The weekend started out wet, much to the team’s dismay, although it does seem to be the norm at Magny-Cours and can change quickly.

Being first out for free practice session wasn’t helpful although things have been delayed by fog in previous years so maybe 4 degrees and raining wasn’t all that bad.

Due to the absence of Team Manager Mike Edwards who had been admitted to hospital at the last minute the suspension duties fell back on the Andreani Group who didn’t have time to fit softer springs before the riders were due on track.

Despite this Gareth managed to get up to 19th in the first session, with Matt back in 32nd place after only managing 4 laps as he persevered with suspension set-up.

The weather didn’t improve much for the first qualifying session. Although the temperature was up, well I guess 12 degrees counts as up, gusty winds and a wet track proved to be challenging for the riders. Both riders struggled for set-up and the session ended with Gareth in 28th place and Matt 32nd after just a handful of clear laps.

Only a few laps were completed in the second free practice session as there is a limit of three sets of wet tyres per round and the team wanted to save the all important second set for qualifying in the afternoon. Nevertheless, with an improved set-up using softer springs, Matt was already in 36th place after 2 laps (out of 41 riders) and Gareth finished in 23rd having done just 8 laps.

The second qualifying session was finally dry and the team focused on working on dry settings for the first time. Both Gareth and Matt were building confidence, which was reflected in their final standings – after 8 timed laps, Gareth climbed to 23rd and Matt to 26th. Front-running regulars sat between them in 24th and 25th – BSB SuperStock and former SuperBike rider Peter Hickman and series regular, and podium finisher, Andrea Antonelli.

With a dry race, Gareth and Matt were able to achieve strong results, with 17th and 23rd respectively at the flag. Gareth battled with Davide Guiliano to lead the third pack for the majority of the race. At half the race distance, Gareth’s bike developed an electrical fault causing the electronics to go in to a reduced power ‘limp home’ mode, but he rode hard to maintain his position.

After being held up for several laps by Ronald Ten Napel letting the pack in front get away, Matt pulled out 0.5 seconds a lap, reeling them in over the next few laps. A couple of mistakes allowed Peter Hickman to catch up and a close fought battle ensued with Matt, Hicky and Pauli Pekkanen on the factory KTM. All three swapped places several times a lap for the remainder of the race. Still in with a chance he overtook both riders on the brakes at the end of the last lap, only to run wide, and was beaten to the line by a narrow margin.

Mike Edwards, Team Manager
“The team did a fantastic job, despite the weather conditions and my absence due to illness. The finishing positions didn’t reflect their pace or the close battles with those around them. Overall, it was a really positive weekend with much-needed improvements in the suspension set-up. The final round at Portimao is up next, where no team has tested. I am confident that both riders will score points next time out.”

Matt Bond
“Magny-Cours was a hard but good race. I made a couple of mistakes, which allowed Hicky and Pekkanen to catch up. They managed to get by, but I passed them on the final lap, only to run wide at the end, losing my position. A positive and enjoyable race overall.”

Gareth Jones
“This was one of the hardest races of the year. I almost got caught out by Guiliano a couple of times, but had a great battle with him, Schouten and Antonelli. Everyone’s results were all over the place, but I’m pretty happy considering the conditions throughout the weekend.”

The end of the season is fast approaching and we are already at the penultimate round of the 2008 championship. It’s been a challenging season, and with the terrible weekend we had in the last round at Donington Park, we hoped for more success at Magny Cours.

The start of the weekend turned out to be rather eventful, and in actual fact we were lucky to be at this round at all. Mike, our team owner, who drives the truck to the meetings, had had some recent surgery and complications necessitated him being unfortunately admitted to hospital when he was due to leave for France. So in order to compete we needed to come up with another plan.

Communications were backwards and forwards with Mike in hospital, and we devised a plan at the final hour and got underway. My cousin Jay and good friend and mechanic Lloyd stepped in with an hour’s notice, and left from the North West of England and drove through the night to London to pick the truck up and caught the ferry across to France and continued down to the track, a few hours drive south of Paris.

