Snetterton 22/3/3 BEMSEE Rd1 (King of Clubs)

This meeting was my first time out on the bike in 2003. The plan was to use this meeting (1 Practice and 2 Races) as purely practice for the following days MRO (Motorcycle Racing Organisation) 1st round. Brett, Michael (My Cousin) had made the trip with me, and upon awakening was off doing their tasks. Once scrutineering was completed, we had to prepare the bike for practice. Having been away the week leading up to this meeting, I hadn’t managed to take the bike anywhere and check out the clutch, having re-built it after a session on the dyno where it was slipping. So, practice was when I would find out. I also had some plans to finalise gearing, and try some alternative handlebars over the course of the day.

Practice came and went, and proved the clutch to be working fine. I felt very rusty out on the bike, in fact I just couldn’t get into it. Brett and myself changed the handlebars after practice, so that I could try them out in the first race. Time wasn’t exactly on our side, as the time gap between practice and our first race was relatively short. However we got the bike ready in time, and stuck the tyre warmers on for what that was worth. Unfortunately, as we had arrived at the circuit much later than 96% of the fellow racers, we were therefore left out of the paddock as that was full. The relevance of this, was that we had no tannoy system, well one, that any of us could here. With our first race being called, I managed to miss it. Despite the fact that I got to the collecting area before the full class of 250 riders had left the holding area, I wasn’t let out as they had already let the reserve riders go. I wasn’t impressed, in fact very unimpressed. I fully understand the situation, but having driven over from Belgium, worked flat out all morning and then only missed the gate by a few seconds I wasn’t the best of persons to hold a conversation with.

With a long wait until race2, I was left to curse missing race1 for a few hours. Some further alterations were made to the bike to try and speed up the learning process for Sunday’s race. The weather had been sunny with a bit of a wind all day, and was forecasted for the whole weekend. Which meant that any set-up information gained would be very relevant.

When race2 came along, I was down in the collecting area early, very early. I was starting from the back of the grid, which was fine as I was really only interested in how my bike was running. When the race started, it instantly became apparent to myself that I was much happier with the new handlebars, and therefore happier with the handling of my bike. This in itself was a massive boost, as it was March last year when I felt happy with it. After a handful of laps I plug chopped the bike on the back straight, and pushed it back (with Michael’s help I have to say) to the van to inspect the internals!

Sunday 23-3-03 MRO Rd1

Disaster! Upon stripping the front barrel it soon became apparent that the bike had been detonating, enough to have damaged the barrel too, and the rear barrel was the same! This left a tired team, with a re-build that evening/morning when my spare barrels would arrive, thanks to my parents making an earlier trip than wanted to Snetterton.

Despite being up at 07:00am, I never made it out to practice. Once again time had just eluded me, and I was about 5-minutes out. This would result in my next outing (Qualifying) being reduced to nothing more than 15-minutes of running the bike in. Once the bike was re-built, Brett was assigned the task of putting as many miles as possible on the bike around the paddock. This task was made harder, by the close attentions of the stewards who were intent on stopping us from moving let alone riding the bike around. Not a good weekend for clashing with authority!

The programme for the day’s racing set the tone for the 250Gp race ‘Now that Lee Dickinson has committed himself to a full season of MRO GP250 action Andy Whittley’s task of securing the British Championship will be that much harder. Today we will witness some awesome action as Honda mounted Dickinson and the Aprilia mounted Whittley go head to head in Rd1. 2002 championship winner Dean Johnson has withdrawn from the class and he will certainly be missed from the extremely hot multi rider battles that raged from the races seasons passed. The retention of GP250 racing in the MRO is most definitely justified and we can expect too see some superbly close action today, as the Sansome twins Chris and Nick, Phill Desborough, Lee Finney, Tim Jones, and Andy Sawford plan to stop the Dickinson/Whittley charge’.

Qualifying

The weather had remained excellent, Snetterton in March, and its Sunny, I still can’t believe it. Qualifying for all classes was fifteen minutes. Having weighed up my options regarding qualifying, I decided to opt for a time countdown on my pit board to enable me to have the chance to try and set a quickish lap if everything felt ok after the first ten minutes or so. My dad, Brett and Michael armed themselves with the board and stopwatch while I trundled off to the collecting area before the start of qualifying.

One of the problems with running slicks is that if there is any sort of fluid leaking out from you’re bike, you are going to do well to bring it back in one piece to fix it. With this in mind, I make an effort to warn the pitcrew that I will be in after a couple of cruising laps to make sure there is no sign of any fluids in the bellly-pan of my fairing. So after a couple of laps of dodging out of everybody’s way I return to the pits, to enable the team to check the bike over. With the team telling me all is ok, I’m back out to finish off 10-minutes of running the bike in.

With 5-minutes left, I make the decision to put the hammer down and try to get a respectable grid position. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, after all I had felt like I had been riding crap all weekend up to now, so how could I expect much in one lap. I put in a solid lap, without mistakes, however not one that was going to set the world on fire. I planned for that lap to be a banker, and if all was still well go for another if I had time. Well I had time, but, it just never really happened and I can’t remember why. What I do remember was, that Gareth Glynn nailed me on the back straight, I think and qualified himself on the front row in fourth position. Unbelievably, in my eyes, I had managed to get myself from the very last position (34th), up to seventh on that one lap. So a second row start it was.

