MIST Suzuki Racing

Matt Bond, 20/07/07 - 22/07/07
FIM European Superstock 1000 Cup
Round 7

Friday - First Practice

After the success of the test a few weeks before hand, the first session was a simple re-familiarisation process, that didn’t take long, and instantly the bike was feeling really good and the times were consistent and improving.

The new internals inside the rear shock seemed to totally alter the way the bike gripped, making it much more stable under braking and acceleration, which made it ideally suited to the Czech track. Even if there was very little grip on the track, making traction somewhat non-existent and made for some very interesting sideways moments!

Towards the end of the session I started to push a little bit harder and managed to better my previous personal best lap time, putting me nicely inside the top 20, in 17th place. It was the best free practice result so far this season, so all was looking good for the opening qualifying session.

Friday - First Qualifying

I got onto the circuit with the front group straight away, but after 2 very hectic laps, I decided to pull back and wait for a tow from one of the fast guys. Cue Sheridan Morais on the Pedercini Ducati!

I hooked straight onto his back wheel and for four or five laps we were together, and I managed to follow his lines and match his pace round the majority of the track, and it was all clicking into place. Both Shez and myself managed to clock our fastest laps, just before we both let off, with the intentions of returning to the pit lane to put in a new pair of tyres for the last half of the session.

I blasted off in an attempt to make it back to the pits quickly, giving the guys more time to change the wheels, etc. Then the back made an almighty bang and all the power beneath me just disappeared. It sounded like a plug cap had come off, so, not knowing any better, I proceeded to tour back to the pits, with the engine getting worse all the way up the hill leading to pit lane.

As soon as I was back I could tell that our weekend was over by the looks on peoples faces. I was gutted. With no spare engine, the best opening to a meeting we had had slipped through our fingers, and I watched the timing screens as I slid from 12th down towards the bottom end of the field, but I wasn’t last! Far from it, but with no chance of returning to the track the last thing I could do was smile or see the good side of things.

The Rest Of The Weekend

I decided to just sit and watch and see what I could learn from the guys out on circuit, and it helped me to see just how to ride really hard for that one lap in qualifying, and also how to pace yourself in the race. It was useful.

On the good side I’d ridden the bike well and proved I can run at the sharp end of the field, and we’ve got a good bike set up ready for Brands. Whether we will have a new engine will be the major question, but I have faith in the team.

Chris Northover, 21/07/06 - 22/07/06
European SuperStock 600 Championship
Round 5

This was the furthest round to get to and in a country where I couldn’t tell the difference between a person speaking Czech and a person choking and, indeed, the sound of Mark’s Skoda hire car trying to go up a hill! After indulging in the spirit of hire cars in foreign countries, we had a good bit of hunt the hotel which took us on a magical mystery tour round the back of who knows where! After an impromptu night in the hotel we made our way to the track Thursday morning. Even Thursday the track was buzzing with activity and the race fans seemed to be everywhere already.

As soon as we were all settled in, Kirsty and I went for a walk of the track. Bloody hell it’s wide! The track is absolutely amazing! The elevation changes are breath-taking; the camera really doesn’t do it justice! With a track so long and so wide, I knew it was going to be a mission to learn it. Rather cunningly, I feel, Kirsty had brought her digital camcorder so we set off on the pit scooter for several laps, which I was able to watch until the track layout was firmly carved into my brain. The hardest thing about the track was its width. Brno is so wide, you could comfortably race jumbo jets round and still have room to overtake!

Friday - Free Practice

The track is great fun to ride and is good for reference points, especially compared to Misano. I was soon getting frustrated with myself at the massive amount of room on the outside of me exiting corners; the width was taking some getting used to.