With only a short nap on the ferry, they arrived at 2.p.m. ready for us to set up. My uncle and aunt, Baz and Lynda, also flew over from England to assist with the task of running the team for the weekend. By late evening we had the awning up, floor down, truck unloaded, and it was time to get the swags out for some well earned sleep. Thanks heaps guys!

Friday - First Practice

It was freezing at the track, falling to 0 degrees overnight and for the first session at 9 a.m. on Friday morning it was raining with an air temp of 4 degrees and track temp of 3 degrees. The weather remained this way for most of the day, so our afternoon session was much the same. We were limited to 3 sets of wet tyres for the weekend so we were careful not to waste them. Although wet tyres are unlimited, Pirelli only have sufficient room to carry 3 sets per rider. We used the sessions to get what we could from the bike on the slippery French track and made changes accordingly.

Saturday - Second Practice

The Saturday morning practice session was on a drying line and in a bid to save tyres we opted to only do a few laps. I did one flying lap mid session which was good enough for 9th at the time, however dropped to 17th by session end. Just enough to find some confidence to make a charge in final qualifying Saturday afternoon, should the weather again be rainy.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Saturday afternoon qualifying was dry and with the forecast for a dry race on Sunday, we were back to being able to use 3 sets of dry tyres. We decided it was best to use 2 rears and doing as many laps as possible to get a decent time. Unfortunately I left it too late to go out with a new tyre and only had 8 minutes to put a time in.

Sure, not usually a problem unless you hit traffic on your fast lap, which of course is exactly what happened! I was only able to better my time by a few tenths which deprived me of a much better starting position. I was really disappointed with what had happened as I had felt good on the bike during the early parts of the session. So, a frustrating 23rd is where I would start the race.

Sunday - Race

Morning warm up was dry and the weather was clear but so cold for the race. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Magny Cours circuit, the start finish straight is quite short and the grid is fairly closely spaced.

A good start and good position into turn 1 is important. I got off the line well and made a space for myself into turn 1. I got straight into it and managed to make a few places on the brakes at the end of the back straight.

I knew a point’s finish was possible if I didn’t get too caught up in the early laps. I was pushing hard and got myself to the front of the pack I was in, just inside the points. Shortly after the 2nd lap the bike felt really flat and I had to go back to 1st gear to get enough drive to get out of the hairpin after the back straight. The dash showed a fault code flashing, which explained the lack of pull off the turns and reduced top end.

I tried to ride smoothly with as much corner speed as I could manage for the remaining 12 laps. I battled with quite a few different riders over the race distance and eventually finished 17th, disappointingly just outside the points, but fortunately this result didn’t affect my championship standing and I remained in the same position.

So off to the last round in a couple of weeks, in what we hope will be a sunny Portimao. This will not only be the finale of the season, but a brand new race circuit and one where the majority of riders will not have tested at prior to this meeting. I have every intention of pulling off a good result at this round!!!

Huge thanks to my family for all their hard work on the weekend.

Friday - First Practice

To be honest with it raining, yet again, I didn’t feel overly confident, but knew that I just had to get on with it, and be smooth, precise and consistent. We had a fairly good base setting for the bike, and made only a few changes to accommodate the features of the circuit.

I began the session pretty much tip-toeing around, just getting some small amount of confidence back in the bike and my riding. It was still hard to get rid of the vagueness of Donington out of my system. After a few laps I settled in well, and put together better times lap after lap, pitting every three laps to make some adjustments to keep the bike feeling how I wanted.

By the end of the session all was fairly good, and I was just outside the theoretical qualifying time. It was a matter of 0.1secs, which I had easily obtained with my ideal best time.

Friday - First Qualifying

I opted for some softer spring’s front and rear in the bike, only half a kilo at both the front and rear, to help the bike squat and get some feeling mid turn and on the exit. It felt much better and took only a few laps before I’d bettered the time I done in the morning session, despite worsening conditions.

The rain was coming down hard so I pitted and made a few more tweaks to the bike, with the idea of getting more grip from the front of the bike, thus enabling higher corner speed and less need for hard acceleration mid turn.

