The
final round at Snetterton....
Snetterton was officially the final round of the MRO Supersport
championship for 2008 and although the overall title had been
comfortably won already by Liam Lyon, the clubman championship
was very much still being contended between Paul King and Sy Langford.
For me it was just a final run out of the season and maybe for
sometime unless sufficient support can be found for next year,
along with a younger bike.
The R6 fairing had been patched up with fibre glass and filled
in the appropriate places since Brands Hatch and had a new screen
to replace the smashed one. The bike had been prepared as if it
was the first race of the season and checked for straightness
as you do not want to be going down the very fast Revitt straight
at Snetterton with bike not 100%!
Emmett was joining us this weekend to share the gazebo, although
Alan had decided to go a little soft and take the hussle and bustle
of the pit garages rather than put his gazebo up. On arrival on
the Thursday afternoon we were directed away from our favoured
pitch because it was to become a noise testing area - a very large
one! Gazza and I had everything setup pretty quickly and our tents
pitched just behind, right next to the bar and awaited Emmetts
arrival with his luxury caravan.
Friday test day
I was awoken early to the sound of rain pouring down on my tent,
or was it that fact that my airbed had gone flat? Whatever the
reason was,I couldn't sleep any longer and once out of my dry
tent realised that it had been raining for sometime and whatever
it did between now and the first session, I would need wet tyres.
The first session was just a learning session and the track was
flooded in various places particulary around Corams, right on
the racing line. As the morning went on the rain continued but
I was starting to get the hang of it and now knew where the puddles
were and the route to take. I was soaked but it didn't matter
as I was even starting to enjoy it. After lunch the rain stopped
but the circuit was going to take a long time to drain. Alan,
Steve and Emmett joined the afternoon session but struggled in
the initial sessions because of lack of time out on circuit. My
final session of the day was a lot drier, even though it was still
wet, but because I had been out in horrendous conditions all day
it almost felt like it was dry to me.
Saturday qualifying
Saturday had started wet with plenty of rain over night and the
track was wet but would it dry out by the time we due to go and
do our 15 minute qualifying.? Initially everyone seemed to be
convinced wets was the only choice due to the puddles around some
of the corners, but as time went on we were not sure. At the last
minute I made the decision to put a wet on the front so that I
wouldn't lose the front on standing water and a dry on the rear
because a wet tyre wouldn't last long in the drying conditions.
It seemed like a good choice for the first few laps but as the
track dried the front tyre started to overheat and destroy it's
self. Qualified 29th, with a time of 1.27
Saturday race 1
By the time race one arrived before lunch, the sun was out and
the conditions were perfect - not even any wind which is unusual
for Snetterton. I had brand new tyres fitted front and back which
would last for the weekends four races.
I had a decent start and held my position going into the first
corner, Riches. I then outbraked the next guy in front going into
the Sears right hander before the back straight. Through qualifying
I had noticed the clutch slightly slipping on full throttle at
about 15500 revs but thought it would be ok. As the race went
on the slip became more obvious driving on the two straights and
wouldn't fix it 's self unfortunately. At about the mid point
of this race Steve came past me down the back (Revitt) straight
and I proceeded to follow him. The second to last lap and I had
a chance to overtake him braking into the Russells Chicane but
held back thinking I would get him on the last lap only for the
flying Max Hunt to come past me and lap us which meant that was
that, no last lap! One nil to Steve - here we go again, a rerun
from July? Finished 28th, 14th in class with a fastest lap of
1.24
Saturday race 2
The second Supersport race of the day was to be dry again, even
though grey clouds were looming they never appeared with any rain.
Another decent start and Steve got the jump on me into the first
corner but I went wide onto the cement dust at the exit of Riches
and managed to drive out fast enough to out brake him into Sears,
the next corner before the long back straight. Steve then oubraked
me turning into the first left of the Esses which meant I had
to follow him for the rest of the lap. He was getting good drive
onto the straights and started to pull away over the next couple
of laps, gaining 2-3 seconds.
With 2 laps to go I started to haul Steve back in and made up
a lot of time around Corams, which enabled me to be right on his
back wheel coming onto the front straight for the last lap. He
pulled away again, my clutch now starting to slip earlier wasn't
helping, but by the short straight to Sears I had him in my sights,
which would be the best chance of passing him. It was a slightly
late lunge, forcing Steve wide, but worked. All I had to do now
was cover the inside going into the Esses and make sure I had
a decent exit onto the front straight - sorted, 1-1. Finished
22nd, 13th in class with a fastest lap of 1.22
Revett straight, Snetterton
Sunday race 1
Sunday morning and after the standard issue bacon roll breakfast,
preparation began for the 9am warm up session. Tyre pressures
were checked and adjusted and the tyre warmers put on to bring
the tyres to close to operating temperature. I had already tried
to adjust the clutch to prevent the slip but I was pretty sure
it needed replacing rather than adjusting, and then whilst checking
over the R6 I noticed some light oil deposits around by the rear
shock over the swing arm. The WP race shock was also covered in
oil and it was dripping off it. It seemed that the shock was leaking,
probably from the big knock it took at Brands Hatch. I had no
choice but to stay with it and hope it didn't drain all the damping
oil out! The warm up went ok and was enough to prove that the
clutch was only getting worse but the rear shock was performing
as it should.
I rolled up to my grid position after the warm lap and awaited
for the red start lights to come on. Just after they come on Emmett,
who has a bit of a reputation for jump starts, flew off his grid
slot massively and obviously jumping the start so badly that nobody
else moves and the start is aborted. While we wait for him to
paddle backwards to his starting position Alan looks around at
me and is obviously laughing. The second attempt was successful
and I managed a good clean start getting ahead of Steve. I try
to stay with the pack but down the straights my clutch was slipping
so badly that I was having to come off the throttle and miss out
gears. I was expecting Steve to come past me at some stage but
he never appeared - he had retired with cramp! Finished 27th,
17th in class with a fastest lap of 1.22 and i was now 2-1 up
for the weekend!
Sunday race 2
The last race of the weekend and the 2008 season for me. The clubman
championship was still up for grabs and hung on this race between
Sy and Paul. Max Hunt a talented rookie had already taken 3 wins
this weekend and was taking valuable points away from Sy so all
Paul had to do was follow him around.
No such drama for me though apart from my bike troubles. I had
wiped the excess oil off the Wp unit again and the clutch just
had to be nursed through it. My start was actually quite good,
and we had no dramas from Emmett this time, which enabled me to
get ahead of Steve. With no clutch ( it was now slipping at 14000
rpm) which meant limited drive and top speed, I had a very lonely
race where Steve seemed to drift back from me, so no battle there.
It was a shame as we had many good races over the course of the
season. Finished 26th, 17th in class with a fastest lap of 1.23
and 3-1 to me on the personal battle I had been having with Steve
all weekend.
Although frustrating, this final weekend had been fun and light
hearted. My times had been understandably down but the battles
with Steve had been fun and I had even enjoyed the Friday in the
pouring rain. Sy had beaten Paul in that race with Paul running
on after the back straight, but after a few nervous minutes waiting
for the points to be counted up, it turned out that Paul King
was the Supersport 600 clubman championship winner by just one
point.
Alan attempts to coax some of Gazzas curry away from him
Many thanks to Gazza for all of his help this season plus Claire
for her patience, Adrian Ladd for the sponsorship and transport,
Jason Keffert for his help and support, Alfs motorcycles for the
tyre supply and fitting, Phil and Charlie at Seton Tuning and
everyone that has given their support to me.
The final points tables are here
Download the videos
download
full results
download
final points tables MRO
download
final points tables Clubman
