Thursday

11:00 Thursday morning. After a smooth flight with only mild M1 induced turbulence we landed at Silverstone and headed straight to the amusingly named “Suzuki Village” (for “Suzuki People” perhaps?) in the paddock so I could get all excited about my name being up on the wildcard board above the marquee for the Suzuki GSX-R 750 European Cup (Bit of a mouthful that, from now on I’ll call it the Gixxer Cup!). This is all thanks to Kenny Pryde of Superbike Magazine and Steve Booth from Suzuki GB. In each country the Gixxer Cup visits there are 4 wildcard rides available. For one of these rides it was down to Kenny to choose a rider. Being the kind gent he is (and somewhat susceptible to a cup of tea or two!), he gave me the chance to gain some extra track time benefiting my 600 campaign and to experience racing a bigger bike on a completely level playing field.

Once we were all set up it was down to business with team manager, Mike Edwards, walking the track discussing best lines and sections where most time could be made or lost. Unfortunately on one such sighting lap I out braked myself (on a mountain bike) into Silverstone’s tight chicane and ran straight on through a chasm of mud and water (well okay, a puddle), much to the amusement of Mike and my team mate Matt Bond!

Friday - Free Practice

Conditions: Decidedly Spring - Wet with dry bits!

On track I concentrated on reference points for lines, rather than straight out lap times as I felt that gravel excursions this early on in the weekend were best avoided for the sanity of my team! A quick few words in pit lane mid session with Mike and in the last 5 minutes of the session and posted my fastest lap time at that point, marvellous!

In between sessions on the 600 we checked out our little spot within the Suzuki village. Impressive is not the word. It was like someone had just said “Here, have your own little bit of factory team garage, fill your boots.”! Unfortunately my Sidi’s aren’t big enough to fit a fully stocked tool chest, paddock stands, a compressor, pit board, tyre warmers and a super trick GSX-R 750 race bike! Damn my puny size 9’s!

Did I mention the bike was trick? With enough carbon fibre pornography to put it on the top shelf in One-Stop, it seemed a shame to use it in anger, not that that was going to stop me of course…

After trying in vain to find the Space Invaders setting on the trick lap timer (It seemed to have every other function!), my mechanic Clive and I set the suspension on the 750 to match the settings on my Superstock bike.

Friday - 1st Qualifying

Next, it was back out on my Superstock 600 for the first of the two qualifying sessions. In the afternoon, I had sat down and scrawled notes over a circuit map as an exercise to help identify my weak areas on the track that I would need to concentrate on in the afternoon. With this in mind, I headed out to put together some consistent laps. Lap times improved, although with the front end doing a very convincing pogo stick impression, I was only 29th fastest.

As soon as I came in I jumped off the 600 and straight onto the 750 cup bike for the first qualifying session on that, no rest for the wicked you know! The sudden transition was interesting to say the least, not only having to adapt to slightly different tyres, but also to the increase in power and a quick action throttle. Cue several over enthusiastic blips going down the box and the odd unintentional (honest!) power wheelie! After a few laps, I had got my brain programmed correctly and began to really enjoy the 750. Every lap I knocked off another second or so off my lap time and halfway through the session was 15th fastest. After a few hairy moments going into Bridge (a fast, downhill entry, right hander) on one wheel I pulled into pit lane for some words of wisdom from Mike “Yoda” Edwards. As I mentioned earlier, the Gixxer cup set up makes you feel like a pro, this extends to the pit lane too!

“Suspension problem sir? Simply click your heels 3 times and behold, thine problems are solved by the wizards of Andreani Group Suspension!”

Good enough for Chris Vermeulen last year, then they’re good enough for me!

With a couple of suspension tweaks to make the bike more stable on the brakes going into Bridge it was back out on track to test the changes and consolidate what I had learned in the first half of the session rather than to go balls out chasing a faster time. I ended the session 21st fastest, but my favourite bit was being 2nd fastest through the speed trap; it felt great to see my name at the top of the standings, for at least one bit!!

After my first session aboard the 750, my grin was wide enough to stretch my Shoei! I really enjoyed riding the 750 and began searching for a way to sneak it out in the stock 600 race!

Saturday - 2nd Qualifying

First on the cards Saturday morning, was a fork rebuild for my 600, this time to match the 750. A different oil height inside the forks of the 750 gave it a much more planted feel, crucial over Silverstone’s mid corner bumps. Forks back in and it was back out on circuit for the second qualifying session in conditions that made the cancelled Mondello Park round of BSB look like a light shower! Swapping my Shoei for a snorkel and my Sidi’s for flippers we headed out on track, it soon became clear that those riders with webbed feet would be at a distinct advantage. For all the joking about the weather, however, I really enjoyed riding the track in such challenging conditions and the wet practice was welcome. A mid session pit stop gave us the chance to take advantage of Steve Jordan the team Suspension Guru’s skills and it worked! He gave the forks a stern talking to (well, he backed off the compression and rebound damping slightly) to give me a bit more feel from the front tyre and my next few laps just got quicker and quicker.

After a debrief with Mike, I spent the afternoon drying off and scrawling more notes on my circuit map for reference if it rained on Sunday.

By late afternoon it had (finally) stopped raining, although at the start of the 750 cup session the track was still wet with a dry line in places. In this series, you get two front tyres and three rears for the weekend, so a bit of tyre juggling was required to avoid any problems should it rain on Sunday. Going out on wet tyres and wet settings, we gradually stiffened the bike up throughout the session as the track began to dry, whilst keeping an eye that we weren’t destroying my last wet front tyre! With some riders on wets and others on dry tyres, combined with the drying track, the standings were jumping about for the whole session, but I finished the session in 14th place. This was all academic however, as the overall qualifying times were taken from Friday’s session where it was dry and hence faster, shame! Now, I’m not usually a fashion victim, but due to my good set of leathers and gloves being soaked from the mornings 600 session, I had to ride in my fetching, 90’s, green and purple leathers, which were nicely set off by a bright orange pair of gloves, tasty! To add to the embarrassment, Kenny turned up to get some photos of me, in such fetching gear! Oh, the shame!