It initially felt like a negative change, but after I changed how I was riding it felt a lot more positive and progressive and I just stayed out on track putting in laps, and making myself push small amounts everywhere. Mainly entering turns I was making myself release the brake earlier and on the exit, being more positive and aggressive with the throttle, but maintaining a smooth roll on.

It was about three minutes to go when I pitted for the final time as the rear tyre had pretty much given up and was sliding more than I was comfortable with, and not wanting to risk a fall I called it a day. I was pleased to have knocked a further four seconds off my time from the morning and had qualified, all be it in 32nd, but I was still on the grid if it was worse the following day!

Saturday - Second Practice

It looked like being a dry session, but then the heavens opened for a short time and we went back to the wet settings from the previous day, with the only change being a softer rear spring.
It took me a few laps just to get settled and I put in one flying lap before realising how quick the circuit had begun to dry. From then on we used the practice as a test session, doing one lap before pitting and making more changes.

We found a good set up by reducing some compression on the front and adding a touch of rebound, all in which helped with holding the line, especially on the faster parts.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Finally we got some dry weather, and it was going to mean having to go hard from the start, something I had previously had problems with, but I just got my head into the zone straight away and focused on doing a couple of laps to sort reference points and from there out it was push everywhere.

I didn’t get into a good group on the first few laps so did a ride through the pits, just to get some space. I got in one clear lap before pitting and making changes to the rear of the bike and also change the rear tyre. I also made a change to the preload on the front of the bike to help with stability on the brakes.

The changes helped, making much easier to keep on line and also helped keep the spin controlled on the exits. It all meant I could get on the throttle a lot earlier. I strung together two good laps and then slowed to get a tow off Foray. I managed to stick with him through the first section really well, and only lost a bit in the second section but I made a big mistake entering the fast Nurburgring chicane, running wide and losing a good second. I had tried to brake where Foray did, and I simply couldn’t halt the bike in time.

It screwed up what was on target to be my best lap, but I was glad to know I could have gone much faster, and I was still 26th on the grid, so I was in the mix of things, and only slightly slower than when we tested earlier in the season.

We had a good idea of what changes we needed for the race, and if the weather stays good I know we are on for a great race.

Sunday - Race

Thankfully it was dry and I knew that the small changes we made to the bike would make a big difference, making it hold the line better and also more stable on turn in. It felt a lot better in morning warm up.

I got an okay start, taking the outside line at both turns one and two and also at Adelaide hairpin, at which point I just hoped, like everyone else, no-one made a kamikaze manoeuvre! Fortunately everyone made it round, unlike last year!

I settled into a good rhythm fairly early on, but by lap three was being held up by Ten Napel, and I was desperate to get by as I could see the group ahead getting away. I finally got through entering the last turns. Once through I got my head down, and was closely followed by Peter Hickman, who was doing his very best to get by, at almost every turn.

At the middle of the race I’d began to close down the group ahead, and could feel myself getting closer to them, then Hicky decided that he wanted to do the chasing, and we spent the next two laps swapping places and paintwork!

After the halfway distance our battle had allowed the group ahead to get away and Pauli Pekkannen to close in and make our dice a three way affair. It was great fun and we each took turns to lead, be middle man and tail of the group, with us being three abreast at points.

The last lap was manic, and tries as hard as I could, I simply couldn’t slot by the pair of them and make a move stick. I was gutted, but also chuffed at having a great race just on the edge of the top 20. I also started to feel back to being confident on the bike and have a really good bike set up ready for Portimao!

After a disappointing result last time out at Donington Park where even the World SuperBike regulars struggled with the conditions, Gareth Jones and Matt Bond of MIST Suzuki are now looking forward to the penultimate round at Magny-Cours.

With each rider consistently making up considerable ground from the qualifying place to race result, the team has been showing great potential. Hampered by suspension problems and bad weather recently, both riders made great progress during testing at Brands Hatch and hope to continue this good run at Magny-Cours.

