Race Report - Cadwell Park 19/20 April 2008 (New Era)
Cadwell is a circuit I like and usually do well at, so having had a mixed weekend at Brands at Easter and realising that I couldn't just pick up the pace from where I left off last year, I was hoping to get some much needed time on the bike and some good results this weekend. Unfortunately, it didn't all go to plan though.....
Qualifying
I like qualifying, but only to the extent that you try to put in a quick lap without going barmy and as long as I get on the front row, then I'm generally happy. So that's all I did....half a dozen laps until I hit traffic and that qualified me 4th, although at Cadwell I would have actually preferred 5th or even 6th to give me a better line into the first corner.
Saturday Race 1
I didn't get a great start and slipped a place into the first corner to go 5th. It took me a couple of laps to get up to 3rd, but I could see the leader getting away and needed to chase him down. On the fourth lap, I out braked Andrew Hooper into Park Corner to take 2nd place and then just set about getting my head down to go for the leader. The same lap and all was going well through Gooseneck, but I made a mistake going into Mansfield and had to hold the brakes hard in the corner. Sadly, it was too much for the front tyre (which I think would have held if the weather was a bit warmer) and it washed away. Thankfully there was very little damage to the bike, although I did scuff up and put a hole in the arm of a brand new set of leathers!
Saturday Race 2
I got a good start this time out and went third into Coppice, but it took me three laps to get past Andrew Hooper and in the meantime, the leader was getting away. I was also a bit nervous that perhaps the temperatures weren't quite up to me being as aggressive as I was in the first race (it was so cold this weekend that the gas bottles in the caravan kept freezing up!), so I was a bit more cautious and that was costing me half a second a lap or so on the leader. It was a comfortable 2nd, but a long way off the winner.
Saturday Allcomers Race
I was gridded 33rd so had a lot to do, but managed to get a good start and was up with the top 15 at the end of the first lap and come the third lap, I was chasing down the top 5 and in touch. However, the race was red flagged for an incident at Gooseneck. For the re-run, I got a good start, but got boxed in around Coppice and Charlies so couldn't quite make the impact I wanted to. However, I quickly got up into the top 5 and then made my way through to 2nd a couple of laps later, but the leader was a good way in front and there simply weren't enough laps to catch him.
Sunday Race 1
As well as it being freezing cold, we woke up to rain on Sunday. I wasn't too happy about this as I'm still finding my feet in the wet on this new R6 (not that I was that good on the 2005 bike!) and was a bit cautious, having already crashed it on the Saturday. I got away ok at the start and was in touch with a group of four riders battling for third place, but they were all a bit braver than I wanted to be and got away. I then had a fairly lonely race other than some pressure towards the end, but I kept my head for 6th place.
Sunday Race 2
The weather didn't improve and I still didn't fancy chancing my luck with having already having a crash bill from the previous day. On top of that Frankie was suffering a dreadful lurgy and was looking very pale wanting to go home, so we packed up for the day and headed off. At the end of the day, this isn't a championship I'm doing so I didn't need to be out there.
I have to say big, big thanks to Frankie for surviving the weekend with a horrible cold and standing out there to watch me not only on Saturday (when I don't think it got above a couple of degrees), but also Sunday when rain was lashing down on her as well. I promise it's not always this bad and it's actually very nice when the sun shines and it's a bit warmer......just give it a couple of months, you'll see!