Thursday 31 May 2012

2012 Round Three: Cadwell Park Sunday

On the Sunday, waking up was much better due to the warmer duvet we had recieved. However, it was still really chilly at Cadwell Park and we both put our leathers on to warm up. Luckily, the weather was at least dry which presented us with much less stress than the previous morning.

Despite being called to the holding bay for the practice session, we had to wait around for ages which caused some stress just sat there with the engine slowly heating up. We had both decided to do the practice as we didn't know the track fully and any experience was better than none.

I took the first lap very slowly waiting for everything to get properly warmed up but it didn't take long to find the confidence from the previous day and start to go for it. I felt good as I started to catch people - even though it was only a practice session. By the end of the practice I was buzzing. I felt so much more comfortable that the previous morning and my Dad(43) too came in with a big grin on his face.

Nothing seemed to have gone wrong in the practice session and other than a top-up with fuel, we were ready for the first of Sunday's races. On the previous day, the racing had been good and even though I still had to start from the back of the grid, my Dad(43) had moved up further due to the good performance on Saturday - which was encouraging for him.


The sighting lap was again fairly uneventful trying to get as much warmed up as I could but when the lights went out, I went for it. It was a fantastic feeling to try to keep up with people around me but quite early on I realised that people weren't pulling away. For the most part, I had a lonely race until the fourth lap. The first few runners of the automatics had passed me and following one of them for a lap had me catching up with a group lead by Tony Rudd(8) who was closely followed by Gary Biddle(58) and my Dad(43).


To my disbelief, I quickly overtook them all taking Tony Rudd(8) at Mansfield on the penultimate lap. I didn't know it but I was up to 5th in group four. I carefully got my head down and with full concentration, started to pull away from the pack. The adrenaline in my body was fantastic and I was literally having the best race of my life.


As I entered the complex coming into the final stages, the back started to weave. Going round the hairpin wasn't too bad but on the very last corner, the sliding rear wheel became too much for me to control and I had to straighten her up - on wet grass... No surprises that man and machine went down almost immediately. Annoyingly the last corner of the last lap though. However, luckily there was very limited damage to the bike and none to me. The main issue on the bike was the cause of the problem - a puncture.

After waiting to be collected by the recovery van, I took the bike back and after replacing the innertube I was set for the next race. I felt sad at the prospect of losing out on a good finish due to such an unlucky event but I held my head high and really tried to not let it affect the last race.

I felt that I had come through the pack from the start and made real improvements in every race. I liked charlies and I now didn't mind the mountain either which was massively important to me.




However, my bad luck was not over for the day. On the last race, everyone seemed to be so much quicker than the first race. And I believe it was only the second lap when I entered Mansfield too fast and fell off. This time though, I was hurt.

To fill you in on how I fell off is to admit that I was an fool. Literally a stupid fool. I was pushing too hard and grounded the exhaust a bit too much. This lost me the front and I fell. As it happened I landed on the left elbow with such impact that it forced my shoulder out of its socket. To make matters worse I rolled... and rolled. The steward said 5 times but I think that was a bit of an exaggeration.

However, I was not the only thing that was flipping over and over - so was my beloved race scooter. When the tyres gripped again with me off, the whole bike got air and landed on the headset and back of the seat. Sitting behind the tyres to watch the end of the race, I enjoyed the spectacle telling my friendly saviours that I was fine and it just felt a bit bruised.

The Aftermath is a story for another day though. Needless to say I had a great weekend - Saturday was cracking, Sunday was dislocating.

As usual there are some thankyous. First and foremost to Chalkie of Replay Scooters for building what has been a fantastic motor. To my family and friends for coming to spectate and to Lee Hollick for providing me with these excellent photos for the Blog. To visit Lee's facebook page click here.



Race Scooter: All events occurred 20th May 2012

No comments:

Post a Comment