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     Trojan |
Adrenalin-Moto Race Report Round 9 - Lydden Hill The ninth and final round of the 2006 UK Thunderbike championship took place at Lydden Hill circuit in the 'Garden of England', Kent over the weekend of 21/22 October. With another 600+ mile round trip for us it meant that we arrived at the circuit after dark on Friday night, and were consigned to the very top end of the paddock right at the top of the hill and away from all the 'facilities' (and I use the word sparingly) that Lydden has to offer. Phil hadn't raced at Lydden for 17 years, and I had never raced there, so yet again we were faced with a new circuit to learn and set-up to figure out in the very limited 10 minute practice session on Saturday morning. The bike hadn't been out since Pembrey back in August, so Phil was also a bit rusty and needed to get into the swing of racing again. The only changes since Pembrey were a complete new clutch, new front brake pads and a change to Metzeler Racetec treaded tyres. We thought that temperatures and weather during October in England probably weren't conducive to slick tyres, and with the lap being just 1 mile thought that they wouldn't get up to temperature very easily either. Practice Saturday We sat with the bike on stands until 10 minutes prior to practice starting before making the decision to fit the wet weather wheels & tyres. Rain had fallen quite heavily during the night and although the rain had stopped falling, the track surface wasn't going to dry quick enough to allow the semi slick Racetecs to do their stuff properly. This was the first opportunity that we had all season to try the Michelin Pilot Power rain tyres on the bike, so Phil had to bed in the new pads, discs and tyres in the short practice time available, whilst still trying to re-learn the short and demanding circuit. Lydden is situated in a natural bowl, and although only 1 mile in length is quite a physical track with lots of direction and elevation changes to cope with. A good lap for the Thunderbikes in perfect conditions would be around 45 seconds, although nobody was going to get close to that time this weekend. The bike ran really well in practice and set the third fastest time of 50.19 seconds, just 0.9 seconds slower than the quickest rider Martin Cooper. Phil was amazed at the level of grip given by the Michelin rain tyres, and we secretly hoped that the weather would stay wet enough to justify keeping these tyres on the bike for the first race. Race 1 - Saturday Despite our rain dances and offerings to the rain gods, the skies brightened slightly and the track stayed dry enough for dry weather tyres for race one. This meant that Phil had to scrub yet another set of tyres in during the race, and we had no dry set-up data to work from. Starting 10th on the grid Phil got the jump on a couple of riders to finish the fist lap in 7th place, and looked to be holding his own in amongst a gaggle of bikes. The first 10 riders were covered by just 2 seconds for most of the race, and despite being 'mugged' by John Barnett and his incredibly quick little Aprilia SVX550 Supermoto Phil hung on to finish the race in 10th place. He was not happy with the set-up of the bike though, and we knew that we would have to make some improvements in order to improve for the second race. The biggest problem was that the bike lacked grip mid corner, and with the maximum torque coming in at around 3500-4000 rpm the back end was stepping out as soon as the throttle was applied on the exit of the turns. The other problem we faced was that the bike was unstable on the brakes going into the corners. This was a problem that we just hadn't had all year so was a bit of a puzzle. We could only think that the new brake pads had made such a difference in initial bite that they were upsetting the suspension more than usual. Between races we lowered the compression damping on the front forks by a couple of clicks, and also softened the rear suspension slightly to try and get more traction on the corner exits. Race 2- Saturday Yet again we were frustrated by the weather, as it refused to rain hard enough for us to fit the rain tyres, and with Phil still suffering the same grip problems that we faced in race one we knew it would be a fight for the minor placings again. A fighting ride saw him finish one place higher in 9th position, but still a disappointing end to the first days racing. Just after we packed everything away for the night the heavens opened, and we were treated to a spectacular lightning