Race Report - Oulton Park 20th May 2006 (New Era Club)
Although it's a superb circuit I really like I’ve not had a great deal of track time at Oulton (having only raced there three times and done a track day), so this meeting was supposed to give me a bit of practice and some circuit knowledge. As it turned out, there was rain for most of the day (heavy in the morning) and it was a bit of a wash out really, but at least it gave me the chance for a bit more much needed wet practice.
We got there on the Friday teatime and having a garage meant we simply unloaded the bike and other gear and then could sit back in the caravan for the evening. On the way in I saw Mick Daly's truck, so I went and had a chat with him for a while and found that like me, he was only there for the practice. With the forecast not good for Saturday, he was seeming a bit more confident than me of doing well against the Superclub riders!
Qualifying
The rain was pouring down the next morning and the track was looking pretty uninviting when we went out for qualifying. There was a lot of standing water around and it didn't look good at all, particularly around Hall Bend where a huge puddle meant we simply had to avoid the inside of the corner altogether! I pottered my way around for a couple of laps to get the tyres working and build some confidence, but I'd worked out that we would only get 5 laps in anyway so I had to pick my pace up. I started to go a bit quicker and could see from my laptimer that the next couple of laps were better, with the last lap before the flag showing 2:10.25. I guessed it wouldn't be good enough to get me anywhere near the front of the grid, so when I found out I was 5th row and 17th grid spot I wasn't surprised.
Race 1
For the first race, I went away cautiously from the line and was keeping left to make sure I didn't get caught up with the now even bigger puddle at Barn, when all of a sudden a rider to my right caught my eye as he came flying past me way too fast, subsequently folding the front to go down and collect another rider with him! He was going way too fast and was never going to make the corner! This put me off line a little and I ended up doing a bit of grass tracking on the exit to Barn losing me a couple of places. I plodded my way around over the first couple of laps, but gained a bit more confidence as the race went on and was then starting to pass a few riders and make my way up the field. The race went without any more dramas and I finished safely (which is more than can be said for a lot of riders.....they were dropping like flies at one point!) in 13th. Not great, but my laptime had dropped to 2:04's so that was good.
Race 2
For an hour or so before the second race, the weather improved a little and the track was starting to dry out. This good weather continued and about 15 minutes before the race was due to be called I decided to change wheels for drys, only for the weather to start to turn again 10 minutes later! It got worse and then just as the first call went out, it started raining quite heavily and I knew it was pointless going out unless I could change wheels. So we spent the next five minutes frantically changing to wet wheels and listening out for the final call, which came and went with just the back wheel in and no front wheel. As usual when you're rushing to do something, it seemed to take an age and we kept making time wasting mistakes, so when I eventually got going to the holding area I was sure I'd missed the race and I could actually hear them going on the warm up lap.
When I got there, the gate had been left open, but the holding area was empty and I could see the grid settled for the start of the race. The Gate Marshall told me to hold back and I could join the race from the holding area after the lights had gone out and they had started, so I got myself ready and off I went on his signal. I was fired up and a little anxious about my attitude on what was a pretty rain sodden track, but I kept my head and spent the next 6 laps going as smoothly and as quickly as I could to try and make some places up. I had no clue where I was, but I found myself catching Mick Daly pretty quickly on the last lap and thinking I could catch him before the end of the race, I pushed a little bit harder. I caught him by the end of the lap and we went across the line together not knowing who had got the place, but as it turned out he had the better of me by just 7/100ths of a second to leave me in 11th. Not bad from the holding area and even better was my laptime had improved to 2:02.03 on that last lap!
I had entered the New Era Open race at the end of the day as well and had decided that if it was a wet race, then I'd go out and get some wet practice. However, if it was dry (or drying), then I wouldn't bother as I just couldn't face the prospect of changing wheels again! Come the race and it was drying out, so I went out on the warm up lap to see what it was like, but with very little water around I decided to save the wet tyres and came in. It had been a traumatic enough day without knackering a new(ish) pair of wets as well!
As usual, thanks to Lesley for looking after me and for some pretty smart wheel changing during a horrible afternoon of changing weather conditions. It was a little fraught at times, but we got through it in the end! Thanks also to my mate, Lee for coming along and bringing his family to watch me race. Just a shame it was a wet day otherwise they might have enjoyed standing out to see a bit more racing!
We're off to Donington next weekend for the Derby Phoenix championship races and to hopefully improve on my points tally!