IIIIIIIMOLA!!! (as they say in Italy!)

With a spangly new leathers and shiny gloves, Imola started a lot better kit-wise than Germany had. A walk of the track Thursday night soon bought the memories of last year flooding back as we bounced across the deteriorating track surface on scooters. Honestly, this track has more overbanding than every road in England put together! Not that the hideous surface seems to have a massive impact on grip, besides they need to spend money on the facilities before they call the roadworks in!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some nancy wuss who wont use a public loo just ‘cos it smells, but the toilets and showers here make my student dig from last year look like hygiene central! Everyone leaves the Imola toilets with the same violated look of fear that says “Never again, what have I just caught?!”. The showers require a sense of humour too, the drain system is the floor followed by the door, so to combat getting washed away some kind soul has decided to supply breeze blocks in each cubicle to balance on as you’re chilled to the bone by special super-chilled water, possibly imported straight from the arctic ocean.

Enough, whinging, there was a job to be done, a track to be learnt, a bike to be thrashed and an adrenaline gland to be drained (and, it would turn out, a local pub to be drained after the race!!!).

Friday - Free Practice

The first session Friday morning gave me a chance to get the hang of the new chicane and re-learn the track. Putting the lines we discussed Thursday night into practice, I was forced to pull in after a few laps with a loose handlebar, but soon got back out and began to put together some consistent laps. I was really struggling to get the bike out of the slower corners which was messing the lap times up a bit, but by the end of the session I had a good bundle of things to aim at around the track.

Foolishly, I didn’t account for the pit wall being on the opposite side of the track to where it was in Germany, so my lap-timer was about as much use as a handbrake on a canoe. Mind you, Matt had the same problem, so I wasn’t the only numpty! When I got back into the paddock, the bike did its best impression of a kettle, although no tea was present, due to the heat (which somehow managed to avoid heating the water up in the showers…).

After a slap up pasta lunch (we were in Italy after all!) we watered the bike, gave it a thorough check over and with a subtle tweak of the suspension it was ready for the afternoons session.

Friday - First Qualifying

First qualifying was tough and I was really struggling to get out of the chicanes and tighter corners well, which was costing my lap times dearly. I was unable to get any good tows, so just knuckled down and went for it.

Friday night I commandeered the Superstock 1000’s hero Brendan Roberts to do a lap of the circuit with Matt and myself for some tips and to compare lines. This proved to be a great exercise and it was very comforting to find out that our lines were all pretty good. The area that I needed to concentrate on was actually hitting the lines; I knew where I was supposed to be and just needed to make sure I was there every lap, especially when cranking it up a bit for faster laps.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

With an armoury of advice from Mr Roberts, I was raring to go Saturday morning and managed to get straight out on a tow with Daniel Sutter, a regular points scorer, and the lap times began to drop. Despite him firing a stone at me (ahh the Imola track surface strikes!) which left a tasty dent in my thumb nail, I managed to stick with him for half the session. As the session drew to an end I found myself without a tow, so took the opportunity to consistently string good laps together without someone to chase. Satisfied with the session, I nearly ate my time sheets when I found out I was 30th on the grid, AGAIN!! But, on a positive note, at least it makes it easy for Rich and Kirsty to find me on the grid.

After a quick munch and giving the bike a lick of special go-faster polish, it was time to ride round in circles for 50km or so and see who I could get past.

Saturday - Race

Lining up on the grid, yes in “my usual position” as Richard finds it funny to point out, I felt really bad for Daniel Sutter who had qualified just ahead of me. From an earlier crash he was carrying a melon shaped ankle and was having to rush round just before the race changing a front wheel on the grid!

Using a top secret improvement to my starting technique, I got an even better start than usual. Perhaps a little too good it would seem, as whilst flying down the outside of the grid I nearly collected a marshal who was too busy cuddling his fire extinguisher to notice the blue Gixxer, front wheel skimming the tarmac aiming straight through him! Sorry Mate-o!

