it all over again!! 7th August 2011
#60 - Dave, Ian & Jim
Results...
http://www.nobudgetcup.co.uk/downloads/NBC_Ranking_Anglesey.pdf
Media
Coverage....
Still Game Racing - http://www.stillgameracing.co.uk
Official No Budget
Cup Website - http://www.nobudgetcup.co.uk
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