This weekend just gone was round 3 at Pembrey, itās the longest gap (5 weeks I think) between any two rounds, and seems to have taken an absolute age to come around.
It was just me and Isabella at this one, and hearing my mate Bikey-Timās tales of paddock woes at the Bemsee Pembrey round a few weeks ago ( basically, he didnāt manage to get there until 7 pm on Thursday evening, the inner paddock was full by then so he ended up having to set up outside the track, which means it is a real faff if you need any tyre changing support, bits, help, or the cafe/ bogs etc as you have to wait for races to finish before you can get in or out of the centre paddock) we decided to set off nice and early to ensure we bagged a good spot, so we were on the road nice and early by midday Thursday for what should be a 3.5hr journey for us if there are no traffic problems
And we were going well until we got to J37 of the M4, approx 30-odd miles from the circuit- the motorway had been closed in both directions, due to a jumper I think and to say it was chaos is an understatement, with trucks and caravans etc trying to get down single width lanes, which were the only routes around.
long story short, we eventually managed to escape the gridlock, arriving at the circuit at 1730ish, and thankfully lots had been in the same boat as us so we got a decent spot right in the middle of the paddock, and by chance, the next couple of arrivals who set up next to us were both Bandit racers, who turned what was a great weekend into a truly fabulous one , both experienced and sound blokes, who over the next few days were both a help to me and brilliant company with constant piss-taking, really was a laugh a minute.
Next door was a race team with one of the guys arriving on a brand spankers V4R- I know they are relatively old hat, but Iād never really studied one in that much detail, they are a thing of beauty IMO.
Anyway, we got the gazebo up and the bike and other stuff unloaded, zipped it off, and headed off to a Llanelli Premier Inn for the night.
Friday practice / test day went well, weather was perfect, the bike was going well and I felt good on it and know Pembrey fairly well so I only went out for 4 sessions, thought it was pointless going out just for the sake of it and wearing my tyres out , so I saved my efforts for qualifying on Saturday morning and took the opportunity to get scrutineered early and off back to the Premier Inn and out for a delicious chicken mirch tawa at the Sheesh Mahal in Llanelli washed down with a few Cobras.
Saturday dawned, perfect weather again and my brother Kev turned up to cheer me on and help which was much appreciated.
My 10-minute practice session ahead of qualifying unfortunately got delayed for 90 odd minutes, while we were waiting for the air ambulance for a poor soul whose TZ seized in the middle of the fast kink just before Honda.
The resultant highside sent him practically into orbit was watching their session right at the place it happened so saw it, and wished I hadnāt as it was a fast and very high off, the medics were straight there and he was well looked after.
He was part of the āGP Originalsā gang which was the guest class at this meeting, so although there are always a good few TZ/RS250s and 125s etc at all the NG meetings, there were a good few more at this round including a couple of RG500s, a TZ750 and many different ages of TZ350s- fabulous noises and smells for anyone who loves 2 strokes- I meant to take some pics as there were some lovely bikes there, but, well, I didnāt.
Things got going again, my qualifying came around, I qualified with a 1:08, and was dead happy with that as although I felt I could go quicker, it put me 4th Bandit and top Senior- higher up than I would otherwise have been as two of the top five Banditeers werenāt at this round, but hey, you can only race those that are there, and neither of the two fast absentees are Seniors so they donāt affect me championship (or trophy) wise.
Pole was a low 1:06, so although 2 seconds a lap is a lifetime away in a race I feel that itās a reasonable performance for me ā the people doing 1:06s are fast boys with a lot more experience ( and it should be said, most likely talent ) than me, and although Iām going out there to do as well as I can, thereās a level of risk I choose to set, and that level is I know less than some people
We were sharing the grid with the Formula400s at this round, so qualifying 4th put me in position 7 on the grid as there were 3 annoyingly fast 400s in front of me, one of them being Chris Northover, one of the others was one of his sons, and there was also another young Northover boy further back on the grid too- all three of them on 400s..
Race1 came around, and it was a cracker, I got a good start, as (touch wood) I seem to have in all my races so far, and although there was a fair bit of argy-bargy at the first corner, I didnāt come out of it too bad only losing a couple of places, albeit one of them to my current nemesis, Keith Chambers, who is the head of the ProStocks club and the then leader of the Bandit Seniors class, with 120 points to my 90 points in second.
I settled down a bit and managed to get on the back of him and after a lap or so went by- he pretty much immediately got me back and that happened two or three times until I managed to make it stick and pull a little bit of a gap, crossing the finish line just over a second in front of him- 4th Bandit and 1st Senior - result!