Once the marshal had been avoided I got on with the task of picking my way through the bikes. Before I knew it, I was right on the back of a pack of bikes which included a certain Mr Bond, who was (probably) sporting a large target on his leathers. Charging hard at the back wheel of Matt, I was cut short by a bike short cutting the chicane, albeit on its side and minus piloto. I said something to myself at this point, and although I wish not to disclose the exact words, I can reveal that it rhymed with clucking bell…

Using The Force I managed to avoid the bike, only to be greeted with an oily, cementy mess which then tried to re-unite me with space. The good ol’ luck virus kicked in and I managed to wrestle myself back on the bike and carry on. Despite being some way from the pack I had been chasing, at least I wasn’t having some personal time with Mr Crash Barrier.

There’s a hideously overused saying, which adapts nicely to what happened a couple of laps later, and it goes something like this:

• (Chris) “Close calls are like buses.”
• (A.non) “Really?”
• (Chris) “Yes. You are standing by the road, minding you own business when two come along in close succession and both try and run you into the tarmac.”
• (A.non) “Oh how frightfully cliched of you, do try to be more original Christopher.”
• (Chris) “T..Terribly sorry Charles.”

Yup. Not once, but twice someone felt the need to fire their bike at me, delightful!

The second time, I was busy dueling with number 55 and it all came down to a last corner banzai manoeuvre, just up my street then! As I lined him up into the final chicane, another bike decided to lay down for a rest in front of me, unfortunately not the chap I was battling either! For a split second, I considered going all arcade game and nailing it across the grass to avoid the bike and beat the enemy to the line, but in hindsight I’m glad I behaved. I didn’t fancy being taken into the FG Sport office and having to explain to teacher why I cheated!

Despite losing a position on the line, I was stoked to have finished after everything that had been thrown at me! 22nd, place after all that didn’t feel too bad!

Congratulations to Matt on another good finish. Boo to Matt because I got robbed of the chance to have a pop at him again!! Well done to Mads Odin Hodt for scoring his first points and managing to inhibit a member of the British Pirelli crew with silly amounts of alcohol in the bar Saturday night. Also, in the aforementioned bar, I discovered that the worst part of Stuntman Tequila is not deliberately squirting lemon in your eye, but snorting salt, although the lemon eye does leave a gruesome red streak the next day, oops!

Massive thanks to:

• Nanny and Gramps again, who looked after us so well
• Roger and Tony Z for driving the van down
• Rick for coming as a guest and working really hard all weekend, including some unexpected tasks which I’ll brush over for now…
• Kirsty for looking after me!
• Mark and Coop for suitable winding up after qualifying 30th

See y’all at Magny Cours!

Coming Soon…

Photos copyright @ MIST Suzuki Racing 2006

Summary

Imola has to be one of my favourite tracks of the season with just the right combination of steep uphill and downhill sections, long sweepers and the odd chicane or two. Shame the same can’t be said for the paddock which was lacking even the most basic amenities. Two toilet and shower blocks with one working light between them, previous few door locks, no working doors on half of the showers, blocked drains and a distinct lack of hot water. Fortunately the weather smiled on us and it was between 25 and 29 degrees for most of the weekend.

I guess the team scooter is getting a bit tired but two up there was only one place on the circuit that required brakes. A new shock wouldn’t hurt either as the rear was still bouncing half way down the straight after testing a few of the kerbs. With Matt and Chris there early we had plenty of time to go round the track and select reference points for braking, turning and apex points. As one of the ’old school’ tracks there are plenty of suitable markers unlike some of the more modern, slightly antiseptic tracks that we have visited. In fact, I liked it so much I was itching to have a go myself but perhaps that will have to wait until next year.

Free practice was dry and warm and both riders spent the first half of the session putting the theory in to practice. Chris came in after a couple of laps after bedding in some new brake pads and to think about the lines. Very pleased with the consistent improvement during the session with each rider knocking around half a second off each lap. Matt finished in 21st place with a best of 2’03.972 with Chris in 33rd after putting in a 2’06.334 lap at the very end. Both riders were confident of going much faster in qualifying.

