| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
Well, here it is, sadly the final race report of the year. The last race of the season took place at Carnaby, North Yorkshire, England, on Sunday 19th October Following on from Saturday's brilliant results with 2 brilliant second places in the points races, resulting in 36 points because of the Joker Card being played (double points), plus another second in the trophy race, the whole team were buoyed up for the final round of the year today at Carnaby 2, with the long circuit being used instead of the short circuit from Saturday. The weather forecast was certainly pretty grim, with cold, windy and pretty wet weather on the menu and generally looking Malevolent and moody all day. Not that it worried us of course as we had our spare wet tyres ready and waiting on the spare wheels (first time all season!). Shortly before race one the rain started to drizzle down, and we had a few fraught moments wondering whether to change tyres or not. Eventually we decided that it wasn't wet enough for full wets and stuck with the Rennsports for the race, although the track was pretty damp looking. Jonathan got a flying start and led his class into turn one with Keith Pringle, his main rival, in second place. As the laps ticked by Jonathan really showed his confidence in the wet, continuing to lead the SOT field and taking advantage of the brilliant handling offered by the Buell. By lap 4 the power of Pringle's Aprilia started to make it's mark and he just managed to get past the Buell into the class lead, although Jonathan was at his heels and managed to get past again as they were out of sight and approaching the final bend. With his extra speed though Pringle was just able to claw back the class lead at the flag, with less than a second covering the pair. . By finishing second in class Jonathan had put the championship firmly out of reach regardless of finishing order in race two, and into the record books as the first national championship outside of the USA to be won by a Buell. After a very long and cold wait, race two was run in dry but windy conditions. Jonathan got away at the start pretty well, although the Aprilia of Keith Pringle got a flyer and had a healthy lead by turn one, whilst Jonathan was in 2nd in class again ahead of Drew Wightman's RSV 1000. As the race progressed these two had a real battle, with Jonathan raising gasps and cheers from the crowd with his ultra late braking into the hairpin, with the bike snaking around threatening to spit him off (although he says he didn't notice a thing). As the race drew to a close however Wightman just got the advantage and just held it to the line with Jonathan in third. In the final race of the day, the non-championship Count of Carnaby event, Jonathan suffered his first retirement for a long time after hitting a trackside bollard and bending the gear lever quite badly. This has no effect on the championship, and is the very first damage suffered all year, so we can't be too disappointed with that. It certainly didn't stop us opening the champagne! So that is it, all over bar the shouting. The trophy will be awarded at York Racecourse Exhibiton Centre on 6/7th December. Everyone is already making plans for 2004 of course. Jonathan is determined to be in British Superbike Privateers and is looking for sponsors and support, and we'll be back to the New Era Superclub with a revitalised bike and Martin Jarvis (Essex) on board. It seems a long time until March......... When the final points were added up for the year, the result was: Jonathan Harrison (Buell XB9/12R) 215 points K Pringle (Aprilia RSVR) 200 points P Smith (Yam) 185 points S Swales (Ducati 996Corse) 97 points A Wightman (Aprilia RSVR) 92 points E Brittain (Suzuki TLS) 64 points G Brittain (Suzuki TLS) 63 points J Carson (Suzuki TLR) 20 points A result which really hasn't yet sunk in, but has made all the hard work by the whole team worthwhile. We would of course like to thank Jonathan for his brilliant riding all year the very best of luck in his future riding career, his family for their backup & support, all our sponsors for their unwavering confidence in the uncharted territory that is our Buell team, all the people who came to support us and braved the good old English weather, and of course Erik Buell, Chris Bernauer, Dan Hurda and Henry Duga in Milwaukee for a great little bike, their advice and their help. Thanks as always go to Torco Racing Oils, Britnett Internet Services, Eyeball Engineering, Hyperpro Suspension, SBS brake pads, Talon Sprockets, Cometic Gaskets, Free Spirits Italy, Wileyco Exhausts, Racing Motor Italy, KBC Helmets, Diadora Boots, Reactive Suspension Services and Pizza Perfect. I think the final words though must come from another racer who approached me in the paddock on Sunday asking how much he could buy a used Firebolt for. He said 'this is the best looking and best sounding bike I've seen race all year!' Sums up our feelings really   | ||
| Buckinfubba |
all right matt and John....way to go and bring it on home....you make yankee proud | ||
| Easyflier |
Way to go Matt. You've got a great team over there, nice to see Buell on top of the standings. | ||
| Glitch |
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| Daves |
 Very cool guys! Ride to the edge! Dave Iowa HD/Buell (Buell Cycle Center) | ||
| Chaser |
Congrats | ||
| Englishman119 |
CONGRATULATIONS – That’s some very tuff opposition for the XB to have overcome. Well done all. BTW - Carnaby looks as cold as it did the only time I was there back in 1982!! Mark | ||
| Blake |
Outstanding! Makes me wan to resurrect the old flame war with that OF troll. LOL! Way to go! We had a total of four Buells running in the CMRA this year. Hopefully the 2004 season will see even more Buell entries. Your success and those of our fellow Buellers here in Texas and last year at Loudon are very encouraging. If you are able, can you share your plans for next year? Cheers, Blake | ||
| Trojan |
Hi Blake, Plans for next year are at a pretty early stage yet, but we are intending to move up to the Superclub Sound of Thunder series, which is the top twins/triples series in the UK at present. The opposition is much tougher, with some major Ducati teams taking part, but you don't get anyhere by standing still. We have been in touch with a German race team (Buell Bonn) who are keen to share information and work in collaboration to develop parts etc. We are also off to Italy in November to see our Italian Sponsors Free Spirits, who provided our radial front brake setup. There may even be a possibility of testing in France, so it'll be a real Euro effort! We had concentrated most of our efforts this year on handling and braking, which is where our strengths were against more powerful opposition, but over the winter we'll be looking more at the engine and aerodynamics to increase speed. We finished the year with a standard (other than airbox & exhaust) XB12 motor and we plan to fit the Millenium cylinders that we had on the XB9 with some flat top pistons, and German firm M-Tek have offered to 'do' the cylinder heads for us. The bodywork will be changed for 'works replica' items from Racingmotorcycles.com. We will also be running slicks next year and possibly removing the starter and charging system to save a bit more weight. Nothing too radical and nothing that will significantly affect the reliability that we have enjoyed with the XB12 engine, as we want to be there at the finish. We also want to stay as far as possible with the principle that the parts we use have to be available to our customers for their road bikes, as we have so far. There is nothing like first hand experience to pass onto people wanting technical information. Some of our existing sponsors have pledged support for next year, and we already have a new one on board, but we'll be doing the rounds at the shows to try and attract some more support for next season. As the good old Northern English saying goes, 'Shy bairns get nowt!' Well, thats the plans so far, but things are bound to change before March so watch this space. Thankyou all for your kind comments and messages of support. | ||
| M1combat |
That's the way to be. Thank you. I love to see Buell's at the top  . | ||
| Timbo |
Great job!  You gentlemen, have made us all proud. Timbo | ||
| Imonabuss |
Awesome, Matt! As an ex-pro racer, I am suitably impressed...that was one heck of a job. Best wishes for next year, and we'll make sure to follow you guys all season!!! | ||
| Dbensavage |
Congrats!! Nice Job guys!! I've been following your web site updates. Nice to see Buell on top. | ||
| Court |
>>>The last race of the season took place at Carnaby, North Yorkshire, England, on Sunday 19th October Yeah...well thanks for inviting U.S. ! Congratulations! You have a made a point that many have been championing and I can't wait to follow (and maybe SEE - watch TEAM ELVES website) your progress next year! Way to go! Court |