The wet weather and slippery surface at Donington meant Matt didn’t qualify after crashing out, and Gareth didn’t classify after sliding out of 16th place in the race. However, at the previous race at Brands Hatch, Gareth finished 11th and Matt 22nd in changeable conditions, both having made up a significant number of places over qualifying.

Testing at the Champion of Brands meeting recently was a positive step. Despite the race being cut to six laps, both riders performed well and the team gathered useful data on the new fork configurations being tested.

Gareth held off Steve Mercer, a British SuperStock regular, for most of the race, eventually opting to play it safe and take the final step of the podium with 3rd place. Matt was comfortably in 4th position until an issue with an after market brake lever caused him to drop back a couple of places, finishing 6th.

Mike Edwards, Team Manager
“Both Matt and Gareth achieved positive results during Brands testing, even though the session was cut to six laps. Now we just need some consistent weather to allow us time to set up the suspension after recent fork changes, using the data we’ve collected. Both riders were quicker than former F1 star Michael Schumacher who was testing at Magny-Cours alongside us, so we are looking forward to the race.”

Gareth Jones
“I managed a great 9th place at Monza earlier this season and 11th at both Brands and Brno. I’m confident about Magny-Cours, especially as we’ve already tested at the track this year.”

Matt Bond
“This season has been tough so far. During pre-season testing, I was fighting hard against Leon Haslam, but things have been so-so since then. I’m carrying a shoulder injury from Monza, which is still causing problems now. Onwards and upwards.”

Friday - First Practice

After Vallelunga we were pretty confident that we had ourselves prepared and ready to improve on the result from Vallelunga the week previous. We had a few suspension adjustments made by Andreani, apart from that the bike was pretty much how we’d led it after Italy.

The track seemed very different on the big bike compared to the previous year on the 600, everything just seemed a lot more technical and more difficult than before, but it also made the track that much more fun, its something I’d found had happened throughout the year!

We got a fairly decent set-up through the opening session, spending most of it just following the faster guys seeing what lines they were taking, and what they were using for braking and turn in markers. I was struggling a bit to get the bike through the middle section, mainly due to the 180 turn, which was just a pain to get out of at any speed. At least the bike was fairly rapid down the back straight!

Friday - First Qualifying

I was really going to have to push, as with the weather being very unpredictable, we were unsure as to whether or not we’d get another dry qualifying session this weekend. The plan was to do some laps on my own before tagging onto the back of one of the fast guys for as long as possible and see what happened.

The first few laps went well, and the times were a big improvement on what I’d done in the morning session, due to improve track conditions and a better set-up. I came into the pits about 15 minutes into the session just to check the lap times and make sure the tyres were at the right pressure and make a couple of adjustments to the front of the bike as it was a little unstable on the brakes.

Back on track for a few more laps and the bike was much more settled and was a lot easier to stop and turn when trail braking into some of the tighter turns on the course. It helped extensively at the hairpins, of which there are many at Magny Cours, along with numerous tightening turns. I was struggling for rear end grip so entered the pits to fit the new rear tyre.

With the new tyre fitted I had about ten minutes to put in a good lap and after half a circuit, and with the tyre scrubbed in, I latched onto the back of fellow Brit Adam Jenkinson and used him to tow me. All was looking great as I set my best sector times in the final two sections behind him but then as I started a new fast lap it all went bang, literally.

The bike suddenly began to slow and then totally locked up as I entered the first turn. I quickly grabbed the clutch and free-wheeled to the side of the track and lent the bike up against the tyre wall as I joined the marshals on their post. I trudged back to the pits, fairly pissed off to say the least, but I was cool enough to accept that it wasn’t the teams or my own fault and that we couldn’t have stopped the problem anyway.

Saturday - Second Practice

With the replacement engine fitted and re-mapped, we were ready to try n make some improvements and get further up the field on the second day of competition.

The engine wasn’t as strong as the previous one, making it a bit more difficult to get out of the turns as hard as I’d have liked, and it gave people the chance to get away from me, but it just helped me improve corner entry and mid turn speed and also enabled me to get on the throttle sooner, although twisting it harder took a while to adjust to. If I’d have dome it before it would have gotten me a few more air miles I’m sure!

