The Biker Place

After being neglected for a few weeks the old 80 was refreshed ready for the last few races of the year, its strange as a few months ago I was spending all my time working away on it trying to make it faster then more recently its become more of a job than a hobby, I suppose both Row and I are ready for a new challenge.

So Friday night saw us wending our way up the M6 to Oulton, I suppose I should have booked in for the practice day there on Friday (which most of our rivals seem to have done) but Row has had a few days off school recently and I am trying to stay in their good books ready for next years onslaught. 4 1/2 hours later see’s us arrive at Oulton, the paddock is already full but thanks to John and Vicky we have a space saved, Row disappears into their new motorhome (very posh!) and I have a chat with my sister whilst getting set up for the morning.

Saturday arrives, we get up at 07:00 and get signed in and scruted, then Row takes off for his first look at the track (he’s done a lot of laps round here on the play station, but its the first time he’s seen the place in the flesh).

Practice goes fine, Row has to learn the track at something like race speed and he’s also running in a new piston and rings, they manage two laps then the red flag comes out, Row returns to the pits, Sam doesn’t we hear that there has been a coming together between Sam and Luke Helm. They re-start the practice and Row gets another two laps in before they call them in. Sam returns to the pits a bit muddy and a few new scratches on the bike but he’s O.K, John gets down to work straightening the bent bits. Row says “A lot to learn here dad, its a long lap and I am braking far to early in a lot of places” he hops into the van to think through a few laps and consult the track map. We get the timesheet and see that Row has posted 3rd fastest time for the F125 boys, but that doesn’t include Sam.

Race 1 – qualifier
Row leads the F125’s into the first corner, then they disappear off into the distance and we have to wait for what seems like ages until they stream through, Row is down to 3rd but has a nice gap to 4th, the following laps follow the same pattern and Row runs out in a clear 3rd place, job done.

“the bike went a bit funny Dad I went along the straight and it sort of coughed then didn’t seem to run right” Hmm that sounds like a seizure to me, so its off with the head and barrel to find it in perfect condition! I re-build it carefully, check the reeds, they are fine – dunno what’s causing that … I put a new spark plug in just in case that’s it,

Race 2 Championship race

Row knows that he just needs to finish to make sure he carries a points lead into the last round at Thruxton in a couple of weeks, they line up (I am chewing my nails as I still don’t know what was causing the problem earlier) – RED lights come on – go off , they belt off the line, Row once again leads the F125’s into the first bend, I have to wait for them to re-appear a couple of minutes later, they come through Sam is in 2nd, Row in 3rd, that’s fine…. next lap Row has been caught for 3rd so now in 4th… next lap RED FLAGS! I strain my neck looking for Row and after a few minutes agony he appears up pit lane “two 400’s have binned it Dad, one at each chicane, bikes running good again though” he rides off to take his place back on the grid.

Go- and once again Row leads them into the first bend, he’s back to third after the first lap then 4th again!, they come around again and Row slipstreams 3rd place, pulls out then backs out of the maneuver, the next lap they throw another RED Flag, someone else has binned it!, the boys come back to the pits, Row seems a bit cheesed off ” I can’t get a decent run Dad, I need to reel off a lot more laps I’m still finding more speed, I thought about overtaking for 3rd but then thought nah, don’t wanna bin it” sensible lad “the bikes running fine again now” So Row runs out in 4th, Sam in 2nd takes 2 points out of Row’s championship lead leaving Row 9points ahead going into the last round, we will settle for that.

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