Race Report - Darley 16/17th April 2005 (North Gloucester)
Let's face it (and for those of you that don't know), Darley Moor is shit hole of a circuit, with absolutely atrocious facilities and the circuit itself being dangerous in lots of places with very little run off. But having said that, I usually do quite well there and actually got my first piece of silverware for a third place in the Novice 400 race during the 2003 season, so I suppose it can't be that bad!
We left for the circuit late afternoon on Friday from Lesley's house, which is only about 50 minutes from Darley so an easy journey compared to a lot of the circuits. We got there about 6.30pm and once we'd found Glen Watterson, Nick Pusey and the others, we set about unloading the van. First priority was to get the bike scrutineered as that means a lie in on Saturday morning rather than having to get up early to get it done, so we just dumped everything out of the van and I legged it to the scroots bay to get it sorted just about in time.....I was the last one they did before closing up for the night!
Saturday Races
I signed on Saturday morning and at the same time, picked up a 'Milo' sticker for the front of the bike that the club had laid on return for a donation to his memorial fund. I was also wearing a black arm band in his memory and the club was informing people of a minutes silence planned for Sunday......more about that later.
NG have changed the race order for this year (for reasons best known to them) so first up was the Formula 400 qualifier, with me 7th on the grid. It was wet first thing after a night of non-stop rain, so with the track being a bit damp I went out on KR364's (intermediates). I got a fairly good start to hold my position and then made a couple of places up in the first two laps to 5th. I kept with the front pack for a while and gave chase, but I was just a bit too untrusting of the track conditions to capitalise on it and dropped them after lap 4, with a huge gap behind me. I eventually finished 5th, nearly 8 seconds back from the front pack and with a lead of the same to the guy behind me, so it was a bit of a lonely race for the last few laps! My only moment of drama was being kicked out of the seat at Park Corner on lap two, which I put down to the now very rear KR364 I was using.
The track had pretty much dried up for the Open 400 qualifier, but I decided to stay on the KR364's to be on the safe side. I was gridded 8th so on the second row for this race and got off to a cracker of a start to go fourth into the chicane behind Dave Ashman, but then once round Park Corner and off up the back straight, I managed to get past Dave and through the back chicane in 3rd. I was then sitting right behind Pete Thompson (CBR400) and Brian Spooner (TZ250 GP bike) and could keep with them for the first few laps, but I couldn't hang on and by the fourth and fifth lap they were getting away and there was nothing I could do. Still, I had a fairly comfortable lead on Dave Ashman and finished 3rd to qualify front row and get my first podium of the year.
For the Formula 400 points race I decided to swap to Supercorsa's as the track was completely dry and the weather now good, the only problem being that both front and rear were brand new and needed scrubbing, with just the warm up lap to do it on what is not exactly the longest and most twisty track! Also, the brake pads needed to bed in against the discs on the Dymags, which nearly caught me out on the first corner as I braked and it didn't exactly slow very quickly! Despite the 5th place grid, I didn't get away very well at the start and was lying about 7th after the first lap behind James Parry. Up the back straight, I knew I was quicker than most through the chicane (more of a squiggle actually) and so my plan was to get momentum through into the left hander and outbrake James into the hairpin......all sounded great at the time, but I left the braking way too late and with the back end in the air I went flying into the kitty litter......bugger! Good news was I didn't fall off, so once I'd dug it out the gravel I rejoined in about 20th place with quite a bit of work to do, but I ploughed my way through and managed to get back up to 13th to salvage some points.
Final race of the day was the Open 400 points race and I was third on the grid for the start, so looking forward to it. I got away well and went through the first lap in third hanging onto the back of the front two (Pete and Brian again). However, this time I lost the tow on them early on and they got away leaving me in quite a lonely race on my own, with Rich Bearcroft some 5 seconds behind me at the finish. Still, I got another third place and I also managed to reduce my laptimes to the 1:03's.....a whole two seconds better than last year!
Sunday Races
We go back to the programme grid positions for the Sunday races with NG, so I took up my 7th spot again for the Formula 400 qualifier and got away to an ok start, although didn't make any places up. I was then sat behind Rich Bearcroft for the whole of the race, him being one of those riders who can make himself very wide and whenever I find myself behind him he is always on the same lines as me. At the end of the race I finished 7th at the back of a small pack of four of us that went over the line within just over a second of each other so close racing, but I never felt like I was going to find a way past Rich.
The Open 400 qualifier was another fairly uninteresting race to be honest, with me getting a good start to go 5th into Park Corner for the first time behind Dave Ashman. I managed to get past Dave on the second lap to go 4th, but the front guys had long gone and I wasn't going to be able to catch the, so I settled for 4th place and a front row start for the points race.
Into the afternoon and the Formula 400 points race, where I managed to get a decent start and was up to 6th at the end of the first lap. I was sitting behind Tim Bradley, with the pair of us queuing up behind Dave Ashman who was now holding us both up. This carried on for virtually the whole race, with Tim managing to get past at the hairpin on one of the laps, but Dave's ZXR is very quick and despite Tim's 80+bhp, Dave out dragged him down the straight to go back in front. On the last couple of laps we were coming across backmarkers and I hoped we might get a chance to go past, but just as we started the last lap we came across Andy Rochester just before the chicane and Dave and Tim slipped past, leaving me to try and pass in the middle of the chicane......not good and as Andy turned in I had no choice but to sit it up and go straight on over the grass, giving Lesley a bit of a heart attack as this was all happening right in front of her! I'd lost a few seconds on Tim and Dave, but at least I was still upright and I hadn't lost any places so I just got my head down and finished the race in 6th.
In the Open 400 points race, despite having qualified front row I didn't quite get the start I wanted and what was worse, I allowed Bob Beach and Chay Newton to get in front of me. Bob wasn't so much the problem as he is a quick rider on a ZXR400, but Chay on the other hand isn't a particularly quick rider on a damn fast TZ250 GP bike, so come the straights it was impossible to get near him. He was holding us both up something chronic in the corners, but neither of us could do anything about him down the straights, which was getting very frustrating. I was then caught and passed by James Cox (ZXR400) and demoted to 7th place, so the need to get past Chay was now getting serious. Two laps from the end, both Bob and James managed to get past him and make it stick, so it was just me stuck now. Eventually I managed to get by, but James had gone and there was no chance of me catching him in the remaining lap left, so I had to settle for a disappointing 6th.....not quite the podium results of Saturday!
Just after 3pm, the club invited people up to the grid for a minutes silence to remember Miles Tripp. It was a fitting tribute and a very emotional moment, which certainly put a lump in my throat. Lesley and I didn't say a word for 5 minutes after because we both felt like we would collapse with it all and the thoughts stayed with us all the way home. Once again, RIP Miles.....we won't forget you.