We managed to get some decent lap times in towards the end of the session, and made a few more adjustments to help keep the bike settled on the early acceleration, and to help keep the spin minimal as I was powering on while the bike was still on its side.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

I really needed to get my head down for this session; it was going to be the last chance I got to improve my grid slot. The plan was simple, two or three laps on the old tyres before sticking in our final new set and really going for it.

I felt comfortable after my first few laps out and the bike seemed really smooth and controllable, and fast, which was key. I entered back into the pits right away and got the new tyre fitted to the rear of the bike.

I went for it from the opening lap on the new tyre and I just pushed that little bit harder at every turn, let the bike slide and skip when it wanted to, and basically just go for the, “it’s either pole or coming back in a van” mentality. I managed to go faster by a fair chunk, but lady luck didn’t help much and I didn’t improve on my grid slot. Bugger.

Sunday - Race

Once again I was starting from a slot on the grid which really didn’t make my job any easier, hey, why should I change things this far into the season? Ha-ha. Either way I had a plan, simply put, I AM going forwards!

From the start I was pushing and barging my way through the field and by the time we’d got onto the back straight I’d already leap-frogged most of the guys form the two rows in front of me! The slipstreaming down the back straight when your behind some 30-plus bikes is a totally extreme experience, and the extra speed you carry is amazing. Hitting the brakes it was a case of miss everyone around you and hope they attempt to do the same. Unlike last season, I didn’t have a Yamaha come flying past me totally locked up, and we all made it round the hairpin without and real problems. That was my biggest and only real worry!

From then on I got onto the tail of the group just ahead of me and we enjoyed some really close moments and exchanging of positions lap after lap. I managed to keep with the group until getting stuck behind a very unpredictable and sideways wildcard rider. It was impressive to watch him backing it in everywhere, but he was overtake, and once I was through I just tried to gap him, which I did.

After a few laps on my own I could feel him closing in, and with no-one close enough in front of me, I just aimed on being consistent and not allowing the guys behind me to get through.

With a few laps to go I noticed that I was beginning to rapidly catch the bike ahead of me, that being Dan Sutter. I desperately wanted to catch and pass Dan, but despite closing in by a massive amount of time each lap, I couldn’t quite get close enough to mount an attack, but fortunately, I didn’t get passed either, and was happy to come home safe and with a decent result.

After a few celebratory wheelies, and no burnouts (for a change), that was it, season over for 2007. It was a great year for myself and the MIST team and I really enjoyed the challenges I faced throughout the season, and the places I got to race and the people I got to race against, it was an mind-blowing year for me.

A huge thanks go to everyone involved with the team throughout the year:

• MIST Suzuki Racing – Mike Edwards for being inspirational and a cracking manager for the second year running (not even financial ruin can stop us now boss!)
• GPR Stabilizer – Jeff Norman & Co, for the best dampers and moral support
• Steve Jordan Motorcycles – Steve & Sarah for everything you done this year, suspension and race kit was fantastic
• MotorbikesToday.com – Simon & Laura for the photos and laughs
• Louise Cain & Frank Duggan for being great friends and supporters
• Alan & Ron for always being there
• Graham for looking after “Shrimpy Racing” while we were away
• All my friends and supporters who came throughout the year
• Chloe for putting up with all my antics throughout the season
• And a huge thanks to Mum, Dad, Lewis & Samantha, you guys really are the backbone of my racing, I couldn’t do it without you and can’t thank you enough for what you all done and gave up for me

Cheers guys, and see you all in 2008!

Last year I had my best race all season at Magny Cours, finishing 19th despite a ridiculously large crash in qualifying, on one of the fastest corners on the track, so I was really keen to do well at this round. Mike and I did a few laps on the pit scooter to pick lines and spot crucial areas on the track.

