MIST Suzuki Racing

Chris Northover, 06/10/06 - 07/10/06
European SuperStock 600 Championship
Round 10

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!!

Chris Northover, 29/09/06 - 30/09/06
European SuperStock 600 Championship
Round 9

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!

Chris Northover, 08/09/06 - 09/09/06
European SuperStock 600 Championship
Round 8

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