Friday - First Qualifying

Determined to get quicker, I went out in the first qualifying with one major goal: get all my reference points sussed and work at hitting them every lap. As I have learnt from previous rounds, once I can hit the reference points consistently, the speed comes fairly easily, but without reference points you just end up riding harder and harder but not getting any faster. It was a lesson well learned in Misano and learned the hard way. I managed to establish my reference points pretty well in the second session, so although I wasn’t as far up the grid as I needed to be; at least I wasn’t riding round like a proverbial, decapitated farmyard animal…

Friday evening, we did a track walk with Mike to compare lines and thoughts, most of which centred around the need to make optimum use of the width of the track, not only when exiting corners, but using the width to overtake or find different lines when overtaken. This would prove most helpful when the gentlemanly (ahem) racing begins!

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Second qualifying and a last chance to put myself at the sharp end of the grid. Although I managed to go faster, it wasn’t enough still and I ended up qualifying at the distinctly blunt end of the grid. I was so far back it felt like the front row was in a different country when the race came. Frustrated with myself, I disappeared for some soul searching. I knew what I needed to do and I knew how to do it, I just didn’t seem to put it into practice straight away, it always seemed to take me half a session before I got my act together.

During an afternoon nap, I was the victim of a cruel practical joke, played by my nan of all people! Fed up with me wearing baggy shorts that, in her opinion, didn’t fit me, nan decided to sew them up so they did fit, but without telling me. Amusingly, I wore them all the rest of the weekend without noticing and it was only on Monday when Kirsty asked if I had put on weight to stop my shorts falling down (she was in on the prank to) that I realised that I had been clothing violated!

Saturday - Race

Before the race I tried some of the magic hydration potion that Matt had been chugging away at since Misano, hoping it would combat the endless thirst caused by a ridiculously hot country. It didn’t. What it did do, however, was give me a killer headache and make me feel sick (although falling asleep in the sun probably didn’t help…). Despite nearly throwing up as the lights came on and forgetting to shut my visor until halfway round the first corner (hmm, bit windy…!) I managed to get a good start and haul my sorry backside up into a decent position before the race was red flagged

Getting a bit popular this red flag, still at least it gave me a chance to do the start in a slightly better state - nothing like a bit of adrenaline to clear the mind/settle the stomach! With the luck going my way at last (pass the violin!!) I made the most of the second start. From 35th on the grid, I hooked my thumbs in my belt loops and head-banged and high-sided my way through, sorry, past any poor sod who was unfortunate enough to get between me and a decent position…

With only a couple of laps to go, up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering bike. Luckily, I escaped from the next line of the song and went for one more victim. Despite getting right onto the back of him, the last five corners where I wanted to overtake were all on yellow flags, grr! The last bend held forth a green flag and a last attempt to overtake. The bike in question, was having gear change issues, but, rather cunningly, as he knew he could not be passed under yellows, he slowed to get the right gear before the green flag to stop me getting past him. It worked!

With my hands swollen and blistered (there were a lot of near high-sides, I was trying bloody hard!) I pulled into parc ferme, happy with the race but prepared to be disappointed when told my position. Turns out, I finished 19th which means I passed 16 people, which is a hell of a lot when you think about it. Result! My best lap was a good 2 seconds faster than the best I managed in qualifying, again! There is however, a lesson to be learned, why not get up to speed earlier in the weekend and then start further up the grid - less people to overtake then! This is something that I know I need to work on, getting the focus from the very first practice session.

So that’s the plan, just gotta put it into practice when I get to Brands Hatch and on a track I sort of know, bring it on!

Credits

• The hamster from creature comforts - Played by Richard
• Penelope Pitstop - Played by Kirsty Hodges
• Grandpa Simpson - Played by Grandpa Northover
• Yoda - Mike Edwards
• Mrs Doubtfire - Nanny Northover
• Road Runner - Mark
• Dick Dastardly - The mean person who penalised team mate Matt for a jump start in the first race (which was cancelled) with a ride through penalty in the second, costing him a chance in the race.

Matt Bond, 21/07/06 - 22/07/06
European SuperStock 600 Championship
Round 5

Friday - Free Practice

A few weeks on from the very disappointing round at Misano where I took an inadvertent grass tracking experience, no thanks to a fellow competitor who shall remain nameless, I was in good spirit as we rolled into a lovely sunny and chuffing warm Brno.