Matt was still on his way to the track, so unfortunately I had to ride on the back of the paddock scooter with Mike as he did his usual trick of “testing” the kerbs. Whilst a formidable machine for a 16 year old, hassling the local industrial estates (I’ve progressed to bigger toys now!!), the Suzuki Katana 50 will only take so much abuse. He broke it. There was a point, as we stood almost at the furthest point from the pits, trying to get the scooter going, when I almost doubted the wisdom of our lord and leader Mike…

Luckily, the scooter coughed back into life and we were able to carry on checking out the track. After going round a few times, I was itching to get out and ride the next morning.

Once again, I had managed to shotgun (for those not in the know, that’s the new cooler version of bagsy!) a bed in a caravan with the family. I was however less pleased with myself when we actually got to the caravan. Think lots of spiders and Friday 13th woods with a lake and you’re getting close. It was all made better by the blankets supplied by the campsite having BMX bikes on them, shame about the fleas trying to ride them though…

If only Mum and Kirsty were as enthusiastic about the blankets as I was, they might not have laid awake all night, freezing and trying not to think about the spiders.

Friday - Free Practice

I got into the swing of things nice and early on and the lap times just kept dropping right down to a 1′53.336. It was all very smooth and uneventful really, with no drama, no problems and no crashes in front of me, almost takes the fun out! I ended the session 26th and was dumbfounded to discover Matt had somehow pulled a 1′52.408 out of nowhere leaving him 17th, fair play. Git!

Friday - First Qualifying

Once again a quick tweak of the suspension for the afternoons qualifying session was all the bike needed. The go-faster polish was deployed and it was back out again to qualify. The second session was really frustrating and I struggled to match my lap time from the morning, let alone improve it. Praise be to the lap timer though, as seeing the string of 1’54’s made me pull my finger out on the very last lap and get a 1′53.023 bumping me up to 25th on the grid. Yes, 25th. Not 30th, you listening Rich!!?? To be fair to myself however (excuses…?!) even some of the top riders failed to match their pace from the morning session.

The biggest thing that was holding me back was getting the bike out of the slower corners. This was being caused by two things, one in my head and one on the bike! I was entering the tighter corners with too much corner speed, whereas I needed to stop the bike mid corner, turn it and fire it out. I was also making too much of a corner out of the first part of the final chicane, where I needed to concentrate on getting out the left quickly and not worry at all about corner speed. The other problem was with the rear sprocket, which had bizarrely worn into an oval shape causing the chain to appear to have a tight spot, making things a touch interesting for the rear suspension, causing it to impersonate a rocking horse when feeding on the gas.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Saturday morning was wet and murky leaving us with a slightly damp track in the afternoon for our second qualifying session. This meant that the grid positions from yesterday would stand for the race, as nobody was likely to improve their time in the damp, unless they were crazy. Or British. Or crazy and British. Although I didn’t manage to beat my dry lap time, I got within a tenth of a second of it! Not only that, but I was actually significantly faster in sectors 1 and 3 than I had been in perfectly dry conditions! Such a blatant display of disrespect for the laws of Physics and an apparent disregard for my own safety made me 7th fastest in that session and the fastest Brit, result!

So before the race had even begun we were celebrating on my best qualifying session all year, even if it made no difference to the final grid positions. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing my rain dance for the race, but to no avail. The skies cleared, the sun shone and I was left dancing about like a baboon with ants in his pants.

Saturday - Race

Lining up for the last time this season it was almost worth shedding a tear for the end of the first full season I have ever competed, and the best season ever! A knowing nod to my bro watching beside the start line said it all - we gonna ‘ave it! Well, it was either that or the good luck kiss from Kirst, but one of them did the trick as I left the line on my way to the best race finish of my entire racing career.

After the first lap mayhem, only one crash in front of me this time, I started hunting and soon found myself all over the back wheel of Bostian Pintar. Annoyingly, for three laps I was stuck there; every time I went to overtake, I was greeted with yellow flags; I reckon he must’ve slipped the marshals a few bottles of special Bribery Bordeaux! When I eventually managed to force my way past, I had a hell of a gap to make up to the next group of riders. I got my head down and went for it, reeling them in lap by lap and setting a scorching (if I may say so myself!) lap time of 1′50.5 in the process. Alas Mr Bond and the fellows around him were saved from a CG Armageddon by the chequered flag, good job really, it was going to get messy and I was not about to be beaten!! I was delighted to find out I finished 11th place, setting the 9th fastest lap of the race. YEEEEEHAA!!!

