Giles Whitely aka 'Toad' write about his FJ racing experience
Adventures of a flying Toad
I can remember reading Phil's first reports of his racing experiences and I can confirm that they were all accurate. I'm not a slow rider and have had plenty of time on the track, both at track days and the Nurburgring; the latter I'll do in a little over 8 minutes without fuss.
Racing is a whole different game and the first qualifying race at Anglesey proved that. We'd had the test day on the Saturday which allowed me to familiarise myself with the circuit so I would at least know if the next corner was a right or left - it helps I find. I took to the track well especially some of the more technical corners like the Corkscrew (the section after Peel).
The other minor point was that I had only previously ridden the bike (or any FJ) at one track day at Oulton Park a few weeks earlier and was still running it in then; I needed to get a feel for it - and for a beast it handles very well (Thanks to Doc for building it for me over the winter).
Sunday came and it was the qualifying race - As it approached butterflies appeared in my stomach and by the time we were in the holding area they were Condors. We were called to the grid and despite the calm talking to I was giving myself, I was by now nearly shitting myself. Anyone that tells you different of their first race is either a freak or a liar.
I had drawn a position near the rear of the grid which suited me to be honest, it felt less pressured (well a little). We did the warm on lap, came back and lined up for the start. The man with the flag pointed up at the lights.....the four reds came on for what seems like an age but was probably two seconds......engines started to rev....I remembered Liams advice "wind on 3000 revs ad drop the clutch as the lights go out".......stone me but I felt ready to race.....I was going to do okay.....the engine was steady at 3000.......the lights went out.......it got noisy......bikes screamed forward.....mine though seemed to more lurch forward....and stop....and go again....and stop........and go again.........I was managing to pull off the most spectacular kangaroo petrol for what seemed like the entire length of the start finish straight. I felt a tit and the pit lane audience seemed to agree if their laughs were anything to go by.
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Doc helping Giles sort out the suspension
Once going though all the nerves went, the red mist descended and all that mattered was going fast and catching the bloke in front. It is an incredible thing and I love it every bit as much as I thought I would, maybe more. It's no track day - it is every man for himself and there are few manners.
You'll be taking what you thought was a tight line and suddenly there is a wheel nosing up the inside, and rather than think "oooooo that is a bit dangerous" as by rights you should, you think "bollocks to you mate, you're not having that" and you push a bit harder. Though if the bike is up your inside there seems to be little you can do.
Overtaking is a new mindset.
Gone are the "leave a big gap" briefings of a track day. If you want to get past you have to get stuck in; it is the biggest mind change to get over; you must forget manners and forget the fact that it feels like lunacy and go for the chance when you see it. And when you are past it feels good and your on for the next bloke - or in the case of bike number 1, next woman.
We've had four weekends now and I am getting the hang of it more and more.
My starts are improving and I'm much more relaxed on the bike. The third weekend saw me crash twice on the same corner giving too much gas on cold tyres but I seem to have sorted out my lead fist now. I have had a very consistent set of respectable finishes and find myself 4th in the championship - I'm very happy with that; it's been a good rookie year so far.
At the Oulton Park race while lining up I asked Phil if he still got butterflies after three seasons. I was most relieved when the answer came "Yes".
The most recent race weekend saw problems with my brakes in qualifying which we think was down to a warped disk - I had massive break judder under hard breaking from about half distance which meant I had to back right off and dropped a total of 7 places from start to finish.
I was a very grumpy arse-hole for the next 12 hours. Thanks to everyone that weekend who put up with a petulant junior racer. I was like Sete Gibernau on a bad day. I knew I was being a total numpty but I just couldn't shake it off.
This racing thing has started to matter to me.
We fixed that problem using a spare wheel and swapping tyres which enabled me to put in a couple of decent races and saw me get a personal lap best of 1min 20secs. Phil was doing 1:15 s and Liam 1:16s. Whilst happy with the improvement, I knew I was carrying a very respectable pace through the corners, I was standing the bike up fast to get all the power down I could out of corners and was nailing it on straights, - I just couldn't understand where I would ever be able to get another 2 seconds let only 5. I knew I was riding very well and it was demotivating to see the lads going so much faster - was it really just down to practice? I had to believe it was.
It was a blessing in disguise that Phil took the spare bike out and broke down on the last race. Whilst waiting at the side of the track he had a chance to see and hear me pass. When I got back to the paddock he said the bike wasn't sounding as crisp as it should - he would have a look this week. The bike should be making about 125BHP. Phil had it Dyno tested yesterday.......89BHP - less than a standard FJ. There was a totally seized carb which meant I was effectively running on three cylinders.
Suddenly I am ecstatic with a 1min 20. You may well ask "How the hell did he not notice he had lost a cylinder?" and its a good question - basically I have no frame of reference having no experience of FJs, it didn't sound bad, it wasn't spluttering or anything, it was just a little lame.
I don't know what I will be able to do with a full four cyclinders but so long as I break 1:20 I'l be happy. It will make a big difference to my starts - I have struggled and couldn't understand why I was getting beaten up even when I got a good one in, I now know. It'll certainly make the last two race weekends this year something to look forward to . ANOTHER 36BHP TO PLAY WITH - watch out lads there is a Toad with something to prove behind you!!!
Thanks for taking time to read this.
Giles Whitely.