Saturday evening was hilarious. Having taken advantage of the free energy drinks being given out around the paddock, Mum was like a small child with an excess of E-numbers! As such, the paddock Olympics was born, with such classics as the sack race, three legged race and hide and seek! The sack race saw a sleeping bag destroyed and a sickening amount of cheating from the girls team, but if we thought the cheating in the sack race was bad, as Bachman Turner Overdrive said, “We ain’t seen nah – nah nuthin yet!” Firstly, Mum and Sally used a quick release knot in the three legged race, which was a plan Dick Dastardly himself would have shunned for being too dishonest, and then their actions when playing hide and seek were just unspeakable. Mum commandeered a group of innocent Brits camping nearby, hid among them and then when it was her turn to look, flagged down a car and got a lift around the paddock searching for me! Parents eh? You can’t take them anywhere!

Sunday - Race

Sunshine and consistent weather at last! The original timetable put my 750 Cup race first with an hour break before my Superstock 600 race, but the pile-up in the first Superbike race put an end to such luxury! Instead the 750 Race was moved to immediately after the Superstock 600 race! Good job I’d had my weetabix then.

European Superstock 600 Race

Lining up on the grid, all I needed was a good start, a good race and a strong finish to see me preferably in the points! Sounds so easy when it’s put like that! Determined to put the misdemeanours of the last two rounds behind me, I got a great start and headed for the outside at the first corner. The whole first lap was manic, with my team mate Matt just missing me at the exit to turn one. On the back straight, another rider who shall remain nameless (for now!) decided to throw a hissy fittm because I was overtaking him and try to push me onto the grass at about 120mph! This is the same rider who nearly put me in a wall at Monza, so in a calm and gentlemanly way I stuck my elbows out, leant back on him and waited till he braked!

“Always an amusing tactic that one” I said to myself, as I sailed past three more riders into the hairpin, still wondering if I was going to stop in time! I did make it and stayed ahead of all but one of the riders, Matt Bond. Glued to his back wheel like a guitar to the hands of Hendrix, I tried my hardest to stay with him. I made a few mistakes and had to catch back up each time, making things nice and hard for myself! We were slicing through other riders like they weren’t there, with both of us getting out of the seat moments almost every bend, but on lap 7 our charge was ended by a red flag due to oil at the hairpin.

Back to pit lane again! We took the opportunity to make a couple of suspension adjustments to make the front end more planted over the bumps and to sort the rear tyre’s habit of trying to overtake the front. After some deliberation, it was decided that the race would be run as two heats with the second leg being over 5 laps, starting from our finishing positions in the first heat. This meant Matt and I were starting 14th and 16th on the grid respectively. Another good start saw me back on the tail of Matt again chasing hard. Despite my best efforts, I didn’t manage to get past him (I’ll get you next time, Gadget!) but our hard charging had placed us 13th and 14th on the road, making me 15th overall on aggregate! I was also distinctly chuffed to get a quicker fastest lap than Matt which I may have mentioned to him, once or twice! Fifteenth place also gave me my first ever European Championship point, which has had some interesting side-effects, namely skipping about with glee, smiling so hard it hurts and occasionally just leaping up into the air shouting “One Point!!!”. The doctors have suggested some mild sedatives to aid the sanity of my family and friends! After some Last lap celebrations, it was back to concentrating on the racing as the 750 Cup was about to get under way.

GSX-R750 European Cu

Ahh, Italian organisation! After sprinting the length of the pit lane in full bike gear, I rode round to the grid to discover a lack of mechanics, paddock stands and, some may say most importantly, brolly girl!! In London nightclub stylee, the pit lane bouncers, sorry, marshals had randomly refused entry to my team, no doubt claiming a “No Trainers” policy or some such rule! Dragging my brain back off cloud nine, planet party, from race one I set my mind back into first corner mode. Having wheelied off the line to almost the first turn (750’s are FUN!) I carved my way through and set about getting into a rhythm. With a keen eye on my pit board each lap, the gap behind me began increasing until I was out on my own in 16th place, with a 2 second comfort zone behind me. Just past the midway mark of the race and the nice comfortable 2 second gap became 1 second and then 0 seconds. Darn and blast. I pushed really hard but just kept having huge slides and losing the front so much I wore through my knee sliders! With a few laps to go I was mugged coming into Priory by German, Janakova. I decided to follow her for the last few laps, conserve some energy and try for a move on the last lap. My chance came as on the last lap, she made a mistake and ran wide at the hairpin. Unfortunately, in my attempt to stick it up the inside, I ran just as wide meaning I had to be content with 17th place. After such a long race the chequered flag was a welcome sight, although I mysteriously found enough energy for celebratory wheelies!

It was a truly great feeling to see everyone in my team, who’ve worked so hard and sacrificed so much looking so elated after the race. The “Thank you List ™” for this race is going to be huge, but still not as big as my grin right now!!! I can’t thank Kenny Pryde and Steve Booth enough for giving me this opportunity to double my track time over the weekend, I think it is clear from the results how much it has helped!

Misano is next. Mission: beat Matt and score some more points!!

And now, iiits:

The Thank you List ™

A massive thanks to :

• Steve Booth for the chance to ride the GSX-R750
• Kenny “Oreo Supplier” Pryde for gambling on a lunatic like me in the 750 Cup!
• Steve “Skyline Stupidity” Jordan
• Mark Bentley for some cracking photographs of the weekend despite the soggy camera!
• Mike Edwards as usual for his Oracle-like powers
• And everyone who came to see and help me at the weekend, superstars the lot of you!

Summary

Friday - Free Practice

Having never ridden on the international configuration of the circuit meant I was at somewhat of a disadvantage to some of the riders who competed on the circuit the previous year, but I was still hopeful of another decent finish.

Straight away though it was raining, “oh bugger”, was my first thought after the first time out on the bike in the wet at Monza where it all went a little wrong to say the least. But with Mike assuring me it would all be fine if I just took my time, used my head and built up the pace I began to feel more settled. I got out onto the circuit and used the first few laps to find my way round and feel how the bike was. The engine seemed to be running a lot better than in previous rounds thanks to Steve Jordan Motorcycles paying for and fitting a new kit head gasket, cheers Steve, made a huge improvement mate and a dyno run just to check the engine map, cheers to the Mark and the guys at DynaPro for that one! After a few laps I pulled in just to relay the info about the bike to the team and had a few adjustments made to the bike due to front end being fairly unstable mid-corner. I got back onto the circuit and everything felt , much more comfortable and after tailing onto the back of Frank Millet I began to string together some much improved lap times, eventually ending up 23rd, which was about the norm we have experienced so far this year. The worst thing to happen during the session came just after I past Chris and had a huge slide and got thrown out of the seat, how I managed to hang on, I don’t know, but Chris reassured me he had a good laugh to himself over my misfortune. Arse!