So that’s it. Done. Complete. Bit sad really, next mission is to train like crazy to make myself super fit (and keep me sane in the absence of bike racing over the winter!) and, more importantly, to get enough money in from working and hopefully sponsorship to race again next year. Any help would be very much appreciated, even if it’s only a little, without it I may have to run round the tracks next year!!

Thankyou so much to everyone who has helped out this season, I could never have done this without you:

• Everyone with a name ending in Northover! You guys are the best family ever!
• Beckie and The Cornish Contingent of CG racing!
• Kirsty for looking after me and for keeping me relaxed at the races!
• Bruv for The Nod
• Mum, Dad, Roger, Nanny and Grandad for getting me here and fighting off the bank!!
• Mike for putting up with this wowdy wabble for the whole season.
• Steve and Sarah Jordan for invaluable advice and help with bikes, bits and highside practice
• Rage Against The Machine for giving me a soundtrack to my races!
• The Pirelli guys for looking out for us all season
• Peter from Sportbike Tyre warmers
• Matt Bond for target practice
• Superbike Magazine for the coverage and Gixxer Cup Ride
• Bike Sport News for the coverage
• Auntie Angela and Unc. Andre for the website
• Uncle Rich for sacrificing so much to run round after me at every race
• Martin and Bretta for the leathers
• Ros and Pete for their continued support
• SuperBike News for coverage and friendly (I hope!!) banter at the races
• Everyone in the paddock who has been so friendly and helpful to me over the year
• If I’ve forgotten anyone, I’m sorry, so thanks to you guys as well!

Watch this space ‘cos we’re on a mission for 2007!!

Coming Soon…

Photos copyright @ MIST Suzuki Racing 2006

Summary

The final round at Magny Cours had come around very quickly. It seemed only a couple of months ago that we arrived at Valencia for a couple of days testing the week before the first round of the series. Difficult to believe that Matt had never ridden a 600cc bike before that test and Chris was embarking on his first full season in the SuperStock 600 class. It was always going to be emotional with everyone getting together for what could be the final time but with a weather forecast that wasn’t looking promising and a temperature a good 15 degrees colder than Imola the week before it was going to be a challenge for everyone.

Chris has raced at the circuit once before when he finished in 19th place as a wild card at the tail end of 2005. Matt wasn’t due to arrive until the early hours so wouldn’t see the track until he was actually out for the first practice session! Chris and I took the opportunity to do a few laps on the scooter to see the circuit and define reference points ready for the morning. Having to give up after three laps due to the extreme cold didn’t bode well nor did the dark clouds rolling in, especially when it rained for most of the night.

The morning was cold and damp although as free practice wasn’t until midday the track had time to dry before the SuperStock 600 class had time to venture out. Matt was bedding in new brake pads so did three gentle laps and came in to the pits to consider his lines. Both riders opted to build up the pace slowly with Matt taking the opportunity to get a tow from as many faster riders as possible to help learn the track. Whilst Chris was concentrating on his reference points Matt was clearly benefiting from the experience of those around him and by the end had progressed to 17th place with a best lap of 1’52.408 - Still 0.442 seconds above his ideal time (adding together his best sectors throughout the session). Chris was also happy with his progress although disappointed to end up in 26th place despite a best lap of 1’53.366, some 0.25 seconds faster than his fastest lap here in 2005. There was still some way to go as Chris had set an ideal time some 0.594 seconds faster showing promise for the later sessions.