It was a great race, I was stoked and got my reward of a Mr Kipling Apple Pie which Isabella had said I would only get it I beat Keith
There was just the one Bandit race on Saturday, but Iād also entered the Newcomers race, which had people on lots of different stuff, from Panigales to Ninja 300s with lots of R6s and SVs in between, and massively varying paces made it a tough old race, and nearly saw me on the floor at one point taking avoiding action of a bloke on a ZX6R who was lapping 20 seconds a lap slower than I was and really all over the place.
I appreciate youāre always going to get big variances in speeds at this level but he really was dangerous and I donāt think should have been out there without some more non-competitive track time and/or tuition under his belt. I sort of got stuck too-ing and froing with someone on a 675R after that , but the reality was I would never have got near a couple of the fast Minitwin boys in that race, but it wasnāt a complete disaster as I finished 3rd in the Middleweight (basically Minitwins and PI600s) so trophy number two of the weekend, and we celebrated with a stop-off for icecreams and just sit for a while on the Burry Port seafront on the way back to the hotel.
It had been fabulous weather all day Saturday, but in typical Pembrey fashion, it wasnāt going to stay tht way all weekend, and by 8ish that evening it was tipping it down and continued to do so until after Iād got to the track on Sunday morning. It did, however stop by just after 8, and was almost completely dry by the time I went out for practice at 9:30ish- dry enough for me to be doing high 1:09s on the Sportsmarts, so it looked good for the races.
It didnāt last though, and approximately 20-25 mins before my first race, the heavens opened, so I burst into action with the panners and the first wheel change of the weekend.
Sod's law, however, determined that within seconds of me nipping up the last bolt, the rain stopped, and as it was still very warm, within minutes areas of the paddock were drying.
The bike bikes were out in one of their races, so I ran across to the back of the track to watch people coming through the fast kink and Honda, it looked pretty much dry out there already and one or two on wets were pulling out of the race.
I therefore legged it back to my bike, sweating buckets and it was a mad dash to change wheels back with only 5 mins or so until I had to be lining up on the grid.
I just about made it, absolutely drenched in sweat in my new airbag leathers and puffing a bit, but on the right tyres and feeling very glad that Iāve been going to the gym every morning for the last five months, I really donāt think I would have been able to do it on my own if I hadnāt.
The lights went out, I got a decent start again but was fairly beaten up in the first couple of corners and my nemesis was on me from the start- I had to work hard for it but crossed the line .15 of a second in front of him, and 4th Bandit on the road again so another great result, and another 5 points Iāve pulled back on him, bringing the deficit down to 20, yay!
Top 10 Bandits then got called to be dynoed, so that was an interesting one for me, as I know what it makes on MSGās dyno, but not the one that matters, and of course how that compares with the others out there, and the answer is itās one of the fitter ones- 76 at the back wheel, which apparently is just about as much as you can get whilst remaining legal, and 3 more than the bike leading the championship, so I canāt use that as an excuse.
Anyway, I celebrated my second Senior race win and my 76 HP with the award of another apple pie and a chicken salad sandwich for lunch, in anticipation of my final Bandit race of the week-end, and it was a good one- I managed to attach my crappy little Ā£25 eBay camera for this one, so although the image quality isnāt great, and the wind noise is annoying, you hopefully get the idea.
If you want to skip the dull(ish) bits, the lights go out at 03:20ish, it starts getting interesting at 8:00 and I pull my finger out from 1230ish on ā the two in the lead have long gone by then, but I finished 3rd Bandit ( pipping Adrian by
TWO-HUNDRETHS of a second on the line ( am so glad I took
@Nobby ās advice on transponder location
) and once again, top senior, and lapping in 1:07s
And, the icing on the cake was that Keith, my nemesis, didnāt finish- Iām not sure why, but it meant that although I went into the weekend in second place in the championship, trailing him by 30 points, Iāve come out leading by 5 points, and with 4 more trophies to boot, what a week-end
I really canāt express just how much Iām enjoying this, yup, I know it's just racing heavy old shopping bikes with a load of other also-rans for a Ā£5 bit of tin or glass, and I'd get my arse handed to me in a big-boy bike race, but it's so good just to keep scaring yourself a little bit IMO, it gets my juices flowing like nothing else , and is immense fun.
I should have done it years ago, but the reality is I couldnāt have as I simply didnāt have the time when I was working- irrespective of the actual on-track stuff which is just mega and itās a (very) corny phrase but it really (really) is the most exciting thing you can do with clothes on, the social side, particularly at Pembrey has been top notch- there are so many properly funny and decent people there itās great- next round is at Brands , in 3 and a bit weeks time, canāt wait!
canāt wait till Iām old enough for the senior class
. I got really excited reading your post. Good luck with the next outing.
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