First qualifying was later the same day and warmer still. Both riders went out early to ensure they were at the front of the pack to make the best use of any tows from the faster guys coming past. It obviously worked as Matt’s second flying lap was the quickest of the session so far putting him on the leader board for the first time. Okay, so it only stood for 2.5 seconds but that’s not the point in this company. Chris stayed out for most of the session only coming in towards the end when he was happy with the progress he had been making. Unfortunately he didn’t turn off the bike the second he came in and it boiled over effectively ending the session as there was no way he could ride with a belly pan full of water. Matt also came in towards the end and after some, er, motivational advice, went out and immediately knocked 1.1 seconds from his fastest lap so far.

Matt finished first qualifying in 17th place with a best of 2’02.776 with Chris in 32nd after managing 2’05.566 early on in the session. Obviously disappointed at the bike problems Chris was never the less confident of going much faster in second qualifying the following morning. More laps of the scooter in the evening along with some advice from British SuperStock 1000 Champion Brendan Roberts, who would go on to win the European SuperStock 1000 race on Sunday, helped give the guys some ideas for the following day. Fortunately Brendan agreed with the braking and turning points that we had chosen and was able to offer some useful advice on using the throttle through a couple of corners that would make a difference next time out.

Another hot day, not bad for the last day of September, and fresh tyres saw Chris out immediately on the pace from the previous day and after half a dozen laps soon upped his game with a dramatic 2.5 second improvement to ensure Matt didn’t get it all his own way. After getting a little out of shape and making a detour through the gravel Matt pitted to collect his thoughts and discuss a plan for the remaining part of the session. Immediately a second faster Matt eventually dropped to a best of 2’01.919 leaving him in 21st place. The improvements from Chris hadn’t moved him up the grid but the 2’03.268 lap did put him up with the next half a dozen places to ensure a good fight come the race.

A poor start from Matt saw him in 24th place half way round the first lap with Chris right on his tail, not bad from 32nd on the grid! By the end Matt had recovered to 20th with Chris now up to 23rd place. Matt was once again chasing his nemesis, Barry Burrell, who he felt had held him up in Germany so he was determined to go one better here. Both riders making steady progress through the field with Barry just pulling ahead through the traffic giving Matt something to aim at. Chris was making good progress having dropped his lap time by another half a second. With four laps to go Matt was still chasing Barry who had opened up a gap through the traffic. Closing the gap by 0.5 seconds per lap we were on for a nail biting finish especially as both riders were now in the points.

Chris was overtaken on the penultimate lap and looked set to take back the place at the final chicane when they both almost ended up in the gravel as another rider fell right in front of him. Relieved to have actually finished although disappointed not to have taken the place back Chris finished in 22nd position with a best of 2’02.841! Matt made a brave move on Barry half way round the final lap to ride round the outside at the chicane and keep the place through the final few corners where he pulled away to take 14th place at the line. A best of 2’02.000 was close to his qualifying time but with no clear track there was nothing to be done.

More points for Matt and new found confidence from Chris. Both riders have shown they can improve dramatically on their qualifying positions this year reflecting the importance of track knowledge. With just 23 laps of practice and qualifying to learn a totally new circuit it’s no surprise they keep getting faster and faster. Hopefully our 2007 programme will ensure plenty of testing time to at least be on an equal footing come the race weekend.

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

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve Jordan Motorcycles and ongoing support from B & C Express, Dyna Pro, Pipercross, RaceDays.net, S&B Commercials and Silkolene.

Photos copyright @ Frank Duggan 2006

Arriving in Germany after a hectic day and a half back at work (tough life I know!) I was determined to put all memories of last year well behind me. Last year’s visit saw me leaving on crutches and with a pepperoni shaped cut on my bum cheek!

I spent Thursday touching up the last bits of the bike after the Dutch Ditch Diving incident. The poor bike looked like it had been used as a doormat at Glastonbury after the crash and the team had worked flat out to get it repaired before it was packed off to Germany.