storm for most of the evening, followed by heavy rain for most of the night. Typical, never rains but it pours. Sunday Warm up We awoke to be greeted by our secret weapon, a soaking wet track, low grey clouds as far as the eye could see and no immediate prospect of the weather clearing all day. We set about getting the bike set up for the wet conditions and were confident of some better results than the day before. Phil was fast again in the warm up, and the handling was so much better with the wet tyres fitted so we were happy with that side of things. The only slight worry was an intermittent misfire that we presumed was caused by some water in the electrics somewhere, although it didn't appear to be serious. Before the first race we checked over the electrics and taped over the mouth of the oil cooler/rear cylinder air scoop in an effort to reduce the water getting to the front spark plug. We ran the engine for some time in the paddock and it seemed to be behaving itself, so we hoped that problem was cured. Race 1- Sunday The race distance had been shortened by 2 laps to just 6 quick laps of the small circuit due to the torrential rain, and riders were given two warm up laps to try and get some heat into their tyres. It was apparent right from the very first warm up lap that the misfire was not only still present, but obviously worse, and we were greeted by the sad sight of Phil shaking his head as he passed our position. However he took up his position on the grid, and as the lights went out seemed to have got a good start, taking 3 or 4 bikes in the first 100 yards. Then as he changed up into second gear the bike just cut out and slowed dramatically. In the heavy spray he was lucky not to have been hit by one of the following machines as they all accelerated hard from the start to the first turn. Somehow he managed to steer clear of trouble and avoid the other riders, and just as suddenly as the engine had died it roared back into life again seconds later, leaving Phil in 25th and last place with a huge job to do in such a short race. Despite the engine sounding decidedly off song, cutting in and out again with no warning, Phil rode like a man possessed. By the end of lap one he had climbed up to 14th place. Lap 2 saw him up to 13th before taking 2 riders on the approach to the hairpin at the top of Hairy Hill. Next lap and a further 3 riders were despatched, putting Phil into a brilliant 8th place. Unfortunately by this time the gap to 7th place was just too big to bridge in the laps available, and although Phil took great lumps out of the gap in the remaining time available, he couldn't quite get close enough to make the pass. So a well fought for 8th place and our best result of the weekend, but still very disappointing when we all knew a podium was possible. After the race we stripped the bike of bodywork and checked and rechecked every connection and plug we could find. Spark plugs were changed for new ones, silicone spray was applied liberally and frustratingly we couldn't find the cause of the problem. The bike wouldn't start at all or would start reluctantly then misfire badly. Holding the throttle steady would result in the revs rising and falling almost as if the throttle were being 'blipped', then coughing and revving cleanly for a few seconds. Eventually we reached a point where the bike appeared to be running smoothly again, and then had the two hours to wait before our final race of the day and of the year. As soon as we started the bike ready for the warm up laps the problem was back again. I was tempted to just pack the bike away and not even try to race, but this was our last chance and last race for the season, so with nothing to lose decided to give it a go anyway. I told Phil to see what he thought on the warm up lap and come back in if he thought it was too bad. The bike cut out again in the assembly area just as the riders were being sent onto the track. Unable to get the bike to start Phil was given a push start by a bystander and the bike burst back into life once more. The bystander turned out to be none other than Paul Smart, winner of the Imola 200 and whose name now adorns the Ducati Sport Classic replica. At the start we held our breath, as the bike seemed to stutter then accelerate again, and Phil held his 8th position into the first corner. By the end of lap one he was up to 5th place and in a battle with Tony Rand and Paul Barlow for position, Phil getting the better of Rand at one corner, only to be taken again at the next. BY lap 4 though Phil had passed both bikes and