Friday - 1st Qualifying

At least it was dry for the opening qualifying stint, and I was feeling confident on improving position towards at least the top 20. After nearly forgetting to attach the tyre stickers before going on track I flew on circuit with a few minutes of the session gone. I done a few laps then entered the pits and had Steve make some small adjustments to the forks, which made all the difference. The bike was just so much better everywhere! It held the line a lot better, was more stable mid turn and was easier to ride overall.

Towards the end of the session I just decided to go for it, and miraculously the lap times dropped by nearly two seconds! Guess Mike’s little talks are starting to pay off! It just felt like someone had flicked a switch in the back of my head and I was amazed at how much easier it was to go quick than I had previously thought.

The rest of the session is pretty much a blur and all I can remember is just having some really good slides into and out of the turns at almost every turn and changing the steering damper settings due to some major tank-slappers down the back straight.

It was nice to return to the pits and see Mike smiling and happy with what I’d done and when he told me id just sneaked into the top 20 I was stoked, only to then get bump back to 23rd as the final few riders crossed the line and put their fastest laps in during the final seconds of the session. Gits! At least I knew we had a good setting for Saturday’s second qualifying and knew I could go just that little bit faster.

Saturday - 2nd Qualifying

Well, the weather wasn’t on our side and it literally chucked it down just before and then during the second qualifying session and I just didn’t feel confident or at all safe onboard the bike throughout the 30 minutes I was on track.

I’m guessing we just need to work on the set up of the bike for wet conditions as I just had no confidence at all in the front end of the machine and just couldn’t get it to settle during the turns. In all the session was made more difficult by the amount of laying water on track, I could have probably gone quicker of someone would have given me an outboard motor! It was so deep in places I’m surprised we were allowed on track at all! Anyways, we still got faster and faster and used the time as best we could and we started to get the bike feeling much better, but we still seem to be lacking something. We are heading in the right direction though, so that’s a major positive.

I ended the session 27th, but fortunately no one went any quicker than in the dry, well would b sill y if they did, so grid stayed the same as it was set on Friday, so another 6th row start for me, I’m getting used to being 30 metres behind the front guys before the race has even started!

Sunday - Race

Sitting on the grid, tyre warmers on the bike and microphone right in my face, welcome to your home round at WSBK! That’s the impression I got from everything. We had planned to get a good start, get as far forward as possible and follow the leading bunch; there was just the small matter of 30 other guys having exactly the same idea.

I must admit I was a little sneaky on the grid, having watched the other races get off the line I had figured the red lights were on for roughly four seconds before they went out, so I just estimated it and dropped the clutch! I got off the line pretty well and entered the first turn a few places higher and then…..smack. Will Gruy decided I was good target practice and clipped my rear end, luckily he was the only one who went down and I exited the corner pretty much unscathed only to run out wide and nearly into the side of Chris! If it wasn’t for the fact he was my team mate id have just kept running out, but I thought it’d be better that time to force the bike down lower and ride round him! The first lap was manic with people and bikes three or four a breast everywhere. And Chris was still right there behind me, how? He’s never usually that close and then when he divided past at Abbey, I thought, to myself “you still there?” and had a small chuckle as I got back round him on the exit. We began to chase down Daniel Beretta and Bjorn Pintar and it was the four of us nose to tail for a good four laps and after Beretta got ahead and began to gap us I decided I had to break through as well but by the time I got past Pintar, Beretta was well in the distance. I put my head down and began to close on him and was up to 14th until the red flags came out, gutted. As we had only completed half the race we had to run a two part race over another six laps, something I’d never done before.

I got another good start and was once again ahead of where I had started and by the end of the opening lap was up to 11th and could still see the leading pack, with Barry Burrell just ahead of me I was spurred on to go even harder. I put in the best laps I had done all weekend but got stuffed up through Becketts and slipped down to 13th and this was where I stayed to the flag, beating Beretta on track, but dropping behind him on aggregate timing, meaning I ended up 14th, just getting two points once again! Best bit for me though was finding that I can ride with the guys up in the top 10, I just need to get myself with them right from the start of the weekend. Also seeing Chris finish right behind me and score his first points was also quite cool.

Overall it was an awesome weekend once again and I cant thank Steve Jordan enough for the help he gave us on suspension set up, he’s now given me a bike I’m really comfortable and confident on. If I can get my qualifying sorted I’m sure I can run up with the top boys and challenge for top tens, I just need to go quick from the opening lap of free practice. Bring on Misano!

After driving to Spain and Italy it was nice to head just up the road to Silverstone. Unfortunately the home advantage wasn’t to be had as neither rider had ever seen this configuration before yet alone raced on it. Even the riders who had been in the class last year had more circuit knowledge. Doh!

Thanks to Kenny Pryde at SuperBike magazine Chris has been selected as one of the wild card entries for the GSXR Cup. It proved a big help as he was finally able to give us some suspension feedback by comparing the two bikes. Unfortunately all of his practice sessions, and the race, were directly after the SuperStock 600 equivalent so after half an hour on a 600 he then had forty minutes on a 750. No rest for the wicked!

Getting interviewed on the grid was a novelty that I’m sure we could all get used to!

Photos copyright @ MIST Suzuki Racing 2006

Summary

Despite the luxury of only having to drive 1.5 hours to Silverstone rather than 16.5 hours it had taken to get to Valencia everyone was getting rather nervous as the weekend got closer. Perhaps the pressure was starting to show or maybe it was torrential rain that was forecast or maybe the fact that neither rider had even seen the International circuit we were to race on. Bizarrely most track days use the GP circuit and most club races use the National configuration. Unless you are already a BSB rider, or have raced in WSB previously, the International circuit will be all new. Rather an odd feeling when you realise that most of the field had raced at the WSB round in 2005 so had the advantage over the guys who should have had the local knowledge!