We gave the track a good walking Thursday night and identified areas on which to focus in the early sessions. Matt and Mike were on the pit scooter and gave the kerbs a trial run, much to Matt’s dismay, as he was repeatedly violated by the grab rail of a Suzuki moped! After torturing me by making me pedal flat out for two straight laps against a ridiculous wind, we headed for the Mist Suzuki camp and got our heads down for a good nights sleep.

Sleep. Ah yes. Now, that’s the funny thing that I was doing in between being woken up by crazy Germans revving their bikes for hours and the rain hammering the roof of my tent! Guess I’ll be surviving Friday on PG Tips finest, expertly prepared by Nan!

Friday - Free Practice

A slight oversight after Assen left me in some discomfort for the first session…

Y’see, landing in such a big puddle, kinda filled my boots and lid with nasty muddy ycuk (see what I did there!!). Due to the rush to fix the bike, my gear got chucked in a bag and left there until I grabbed it to get ready on Friday. Put simply, if I wanted to wear my gloves, I’d have to shave them first…

Not only that, but my thick cheekpads in my lid (the only ones I have…) also stank worse than the portaloos in the campsite Saturday night, apparently!

Once out on track, I found it hard to get going initially, but soon picked up the pace and used my new secret weapon to my advantage. Mike had lent me a laptimer so I’d be able to see when I was chasing my tail and pull my socks up. Whaddya know, it works! About halfway through the session I saw that I had gone to sleep and done three 1:55’s in a row. It works as a great reality check, as I could’ve sworn I was getting faster when, in fact, I was just getting more ragged. After this I managed to get down into the 1:54’s and end the session 30th.

Friday - 1st Qualifying

Friday afternoon was not so smooth running. Entering the chicane on the first lap, my right handlebar decided that it needed a different direction in life, so spun forward and introduced itself to the front of the at anything else! After running off at the end of the back straight and having countless close calls I eventually got the wake up call and sorted myself out. This childish behavior cost me dearly as it had wasted most of the session. I put in a 1:53.8 right at the end, leaving me 31st fastest.

Saturday - 2nd Qualifying

The final qualifying session went so much better, but the same story as Assen; despite making the biggest improvement of the entire field (2.3 seconds faster than Friday), I still only managed to secure 30th on the grid. The session was really good fun, with both Matt and myself chasing Davide ‘Gigglyjuggly’ Giugliano. There was some mid-session disruption when someone spread their bike and half the gravel trap across turn 3, which in turn caused some mid-session disruption in Matt’s leathers as he went skipping across the track over the debris right in front of me!

When I’d finished laughing at, er, consoling Matt, we pulled into the pits in anticipation of the session being stopped. This wasn’t to happen and the organisers clearly decided that we all had brushes stashed away in our leathers. The session went on and all the riders had to pick their way through turn 3 which was doing a good impression of Brighton beach. I didn’t manage to get another tow but pulled out some respectable lap times by myself. Despite the improvement, I merely managed 30th on the grid. Getting a bit too common that position, but rest assured, I have my sights firmly set on the grid places ahead, even if I have to mug another rider to get one!

Saturday - Race

My usual race plan of overtaking everyone I can off the start before riding round the outside of some more at turn one, wasn’t going to be pulled out this weekend. The reason being, I tried this last year at Lausitz and ended up on crutches! The first corner does not lend itself to liberty takers, and there was no way I’d risk another DNF like that. The revised plan worked well, with a good start and a steady eddie first corner allowing me to ride round the bike sliding across the track. I believe it was The Hives who hit the nail on the head here, “Hate to say I told you so, alright!” Smugness dealt with, it was back to the action and chasing down those that stood between me and points.

Points are like cocaine, one hit and you’d sell your soul and your cat’s soul on eBay just to get more! I was charging hard and went faster than I had all weekend within a lap. I was taking lumps out of the guys in front on all the right handers, but exiting the two left handers that lead onto the front and back straights I was being eaten alive!

Perhaps a few weeks lapping roundabouts the wrong way on a moped would help this, I shall look into it before Imola. What occurred next can only be described as a mix up between my intentions and physics, whereby an attempt to brake slightly (read ridiculously) late for the corner at the end of the back straight went slightly wrong. I realised this right about the point where, about 20 yards before the corner.