Race

With the time between qualifying and race3 (Our race) not looking big enough, I decided to just get the bike up on the bench and inspect the internals with a torch down the plughole. All looked ok, so we re-assembled the bike and crossed our fingers! The big debate in the team, was whether to fit a new rear tyre. The tyre in question had only really completed a few mediocre laps, and the running in laps. After much consultation and debate, I felt that with the expense in the engine department already this weekend, the tyre would have to last the race. Further expert advice, also went with my decision, that the tyre would be ok and was nothing more than nicely scrubbed in.

With the bike fuelled up and warmers on, the time soon came around to officially kick-start our season, and make our intentions known. With our race being called, the warmers were taken off and it was off to the collecting area for Rd1. Once formed on the grid, we were allowed off for our 1 warm-up lap. If anything is wrong now, it’s to late. Back in BSB (British Superbike) days, the warm-up lap used to be nearly as quick as the fastest lap, not so now, although I do like to wind the bike up for a fair section of the track. After all, that’s what gets the heat into the tyres. Once back to the start line, I took up my grid slot on the second row, second out from the pit wall.

When the lights went out, I feathered the clutch out, as the front wheel poured the air, as I launched off towards the first turn. It wasn’t a perfect getaway, as I had to take a second bite of the clutch, but I did make up places on the run up to turn1. Unfortunately, I lost them at turn 1 as I got boxed in a little mid-corner. Having made up a couple of places back on the brakes at turn2, I got a good drive onto ‘Revett Straight’ and grabbed myself somebody’s slipstream. I’m not sure exactly where I ended up at the end of the first lap, but sixth or seventh I reckon. Lee Dickinson had already done a disappearing act at the front, and then there was a gap to the four-way scrap that included Andy Sawford, Chris Sansome, and Gareth Glynn. With that group staring to edge away from myself and whoever it was in front of me, I made a dive for that position and got my head down to enable me to catch the group in front. I estimate that it was only a two or three second gap, but it can be hard to bridge without a slipstream, especially when you consider yourself not to have the fastest bike by any stretch of the imagination. However, over the next two or three laps of the eighteen scheduled, I closed the gap without towing anybody along with me. In actual fact, I consider them to have been a couple of good consistent laps, without any mistakes, and vitally important too. Once in the battle, Andy Sawford started to get away and chase unsuccessfully to catch the flying Dickinson.

Approximately mid-distance, Gareth Glynn lost the front end of his Honda at turn2 and crashed out. That left the battle for the final podium spot between myself and Chris Sansome. With the pace not seeming that fast, I opted to make the pass and move up to third position. I did so, on the entrance too the final chicane. I got a good slingshot around the ultra fast ‘Corum Curve’ and dived down the outside and up into third. I was definitely getting good drive out of that hairpin, for the first time ever thanks largely to some borrowed exhaust pipes I was using (Got to have some).

With third place now mine, I had to try and break the gap, and lose Chris. With two or three laps of further effort and 100% commitment I tried, unfortunately unsuccessfully as he managed to breeze past me on ‘Revett Straight’. For the first time in the race I had started to get some rear wheel slides. The back was moving around quite a bit on the power, and I really felt I was going to have to nurse it home. My bike had also started to make some funny noises, and I was paranoid that it was going to grind to a halt. With this in mind, and without the speed to re-challenge for third I opted for a calculated fourth and nursed the bike home for the remaining 6-8 laps.

I was relieved to make it home to be honest. After the weekend I had just had, a fourth seemed a very good result. I was also too pleased to be back on the bike and by the end of the day feeling completely at home with it and the Bridgestone tyres. Now I can’t wait for round 2. On reflection, I should have had third. But my rear tyre was slaughtered at the end of the race. In fact Chris Sansome summed it up when he spoke to me afterwards. His words went something like this ‘ When you came past, I got to see your rear tyre shredding itself, and I thought to myself, it’s only a matter of time’.

Thanks go too Derek Welch for his experience and information regarding these TZ’s at Snetterton, Brett and Michael for putting up with me at a difficult weekend of racing, Mum and Dad as ever, and all the follower’s who made the trip.

Qualifying

1	Lee Dickinson	Honda	1:11.81
2	Andrew Sawford	Honda	1:12.64
3	Chris Sansome	Honda	1:13.31
4	Gareth Glynn	Honda	1:13.39
5	Alex Hutchinson	Yam	1:13.59
6	Tim Jones	Honda	1:13.79
7	Phill Desborough	Yam	1:14.37
8	Andy Meecham	Honda	1:14.42
9	Michael Rose	Honda	1:14.47
10	Andy Whittley	Aprilia	1:14.48

Race

1	Lee Dickinson	Honda	21:49.59
2	Andrew Sawford	Honda	22:03.89
3	Chris Sansome	Honda	22:11.84
4	Phill Desborough	Yam	22:18.07
5	Tim Jones	Honda	22:21.57
6	Michael Rose	Honda	22:35.04