Mike Edwards, 04/08/06 – 06/07/06
European SuperStock 600 Championship
Round 6
Summary
The preparation for our home round began with the mad dash from Brno to get back in time for a track day on the Brands Hatch GP circuit in preparation for the forthcoming WSB round. A steady day with good progress from both riders testing brake pads, suspension and getting used to a circuit they haven’t visited since last year. After that it was a week of frantic activity trying to organise new signs and stickers for the sponsors, the van and the bikes, plus preparing an advert to be shown over the race weekend on the large screens at the circuit.
With only a 40 minute commute instead of 16.5 hours the weekend was still going to be a busy one. We managed to get the race truck and motor home to the circuit on Tuesday night in the hope we could get a decent position in the paddock. We weren’t allowed in until Wednesday morning and even then there was a huge queue before we could get everything organised. Another trip to the circuit in the evening to set up the awning and I returned to the circuit ready for the weekend first thing on Thursday. With bikes to unload, tyres to be collected and fitted, signs to be erected, etc. it was a busy day and by the time the rest of the team arrived it was almost time for scrutineering. That done there was just time for a track walk with the riders before having an early night.
Other than walking the circuit to identify reference points and lines the only tasks left to the riders are to fix the tyre identification stickers to the tyres on the bike (to ensure nobody uses more than their allocated amount) and to collect their transponders. Obviously it wasn’t an auspicious start to the day when both riders were black flagged in the first practice session for not having fitted their transponders. Matt had also managed to get turned away at the gate at Misano for forgetting the tyre stickers. At least they only ever make the mistake once!
Matt made some good progress, quickly getting down to his best time on the test day and finishing in 5th place with a best of 1’35.977 – A good start that he felt very comfortable doing. Chris had also made a good start and after just 6 laps managed a best of 1’37.981 which was the same pace as on the test day. Unfortunately Chris then went missing so was left down in 23rd place. When walking the circuit the previous night both riders thought it funny to test the air fences (designed to protect the riders from the hard barriers should they come off).
It turned out that Chris had crashed through Hawthorn Bend, the bike missing the gravel, bouncing off the top of the air fence (a good forty or so feet away) before hitting a tree some eight foot in the air and then bouncing to end up a further eight feet down another slope in the nettles. The recovery crews did a magnificent job getting the bike back to us and the team breathed a sigh of relief to find the ’only’ damage was a trashed pair of wheels, discs and snapped front and rear sub frames. It was still a fair amount of work but after replacing the wheels and fitting our spare bodywork and sub frames the bike was ready to go again.
The first timed qualifying session was much less traumatic with both riders putting in comfortably faster laps than in practice. Without the benefit of a tow they were never going to get near the front few but it is easy to forget that this is still their first full season riding 600cc machines which makes their achievements all the more remarkable. In the middle of the session Matt got his head down and was soon running in fourth place overall. Chris was also putting in some fine laps ending the session in 17th place with a best of 1’36.205! Matt dropped down a couple of places in the closing stages and finished 6th after a best lap of 1’34.909, barely 0.9 seconds from the pole position man.
With Friday complete we walked the circuit again to identify areas to work on and to look for a few missing parts from the damaged bike. By some luck we found a missing air intake tube in amongst the tyres behind the air fencing and inspected the damage to the tree and the large area of flattened foliage behind it. We all realised that we had been very lucky to still have a bike to ride for the weekend and decided that our luck had changed for the better after the last couple of rounds.
The second qualifying session on Saturday proved more difficult with both Matt and Chris having problems getting a clear lap as they were now targets for other riders who tried to get an idea of the lines they should be using. Matt lost almost half a session trying to keep out of the way of riders intent on slowing him down. Matt was able to comfortably run close to his previous best but it was only towards the end of the session when he was called in to the pits and told to focus more that he improved his times. Unfortunately there wasn’t much time left and despite being on target for fifth place on his last flying lap a slide out of Stirling’s Bend halted his progress and he slipped to 9th place in the dying seconds. A best of 1’34.901 was an improvement but we all knew he was capable of so much more. Chris also had a frustrating session although did improve his time to a 1’36.111 he qualified in 23rd place.
Both riders knew they could ride faster and were comfortably ahead of all three British wild card riders who all had much more experience on 600cc bikes. Just goes to show how steep the learning curve has been for the team in moving to the European series rather than staying in the UK. The choice was obviously the right one though as all the wild cards, and several of their friends from the British SuperBike series, are looking at joining us in racing in Europe next year. Our plans include the current riders moving up to the European SuperStock 1000 class in 2007 whilst also running a SuperStock 600 team to bring on more British talent.
The actual race was the last item on the programme for Sunday and was straight after the second SuperBike race. Everyone was pleased to see the number of people in the crowd who stayed on to watch the race so despite the long wait everyone was really looking forward to the start. Both riders got away well with Chris getting up to 16th by the end of the first lap and gradually chasing down and catching the riders ahead. A few spectacular out of the seat moments through Surtees corner were caught on camera slowing his progress slightly allowing the 12th place man to keep his position at the flag with Chris finishing in 13th just 0.076 seconds behind. A new best lap of 1’34.881 was a remarkable improvement and shows just how fast the guys can ride.
Matt made a slightly slower start but managed to get up to 7th at the end of the first lap before dropping to eight and then ninth as faster riders found their rhythm before he did. A massive moment through Druids didn’t help when Giugliano passed so close that he actually pulled Matt’s hand off the bar almost causing him to crash. Matt recovered and set about catching the next few places but was held up badly on one lap and could only watch the few in front pull away. After a brave move on the brakes Matt soon pulled clear and set about catching the group ahead. By the last lap he had caught the rider in 6th place but opted for a safe 7th rather than risk an incident just a few corners from home. Finishing just 0.163 seconds behind 6th place was frustrating but to take 7th place with a 1’34.531 (the 6th fastest lap of the race and around 0.9 off the fastest lap) was a great result for both Matt and the team.
After a hectic weekend to come back and have both riders in the points again was fantastic for everyone involved. More importantly, both riders are convinced that they can run at this pace for the rest of the season and it was great to hear them say it as the team have long believed that to be the case.
The next round is at Assen where we will be racing in between the two SuperBikes races on Sunday in front of one of the largest British audiences of the series.
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.
Would also like to thank Mike Eglington for all his hard working in preparing the revised stickers and signs at short notice.