The previous two rounds at Valencia and Monza had been interesting and we had recognised that the lack of track time and limited qualifying experience had left us with a lot of work to do. Fortunately both riders were taking on board the direction and targets set by the Team Manager for each session and were coming on leaps and bounds with every round. With two very different riding styles as well as different approaches to learning each circuit Chris and Matt were facing an uphill struggle. Fortunately Kenny Pryde at SuperBike magazine was on hand having been offered a wild card slot in the European GSXR Cup. Instead of joining in with the most of the UK magazines with the “my already proven nominated racer is faster than yours” Kenny had taken the brave decision to give Chris the opportunity of both more track time and the chance to ride a bigger bike for the first time. Hopefully the GSXR750K6 machines will be similar to the GSXR600K6 bikes the team were using albeit with more power all round.

Prior to the round both bikes had been serviced and the team had taken advantage of fitting the thinner head gasket allowed under the rules to boost the power of the bikes. When we first had ran the bikes in they both made 100 hp. The Arrow race exhaust had increased that to a respectable 107 hp and now, having loosened up the motor over the first couple of meetings and with the new gasket fitted, the bikes were making 110 hp. Hopefully the new found power should make itself felt over the weekend. Many thanks to team supporter Steve Jordan Motorcycles for doing the work so quickly.

Thursday saw the team arrive at Silverstone and despite starting to set up next to the same SuperStock 1000 team we had pitted alongside at Monza were soon moved on and positioned about as far from the pits as humanly possible. In fact it turned out we were in fact at the back of the P6 car park, way behind the motor homes and reliant on an erratic generator and no running water. That’ll teach us to get ideas above our station Once scrutineering was over and the bikes prepared there was nothing to do but walk the track and wait for Free Practice on Friday lunch time. The day started out wet and we were sure that it would dry in time for practice but luck wasn’t on our side. Although it didn’t actually rain during the session the track was wet enough to give everyone the opportunity to get some damp practice although some confusion over suspension settings meant both riders had to be cautious and take the time to learn the track.

Having suggested Chris and Matt take a more structured approach to the practice and qualifying sessions the team were fairly pleased to find themselves able to run with a few of the faster riders who were obviously having a few troubles of their own. Matt ended up in 23rd place with a lap time of 1’47.687 and Chris in 30th with 1’51.273 - Quite positive given the rapidly drying conditions and providing a good talking point for the debriefing session compared with the lines and reference points from the track walk the previous night. With the track now totally dry and the suspension back to the settings we had used at Monza the first qualifying session was next. Silverstone was one of only three rounds where we get to race on the Sunday so we had plenty of time to work on the track and the bikes which made a pleasant change.

With strict instructions to build the pace slowly whilst working on a couple of key sections of track both riders rode very sensible sessions making gradual improvements in lap times throughout the half hour period. Without the benefit of anyone to really chase during the session everyone was pleased to see Matt qualify in 23rd again with a 1’37.502 and Chris earn 29th with a 1’38.741 - A good result given that a 1 second improvement would move them up 8 - 10 places on the grid! Having ridden for a hard thirty minute sessions Chris had no time to rest as he was out next for a further forty minutes on the GSXR750 machine. The team decided that Chris should run two 15 minute sessions with a break in the middle to allow him to get his breath back and also think about the session and areas he needed to work on.

Chris ran a well deserved 11th until his break finding the 750 easier to ride than his 600. The biggest benefit was he finally had something to compare his 600 against and was able to give some very useful feedback on the suspension set up that we could use to improve things for Saturday on the smaller bike. After the ten minute break Chris went out again with some suggestions on how to tackle Becketts and Ireland bends and instructions to relax and concentrate on being consistent rather than all out. Despite fading towards the end of the session he was able to almost match his earlier best time but could string it together lap after lap. The team were convinced that the extra track time was crucial, particularly as there was no expectation and therefore no pressure on him to perform. Something at least two of the other SuperStock 600 riders had the benefit of every meeting with permanent rider in the GSXRP Cup in addition to their 600 class. With the rest of the field having had time to catch up with the early promise shown by Chris whilst running in 11th place he finished the session in 21st place with a 1’36.140 - A whole 2.5 seconds quicker than his 600 qualifying session despite the exhaustion from being on a bike for over an hour!

Another track walk on Friday night meant that Chris and Matt had a better understanding of the lines they ought to be taking and were eager to get out on Saturday for the second qualifying session. The weather proved to be a bit of a challenge with conditions similar to those that had required the BSB round at Mondello the previous weekend to be cancelled. Team suspension expert Steve Jordan was on hand for the session and was able to build on the now correctly set up suspension settings during the qualifying period. Did I mention that Steve Jordan Motorcycles won the Suzuki New Dealer of the Year in 2005? With a better wet set up the riders pressed on and were much more comfortable, able to keep with some of the vastly more experienced riders who were usually much further up the grid. Matt finished in 27th place with a 2’01.579 and Chris in 30th position with 2’02.804 - Now obviously slower due to the weather the times from the first qualifying session would count for the race on Sunday.

The final qualifying session for the GSXR Cup was at the end of the day so Chris had a bit of time to prepare the 750 and update it with the improved suspension settings from the 600. As it hadn’t rained for a while the track was drying but wasn’t yet dry so tyre choice was a bit of a gamble. Half of the field seemed to be on wets and the rest on drys. Silverstone always used to be quite treacherous in those conditions so we opted for wets in the hope it wouldn’t dry out too quickly. The first few laps showed Chris hadn’t lost any of his confidence in the 750 and he was soon running in around 9th place. Towards the end of the session a few of the faster riders on dry tyres went quicker but he still finished the session in 14th place overall. Sadly the times were slower than those from Friday so it didn’t make any difference to his qualifying position.

Race day dawned bright and sunny which was a relief for everybody and the prospect of having dry shoes at the end of the day made a welcome change for the team. Having fitted a new Yoshimura ECU to Matt’s Suzuki the team were finally able to spend some time in the morning working with Arrow to set the system up. Without being sure of the impact everyone was cautious about blowing around 900 quid on each bike but the new found power, and perhaps more importantly, the new found drive out of the turns was well worth it despite only showing a further 2 hp increase on the dyno. Not a bad way to spend some of the team’s meagre resources especially as we had now gained 5 hp since the start of the season thanks to the engine loosening up over time, the thinner gasket, a PiperCross air filter and the new ECU.

