The Biker Place

Round 10 of the British National Super Stock Championship took place this weekend at the popular Croft Circuit just outside Darlington, a circuit as many of you will know is under threat of closure due to noise regulations and complaining neighbours.

As far as Alex was concerned he knew this was going to be another difficult round, not having visited the circuit since last year he knew the circuits characteristics would not suit his ASTRO Kawasaki ZX10R and that the circuit is getting increasingly bumpy over the years and it is imperative to know where the bumps are! Another new challenge presented itself at this round as Alex was introduced to a new mechanic who it is proposed will work with the team in 2010.

In Free Practice everything went as expected, sitting in a lowly 21st position with a 1.27:333 but happy to be getting to know the track and on returning to the garage big adjustments were made to the chassis of the bike by his new mechanic for Qualifying 1.

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Q1 and the knowledge gained from practice and the adjustments to the bike resulted in Alex improving his lap time to a 1.26:404 but more or less holding station with other riders’ improvements and sitting in provisional 20th place for the start of the race.

Q2 it is not ideal to be making such big changes to the bike on a race weekend but with the new mechanic being given total control, more drastic adjustments had been made to the bikes suspension completely transforming the handling in the process. It was decided to revert to the strategy that had worked so well at Brands Hatch and send Alex out on used tyres for the start of the final qualifying session, then return to the pits half way through the session and change to new tyres for the push to set a good qualifying time. Again everything went to plan and halfway through the session the tyres were changed and Alex went out to push for a qualifying time. His first flying lap was ruined as he came up against slower traffic; his second had to be aborted after running wide at the hairpin and losing drive onto the straight.

The third looked good a clear track in front of him, Green light for sector 1 showing he had put in a personal best time. Green light for sector 2 another PB then Alex lost grip on the front tyre and crashed out on a medium speed corner, although the R&G Crash protection had done a fantastic job in protecting the bike from
damage in the crash, Alex was forced to sit out the rest of the session and watch as he slid further and further back in his position for the start of Sundays race.

Although we did not hold up much hope of scoring points with such a lowly start position of 22nd there was always hope and Alex showed great improvement in the race setting his fastest ever time round the croft circuit with a time of 1.25:021 and at one point sitting in 14th but unfortunately toward the end of the race he slowed and lost 2 places finishing in 16th place and just outside the points. But all things considered a good showing again as Alex was again the first debutant across the line in the class and only 2 places behind the leading Kawasaki entry.

Up front Alistair Seeleys’ unbeaten run came to an end, in what was arguably the most exciting race in any class this season! Again locked in a race long fight for the lead with last years champion Steve Brogan the 15 lap thriller cumulated in both running off the track letting John McGuiness take the win from Scott Smart who coasted in to second after blowing the engine of his Ducati yards from the finish line with Seeley and Brogan 3rd and 4th.

Next race takes place at Silverstone in a few weeks time in the mean to keep up with news from Alex or if you would like to contact him visit his dedicated web site at www.alexgaultracing.com

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