Trev's Report
Raceday and I get up and feel I had over done it on the trackday as every muscle aches ,We dont have much to do as Tech inspection and signed on on Friday thank god.First practice and Me and Martin go out together on the back straight Martin's flying and soon I lose sight of him even so I feel quite good and catch a few and pass em then one of the flying Bombers comes by and we have a good dice til the flagQualifying and Martin has the Transponder as he is way quicker than me he goes out and I waite 10 mins then I go out as I get onto the back straight Martin comes flying past I tag onto him and on the brakes into the left he's backing it in Moto GP style (Gary Mackoy) I manage to stay with him for a bit longer but he gets by a rider and I have a dice with him for the rest of the session which was great fun.Martin qualifyed us in 31st out of 38 so great work mate and as all season fastest qualifyer starts the race The RaceWe all line up on the Le mans grid and martins bike seems to bog of the line I give him a extra shove and he's off and intantly makes a couple of places, Martin looks like he's flying and makes us a couple of more places during his forst stint which for me seemed to fly by in no time at all I am getting ready to go out,Then martin is called in and with a decent change over I am out I still feel tired/Stiff and have a lonely 15 mins so feel the pain frm my muscles even more and find myself thinking why am I doing this I cant ride how I know I can because I have not got the energy to move my knee is not going down but my toes are so I have totaly the wrong body position and to much lean angle I know all this but can't do anything about it, then I find a play mate someone to chase and all the negative thoughts are gone and all I want to do is catch and pass him which I do about a lap before my pit board tels me its time to come in, I pull in and struggle to get off the bike as my right leg is siezed with cramp I limp to the van have a drink and a ciggie stretch my leg and it eases a bit so I walk into the garage see Paul (Gems brother) our Mechanic for thew day My bike is running very hot (Bongo Style) so remove the front mudgaurd, Get some more fluid in me and I am back out.This session I feel alot better and I start to move my fat ass and start getting my knee down but not as much as on the friday still I am instantly in a battle and keep getting lapped by the leaders who I try to tag onto and feel in some places my speed is very good I also see in places I really do need to improve big time, Charlesey come by and seems to pull a big gap then I find I am pulling him back in I manage to get right onto him and its time to pull in again, This time I feel so good I dont want to pull in but I have to or go over time and get a penalty, Without the mudgaurd the bike is running a bit better under 90 anyway, Martin's out and suffering as his gearbox seems to be on the way out again missed gears all over the place but he does a stearling job and brings it home for the end of his session.as we call Martin in Safety cars goes out nothing we can do as he will go over time so he pulls in and I get held in pit lane for a lap The tail behind the safety car is so long with really big gaps I am flat out for 3 laps and when I catch the train the car pulls in so I just carry on flat out this time I start to feel the pain not moving around on the bike as much and grinding my toes again I catch a rider on what looks like a K4 750 with #57 under the tail and have a session long battle with him which was fantastic at some point Bucko comes past onto start finnish and waves which baffled me as I thought he never passed to close so no need to appolagise he has passed me several times with no waves so doubt it just a Hi mate still he's gone and my battle is still on and ever time iget close enought to go for the pass which would be either into Maggots or at the end of the back straight I get done over by guys who are lapping us and he's got a gap on me again this happens time and time again I am right on him and dam the flags out and the race is over.It was a fantastic weekend made all the better by the Monkey freinds we have in the paddock I would like to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Kwacky and Gibbo and Wendy for sponsoring us this year helping me to live the dream as a racer I am now going into semi retirement which means I am gonna keep my ACU licence next season. we are looking for a team mate for Martin in the 1000 class, I will be at all race metting as Manager/mechanic and do the friday trackday then do the pit duties on race day, This also means if we have a mechanical problem on the friday my bike is spare or if we have a injury I can step in as back up rider unless I have binned it on the friday I can also do a couple of Moto Grande's In some ways this is a sad time for me but could be very exciting time for Pirate RaciungBring on 2110 I cant wait to get started
Martin's Report