The GSXR Cup was due to be between the two SuperBike races with the SuperStock 600 class run after the second SuperBike race. Due to delays in the first race the GSXR Cup race was the victim of tight TV schedules and was postponed until after the 600 race so no rest for Chris between the two. Both riders made an excellent start with Chris almost getting the better of Matt in to the first turn. Will Gruy did his best to take Matt out at the first bend but came off worse when he lost the front after hitting the back of Matt’s bike. By the end of the first lap they were up to 17th and 18th, having started from 23rd and 29th respectively. Everyone on the pit wall was getting nervous was both riders were nose to tail for the first six laps and gradually moving up through the field. At the end of lap seven three bikes went down on the same corner and the race was red flagged bringing a short but frustrating end to to the MIST Suzuki charge.

A ten minute break before the restart allowed the team to inspect the bikes and correct the wheel alignment on Matt’s bike where it had been hit on the way in to the first turn. The race was destined to be run in two parts with the aggregate times deciding the final positions. At least the new grid was able to form up based on the finishing positions from part one. Another blinding start from both riders saw them running 12th and 14th respectively at the end of the laps and with Matt improving to 11th on the second lap before dropping back as a couple of the faster riders came through having recovered from their poor starts. A nail biting few laps saw the guys getting regular TV coverage as they were close enough to the front runners to appear in shot. A couple of mistakes saw Chris drop back for a lap or two before he got his head down to catch Matt who had been held up by another rider. Once again nose to tail Matt and Chris crossed the line in 14th and 15th place with Matt holding 13th for a few seconds until another rider came through putting his aggregate time a tiny fraction quicker than Matt.

Confusion reigned in getting Chris out for this GSXR Cup race as not only did the officials move the parc ferme after the race so Chris was unable to get the planned lift to collect the other bike and then a mix up with security meant it took much arguing to get out on the grid to put the tyre warmers on. To add insult to injury, or maybe just comedy effect, security hadn’t allowed another team member to bring the stands in to the pit lane so Chris didn’t quite get the planned opportunity to relax before the race and set out on to the warm up lap having got his breath back and collected his thoughts. Having effectively come straight in from competing in two races (if you count the restart) this would be the third race in a row and even the fittest racer would be tiring by the end.

A good start saw Chris in the points and he ran in 14th position for much of the race. By half distance he was clearly starting to get tired and the extra weight through the bars was causing the front to chatter in some of the faster corners. With the gap closing to the two riders behind Chris was in danger of being overrun and with just two laps to go he was demoted to 16th place. With just a lap to go Chris was running 2 seconds a lap slower than the next rider and once passed was unable to make up the difference due to sheer exhaustion. Finishing 17th in the class was almost a disappointment after the success of the 600 race but having been on the bike for over 100 kilometres he should be pleased with the results from the two classes. Thanks again to Kenny at SuperBike magazine and Steve Booth at Suzuki for giving Chris the opportunity - Despite all the hard work I think the extra track time really paid off and the team are most grateful.

Both riders in the points at round three? Who could have foreseen that at the start of the weekend, yet alone the start of the season. The team is now comfortable with both the suspension and the power set up for the bikes and both riders are maturing and improving every time they get on the bike. Chris earned his first ever point and Matt added a further two to his tally from Valencia giving him 4 points from the season so far. Race times of 1’35.865 and 1’35.675 show they both have the pace (down from 1’37.502 and 1’38.741 in qualifying respectively) and with a bit more track time the team are confident that they can improve on their qualifying positions allowing both riders to run in the top fifteen from the start of the race rather than having to overcome their qualifying position to get up to the competition.

The next round is at Misano and for once we may be able to get some time to go testing rather than repairing the bike or carrying out service or other set up work. Fingers crossed!

Mike Edwards
Team Manager - MIST Suzuki
www.mistsuzuki.com

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve Jordan Motorcycles for their never ending support and the help given to the team from B & C Express, Dyna Pro, Pipercross, RaceDays.net, S&B Commercials and Silkolene.

My first trip to Italy and I get to drive through the alps. Wasn’t expecting snow or sunshine at that altitude but it was a nice place to stop after all the motorway driving. The circuit was incredibly fast set in a picture-esque country park on the outskirts of Milan. We even had the opportunity to walk around the old banked oval circuit. Fortunately for us there was a hole in the fence as I didn’t fancy balancing precariously at the top of the banking without anything to hold on to. We were assured the steel armco was added later after a few too many cars went through the old wooden railings in to the trees. Eeek!

Photos copyright @ MIST Suzuki Racing 2006

Summary

Good Luck, Bad Luck and Hayfever!

So round two of the European Superstock 600 series brings Monza and the opportunity to build on what was learnt in Valencia.

Thursday

Having suffered at the hands of Barry Burrell (fellow Brit racer) on the plane (I now know not to ever fall asleep next to him again) we arrived at the airport and I was offered a lift to the track with MCN’s World Superbikes reporter, Michael Guy. This turned out to be one of the luckiest breaks all season, as we got pretty much straight to the circuit while several others in the team spent many an hour touring the town of Monza in search of the illusive track, <smug mode on!>. Smug mode was, however, soon cancelled due to one teensy little problem with the location of the track. Monza is in a lovely big park. Lots of lovely trees, lovely little flowers and lovely, lovely grassy stuff. This abundance of green stuff left me with killer (well nearly) hayfever all weekend.

We walked the track Thursday night and concentrated on possible lines. Walking the track also showed me just how important slipstreaming was going to be, given the straights going on forever!

Friday – Free Practice

I took the first session easy to give me a chance to work out my lines and pick various braking/turn in/apex/exit points so I could fully apply the techniques bestowed upon me in Valencia! Also Monza is not a place to mess up, a point proved over the weekend by the many spent carcasses of race bikes laying bleeding oil into the gravel traps!

Friday – First Qualifying

For the second session on Friday, we were made to feel right at home again (yes, it rained!) and I had the new challenge of learning to ride a 600 in the rain! Again, building up gradually I started to get some consistent times in and find a flow around the circuit. About 6 minutes before the end of the session, I had a minor mishap exiting the first chicane, prima variante – see I learned some Italian! I got on the power exiting the turn a tad to eagerly and high sided, albeit not in the usual fashion! As the bike snapped sideways I half fell off the inside of it, then when it came back in line (amazingly still upright) I kept hold of the bars and simply (!?) hopped back on, much to the amusement of the marshals! Once I had finished giggling I realised I now had a new dent in my knee, but decided to make the most of the track time and carry on lapping until the end of the session.

