Race Report - Cadwell 6/7th May 2006 (NGRRC)
Having already been to Cadwell once this year with New Era (in March), I decided I didn't need to do the practice day for this meeting and in any event, this meeting was only supposed to be a practice run for the Derby Phoenix meeting the following week. That said, I was quite looking forward to the timed qualifying and longer single race for the Saturday (being the ACU Stars Championship round) as well as fancying my chances against the NG regulars who won't have had much track time at Cadwell. That said, they were all there on the Friday getting some valuable practice time to make up for it!
We arrived there around 7.30pm and blagged some space in Glen Watterson's awning, which was very handily right next to the path down to the holding area meaning we could leave it until last minute to take off the tyre warmers and go out. It also meant we only had to unload the van and not have to put our awning up, which can be a bind when you do it week in, week out!
Saturday Qualifying and Race
Knowing that the practice session is timed for your grid spot, I pushed my way to the front in the holding area and was one of the first out onto circuit to make sure I had some clear track in front of me. I thought that if I could put in a couple of fast laps early on before I caught slower riders, then there would be no need to stay out trying to push hard through traffic. This is generally the right way to do it, but it didn't quite work out that way and for the first 4 or 5 laps my laptimer was showing only high 1:40's and a couple of mid 1:39's. I then caught slower traffic after 5 laps and had to push my way through a few times here and there when on the 8th lap, thinking I was going fairly quickly, I could see a novice rider in front about to slow me so I decided to pass him before Hall Bends to make sure I didn't get held up. Unfortunately it was a bit late and obviously came across quite aggressive, making him sit up and go onto the grass where he then locked up the front wheel and fell off! I don't know who he was, but I didn't mean to make him fall off and felt so guilty about it.....sorry mate! Anyway, the lap after I put in a 1:38.06 and knowing this would be good enough for front row, I came in before the session ended. As it turned out, I got pole position and was quickest by over a second!
For the race itself, I took my pole position and was looking forward to a good start, but it wasn't to be and I slipped backwards into 4th for the first time around Coppice. I managed to make a place up on the brakes into Park, but I was stuck in 3rd after the first lap and finding it difficult to get past Richard Dobson, whilst Charlie Bishop was getting away in the lead. I eventually managed to get past Richard on the third lap and gave chase to Charlie, who was now a good 3-4 seconds in front. I put in some very quick laps and got within touching distance of him on lap 8, but still had to get close enough to make a move. I'd worked out that the likely place to pass him was to try to get better drive down Park Straight or on the brakes into Park Corner, but then as we went over the line for the last lap we came across a backmarker going into Coppice and Charlie seemed to slow right up behind him. I didn't need a second invitation and just swept around the outside to go into the lead. I knew then that if I could hold him down Park Straight and through Chris Curve, then I would only have to keep a tight line to hold the lead to the finish. This worked perfectly for me and I held him off all the way to the finish to get my first win on the R6.......brilliant! The icing on the cake was also getting the fastest lap by over half a second with a 1:36.67, which is now the 600 and Overall lap record for NG.
Sunday Races
The weather on Sunday had taken a turn for the worse and having rained substantially overnight, it was still going in the morning. Knowing that my wet weather riding on the R6 wasn't brilliant, I blagged a practice pass to get some valuable wet practice in, but I didn't feel confident at all.
The first race was the NG Open Heat and I was gridded on the third row from the good result I had with NG at Donington in April. I actually got a very good start and managed to get myself into the top 5 for the first lap and then found myself in 4th when one of the guys in front of me binned it. The pack in front of me were well gone by the 2nd lap and actually finished the race nearly 40 seconds ahead, but I must have got the drop on the chasing pack too as when I looked behind there was nobody close. By all accounts, the rider chasing me was closing in, but I had a big gap on him and just held on to take a 4th.
It was no longer raining for the Open 600 Qualifier, but the track was still wet. I was gridded 5th (again because of my god result at Donington) and got away well to hold that position into the first corner. I then had a pretty uneventful race, although I did gain a little more confidence in the wet than in the NG Open race earlier and started to push a little in the latter stages to try and close on Richard Dobson. However, there's not a lot you can do in 5 laps if there's ground to be made up and I had to settle for 5th place. A decent result and at least I stayed on, but it would mean a third row position for the final.
When the 600 Open Final came around, it had stopped raining and the track was drying out quite a bit. However, it was one of those situations where you couldn't really tell whether it might rain again and not only that, but there wasn't the time to start changing wheels anyway! As it turned out, the track was still quite wet, so the wets I had on were the right choice, but it was my confidence in the wet again that was letting me down. I got a decent start and was holding my grid position on the first lap, but then as we completed lap two I could see the front pack pulling clear as the track began to get a drier line and I just didn't know how hard to push. I started to get a little quicker on the last lap and nearly caught and passed Richard Dobson (again!), but couldn't and had to settle for 9th.
The last race of the weekend was the NG Open Final and I was gridded third row. It was still raining (albeit lightly) and the track was obviously wet, so I figured this was practice more than anything as I didn't really stand any chance against bigger bikes and clearly quicker riders in the wet. I got away ok, but got passed by quite a few riders on the first lap down Park Straight and was running around 15th by the time we got onto the second lap. Despite feeling more confident in the other races, I didn't actually feel that good in this one and was lapping much slower, but then I guess that with the success of Saturday and the fact that I'd managed to keep it upright so far on Sunday, I wasn't going to push my luck! Anyway, I held on to a lowly 15th place to the finish.
So with my first 600 win on Saturday and by contrast some rather dismal results on Sunday, it was a weekend of highs and lows! Nonetheless, it was very enjoyable and a great feeling to rack up my first win on the R6, which I've felt for a few weeks has been coming.
Thanks to Glen for sharing his awning space and thanks, of course, to Lesley for looking after me and for being so excited with my win! She shares all the highs and lows, but hopefully the wins will make it worth while when I'm grumpy for not doing very well!