Race Report - Mallory 17th April 2006 (Derby Phoenix)
A bit of a mixed weekend of weather to say the least and it certainly gave me some highs and lows of racing, as well as the realisation that I really need some wet riding practice on the R6 if I’m to get any confidence on this bike.
My first race of the day was the Allcomers Heat 1 and the track was fairly damp after a night of persistent rain and a damp start to the morning. I decided to go on dry tyres for the race as the conditions seemed to be improving bit by bit and if there was going to be a dry line (as was evident in practice), then this would be the wise choice. I pulled row 3 out of the bag and got a decent start to be up among the top 10 by the end of the first lap, but I simply wasn’t confident pushing at all in the changing conditions and found it difficult to make any progress up the field. I did pass a couple of riders and a crasher at Edwinas elevated me to 7th, but that’s as good as it got.
For the first F600 race, I should have been gridded on the front row (P3) according to my Championship standing, but a hurried job to change tyres between races meant that I got to the holding area late to be told I would have to join from the back of the grid. This was going to be hard work, but I was really fired up and got a great start, carving my way through the field. By the end of lap one I was up to 14th and then come the end of lap two I was up to 11th and lapping very quickly. I carried on picking my way through riders and seeing the leaders not too far away, I knew I could get further up the field. I really put my head down and took no prisoners, eventually getting up to the leading three by the end of lap six. On the seventh lap I was starting to think about how to get past Tim Harness in 3rd, when on the way into Edwinas he out braked himself and had to go straight on meaning a 10 second penalty for him and I automatically inherit 3rd! However, I was still a second or so off the leading two and with only one lap to go and Tim doing his best to keep me behind, I had to settle for fourth on track, third for the result. Still, from the back of the grid it was a great achievement and I got the fastest lap of the day too with 56.4 seconds!
The weather continued to be changeable during the day and as we got towards the second F600 race, it all seemed as though it would stay dry. However, no sooner had we done the warm up lap when the heavens opened and it started to rain fairly consistently. As a front row of riders, we protested at the start to change tyres (virtually the whole grid being on drys), but the officials were having none of it and we were told to start. If I wasn’t confident in the wet anyway, trying to race on dry tyres was making me feel a lot worse and I struggled my way around to finish a lowly 12th place, but at least I stayed on and scored some points.
Come the last race of the day it was now fairly steady (albeit on/off at times) rain and seeing as I needed the wet practice, I decided to try to relax for the Allcomers final and try to improve my riding. To my surprise (given the disappointing heat), I was gridded third row and got away ok, but the lack of confidence in the wet really wasn’t helping me and I felt as though I was going backwards all the time. As it turned out, I finished a lowly 14th.
So a bit of a disastrous weekend with the exception of the third place in the first F600 race, but even then I had to do it from the back of the grid. I obviously need to work on my wet riding and particularly in changing conditions, when I just lack confidence with the bike. It will come, but I guess it might be a bit painful along the way and with some more disappointments!
Usual thanks go to Lesley for looking after me as well as she always does and thanks also to Andy from my race entry sponsors, NMU, together with his cousin Rob, for turning out for the day and giving me both their support. Hopefully next time you come along I can make a better showing of myself and at least the weather might be better!