Photos copyright © MotorBikesToday.com and Richard Handley 2007

Friday - First Practice

Despite living in the same country as this round, I had not actually tested at the track since racing here the previous year in the 600 class, so it took a few laps to get everything back in place, the lines, braking markers, apexes, etc.

After a few laps I was feeling kind of settled, despite having a few problems through the fast chicane section just after Becketts. I would struggle to get through it fast enough but my exit speed was spot on. A few adjustments to the entry seemed to improve things, although I still felt exceptionally poor through this section.

The positive was that I felt really good and strong in the final section of the track, despite suffering form a lack of rear end grip, but that would be easily sorted with a few tweaks to the suspension.

Friday - First Qualifying

Getting a good lap time was going to be very important in the opening session as it looked as though the rest of the weekend could be decidedly dodgy in terms of weather and track conditions.

I got away well and started putting in a few laps while trying to tail some of the fast boys, even if it was for only a few turns at a time! I began to improve and the improved grip from the rear of the bike was a lot more confidence inspiring, I was also able to run the bike faster, making the fast chicanes smoother and a lot faster, time wise.

I kept pushing bit by bit into each turn, and tried to force the bike to go faster, but in certain corners, I was still struggling, despite improving the lap times significantly. I was a little bit disappointed in myself really, I knew I could have gone faster, but the focus on improving was not at every turn each lap it seemed. At least it was still good enough to qualify and I wasn’t last!

Saturday - Second Practice

Improvements must be made all round, was what was going through my head, and I did just that and went faster than in the opening qualifying, and it was easier to. I had a play with the gearing and the suspension set-up overnight, after following the advice of suspension guru, Steve Jordan, and it felt a lot more consistent and progressive. The changes even managed to level out the wheelies, which was nice.

I focused on the areas of track where I was struggling and improved there, which reflected in the lap times. I spent the end of the session following some of the faster guys and seeing where and how they were faster. A few more adjustments to my lines seemed to help things a bit, although I was losing chunks of time out of the final chicane, I just couldn’t get as much drive as those guys ahead. Again, a quick change of approach made a small improvement.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

With such a short session I had to go from the off and that is what I did. I improved straight away and felt a lot more confident and comfortable on the bike, which made going even harder and faster a lot easier. I really gave it some and all was going well until my right knee slider decided to jump ship, and nearly pull me off the bike. I thought id just clipped the kerb but then when the same happened a turn or two later it just took my confidence down the track with the plastic oval, and I had to pull into the pits and get some duck tape put on the left side as I swapped that over to the right.

It didn’t work however, and I was really pissed off to say the least as I could have gone much faster and the silly mistake of putting my knee to far over the kerb cost me big. I was gutted for the team mainly as I was on for a much better grid, but once again we ended near the back.

I was however looking forward to race day as I had been informed it was going to rain, and I feel quite confident when it nice and slippery, suppose that’s good when you’re British!

Sunday - Race

Well my sources were correct, and my god it rained hard! I felt like a fish more than a racer, it even got to the point where most of us thought a canoe would be able to lap faster than anyone would on a bike! Warm up was just a steady ride round to check the bike, but it just wasn’t soft enough a set-up for what I liked so I had a few scares, but thankfully switching down the engine map seemed to cure most of the spin exiting the turns, even if it did make the back straight a slow section for me.

On the start I just thought get through the first few turns then work on going forwards. Exiting turn one I sighed a small cheer of relief and was then met by a great big white wall in front of me, I like most others, couldn’t see a damn thing! It really was a “well I know there’s a corner around here somewhere” moment.

I pulled through a few people and avoided any major incidents on the opening lap, and then just latched onto the back of a few people, used them for a tow, then went past and grabbed onto the back of the next guy. I did this till the mid way stage and then caught Frank Millet on the factory MV, but could I pass him? No. Fortunately he began to pull us both forward and I thought id stay behind him and then try and get through on the last lap. We caught and passed almost everyone in the group in front including fellow Brit Barry Burrell, which was cool. With a lap left we started to really pull in the next group who were on the edge of the points but try as we might it was just too little, too late, despite we should have had four more laps, which would have seen me in the top 20 for the first time.

Either way I was chuffed with the result, despite being soaked through and as wet as an Eskimo, it was well worth it! Again a good race off the back of a not so good qualifying, this is starting to get a bit too repetitive for me! I need to start higher up, otherwise I’m making far too much work for myself! See you all at the new Misano!