Saturday – Second Qualifying

Headed to Doc Costa for some leg repairs to be made from my shenanigans in Friday’s qualifying, came out with a shiny bandage and less leg hair than before!

Determined to gain a good position on the grid, I went out with a few points from Mike that I need to work on clear in my head. Counter-steer more positively, a revised line into the first part of the Ascari chicane and get in the slipstream of people to get a good lap time. I managed to put all(ish) of the above into practice and spent a good amount of the session chasing the Marcel van Nieuwenhuizen of Remar Racing. Once I had caught and passed Marcel I set about pushing a bit harder in the places where I had been held up. Unfortunately the session was red flagged due to a bike on the track and we all had to pull into the pits. When the session was restarted for the final five minutes, ill fate struck again, when the circlip holding the gear lever in place went awol leaving me to limp back to the pits in 6th gear. Qualified a lowly 31st on the grid, my mission for the race was clear: good start, survive the first chicane and then pick people off lap by lap, easy. Well, easy in theory anyway!

Saturday – Race

Lining up on the grid, I was fully focussed on the task ahead, with the most important task being to survive the (inevitable) first corner carnage. After getting a good start and passing the row in front, I picked a line to the first bend and stuck to it. Sure enough, the pack just ahead of me felt the need to indulge in a bit of skittley pinball action and about 6 of them decided to better acquaint themselves with Monza’s finest black stuff. Having picked a way through the mess, I set off on stage two of the plan – start picking off riders in front. Coming out of Ascari, I slipstreamed a yellow Yamaha (sorry not very specific I know!) and made a pass on it into the Parabolica. Having got a wheel ahead, the kind chap riding the Yamaha decided to turn in on me and ram my front wheel from the side, most decent of him! As I tumbled through the gravel I was, well, mildly annoyed to say the least. As soon as everything had stopped bouncing I ran for my bike, picked it up and was out of the gravel trap quicker than a stray dog in a kebab shop kitchen! Just as I was preparing for a boring 9laps on my own, the red flags came out due to a bike throwing oil over the track and a there still being a rider on the floor from the first corner incident. Lucky or what?

On returning to the pits it was a race against time to do what essential repairs we could to make the bike a bit less like riding a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel. The foot peg was replaced, bodywork taped up, gravel removed from bike and gravel removed from me! It was quite a sight to see everyone helping to fix it, including:

• Uncle Richard (new record for the sprint across the paddock!)
• Mr Polita (Father of Alessandro Polita of Superstock 1000 brilliance and Alessia from last years Superstock 600 series)
• Eric from Suzuki Netherlands
• And Matt’s Dad Andy

THANKS GUYS!!!!

Saturday – Race (Take 2)

Lined up for the second attempt, I had to be cautious on the first few laps due to cold, dusty tyres. This was a little spirit breaking, as I managed another good start and then had to let the pack get away as I waited for my tyres to come up to temperature. After about a lap and a bit, the tyres were up to temperature and I was able to start racing! I passed a couple of bikes and then tagged on the back of a Kawasaki. I was struggling to find a way past, as however well I got out of the corners, the kwak would just disappear on the straights. With something still not quite straight on my bike, I was unable to go for any wild lunges on the brakes and didn’t manage to find a way past. In the end I had to settle for 22nd place. Although initially disappointed with 22nd, given the circumstances it is by no means a bad result.

What did I learn?

Well, for a start don’t trust anyone at all on the first lap, or you end up on the floor!

Secondly, remember some hayfever tablets!

And thirdly, Monza is an amazing place and probably one of my favourite tracks so far.

And there ends another horrendously long tale of the misdemeanours of myself in what is turning out to be one of the most exciting seasons of my life!

Tune in next time when I will be heading to Silverstone with a newly fettled engine and even more determination!!!

Thanks to –

• Michael Guy for his impeccable Italian Driving impressions
• Everyone who helped me in the pits on Saturday
• Roger for giving me the opportunity to get up to this much mischief!
• Nan and Grandad for driving the race truck up from Valencia
• Mark, Barry, Rich and Tom for making sure I stayed awake and revised on the plane!
• The lady at Stanstead Airport for sending me to the wrong car park at 10:00 at night in sandals and shorts. It’s ok, I only walked around lost for about 45mins!!
• Steve Jordan for making my bike work again!
• Mike “F” Edwards for getting my bike to the track
• All the teams sponsors and supporters
• All my friends and family who watched back home on the internet!
• Mum and Dad, sorry I smashed the bike up but thanks for everything

See y’all in Silverstone!

Friday – Free Practice.

After Valencia I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike, and rolling down pit lane for the opening practice I definitely felt more confident and more able to keep up with the guys in the top half of the field. Out onto the track and from the exit of pit lane you can barely see the first chicane; the distance between the two is massive! A few laps in and I began to feel my way round the circuit and it was about four laps in when I realised just how fast the track really was. It was crazy just how quick the straights are! And most people think Thruxton is quick! Despite not catching a tow off any other rider for more than a few turns I was feeling quite good and began to push that little bit harder into each turn and then decided to see how late I could brake for the opening chicane. Needless to say I totally overshot and took to the service road, but at least I knew I had to brake before the 200 board! The rest of the session was fairly uneventful and returning to the pits I was fairly happy with everything and didn’t really need a huge adjustment of any part of the bike. Ending the session 23rd fastest was quite pleasing, despite I did hope to be higher up if I’m honest!

Friday – 1st Qualifying.

Qualifying was awful in a word. The weather decided to totally chuck it down, and despite my love for wet conditions, I just didn’t feel happy out there at all. The bike hadn’t been altered to the set up I requested and it was just almost un-ride-able. It eventually resulted in me high-siding out of the first chicane and landing on top of the bike, fortunately with no injury other than a bruised ego. It was annoying for me as I knew it wasn’t my fault, I hadn’t even got on the gas and the rear just decided to jump round on me. I had no feeling whatsoever to what the bike was doing. As I sat out most of the session on my arse I saw the entire field get faster and faster, leaving me outside the qualification maxima as a non-qualifier. Despite the major muck up I wasn’t too worried, knowing that there was another qualifying session on Saturday, where I’d get the chance to put in a decent time.

