they said it was tough to learn.....

With the change of plans brought on by the snow last month, we were now heading to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire for round 2 of the Dyna-pro MRO Supersport 600 championship. This was a circuit I had never been to before (again), not even as a spectator, so it was vital I did the Friday test day. Cadwell has a bit of a reputation for being a tough circuit to learn with so many blind corners and narrow sections. I spoke to a few people about it: "you've never been there before? You'll need the test day but you will love it" - bemsee office. '"I've been there 3 times and never quite got the hang of it" - fellow rider of 30 years experience. " go to the gym and don't come out until you leave for the circuit, you can lose 3 seconds a corner around there" - current bemsee 600 rider. I was up against it!
Our plans had gone a lot smoother for this event and everything was ready and in place so that we could leave at Thursday lunchtime as arranged. Alan was already up there on Thursday doing 'another' trackday to get some more practice in (it was only his third visit there this year!) and so was able to reserve a good spot in the paddock for us. We made it to the circuit by 6pm and as is typical just as we started to unpack the van it started to pour with rain. In between showers we erected the gazebo and organised our accommodation for the next few days, ate dinner and discussed tomorrows events.

attempting the famous 'mountain' section

Friday testday

Sign on was at 7-30am, a spot of breakfast and then get ourselves ready for the day - sort the bike out, fuel it up, check the tyre pressures and climb into my leathers ready for 9-45am first practice. We were out with the Triumph and superstock riders so it was going to be quite a fast pace from the off. My first couple of laps around were a nightmare and I have never been on the grass and kerbs so many times. The main problem was that there was so many corners to remember and a lot of them
were blind up and down hills, and then there was 'the mountain', a very sharp incline that you can not fail to wheelie over or if you go fast enough take off! On my third lap around I came out of the left hander, Mansfield's, to see Alan sitting on the grass bank with his bike propped up next to him. I believe he called it an electrical problem, one of those not got any fuel to ignite electrical problems!
As the day went on my knowledge of the circuit improved but I had no idea of lap times due to the circuit beacon not working. The bike was working very well and with the addition of a quick action throttle it was easier to get full power faster but I was definitely struggling for pace compared to some of the other riders that were circulating. Fortunately it stayed fairly dry all day with just some light rain at the end of the day, but I stayed out to try and get more laps in.

Gazza taking on the mountain


Saturday qualifying

For the qualifying and races ahead we head put on brand new Pirelli tyres so for the first couple of laps I had to be careful so that the tyres were scrubbed in sufficiently. I was still learning the track and had taken on board some the advice I had been given over night but it was still a struggle to get on the pace. I qualified at the back of the grid in 27th place which, unfortunately, I have no way of improving on as that sets your grid position for the weekends 4 races.

Saturday race 1

The first race was before lunch, the weather was perfect and we assembled on the grid ready to do the warm up lap. I had a an untypical good start and actually made up a place, beating Steve #64 to coppice the first corner. By the time we had got around to the back of the circuit the red flags were out, some body had crashed, and we had to make our way back to the grid slowly.
The restart was to be 1 warm up lap and 4 laps, a short race. I beat Steve to the first left hander again and followed the pack around Charlies onto Park straight where as I turned in I noticed an Orange bike on the grass. Alan had obviously tried out a new braking point! By Hall bends he had caught up and passed me, he was flying and on a mission. I finished 25th, 13th in class and had a fastest time of 1.55.3 secs, 4 seconds quicker than my qualifying time.

Saturday race 2

Our second race was early in the afternoon even though there had been a lot of stoppages throughout the morning. Already a familiar starting position on the grid, we started and I followed Steve and Alan into the fast Coppice. Two riders ahead collided and headed for the grass at speed before digging in and being launched off of their bikes which showered us in smashed perspex and fibre glass. The red flags appeared immediately and we had to make our way back around slowly to the collecting area where it was announced we would have 10 minutes to return to our pit areas and get the tyre warmers back on. As soon as the warmers were back on and my helmet was off we were called back to the collecting area - that was a quick 10 minutes!






Alan, Steve and myself in the collecting area


We now had another shortened race and after another reasonable start I followed Steve throughout the race but unable to get close enough to pass him. Coming around for the final lap I recognised a figure leaving the track slowly. It was Alan again, this time he didn't have an electrical/fuel problem, it was a gear linkage problem. I finished 23rd, 10th in class and managed a lap of 1.54.6 secs slightly quicker but not really a big improvement.




Sunday race 1

It had rained overnight but was now dry and warm. I went out on the warm up first thing to try out a gearing change I had made and just to try a couple of different things around the track - anything to get my time down.
There were a few bikes missing off of the grid on Sunday due to the crashes on Saturday. By this time I knew exactly where my grid spot was and made a reasonable start at the beginning of this 10 lap race which was going to be very hard work around this physical circuit. The race was uneventful, basically circulating by myself until lap 9 when out of the corner of my eye I saw Alan again, standing at the edge of the track - what was it this time? Gear linkage again! Finished 21st, 10th in class and no improvement on my lap-time.


Alan eating 'healthy' again






Sunday race 2

The last race of the weekend was at about 3-00pm and I had no idea of how to improve my times. My starts had been reasonable all weekend, maybe it was the new quick-action throttle I was using or maybe I was just getting used to the new crg lever. This one was no different and I held position from the off and that was it. I managed to hold onto Steve for a while but he was lapping faster than I seemed to be able to manage and so had another lonely race. At least Alan actually managed to finish this one! Finished 19th, 9th in class with a lap time of 1.54.1 secs- again only slightly quicker.


In conclusion an enjoyable weekend but very frustrating. I knew Cadwell Park was going to be difficult to learn and adjust to but didn't anticipate being so far off the pace. What was very annoying was the way I seemed unable to improve on my times even though I felt I was getting faster and braking later. I do have to realise that this was only my third time on track since September last year and that I have been laid up for 4 months with back problems, so maybe it was a bit harsh to be so disappointed. I'm not racing now until July at Snetterton first and then Brands Hatch which are both circuits I know so hopefully my results will improve there.


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