Luckily, I managed to remain on the black stuff, now somewhat less hot on the tails of the bikes I was chasing. Annoyed by this and not wishing to be left behind, I did as every good racer should and made exactly the same mistake just two laps later. This, I believe, is what is termed “a school boy error” and must not be taken lightly. As punishment to myself I nailed some fast laps and even slipped in a 1:49 lap time. I finished a fairly respectable 21st position, happy to have made the flag, delighted with the 1:49 but deep down kicking myself for the aforementioned slip-up.

Another race, another lesson learned and another notch in my 2006 European Superstock bedpost. Right, Imola is gonna see some better qualifying, building on the improvements so far, and some more points. Yes, points, lovely, nice, succulent points.

Must… …have… …more… points.

A Massive Merci To:

• Mr Edwards for the laptimer and tolerating me for the weekend
• Mr Richard Northover for sorting the novelty handlebar at lightening pace
• Nanny for looking after her little soldier all weekend (Nans words, not mine alright?)
• Grandad for expertly piloting the race vehicle round Europe again
• Mark and Coop for suitable ribbing over the 30th place qualifying again
• Mads Odin Hodt for managing to block my view of the dancers in the beer tent Saturday night, thus preserving my fragile, innocent mind.

That’s All Folks

CG

Coming Soon…

Photos copyright @ MIST Suzuki Racing 2006

Summary

Having to return to the UK after Assen meant the drive to Lausitzring took longer than we had hoped. Nestled in the far corner of Germany just a stones throw from Poland and the Czech Republic we were thankful for German Autobahns and the Mercedes Vito we use as a support vehicle during the 1,800 mile round trip. With the race truck heading straight there from Assen it was nice to have everything set up by the time we arrived. Spending the afternoon before scrutineering exploring the facilities, along with the largest grandstand I have ever seen, was interesting and after numerous laps around the circuit on the scooter we had quite a good starting point for lines and reference points around the track. A spectacular track albeit rather flat after some we have visited it appears rather like Rockingham at first although on a rather larger scale.

Having fitted a lap timer to Matt’s bike at Assen which he found useful we did the same for Chris in Germany. Some times the riders have struggled to see their pit boards as there are only so many free slots in the safety fencing along the pit wall and unless you get there early it can be hard to get the best spaces. I’ve learnt it’s best to steer clear of the Ducati pit wall set up as they seem to think that leaving their pit board there all day reserves the little window for them and having half a dozen shouting Italians loses it’s entertainment appeal after a few minutes.

The first half of the free practice session was spent putting the theory on the best lines in to practice and both riders got to grips with the circuit fairly quickly. Chris struggled initially with what appeared to be warped discs and some suspension problems as it was the first time out on the bike since his crash at Assen but where as earlier in the season it would have ruined his session he concentrated on the lines and riding smoothly before coming in to the pits towards the end of the session. It was too late to go out for more flying laps but he still went out to try a couple of new lines in the first section of the circuit. Both riders had pushed a little hard fairly early on and had run onto the oval section of the track at one point which led to that lap time being cancelled but had made steady progress since then improving pretty much every lap.

A last minute tow for Matt dropped his times down to 1’51.452, down from a previous best of 1’52.503 the previous lap, and Chris managed to get down to 1’54.560 which was pleasing, especially as he had already beaten the early sector times on the lap he chose to come in to the pits. Matt finished the session in 17th place which was promising with Chris in 30th. After the session Chris felt that the brake judder had improved so put it down to a rough pad surface caused by debris from the crash. Some suspension adjustments to allow for the additional bumps on the track meant that everyone was hopeful for the first qualifying session.