Saturday – 2nd Qualifying.

Unlike the previous day, the sun was out for qualifying and what a scorcher it was. I was riding harder than on Friday, but the times were just not coming and I just continued to stay down the bottom end of the field. I just couldn’t make up any extra time at any point on the track. Without a decent tow it was always going to be hard and I found that out, ending the session well down the grid in 29th place. It just seemed to me that I was losing out on the straights to every other bike out there. Later I realised it was just down to me, but at the time I think I just didn’t use my head properly. What was more annoying was that Daniel Beretta, who I was battling with at Valencia had managed to qualify in 13th place, over a second faster than what I managed!

Saturday – Race.

The plan for the race was a simple one, get away from the line well, be really careful not to get wiped out at the first few turns and then get a tow and pull through the field. It sounds easy, but at Monza, when you have groups of seven or eight bikes altogether for the first few laps, it’s far from simple. Anyways, the lights went out and I remember getting another good start (I have no idea how it keeps happening!) and jumped the row in front of me, only to look beside me and see Chris flying passed, the cheeky bugger! Up in front and all hell broke lose as five riders hit the deck, including championship leader Xavier Simeon. It was a case of sit up and beg through the opening turn, but I got through safely, with Chris right alongside. The next few turns were a bit of a blur as I just passed people left, right and centre on the brakes and through the opening lap in an attempt to get with the fast group just in front. It was all working perfectly until the end of lap 2 when the red flags came out. Someone had blown up round the back of the circuit and dumped oil everywhere and with Mathieu Gines still on the floor from the first corner incident, so the race director had no choice but to stop the race.

Gutted is one word I’d use to describe how I felt, but for Chris it was a different feeling, one of the gravel kind. He’d got taken out at the Parabolica, damaging the left of the bike, and had yet still managed to get it back to the pits! I was amazed to say the least! Seeing the team work on the bike so efficiently was reassuring and Chris’ desire to get back on and ride the thing, even if it was missing a foot peg was somewhat inspiring. Back onto the grid for the restart with a full field (minus Gines) we blasted off into turn one and this time we all got safely through, even though I had to take to the grass on the way out. The first lap was manic and everyone was jostling for a position at every turn. Thanks to another good start I made up a few places on the opening lap and entering the first chicane I took a huge distance out of the group in front. I was determined to pass all of them through the chicane, wrong idea! I got shoved back onto the grass and ended up losing a place. It didn’t take long to get back onto the bunch though and within a few laps I was back in with them, slipstreaming all the way down the main straight.

After a few more laps and at about half distance I had lost the tow and the guys behind began to catch me. It was about now that I began to get some major brake fade and became enthralled in a battle with Barry Burrell and some Italian. We swapped position at least three times a lap and I eventually found a way back through and began to break away, but it didn’t last long. With two laps left I had almost no brakes left and the lever was coming back to the bar every time I anchored up. Luckily I could balance it out with extra rear brake but soon the standard pads began to overheat and entering the last lap I lost two places on the brakes at turn one. As it happened I thought to myself just to follow them and out brake the two at the Parabolica, whether I had brakes or not I was going to beat Burrell and be top Brit, well that was the plan. I lined both Burrell and the Italian up coming into the Parabolica and pulled out of their slipstream just in time to see yellow flags being waved, bugger! With no way through I tried to out drag the duo to the line, but I couldn’t get any extra drive and ended up finishing third in our little group and 17th overall. The result was good, and once again I jumped 12 places from my grid slot and improved my lap time by well over a second and could still see the top ten as I crossed the finish. It was a relief to get back into the top half where I know I belong, and knowing that once we get the brake problem sorted I can challenge for points on a regular occasion. Hopefully Silverstone will see me get a decent qualifying and an even better result in the race!

Thanks to –

• MIST Suzuki Racing
• T&J Commercial Repairs
• Steve Jordan Motorcycles
• www.givemethekeys.com
• Racedays.Net
• Mike Edwards
• Steve & Sarah Jordan
• Alan Brown
• All the teams sponsors and supporters
• All my friends and family who watched back home on the internet!
• Mum and Dad, sorry I smashed the bike up but thanks for everything

NEXT UP SILVERSTONE, FIRST OF THE HOME ROUNDS!

Not being able to find the circuit was more of a concern at first than not having any idea of the layout of the track when we first arrived in Monza. After a successful Valencia debut for Matt and a clutch problem at the start for Chris both riders were keen to make the most of the first Italian round of the series.

Not realising that the circuit was 3.6 miles long the team set out to walk the track to get an idea of lines and reference points for morning practice on Friday. With just three half hour sessions before the race this was going to be an uphill task but after advice from the Team Manager, and a lot of walking, the riders were eager to put the theory in to practice. The circuit is incredible with two chicanes and the Ascari complex linking some very long straights with a couple of very fast corners, such as the famous Parabolica, it would take a lot of practice, and perhaps a good tow from other riders, to get the best from the 107 hp GSXR600K6 machines.

With the engines still completely standard the team was expecting to be outgunned on the straights as the rules allow thinner base gaskets, higher specification engine management units and various other opportunities for teams with bigger budgets and more experience. The biggest all British team in WSB wasn’t going to let something that minor stand in their way and were confident that they could salvage some pride in preparation for the home round at Silverstone later in the month.

The half hour free practice session was warm and dry and fortunately without major incident as both riders took the opportunity to learn the art of slipstreaming to get the best from the track. Simply following another bike down the start finish straight can be enough to see an additional 20 kph through the speed trap before the first chicane. With four such straights it would be very easy to miss out on a couple of seconds per lap if the rider made a mistake. Chris struggled initially but soon settled in to a rhythm once he remembered to relax. Every lap he improved, clocking a best of 2’05.703 towards the end of the session with the benefit of a tow on a couple of the straights. Matt found his feet fairly quickly with a 2’01.674 lap fairly early on but had to work on being consistent and was eventually able to post 2’02.xx or 2’03.xx laps without the help of other bikes to follow.