set off in pursuit of the leading two riders, who by this time had built up a 5 second cushion over the chasing pack. As each lap passed Phil gained visibly on the leaders but in the end had to settle for a superb 3rd place and a fastest lap of 49 seconds (just 4 seconds slower than the best dry Thunderbike time of the weekend). What a way to end the year! On his way back to the paddock the bike cried enough and cut out completely, refusing to restart at all, but by this time we didn't care so just pushed it straight into the back of the trailer ready for the journey home and went to pick up the trophy  Overall we ended the meeting with mixed emotions. We had scored 4 top ten finishes from 4 starts, with an incredible third place to finish the year, but were left feeling that we should and could have done better if it were not for the mystery misfire. Thanks for the weekend must go to Chris Watts for helping out with the spannering once again, and to all the supporters who braved the dreadful weather in order to come and support us. End of Year Report. So that is it for the inaugural UK Thunderbike championship. After 9 rounds and 36 races we ended the season in 10th place out of 65 points scorers. This was despite missing 3 rounds completely and failing to score at one other round. Final positions for the top 15 were: 1 Rob Wittey Suzuki SV700 2 James Wainwright Kawasaki XR400 3 Martin Cooper Suzuki SV650 4 Sarah Jordan Suzuki SV700 5 Ian Mayhew Suzuki SV650 6 Paul Barlow Suzuki SV650 7 Phil Polden Kawasaki ZXR400 8 Garry Budgen Honda CBR600 9 Gary Morris Suzuki SV650 10 Phil Read Buell XB12X/R 11 Peter Whitelegg Laverda 750 12 Neil Bustin Kawasaki ZXR400 13 Simon Lowes Kawasaki ZXR400 14 Adam Palfreman Suzuki SV650 15 Nick Lewis Kawasaki ZXR400 We had suffered some annoying minor mechanical failures, particularly at the start of the season, although the engine and gearbox had behaved faultlessly since the second round without any problems at all. We suffered one broken drive belt, one chain breakage, one clutch failure and two failures because of footrests vibrating loose! We had proved that a relatively stock engined Buell could be competitive at national level, and believe that with further development the bike will be even more competitive next season. We would like to campaign the bike again in the 2007 Thunderbike championship, although this is dependant upon finding sufficient sponsorship to allow us to compete at the highest level and to fight for the series win. In the mean time, our bike will be on display in the 'Race Café' on the official Harley-Davidson/Buell stand at the International motorcycle show, Birmingham from 29 October through to 5th November, so if you didn't get a chance to see the bike in action now is your chance to view it up close. Our thanks must go to all the sponsors who have helped us through out the year, and without whom we wouldn't have raced at all: Free Spirits, Hal's Harley-Davidson, Hot Performance Exhausts, Reactive Suspension, AST Shock Absorbers, Airow-Safe, Ilmberger Carbon Parts, Nimbus Motorsport and Torco Oil, R&R Customizing, Motogadget, Paint my Ride, Reality Motor Works, Bell Helmets (Fowlers of Bristol), John Warrington Motorcycles (Rapid Bike ECU) Massive thanks also to Phil Read, who has ridden the bike superbly all year and has been a sheer pleasure to work with. Finally, and most importantly, my thanks go to Debbie for allowing me the luxury of indulging in racing, for holding the fort while I'm away doing it, and for being there when I get back. Hopefully we'll see you all again next year  | ||
| Glitch |
Matt, you are such a wonderful writer/story teller! Great report as always, it's sad the seasons over, as I look forward to your race reports. Congrats on a great year, even with the growing pains and mystery mishaps, you, your team, and Phil have done a wonderful job. Thanks to Debbie as well, she's a rare one she is, a keeper! Looking forward to next year!  | ||
| Blake |
Ditto! A big thank you to Debbie from all of us at BadWeB! | ||
| Ebear |
Nice Matt!!I can't imagine how well you could have done with those 3 races back and a healthy bike at this one!Superb race reporting.....I'll be awaiting reports next season and We'll be cheering you on!!!! | ||
| Bdabuell |
Matt - great end to the season - congratulations to all of you. I really hope the sponsorship situation works itself out in time for next year. I really enjoy following your team's progress and reading these excellent reports. I will miss them a great deal if they're not around next year. |