Qualifying was on Friday afternoon and with only three sets of tyres to last the weekend both riders went out on the part worns they had used in free practice. Both riders were quickly on their previous pace but took a few laps to show any improvement. Chris reached his previous best mid way through the session before coming in to discuss some options on a couple of the wider turns where there seemed to be a number of possible lines. Matt, meanwhile, was also consistently able to reproduce his previous best lap but struggled to improve on it so came in to the pits also. Focussing on a clear turn point in to the first corner and driving through the next complex helped Matt to drop his times and he was soon lapping almost 0.9 seconds quicker. With strict instructions to relax and look further ahead Chris initially struggled until the very last lap when it all came together and he too improved by 0.7 seconds over the first session time.

Having noticed that we were having to adjust Matt’s clutch regularly to take account of the wear it was still a surprise when he reported that the one of the reasons he was struggling in first qualifying was that the slipper clutch had started to disengage under braking and only engage again way beyond the turn in point on the back straight and in to turn one on the front straight. Not pleasant given how sideways the bike was getting with the back end trying to come round with no engine braking to slow it down. With a new set of clutch plates on hand the next job was to get them swapped over.

With a best of 1’50.580 Matt found himself in 22nd position, almost in the 1’49.xx bracket that was the aim for the session, and Chris in 31st with 1’53.854 - The team were a little disappointed as they felt both could have improved a lot more but valuable lessons had been learnt and both riders were positive they would improve a lot more in the afternoon. With second qualifying on Saturday the evening was spent cleaning the bikes and doing more laps around the track looking for improvements in the lines and additional reference points to help improve consistency. At least the sunset was nice although having been sunburnt during the day it was surprisingly cold at night.

After running Matt’s bike on the dyno, thanks to the Arrow exhaust guys, to ensure the clutch appeared to be working and we were out for second qualifying. Matt was back in the pits after a couple of laps to let the new brake pads cool as part of the bedding in process and to report that the clutch was now fine. Both riders were then able to go out and improve immediately putting in fast laps before the majority of the grid slowed and came in to the pits. A bike had gone down in the first sector showering the track with gravel and giving Matt and Chris a few unpleasant slides. The rest of the session was a total loss for improving the lap times as despite going faster around the back of the circuit they were losing so much time due to the gravel the benefit was negated. Both finally managed to get close to their previous best on the very last lap but it was too little too late as those who already knew the track had all gone faster earlier in the session much to our dismay.

On a positive note both had improved but progress had been limited by wasting the majority of the sessions thanks to the gravel. Matt managed to get up to 26th place with a lap of 1’50.238, an improvement of just 0.3 seconds, and Chris was up to 30th place with a best of 1’51.527, an improvement of over 2.3 seconds. Amazing what relaxing and looking further ahead can do for your lap times! With both on the outer side of the grid the key was to resist the temptation to go mad in to the first corner, especially after Matt’s experience at Assen, and get round the first sector before really getting their heads down. Another lesson in why it’s important to qualify well when there are this number of talented riders on the grid.

It must be the British club racing backgrounds but Matt and Chris both made good starts and were 19th and 23rd, respectively, at the end of the first lap. Matt was quickly on the back of another rider but was struggling to find a way through. It later turned out that his slipper clutch had decided to stop slipping at all which made life very difficult. The extra effort when changing gear and the superior mid range grunt of the bike in front meant he was likely to stay in that position for the rest of the race. Chris was having a great race, holding his own against at least one rider who had qualified on the second row but had to do a ride through penalty for jumping the start. If only both guys could qualify at the pace they eventually run at it would be points every round and many more top ten results. I guess that’s the advantage of circuit knowledge and not having to learn the circuit from scratch each time.

Matt eventually struggled his way up to 16th place, still behind the same rider, as they both made progress through slower riders and as a couple of faster guys had to do their ride through penalties. Three laps from the end Matt’s frustration and slipper clutch problems got the better of him and he ran wide letting four riders come by. In the next couple of laps he fought back to regain three of the places only for a front runner to have problems and fall back almost to within his grasp. I know we should be pleased with 18th place, and given the clutch problems we are, but when the rider that you have spent most of the race being held up by finishes in the points it is frustrating, particularly after so much bad luck recently. Chris continued his good form and battled his way up to 21st place by the flag.