A big thanks has to go out to the following people:

• MIST Suzuki
• Mike “The Boss” Edwards
• Steve Jordan
• Andreani Suspension
• Arrow Exhausts
• Jeff @ GPR Stabilizers
• Teng Tools
• S & B Commercials
• Powerbronze
• www.motorbikestoday.com
• www.superbike-news.co.uk
• Mick & Sue Bramsby
• Chloe, Nick, Cliff & Chell
• Ricky Morais for some inspirational words!
• Everyone else who turned up to show their support

A special mention and wishes of speedy recovery to Sheridan “Shez Show” Morais after what must have been a massive crash. Hope to see you back in action soon buddy!

Thursday

11:00 Thursday morning. After a smooth flight with only mild M1 induced turbulence we landed at Silverstone and headed straight to the amusingly named “Suzuki Village” (for “Suzuki People” perhaps?) in the paddock so I could get all excited about my name being up on the wildcard board above the marquee for the Suzuki GSX-R 750 European Cup (Bit of a mouthful that, from now on I’ll call it the Gixxer Cup!). This is all thanks to Kenny Pryde of Superbike Magazine and Steve Booth from Suzuki GB. In each country the Gixxer Cup visits there are 4 wildcard rides available. For one of these rides it was down to Kenny to choose a rider. Being the kind gent he is (and somewhat susceptible to a cup of tea or two!), he gave me the chance to gain some extra track time benefiting my 600 campaign and to experience racing a bigger bike on a completely level playing field.

Once we were all set up it was down to business with team manager, Mike Edwards, walking the track discussing best lines and sections where most time could be made or lost. Unfortunately on one such sighting lap I out braked myself (on a mountain bike) into Silverstone’s tight chicane and ran straight on through a chasm of mud and water (well okay, a puddle), much to the amusement of Mike and my team mate Matt Bond!

Friday - Free Practice

Conditions: Decidedly Spring - Wet with dry bits!

On track I concentrated on reference points for lines, rather than straight out lap times as I felt that gravel excursions this early on in the weekend were best avoided for the sanity of my team! A quick few words in pit lane mid session with Mike and in the last 5 minutes of the session and posted my fastest lap time at that point, marvellous!

In between sessions on the 600 we checked out our little spot within the Suzuki village. Impressive is not the word. It was like someone had just said “Here, have your own little bit of factory team garage, fill your boots.”! Unfortunately my Sidi’s aren’t big enough to fit a fully stocked tool chest, paddock stands, a compressor, pit board, tyre warmers and a super trick GSX-R 750 race bike! Damn my puny size 9’s!

Did I mention the bike was trick? With enough carbon fibre pornography to put it on the top shelf in One-Stop, it seemed a shame to use it in anger, not that that was going to stop me of course…

After trying in vain to find the Space Invaders setting on the trick lap timer (It seemed to have every other function!), my mechanic Clive and I set the suspension on the 750 to match the settings on my Superstock bike.

Friday - 1st Qualifying

Next, it was back out on my Superstock 600 for the first of the two qualifying sessions. In the afternoon, I had sat down and scrawled notes over a circuit map as an exercise to help identify my weak areas on the track that I would need to concentrate on in the afternoon. With this in mind, I headed out to put together some consistent laps. Lap times improved, although with the front end doing a very convincing pogo stick impression, I was only 29th fastest.

As soon as I came in I jumped off the 600 and straight onto the 750 cup bike for the first qualifying session on that, no rest for the wicked you know! The sudden transition was interesting to say the least, not only having to adapt to slightly different tyres, but also to the increase in power and a quick action throttle. Cue several over enthusiastic blips going down the box and the odd unintentional (honest!) power wheelie! After a few laps, I had got my brain programmed correctly and began to really enjoy the 750. Every lap I knocked off another second or so off my lap time and halfway through the session was 15th fastest. After a few hairy moments going into Bridge (a fast, downhill entry, right hander) on one wheel I pulled into pit lane for some words of wisdom from Mike “Yoda” Edwards. As I mentioned earlier, the Gixxer cup set up makes you feel like a pro, this extends to the pit lane too!

“Suspension problem sir? Simply click your heels 3 times and behold, thine problems are solved by the wizards of Andreani Group Suspension!”

Good enough for Chris Vermeulen last year, then they’re good enough for me!

With a couple of suspension tweaks to make the bike more stable on the brakes going into Bridge it was back out on track to test the changes and consolidate what I had learned in the first half of the session rather than to go balls out chasing a faster time. I ended the session 21st fastest, but my favourite bit was being 2nd fastest through the speed trap; it felt great to see my name at the top of the standings, for at least one bit!!

After my first session aboard the 750, my grin was wide enough to stretch my Shoei! I really enjoyed riding the 750 and began searching for a way to sneak it out in the stock 600 race!

