First apologies if this isn't the right place for such a topic or discussion and mods feel free to move it if needs be.
Just thought I'd document my first foray into the world of racing, it's ups and down, highs and lows, my opinions as a rookie, lessons learned etc.
It's always been something I was keen to try, but a career in the forces and later my injuries from that job just held me back trying until I was physically and mentally well enough.
Fast forward some years of recovering and I found myself with a new role as a Firefighter and an empty space in a garage.
I started doing trackdays early on on my biking life, while I enjoyed riding on the road, I found the risks vs reward lacking, if I had nine lives I was sure I'd already used up most of those, so, with the amount of fun I was having on track, decided to just focus on trackdays.
By the start of this year I'd done a few.. loads in fact, pretty much everywhere in the UK and a few abroad, Portimao. Carta etc.
I'd like to say I'm not fast, and while on your average trackday I'm normally at the top of Fast group, what racing has shown me is that it means absolutely nothing, ZERO.
So in June this year myself and my good friend decided that we'd give big bike racing a go, at this point we'd already raced smaller bikes, our 140cc pitbikes to 125cc Hondas in 6 endurance races.
Here's a video of a race in the BMB championship
We booked on a course of our race licences and a week later I found myself on the start grid at Donington Park, I'd entered the Powerbikes class and was taking part in the Newcomers rookie race.
RACE 1
I was nervous, surrounded by some of the fastest guys outside of the BSB, on machines with suspension that cost more than my whole bike.. when your a rookie you wear a bib, a bright orange thing denoting your novice status, I was the only rider wearing one.
Somehow I'd qualified not last, starting from 24th out of 34..I got the R1 on the line.. watched the lights....all Red....then they disappeared..GO!
The R1 took off, the LIF control fighting the 100% throttle I was putting through it , a short shift to second and third before turn one, I'd overtaken 6 bikes before tipping it in, but found myself surrounded and off line, I felt like I had zero ability to focus on anything, my brain at 100% capacity, I dropped back two spaces and tried getting my head down into the very fast downhill section that's Craners, the pace of racing was so far beyond what I'd experienced at a trackday, by lap 4 I was 19th, sweating, far too stiff on the bike, and coming down the start finish straight I totally missed my brake marker, and took a swift detour into the gravel..I don't know how I stayed on, but I did, I came out at the back of the grid in a lonely race for the remaining 6 laps.
Getting back to the paddock my friends I was racing with came over to offer support at a race gone wrong..I didn't need it, that race was the most intense, wildest, most awesome experience I'd had since leaving the Army, I was instantly addicted!
RACE 2 was another learning experience, this time a simple one, "make sure you have enough fuel".
I was running 20th until I ran out :rolleyes:
From there it was straight into the Newcomers or rookies race, this time everyone had bibs on.
I started 15th on the grid, ran wide on turn one again, but this time stayed out of the gravel and started making my way through the riders, finishing 4th overall, a result I was extremely happy with, definitely my favourite race of the weekend, manage to have a great battle with a friend on his awesome R6.
The biggest lesson I learnt from that weekend is that ABS has no place on a race bike, it was costing me a load of time and running me on throughout the weekend, so that's now gone and replaced with the I2M plug and new Hel lines.
Here's a video of that race
And that was my first experience of racing, from there I've done another round at Pembrey Circuit, a local track to me in Wales, finishing 5th in the Newcomers race, some how I ended up buying another race bike, a Suzuki Bandit 600, a bike id never ridden or seen before heading out for 10 minutes of free practice, I raced that for the first time there, finishing 14th overall.
A vastly different bike to the R1, far less demanding physically, so the plan is to race both of these going forward.
From here it was onto Cadwell Park with NGRRC and a week after that, to Brands Hatch with Bemsee.
already a fair chuck off my best time, really pleased, I qualified 6th on the grid for the first race.
)