18th and 21st place finishes count as a huge improvement over qualifying, 26th and 30th respectively, particularly on a new track and both improved their times again to 1’49.312 and 1’49.824! Pretty good for just 33 laps of free practice and qualifying. Both riders are getting much better at learning new circuits but for 2007 the focus really has to be on testing as much as possible, both on the circuits we will race at and making the most of every opportunity to get time on the bikes.

The team hope to contest the European SuperStock 1000 class next year on the new Suzuki GSXR1000K7 machines. The quest for sponsorship for the season is on and is vying for time with continuing the development of the 600s for the final two rounds of the series. Hopefully our run of bad luck is over and we can make some good progress at Imola and Magny Cours. With Matt in 20th position in the championship and Chris in 28th we are aiming for both to move up at least a couple of positions by the end of the year. Fingers crossed!

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

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve Jordan Motorcycles and ongoing support from B & C Express, Dyna Pro, Pipercross, RaceDays.net, S&B Commercials and Silkolene.

Coming Soon…

Photos copyright @ MIST Suzuki Racing 2006

Summary

After the highs of Brands Hatch everyone was looking forward to Assen, especially as the SuperStock 600 race was going to be between the two SuperBike races on Sunday. With an ominous looking forecast and a painfully slow journey to the circuit the team were still hopeful despite the torrential rain during the track walk on Thursday evening.

Miraculously the overnight rain stopped by the time practice started on Friday and with our mid day time slot the track was dry. Other than the occasional wide line both riders managed to consistently improve during the session. For the first time on track at a new circuit it was probably the best free practice session of the year and shows that Matt and Chris are listening and improving as time goes on. Until the final lap they were both neck and neck on times and it was only a last minute improvement from Matt that mean the wasn’t relegated when other riders improved also. Matt finished the session in 25th place with a best lap of 1’53.140 and Chris managed 1’53.730 ending up in 28th place.

With rain forecast for the late afternoon everyone was rather nervous but it held off for the first qualifying session. Another good session with small improvements each lap whilst fighting the decreasing grip from the tyres that had already endured the half hour free practice session. Having been used by several other riders during the session for a tow it took Matt until the final lap to tag on to the back of someone himself which resulted in 0.65 second improvement moving him in to 26th place with a 1’51.875 lap as all the other riders had improved also. Chris managed the rare feat of setting his fastest lap without beating any of his best sector times from the session, i.e. he had gone faster in every sector at some other point in the session but managed to string together some fairly good times to post a best of 1’53.608, a full half a second off his theoretical best had he strung together all his best sector times on the same lap. Just goes to show the importance of being consistent!

Another damp walk round the track that evening resulted in some key tips on staying out wide on certain long sweeping corners plus improved reference points for getting on the gas set the stage for second qualifying on Saturday lunch time. Another wet morning that cleared up in time for our session. Maybe our luck was improving! A good start to the session saw Matt immediately put in five consecutive laps faster than his previous best and after a trip in to the pits for some discussion on a couple of braking markers he went out to get a tow and once again left it late crossing the line with just 12 seconds of the session remaining to start his last lap. This one was definitely worth waiting for as everything came together to knock another 0.7 seconds off the time. Despite improving by a huge 1.3 seconds in the second session Matt was, once again, left in 25th place.

Chris took longer to settle in to a rhythm and by the time he came in to the pits half way through had dropped 0.7 seconds from his previous time. Amazing what a bit of consistency can do! With fresh advice on throttle control and with renewed focus the remainder of the session saw his lap times continue to fall all the way down to a best of 1’51.697, almost 2 seconds quicker than the day before. He wasn’t so lucky with the timing narrowly missing out on a final lap which was a pity as he finally had the benefit of following a quicker rider for a few corners which would have seen the time drop even further. Unfortunately being just a couple of seconds too slow across the line to get that crucial final lap meant he dropped to 30th position on the grid.