Great report Trev - and its been a pleasure for the past 2 years. Hopefully the next few will be as good, if slightly different.My report below - oh, and Pete, no problem with your passes, I don't mind them close - you were going great.We came to Silverstone hoping for a good performance particularly as Trev planned now to go into semi-retirement after this race. My bike was back together after the spill at Snett and we were raring to go. I had done a trackday here in July where I had taken my PB down to 1.13.9 and I hoped to take it down further this weekend. I arrived Friday morning and was chatting to TooTall when Rich (Rat Race) wandered over and said he had presents for both of us. He gave Ryan an amazing print of a pic showing their duel at Cadwell suitably inscribed and he unfurled a 10 foot by 3 foot Pirate Racing banner for me. What a bloke - cheers mate. In the trackday I found I wasn't confident on the bike. I don't know if it was not riding for 5 weeks, or the after effects of the spill at Snett but something didn't feel right. I was going reasonably well though and clocked 1.14.1 which was okay. In the last session before lunch I came out of the chicane and all of a sudden the bike went sideways and I was doing a handstand on the bars. Shit, I'm off I thought. I came down and landed on the bike which proceeded to buck me off again but not as high this time. I felt the bike right itself as I landed a second time and I then saw Bongo pass me waving his fist in the air celebrating my save! The rest of the day passed uneventfully. I was going okay but still not happy with the bike which was now missing 5th on a regular basis and just not feeling quite right. Only living 40 minutes away, I went home Friday night and came back raring to go for the race. We were sharing a garage with Lily and Freak which was good as I've not really chatted much to them before. We did qualifying and I put in a 1.13.9 which was okay and put us 31 of 37 on the grid. It seemed an age waiting for our race to come around and it was really difficult to relax and sit down, even though I knew I should. Our main sponsor Kwacky from Tankslap.co.uk turned up which was good, together with Simon and another guy from that site. My brother Ian also came - its always good to see him but he longs to be out racing as well. Finally we get going. I get a good start and take a few on the straight. Then we are into it. After 10 laps I feel nackered. I think it is the nervous energy taking a toll. The bike is missing gears more often now but I just about hold my own and come in feeling ok, but very sweaty and a bit tired. Paul (Gems' brother) was biatching for us (cheers Paul) and took the bike from me and I slumped in my chair for a while recovering. Trev does his stuff and completes a steady session with no incidents and very quickly it seems to be my session again. I feel less tired this time and have some good battles with a few people. I'm going okay, but still not really confident with the bike - the gear missing is getting worse and I hoped it would last the day. Coming into Brooklands a bike pulls level with me, I look and it is Freak. I try to outbrake him, but he is on my inside and I can't prevent him going past. This session passes quickly and I am nowhere near as tired. I come in and find I've done a 1.13.33 so knocking half a second off my PB.As I sit down, I see Lily walking into the garage with a sling on. Not exactly what she needed, but she seemed okay and fair play for getting out in the first place.Trev does another stint - running consistently - he has finished every race this year which is more than me.Back out for my final stint. I'm going okay but getting frustrated with the gear missing, which costs me time and places when it happens. I shout expletives into my helmet in anger. The end comes quickly and although I felt I'd pushed hard, the times are a touch slower. Trev goes out and brings it home in style, well done mate, and we all applaud the finishers. I was quite pleased with my performance although I didn't continue the definite step-change improvement from the last two races weekends.So the racing season is over. It has been a good year and amazingly we have had no wet races. It looks as though Trev is moving to be team mechanic / manager / reserve rider next year so I will be putting out feelers for a team-mate, but that will be the subject of another thread.Great to meet the everyone as usual, and sorry I missed the year-end festivities due to flying out on hols early Sunday morning. Time to start preparing for 2010
The events of last weekend have made me want to commit my thoughts to paper regarding the risks that we face when we decide to race.
It seems to me that there are two perspectives to consider. Firstly, the personal danger that we open ourselves up to, and secondly how fair is this on our loved ones and dependents?The first category is the more straightforward area to answer. In my mind we are all grown-ups and should be allowed to make our own decisions. We know that there is more risk racing than stamp collecting - although maybe this is offset by the physical demands of our sport which encourage us to at least get passably fit rather than vegetate in front of the TV. Provided we don't deliberately put others in unnecessary danger, and we make adequate insurance provision, we should be able to choose the activities we want to pursue and the level of risk we are prepared to take. If the worst then happens, we have no right to complain to others or to try and sue the organisers or those who became involved in our accident.
