The Biker Place

What with Cadwell being such a pain to get to along with the fact that it is a riders circuit, I thought it would be a good idea to make the most of our time there, so we pre-booked a days practice on Friday and headed up there on Thursday evening.
We arrived just after the rain had cleared, the place was a quagmire! I managed to get us a reasonable place in the paddock (which was rammed due to a track day also running on Thursday) I ran the truck onto the grass and it promptly sunk! but at least it was level so we just left it there.

Friday- test day

Looking at the schedule Row should get 7 session’s in today so he should be well adjusted by the time he has to race….

Session 1
Row takes to the track, and takes his time to settle in, by the end of the session he is doing 2:12, we have no idea if this is good or bad, Row says that the bike feels fine, gearing feels too long.

Session 2
same as above times down to 2:07, Row say’s that the track is awesome!!
This one got cut a bit short, Row re-appears in the collecting area after the front fairing bracket breaks (sign of things to come?)
A quick swap out and we are ready for…..

Session 3
This one ended with a rather loud bike, the silencer had broken…..
Session 4
Row is starting to get on it now, by the end of the session he’s down to 2:02, we hear rumors that the top Aprillia boys are at 1:55

Session 5
Another good session – Row gets down to 2:00

Session 6
1:58 this time ! – good lad, Row turn’s up back at the awning, the bike sounds VERY loud! I check the silencer and wiggle the exhaust, its swinging a bit free,I take the fairing off and start looking near the front, the pipe has fractured at the top, I tell Row that his day is done as I don’t have a spare pipe, the other Metrakit boys are in the same situation, they have also done a pipe and a silencer! all four of the Metrakits are here this weekend.

I get a call put out on the tannoy and within an hour I have the pipe stuck back together, I then have to go and borrow a grinding bit so that I can clear the overweld from inside the pipe, a couple of hours are spent grinding the inside of the pipe back so that it will work, it aint pretty but at least he will be able to race.

SATURDAY

Up nice and early, bike scruted, signed on etc etc, Row goes out for his practice/qualifying comes back bike is loud again, this time the silencer has broken!, manage to get a new one and fit it, Row qualifies 1st Metrakit in 14th place on the grid, on a 1:56! the next Metrakit is in 17th place (Jason Douglas) who also had a silencer break during the session clearly slowing him down.

RACE 1
So with the bike screwed back together (but the datalogger has stopped working so Row will have to ride by ear) Row takes his place on the grid, – GO – Row gets away with the pack, I can just see him rubbing a few Aprillias as they disappear from view, they come through at the end of the lap Row in 14th, and there he pretty much stayed although of 32 starter only 24 finish, Rows best lap was a 1:57.

RACE 2

Nothing seems to have broken during the first race – relief!
They line up again – GO – Row holds his position for the first few laps then gets taken by a couple of Aprillias, he gradually falls into Jason’s grasp and despite battling gets passed at Mansfield corner, and finishes in 15th place, Row re-appears in the paddock and points to his left footrest, its loose! “I couldn’t put weight on the left peg, my foot kept on slipping off of it,

So that’s Saturday done then, I strip the bike and check over everything, the pipe needs re-welding, apart from that all is well, Row goes off and gets the all important signature, we have some tea and settle down for the evening.
Later in the bar chatting to Craig (Jason’s dad) we agree that the boys aren’t gonna get around here much faster than 1:56, both boys are also complaining about front end chatter in the faster bends.

SUNDAYM

A bit of a lay in today – we manage to hang it out until 08:00! Row goes out in the morning warm up and does a few laps.

RACE 1
Row pins it off the line gets to about 10th in the 1st lap then gradually gets caught back to finish in 13th place, his best result so far this weekend ! Jason beat him to the finish but not after Row had given Jason a hard time! when we check the lap times we are gobsmaked that both boys are now down to high 1:52(Jason) and Low 1:53 (Row), where did those three seconds come from then….Rowan comes into the paddock and points to the fairing mount, its broke! “it was rubbing on the tyre, I could see blue smoke coming up”

The faring is quickly repaired.

Row also says that he has major front end chatter through Charlies out and Chris curve, I have a chat to Jason’s dad, they are having the same problem despite trying some different tyres, so it would appear to be set-up (not something I have played with yet because I was waiting until he needed some adjustment), I wind the rear shock preload up a bit to see if that helps.

RACE 2

This time I count Row in 7th off of the start although he comes through at the end of the lap in about 10th, I can see he is really on it now and despite being outgunned by the Aprillia’s he manages to bring it home in an excellent 12th place “the chatter is really bad now Dad, I recon I could get through charlies flat out but I had to roll it off because the front was chattering so bad it started to slide, I am getting my knee down all over the place now though” top kid!

So that’s it, with our pile of broken parts off we go home.
Looking back at the weekend we really enjoyed it, the broken bits don’t matter, Row’s riding continues to improve, he now only needs 2 signatures to be able to get his club license, this should be done at Snetterton in two weeks time, then lets see if we can get his national by the time he’s 13……..