After the initial success things took a turn for the worst in first qualifying when it started to rain. It was fairly light at first but soon became heavy enough to need full wets. I’m not sure whether this is symptomatic of the class being made up entirely of teenagers but it was hard keeping track of who was crashing where at one point. Matt was going well in the first couple of laps and was in the top ten on the leader board when the first chicane got the better of him. With no warning he found himself sliding along the track as the bike bounced off in to the gravel. The damage wasn’t severe but he did miss out on vital track time, particularly as the rain began to ease off towards the end of the session. Chris had started slower although his session wasn’t without excitement as on the very last lap he found himself sliding alongside the bike having been highsided out of the seat. Not one to give up he had managed to keep hold of the handlebars and somehow managed to climb aboard and ride back to the pits. Chris had managed to gradually improve his times and qualified last in 32nd position with a 2’23.517 - Matt wasn’t so lucky and having crashed out so early his 2’26.185 wasn’t good enough to qualify at all.

Another opportunity to walk the track that evening and aside from changing the suggested turn in point to the left hander leading in to the Ascari complex the team were happy with the lines and reference points they had selected the previous evening. Spending time considering the best lines to make the most from a tow from any unsuspecting riders was a useful exercise along with planning the implications of getting a tow in the run up to the Parabolica and the start finish straight so the rider didn’t do all the hard work and have someone just pip them at the line. With Matt’s bike repaired and having made some adjustments to the riding position for Chris to make it easier to move around the bike, he had landed painfully in his crash with the gear selector putting a nasty scrape down his thigh, the riders went out for their remaining qualifying session. Fortunately the weather was dry although not as sunny as the previous day.

Without having been able to fully test his gearing choice in the previous sessions Matt was left unable to make the most of the time once again when his rev counter needle fell off on the first lap after a small wheelie on the way out of the chicane. The clocks had taken a bit of a bashing when he fell in qualifying at Valencia and had finally decided enough was enough. Although still needing some valuable track time to gain some much needed consistency Matt managed a best time of 2’01.750 and spent much of the session running in the 2’01.xx and 2’02.xx bracket. The crash had cost him dearly as he still hadn’t managed to better his 4th lap in free practice despite another dozen or so laps but had at least qualified in 29th place. Chris on the other hand was much more relaxed and was soon lapping at a similar pace to Matt. A good tow on one lap saw an extra 9 kph through the speed trap and a best lap of 2’01.980 to take 31st place on the grid. The session was cut short by a red flag incident and the restart was a non event after having to pull in when a circlip came off his rear sets leaving him without a gear change lever.

Everyone was apprehensive about the race with 33 riders having almost a kilometre before piling in to the first chicane and their concern was well founded when one rider lost the front on the brakes and skittled another half dozen bikes on the way in. Suddenly without a large number of front runners it appeared that MIST Suzuki could be up for points from both riders until we noticed that Chris was also missing from the pack. We could see from the timing screens that he hadn’t been caught up in the first corner excitement and about a minute later he appeared down the start/finish straight having had his front wheel taken out by another unhelpful rider on the way through the Parabolica. The joy at seeing him still running despite the crash was marred by the red flags coming out after another bike blew it’s engine around the back of the circuit and medical attention required by one of the earlier fallers.

It was at this point we had a mad ten minutes in the pit lane trying to repair the bent levers, clip on, foot pegs, front fairing frame, etc. on the bike. Even the R&G crash bobbin had bent backwards which, as luck would have it, was still able to offer just enough protection so that only the paint on the engine casing was scuffed. Without it the race would have been over with a large whole in the engine but after emptying half of the gravel trap from the belly pan, replacing the foot peg and a bit of duct tape to cover the worst of the fairing damage we were almost ready to go. Only problem was one of the paddock stand bobbins had gone missing and broken the mounting point from the swing arm so we were unable to get the bike on the stand to get the tyre warmers back on for the restart.

With cold tyres Chris was going to have to take it easy for the first couple of laps. Oh to be the works Xerox Ducati team or the Alstare Corona bike where you could just nip in to the garage used by your colleagues in the SuperBike class and make the most of their facilities, mechanics, tyre warmers, etc. At least one rider from each of those teams had fallen but things were quickly repaired and out on the grid for the restart. Oh well, there go our easy points (if there is such a thing as easy points at a WSB round).

Both riders made a good start and both made it through the first chicane in one piece. Chris had to endure watching the pack he was with pull away, along with Matt who was doing some dramatic braking and overtaking of his own a bit further ahead. With his tyres up to temperature Chris had a good fight with the group around him for several laps although the physical exertions of his highside the previous day and his 100 mph crash just twenty minutes earlier meant he was unable to match his qualifying performance. He still rode an excellent, albeit lonely, race to finish 22nd overall. A best lap of 2’02.782 was hard won but consistency was the key with every other lap in the low 2’03.xx bracket.

Matt was having a good battle with the group contesting 8th to 15th places with riders gaining, or losing, two or three positions each lap depending on who was getting the best tow of the group. Sitting in a comfortable 13th place Matt started to suffer from overheating brakes, a problem that cost him a couple of places towards the end of the Valencia race. He held 15th position for the last couple of laps after resorting to using the rear brake to help slow down before that too overheated and he was overtaken by two riders on the very last lap. Despite planning ahead and using the advice on making the most of the slipstream on the straights the yellow flags on the way in to the last corner put paid to any chance of getting the place back. Having to settle for 17th place was disheartening after having run in the points for almost the whole race and it was small consolation that his fastest lap was down to 2’00.481, the target we set at the start of the weekend.

Both riders had a lot to overcome when they arrived at the circuit yet the weather and various crashed made things much, much harder. The lack of track time due to incidents had affected both riders but they have proved that both can run with their much more experienced, and better financed, competition. At the start of the season, just two meetings ago, we would have been pleased with a top 20 finish yet already not scoring points is almost a disappointment. On reflection, a small British team that can regularly fight for points against the best young riders Europe has to offer is pretty amazing, especially when the majority of them have been in this class for several years and know the bikes and circuits already.

Roll on WSB round at Silverstone later this month.

Mike Edwards
Team Manager - MIST Suzuki

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve Jordan Motorcycles for their never ending support and the help given to the team from B & C Express, Dyna Pro, RaceDays.net, S&B Commercials and Silkolene.

Photos copyright @ cybermotard.com/Christian Bourget 2006