Cadwell Park Full Circuit

I turn up Friday evening to meet up with guys racing on the FJ’s, Mura (with Caz) plus Paul (Jorge) and his misses Kate. Kerry the photographer and Boss (Mark Arliss) turned up early for a few beers to catch up ready for the racing over the weekend.
I brought along the Clubs new Mechanic ‘Peg’ to make sure the bolts were tighten up and the FJ Racer was ‘Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion’.
Adam on the R1 had been there all day testing in the hope of getting back the pair of wins that he lost from the Brands Meet in March.

Race 2; Round 3; Qualifier

I was given 5th position on the line, while Adam was a few places back in 8th. Mura and ‘Jorge’ wasn’t so luck and were well back of the grid.
I had fitted a well used race Bridgestone tyre on the spare wheel. The reason was to save the new tyre for when it matters in the race for points.
I had my ‘Stoner’ start and was up with the leaders for the first lap but the Streetstock guys on there modern machinery would pull a gap on me along the back straight then a bit more along Park Straight. I managed to keep them in my sites and hoped Adam wasn’t chasing me down. After the 5 laps I came in a credible 6th in race and 1st in class (Pre-Injection) with a time of 1;42.5
But looking at the time sheets a Nick Colley on an R6 had got 2nd in PI while Adam came in 3rd. Mura got 7th and ‘Jorge’ came in a safe 8th.

Later on Nick came over and introduced himself and I told him he must of be shifting on a 600cc R6, he pointed out that he was a local and knew the circuit well. This was good news to me because if I can get any PI class racer between me and Adam then it would do my championship good. I was shocked when he said he could lap a lot faster. Shit! He might beat me. This wasn’t what I had planed.
I FJ member called ‘Yellow Belly’ was offering advice which I was more than happy to listen too as he was an ex-racer and knew Cadwell Park well. He told me Nick comments were more than likely ‘bull shit’ and it was race talk designed to winding me up. It was working.

Race 12; Round 3; Championship race.

Being 6th on grid meant I was on the inside but after last year of being punted off onto the grass I least thought it was the safest place.
With my new tyre and tips from ‘Yellow Belly’ I did another ‘Stoner’ start and this time I was able to keep onto the back of a Gixer 1000 K10 and a new Yamaha R1 from the Streetstock class. After a few laps I realised that they was holding me up on the twist’s where I was little bit quicker but was only able to make up the ground lost from the straights by late braking. Keeping on their tails meant that the PI guys were not on mine, so after 6 hard laps I came in 7th in race, 1st in class with a new lap record of 1;41.5.
Nick on the R6 was some 7 seconds behind with Adam close behind. I heard later that they was both being held up by a ZX10R Kawasaki so you can’t say they weren’t trying, but that is the problem with Cadwell, if you get caught behind a fast bike you simply cant pass in the tight twist bends lost from the straights.

Mura was still struggling on his FJ but came in with a 7th and ‘Jorge’ was an impressive 8th (need to understand this guy has never raced until the start of this season and never been around Cadwell even on a trackday, so respect is needed for his achievement).

Race 2; Round 4; Qualifier;

The next day is a complete new race so it’s back to the original grid position which for me was 5th.
Got a good start and was with the front runners when all of a sudden the red flags were out at the end of Park Straight. Were travelling around 140-150 mph at this point and were all on the brakes. One guy didn’t react as quickly as me and pass me like I was stood still. Scary!
It looked a bad accident at Coppice and the plan is for us to wait on the start grid until the track is cleared. Problem is I can’t start my bike without my ‘plug in battery pack’ as I've got a light weight battery fitted which won’t turn the engine over.
Quick thinking was needed so I stop at the top of ‘Barn’ where the Marshall’s could give me a bump start.
This worked out fine but I think Adam might have been thinking that I wasn’t going to make the grid.
I had fitted my old tyre and wheel back on so I could save the good one for the main race again.
The warm up lap as very entertaining, the tyres had cooled down a lot due to the waiting on track so result was whilst accelerating out of Charles the rear span up. Shit!
Then driving out of the Gooseneck the left did the same. Well least they should be warm now, after all that spinning.
I got off the grid well and followed the leaders as they set a good pace. It didn’t tak long for them to pull away and I just kept them in my view and was unable to match their times.
I finished the race in 6th (1st in class) while Michael Hobbs (R1) and Adam (R1) was struggling with that quick ZX10R from the last race and was unable to make a pass, they finished 8th and 9th (2nd and 3rd in class).
The other FJ boys were having a right ‘ding dong’ and ‘Jorge’ managed to get the better of Mura and finished 7th and 8th in class.

Race 12; Round 4; Championship race.

My confidence was high but looking at the timing sheets Michael Hobbs had got in front of Adam and was looking quick. That was all I needed was to finish 2nd and loose good championship points.
Now with my new tyre back I was on the grid in 6th with Adam placed 9th directly behind me.
Again had a ‘Stoner’ start and even manage to pass one of the leaders around ‘Charles’ on the first lap. I was determined to keep on there ass because this would keep me away from Michael and Adam.
Then after a few laps I had a scary moment…. while braking for ‘Park’ corner I normally change down two gears but on selecting fourth I hit a missed gear. I then slammed it down again, only the same, no gear. By this time I'm travelling at a fair rate of knots into the corner and now I'm, clutch in and hard on the brakes making up the lack of engine braking.
It’s very common to go straight on in these situations so I at to concentrate really hard to throw the bike over into the corner with my brakes fully on. With lots of luck I made it, the result was I lost the tow of the leading pack, so I just got back on the same pace hoping no one had gained on me over my ‘moment’.
I could see the distance was constant so I should have been lapping similar time.
I didn’t want to look back as I’ve made this mistake before only to start going slower and Adam has been known to catch me up. So I simply kept my head down.
After 6 laps I came across the finish line 5th (best of the weekend) and 1st in Pre-Injection class. I managed to break the class lap record with a 1:41.07.
I couldn’t have asked for better weekend results.
Michael Hobbs who looked like getting a good result managed to DNF, shame!. While Chris Draper on his R6 managed to get the better of Adam so making it a 2nd and 3rd in class. This means even more point’s advantage over the 2010 PI Champion and I need ever one as we go next to meet at Pembrey, his best circuit.

‘Jorge’ had a moment at the end of back straight and (like me) missed a gear but went straight on. Only a little damage to his bike but a shame of the missed points.
Mura collected some good points and finished 6th in class.