After walking the track with Mike “The Fountain of Racing Knowledge” Edwards, also known as Boss, we had found a few decent reference points, which were to be put to good use in the first few minutes of the opening session. It was all going to help us get through the very undulating circuit very quickly; well that was the plan anyway.

The opening few laps were just spent riding round, trying to make sure all the bike was set up fine and see what the lines were and how they came into play with the reference points we’d noted down the previous night. Within a few laps I’d got into the swing of things and began to up the pace slightly, despite many of the top guys already going balls out, I was content to speed up little by little.

A few scary moments lead to me pitting in just to discuss with the team what the bike was doing, gearing and a quick update on place, time, etc. A few words of encouragement and advice form Mike saw me get back on track on go slightly faster, although not much and I was still languishing down at the bottom of the time sheets, which was really disappointing.

Friday - First Qualifying

The plan for qualifying was really quite simple; get a few laps done on my own then get a tow and do not let them getaway. Sounds simple right? Wrong! I completely stuffed it all up. As soon as a tow came along they were either far too fast or I was trying to follow from too far back or I made a mistake. It just all seemed to be going wrong.

I flew back into the pits just to try and sort my head out mainly, and try and get some advice from Mike. I just couldn’t get it right it seemed and it was being reflected in the times, they were, to put it bluntly, crap.

I’m guessing the words worked as straight back onto circuit and the times began to improve once again and it all became a little bit faster and a little bit smoother everywhere. I began to hold onto the tows a little bit better and was able to stick to them long enough to see and try some new lines. A little bit more work on the bars and counter-steering seemed to work a treat, although there was still more to come. Despite this though the times did improve form the morning session, and despite not many changes in the place I was running in, the pace itself had got a second and a bit faster, so we were heading in the right direction.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

With a relatively poor first session I was determined to improve, and with a few more laps of walking round the track and with more reference points in the forms of crash and tyre marks, I was sure I could go forward rapidly, and hopefully be close to the top 15 or 20 by the end of the session.

But once again nothing went right, even though I did make a marginal improvement in my lap time. The only problem being so did everyone else around me, and some of them made big leaps, thus making my improvement negligible. The efforts were seemingly going to waste and as the temperature was rising it began to take its toll.

Loss of concentration at points left me making mistakes for a few laps but then I again improved in time, but when the flag came out I was really no higher up the grid than where I started, even a local wildcard had got a better time than me, which was really frustrating.

Looking at the sector times it was clear that I was losing lots of little bits of time and would really have to push come the race.

Saturday - Race

It was hot sitting on that grid, really hot, but it didn’t seem to be on my mind. All I was focusing on was the start and getting into the first turn fast, hard and in a better position than where I was sitting at the very moment in time.

I flew off the line, perhaps a little too well, and made an excellent first lap, ending it inside the top 20, and I managed to avoid all the carnage at the second turn, which looked like it hurt! Then the red flags came out. Doh! I was well away and into my stride and rhythm. Never mind, I’d been in this situation before, so I wasn’t too worried or bothered. I just knew I had to do it again.

Now the second start was good, better than the first, and the first lap was really good to, only problem was a great big yellow board with my number on it. I’d jumped the first start! I stayed out for all three of my allotted laps, whilst battling for 16th, and then shot off into the pits for my ride through. I was gutted and annoyed and really pushed hard as soon as I got back on circuit, but I began over riding and pushed just too hard. It knackered not only myself, but the tyres too, and the times just slipped away.

End of the race and I was gutted and really disappointed. I knew I’d have had a good result, as the guys I was battling with ended 13th, so I’d have easily grabbed some points! It was an awful weekend really and I was just so disheartened by it all, worst thing was, I’m sure I didn’t jump that start! But you can’t argue, so I got to accept it, I’ll be right next time though!

Well next round is Brands, the homecoming so to speak. This time I got no excuses! I know the track and like it, the bikes are working great and I’m gonna clear my mind before we get there. Fingers crossed it’s a good one. Top 10 here I come (although I really want a top 5!)

Wish me luck; I need it after these last two rounds!