The second category is far more knotty. How fair is this increased level of danger on our parents? On our partners and our young children? What about our work colleagues, our friends? This to me is much tougher. I have tried to look at it from both sides of the coin. Of course I understand how I feel about me racing, but how would I feel if my partner wanted to race? How about if my brother or one of my daughters. It is s tough one, but I genuinely feel that I would want them to follow their heart, to pursue their dream and if that meant a higher risk of me losing them, then I should be prepared to accept it. This does not just relate to racing of course. If they wanted to go mountaineering, or skydiving, join the army, then I would want to point out the dangers, ask them to minimise them but then support them in their choice.
So, in summary, we know racing is dangerous (although I suspect the actual statistics would show lots of broken bones but not that many fatalaties) but it brings real quality of life to many people and I believe that outweighs the risks we take. This is only my view and I fully understand people who may have a totally opposite opinion and who may think mine is selfish and misguided.
I grieve for those that have lost their lives but I also celebrate the joy and achievement that the thousands who race gain every time they start the engine and hit the track and the life affirming qualities of racing as a sport.
Well, a very difficult weekend. Firstly my sincere sympathies go out to Richard Slater’s friends and family. I will say more about my feelings in a separate blog if anyone is interested. Pirate Racing came to Snetterton with high hopes of a good result, with Dion (GixerBoy) having been drafted in as deputy for Trev who couldn’t race this weekend. My buildup had gone well. I had nabbed Jonty for a day of instruction. This went very well for me, with clear improvement ideas being put across by Jonty. This, plus my recent improvement in form meant that I had met my aim of getting under 1.20 by the third session of the day – my previous pb was 1.22 and I hit 1.19.5. We tried a few more things in the afternoon and I think mental exhaustion set in and my times went backwards, but I felt the theory was there such that I would improve on race day. Dion had got on the afternoon of the track day and was quickly into the 1.13s. Unfortunately this was followed by a bin at Sears near the end of the day. After a few beers and the usual craic, I slept like a baby and raceday arrived quickly. We all know what happened during practice. Dion went out with the transponder for qualification and unsurprisingly, was not back to his best – qualifying us 9th overall in the Juniors. Dion was unhappy with this but I told him to chill and just enjoy the day. As we prepared for the race, Dion realised his bike was leaking oil from the crash the day before and with NR’s help (cheers guys) set about getting it fixed, which was just done in time. At the start, it was a rare experience for me holding the bike as I usually start. The flag fell and off they went. I had just sat down when Trev started shouting at me to get kitted up. Dion had come in with more oil leaking. I got sorted and headed out. I felt I was going well and passing quite a few people. I got into the 1.19s and felt good, knowing I normally take a second or two off as the race progresses. Then the bike starting kangarooing occasionally as I changed down under heavy braking. After about 16 laps, it did it at the and of the Revitt Straight and I couldn’t get the bike slowed enough. I just made the left but was far too fast to make the righthander. I stood it up and onto the grass but heading to the tyre wall at a rate of knots I touched the front brake and the bike went down. I hit the ground hard with my left shoulder followed equally hard with my head and then right shoulder as I rolled. I knelt up for a few seconds while my head cleared and then stood up. The gear lever was off, screen snapped and seat unit hanging off. I couldn’t get it going and the marshals put the bike by the side. I think the pace car came out but I’m not sure why as I was a fair way off the side of the track. I ran back with the transponder and then went back with Trev to recover the bike. With a lot of improvisation, zipties and gaffer tape (plus link rod from Blue – cheers mate) the bike was made rideable. My windscreen was 7 layers of black gaffer tape! I went out and had problems changing gear. I came back in and Trev took the bike out of the paddock and came back in shouting at me – “there’s nothing wrong with the gears, just go and ride the bloody thing properly”. I went back out, clutchless gearshifted properly and all was okay – I’ve used a quickshifter so long, I think I’d forgotten how to ride normally! I was riding okay, but probably only at 90% as I was not 100% confident in the bike. The pitboard came out and I was back in. Dion completed the race and took the flag but due to the time we’d lost, we were classed as DNF. So, overall, a disappointing weekend although I was pleased with my riding and enjoyed my instruction. A real big thanks to; Dion for standing in – just dogged by bad luck mate; Trev, Gems, Donna and Emma for pit duties, Mum for catering, NR for helping with GB’s bike, Blue for the spares and Jonty for the instruction. The bike is in the bike hospital now – roll on Silverstone.