First qualifying was later the same day and with the temperature dropping the lap times were obviously going to improve. Both riders made a good start and posted their best times four or five laps in to the new session. Matt was struggling with getting clear track and despite the rear tyre going off significantly in the remaining laps he was consistently between 0.1 and 0.3 seconds down on his best time which was a real shame as having been 9th fastest when he set his best dropped to 16th by the end of the session. Having improved to 1’51.757 was very promising and with more laps on the scooter that evening things were looking good for second qualifying on Saturday. Having put in a good time early on Chris spent most of the session working on certain corners and improved to 25th place with a 1’53.023 lap.

A few freezing laps on the scooter later that evening were cut short by workers needing to paint lines and logos around the track so we were left with some ideas for both riders to work on in second qualifying. After more heavy rain overnight the track was wet first thing and still rather damp when the SuperStock 600s ventured out for their session. With many people nervous about pushing hard in the wet the Brits were in their element, well, at least they were used to the conditions! Matt started off second fastest and maintained fourth place for much of the session as the track continued to dry. Finishing the session in 12th place with a best of 1’53.757 Matt was confident he could improve if the conditions were the same for the race.

Meanwhile Chris was steadily building his confidence and with the first sector of the track now dry he pushed on putting in a series of quick laps ending the session with a 1’53.172 putting him in 7th place for the session. Not sure how he managed get within 0.15 of his dry time in the damp although I suspect the new turning points we defined the previous evening helped as did making sure he was looking far enough ahead in the tighter turns. Needless to say he was bouncing up and down hoping for rain come the race.

Starting in 16th place meant Matt would be on the inside for the first turn which wasn’t ideal but at least the weather was dry albeit getting cooler once again. Matt made a good start only to get boxed in on the inside and had to watch all his hard work disappear as lots of other riders came by. Chris was in a similar position but had held back to see how things unfolded in the first turn. Both set about making up places in the first lap and with some brave overtaking crossed the line in 12th and 23rd place, respectively.

By the second lap Matt had overtaken another rider and with his new found focus Chris had both overtaken several riders and benefited from the misfortune of a three others who went down together just in front of him to move up to 17th place. Matt appeared to be struggling to improve his times and even when a couple of faster riders came by he was unable to stay with them. He was still catching the group ahead whilst Chris was averaging a rider a lap as he ploughed through the field at a pace most could not match. By lap seven Matt was up to 11th and Chris was in 14th place and gaining rapidly on the group in front, including Matt. As another rider went down in front of Matt requiring avoiding action Chris was taking another place and could now see Matt up ahead.

With no more laps there was nothing Chris could do to improve on the 2.5 second deficit on Matt but taking his best placed finish of the year in 11th place with Matt in 10th was just the finish the team needed. As the top privateer Suzukis to finish almost together was an excellent achievement. Matt put in a fastest lap of 1’51.101 whilst Chris blew that away with an excellent 1’50.594 - Who knows who would have finished ahead given another few laps but Chris had more than doubled his points tally to 9, finishing the championship in 30th position. Matt now had 21 points putting him in 17th overall and, if you exclude those that had competed in the series before, 5th ’Rookie’ in the class. I’ll repeat that, someone who had only ridden a 72 hp Suzuki SV650 until the week before the first round had finished 5th ’Rookie’ and 17th overall in his first year!

All in all it has been an incredibly hard year with everyone in the team going above and beyond the call of duty but the results have spoken for themselves. I am confident that were both riders young enough to compete in the class in 2007 I am convinced Chris would finish in the top ten and Matt would easily be in the top six. Both riders have had their share of bad luck, with Matt being punted off in the first couple of turns at two different tracks only to rejoin in last place on both occasions, and Chris being punted off at Assen and his premature clutch failure at Valencia hurting his chances.

We have all learned a great deal from the infrastructure and backing required to compete at this level to the importance of testing between the rounds to learn the bike and keep up to speed. Both riders are now too old so will have to move in to the SuperStock 1000 class next season if funds allow us to return. We also have had interest from other young riders who wish to race with us in the 600 class. Fingers crossed that we can raise enough sponsorship to return in 2007 where we hope to once again be the largest all British team in the paddock and, if the Foggy Petronas team are absent, we will be the largest British team overall!

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.