More laps on the scooter and some borrowed push bikes that evening helped to cement some clearer lines through the complex first section of the track along with some additional markers to help maintain speed through the final chicane. Having been lucky so far the weather forecast had been gradually getting worse and things weren’t looking good for the Sunday race. Sunday dawned wet and a prolonged delay in the warm up for the SueprStock 1000 class saw their race postponed until after the second SuperBike outing. Even more rain caused disruptions all the way through calendar as anyone who saw the first SuperBike race can confirm where the majority of the top riders came off in the slippery conditions. Another delay in the SuperSport race caused pressure on the already diminishing television schedule that meant the SuperStock 600 race was postponed so that the second SuperBike race could start on time.

Having already fitted wets and adjusted the suspension ready for our planned 2:30 pm start there was a great deal of concern as the track started to dry yet the dark clouds continued to gather as things progressed. The SuperStock 1000 race started without incident with the World Side Car Championship due out next caused some confusion when we realised the start time we had been given was for the pit lane to open rather than the start of the race - We usually have to be out on track 20 minutes before the published start time which caused problems as the Side Cars were still going round. With riders gathering in the collecting area everyone was looking nervously at the sky as a few drops of rain started to fall. By some miracle the clouds parted in the distance and long stretches of black cloud went either side of the circuit allowing us a dry race after all the excitement. The riders eventually took up their grid positions at 6 pm in the evening, over an hour after we should have left the circuit to head home.

Finally, after all the waiting this was it and both riders made fantastic starts. Some would say too good as at the end of the first lap Chris was in 20th position and Matt was nowhere to be seen. It transpired that Matt had made it in to the top ten on the way in to the first corner only to have someone fall off to his inside resulting in a trip through the gravel at turn one. With the Dutch marshals helping their fallen countrymen Matt resorted to getting off the bike and pushing out of the gravel before remounting and joining the race dead last. Matt’s first lap was almost thirty seconds longer than anyone else and leaving him over a minute down on the riders he had entered the first corner with. Chris meanwhile was having a great battle before trying to overtake a wild card rider around a fast right hander on the back section of the circuit.

A sudden move across the track from the Dutchman pushed Chris on to the grass where he did well to stay upright. Several attempts to rejoin the track were foiled with the wild card rider holding position. Eventually Chris was forced to brake as the next corner was rapidly approaching and despite gentle pressure on the rear brake the bike went down sending Chris tumbling through the long grass. Just like his out of the seat moment at Brands Hatch he was caught on camera and everyone was treated to the sight of the bike rolling and bouncing across the grass.

Matt had rejoined and despite being last by some way was rapidly catching those at the back of the race. By lap four he had made two places up with several more to follow over the next few laps. With impressive determination he continued to lap rapidly although not quite on qualifying pace due to some damage from being hit in the first corner incident. Three riders behind him were lapped before the end of the race and there were still other riders on the same lap behind him at the finish so despite having lost so much time in the gravel Matt was still able to finish in creditable 24th position. A best lap of 1’52.110 was disappointing as we were sure Matt could run in the low 1’49 bracket had he been able to keep with the front runners for a few laps.

Chris still managed a 1’52.646 on his solitary flying lap before the incident. Still cheerful although obviously disappointed at incurring another broken wheel and bashed up bike through no fault of his own. Both bikes had a well deserved hose down to remove much, gravel and other debris from the various race incidents before loading the bike and heading for home over three hours later than planned. All credit to the organisers though, given those conditions I’m amazed they managed to fit the whole calendar in before it got dark!

In summary, the team were quite positive about the weekend with the best combination of practice and qualifying sessions yet. It’s a pity neither rider could capitalise on this during the race but it bodes well for the rest of 2006 and our intended aim to compete in the European SuperStock 1000 class in 2007. Despite the appalling weather over 61,000 people attended the race meeting. Still short of the excellent 121,000 we raced in front of at Brands Hatch but still a good turn out none the less.

Many competitors headed straight off to Germany for the next round but work commitments meant the most of the team had to come back to the UK for work and other commitments. Fingers crossed that both the weather and our luck will improve for the Lausitzring round.

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

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve Jordan Motorcycles and ongoing support from B & C Express, Dyna Pro, Pipercross, RaceDays.net, S&B Commercials and Silkolene.