Hottrax MG600 Cadwell Park 19-20 April.

Well my entry is in. It'll be my 1st meeting this year. As usual it seems it's a battle to be ready in time. All being well I'll be up there Thursday evening and settled in the paddock early.
The plan is to test the new bike on the Friday, then straight into it Saturday :shock:
I'll be race rusty for sure but looking forward to it. I just need to get out racing and through the meeting in one piece.
Hopefully I'll be posting regular updates throughout.

 

Good luck Bob.

 

Thanks TDB, looking forward to them.

 

Good luck....Though clearly I hope the Army team edge it , hopefully you'll beat any of the Navy though......isn't this event what Spence is in from here too?

 

Cheers guys.

Well finally I'm settled in the paddock. Finished work at 6, went to Spalding and collected the bike from Stef at Tyres4Bikes. He's done a great job on it. I'm delighted with it (pics tomorrow).

As I didn't get to Cadwell until gone 8 I set about getting the van all set up. I've not touched the bike and there's still a few things to do so I'll miss a couple of sessions of the ACU test whilst I get it all done. Then I'll be out on it for the first time. Can't wait.



More tomorrow guys.

 

Good luck Bobby, hope to catch up sometime.]

 

Aye we'll see you soon.

 

Been working on the bike all morning. Finally it's ready.
Three 15 minute sessions this afternoon is all I get. Better than nothing I guess.

 

Well 3 sessions out the way. The bike feels ok. I did have to twiddle with the clip ons, brake lever, rearsets and gearshift but it fits me now.

I kinda just rode round really. I did get a little quicker at the end but nowhere near anything like a decent pace. Hopefully I'll find a bit more tomorrow as I get to know the bike a little better. The mapping isn't the best from low down and there's no dyno truck here so I'll have to live with it.

It's gonna be hard work for sure.
See, plenty excuses already
Now I'm off to think of some more

 

Theres still time for a miss fire?

 

As I said I collected the bike from Tyres4Bikes on Thursday evening before driving to Cadwell.
This is what I got.





Had a bit of work to do today before I could ride it.







Itching for tomorrow now.

Have to say massive thanks to Stef and Claire at Tyres4bikes. Wouldn't be here without their help it's as simple as that.

So thank you both.

 

Looks great TDB, hope it goes as well as it looks.
What tyres will you be running.?

 

I'm running Continental Race Attacks. 180/60 medium rear and 120/70 medium front. Been using them a year or so now. I really like them. Couldn't get on with the wets though so use Pirelli wets.

 

Good luck mate!

What quick action throttle is that?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

How did it go TDB, no new engines required this time I trust mate.?

 

Funny you should ask......

Been a great day. Out this morning in qualifying pretty much riding round in trackday mode saw me qualify 21st with a 1:45. Now I usually race quicker anyway but I was still disappointed with that. I'd be disappointed with that on a trackday if I'm honest.


Still I was in one piece and looking forward to the race. I got a crap start but at least I was out racing again. There was a group of 4-5 bikes to mix it with. Slowly I got through four of them and nearly caught the fifth one on the last lap. I got the results sheet and saw I had went a little quicker and had put in a low 44. I had managed to make my way back up to 22nd. These short races (6 laps) don't really give you any time to recover from a crap start.


After that I had plenty time to relax and get organised for race 2 as there was the small matter of the 3 hour endurance race in between. Kit Parts showed up and we shot the breeze, drank tea and ate cookies.


I went to watch some racing then decided to head back and get the warmers on. Happy with that I set off to watch more racing. Back up to the van I discovered my warmers weren't working. There was only 20 or so minutes of the endurance race left. A quick check revealed that although the genny was running for some reason there was no output. A quick phone call and I moved the bike down the paddock, stands warmers and all to a mates truck to 'borrow' some power. Sideshow Pob has kindly let me borrow his genny for tomorrow. Thanks Paul, I appreciate it.


After all that we were held in the holding area for an eternity before the race. We did get two warm up laps though and I was happy with my tyres as I took my place on the grid determined to make a better start. I didn't. A bit more aggression in turns one & two though and I managed to make a few places up straight away. I set about dicing with the next couple of bikes. I managed to get by one over the mountain into Hall Bends and the other round the outside round Coppice into Charlies One. It felt like I was racing again and flowing a little better. The timesheet had me 10 seconds quicker over my race distance and was in the 43's. A little progress.


During the race the bike started sounding a little rough. My first reaction was the motor again but it was still going well. It got louder and louder. Back up at the van some investigation revealed this.



Easily remedied. Thankfully the bolt was in the bellypan.




Now just sat chilling with a beer with Mrs TDB.


Looking forward to tomorrow. Bring it on. Warm up, qualifying and two twelve lap races to get through. It's gonna be tough. Not sure I'm fit enough for races that length. Hopefully I can qualify a little better and get away with the next group to pull me along a little at least for a few laps. It's all about finishing though if I'm honest. Until today, I hadn't finished a race since August 2012.

 

Cracking read, thank you TDB. Sounds like you managed pretty well considering the hiccups.

:shock: I so wish I could be "disappointed" with 1:45

 

A very wet and windy morning for qualifying. I was very 'wooden' on the bike, struggling to relax hence didn't go that well at all. Qualified 21st again though.

It's drying up now though. Pretty quickly. As long as there's no more rain it'll be dry races.

 

Been a great day. I didn't think I'd have 12 laps in me but they passed in a blur. Another average start but I soon was mixing it up and getting a few overtakes in. Lap after lap I was dicing with other riders, I was gutted when the last lap flag came out.

The timesheet had me in 21st place but better than that I was down in consistent 43's. Happy with that.


Time passed and eventually my second race came around. We only got one warm up lap but we weren't held in the holding area that long so it wasn't an issue.

Lights out and I got a flyer. I made a point of not giving any ground in turns one and two either. I'd got away with a few of the quicker lads so wouldn't have to waste laps getting through slower riders. They were towing me along and we were swapping places a few times. Then there were three of us lapping away as a group. There wasn't much between us and I was pretty comfortable but putting in a move would have been risky. The laps flew by but with about four to go I made a mistake at the Gooseneck and lost a bit of ground. I'd made it back up by the Hairpin though so wasn't worries. Another mistake at Park lost me ground again. I was tiring. Unsure of how many laps were actually left I decided to let them go and bring it home. Slowly the tow was broken and I relaxed. Only for two laps later for me to get back with them. Last lap and I was happy where I was and decided not to ruin the weekend by doing something silly. That was it. I was happy returning to the van.

The results sheet had me in 17th but the timesheet had me lapping in consistent mid 41's. Considering I qualified with a 1:45 to chip four seconds off my laptimes delighted me.

I came to just finish races and get through the weekend. To get down to the laptimes I was doing in the end is an added bonus. I'm only 2-2.5 seconds off my best before I smashed myself up numerous times.


So. Still camped up in the paddock. There's a trackday with NL tomorrow. If it's nice I may try and squeeze on for some more seat time.

Also Derby Phoenix are here in a fortnight. I might just have to enter that too.








More pic whoring may follow.


What a weekend.......


Now I may have said this before but big thanks to Stef and Claire at Tyres4Bikes for the bike prep and tyres and also Paul Fryer at Black & White Bikes for the loan of a genny after mines packed up on Saturday afternoon.

 

well done Bobby - good to see you back racing after all you have been thru. Good read too - true, honest and not up your own backside like some on here............

Mebbe catch up at a Thundersport round after the TT ?

Pete