Saturday - 2nd Qualifying

First on the cards Saturday morning, was a fork rebuild for my 600, this time to match the 750. A different oil height inside the forks of the 750 gave it a much more planted feel, crucial over Silverstone’s mid corner bumps. Forks back in and it was back out on circuit for the second qualifying session in conditions that made the cancelled Mondello Park round of BSB look like a light shower! Swapping my Shoei for a snorkel and my Sidi’s for flippers we headed out on track, it soon became clear that those riders with webbed feet would be at a distinct advantage. For all the joking about the weather, however, I really enjoyed riding the track in such challenging conditions and the wet practice was welcome. A mid session pit stop gave us the chance to take advantage of Steve Jordan the team Suspension Guru’s skills and it worked! He gave the forks a stern talking to (well, he backed off the compression and rebound damping slightly) to give me a bit more feel from the front tyre and my next few laps just got quicker and quicker.

After a debrief with Mike, I spent the afternoon drying off and scrawling more notes on my circuit map for reference if it rained on Sunday.

By late afternoon it had (finally) stopped raining, although at the start of the 750 cup session the track was still wet with a dry line in places. In this series, you get two front tyres and three rears for the weekend, so a bit of tyre juggling was required to avoid any problems should it rain on Sunday. Going out on wet tyres and wet settings, we gradually stiffened the bike up throughout the session as the track began to dry, whilst keeping an eye that we weren’t destroying my last wet front tyre! With some riders on wets and others on dry tyres, combined with the drying track, the standings were jumping about for the whole session, but I finished the session in 14th place. This was all academic however, as the overall qualifying times were taken from Friday’s session where it was dry and hence faster, shame! Now, I’m not usually a fashion victim, but due to my good set of leathers and gloves being soaked from the mornings 600 session, I had to ride in my fetching, 90’s, green and purple leathers, which were nicely set off by a bright orange pair of gloves, tasty! To add to the embarrassment, Kenny turned up to get some photos of me, in such fetching gear! Oh, the shame!

Saturday evening was hilarious. Having taken advantage of the free energy drinks being given out around the paddock, Mum was like a small child with an excess of E-numbers! As such, the paddock Olympics was born, with such classics as the sack race, three legged race and hide and seek! The sack race saw a sleeping bag destroyed and a sickening amount of cheating from the girls team, but if we thought the cheating in the sack race was bad, as Bachman Turner Overdrive said, “We ain’t seen nah – nah nuthin yet!” Firstly, Mum and Sally used a quick release knot in the three legged race, which was a plan Dick Dastardly himself would have shunned for being too dishonest, and then their actions when playing hide and seek were just unspeakable. Mum commandeered a group of innocent Brits camping nearby, hid among them and then when it was her turn to look, flagged down a car and got a lift around the paddock searching for me! Parents eh? You can’t take them anywhere!

Sunday - Race

Sunshine and consistent weather at last! The original timetable put my 750 Cup race first with an hour break before my Superstock 600 race, but the pile-up in the first Superbike race put an end to such luxury! Instead the 750 Race was moved to immediately after the Superstock 600 race! Good job I’d had my weetabix then.

European Superstock 600 Race

Lining up on the grid, all I needed was a good start, a good race and a strong finish to see me preferably in the points! Sounds so easy when it’s put like that! Determined to put the misdemeanours of the last two rounds behind me, I got a great start and headed for the outside at the first corner. The whole first lap was manic, with my team mate Matt just missing me at the exit to turn one. On the back straight, another rider who shall remain nameless (for now!) decided to throw a hissy fittm because I was overtaking him and try to push me onto the grass at about 120mph! This is the same rider who nearly put me in a wall at Monza, so in a calm and gentlemanly way I stuck my elbows out, leant back on him and waited till he braked!

“Always an amusing tactic that one” I said to myself, as I sailed past three more riders into the hairpin, still wondering if I was going to stop in time! I did make it and stayed ahead of all but one of the riders, Matt Bond. Glued to his back wheel like a guitar to the hands of Hendrix, I tried my hardest to stay with him. I made a few mistakes and had to catch back up each time, making things nice and hard for myself! We were slicing through other riders like they weren’t there, with both of us getting out of the seat moments almost every bend, but on lap 7 our charge was ended by a red flag due to oil at the hairpin.

Back to pit lane again! We took the opportunity to make a couple of suspension adjustments to make the front end more planted over the bumps and to sort the rear tyre’s habit of trying to overtake the front. After some deliberation, it was decided that the race would be run as two heats with the second leg being over 5 laps, starting from our finishing positions in the first heat. This meant Matt and I were starting 14th and 16th on the grid respectively. Another good start saw me back on the tail of Matt again chasing hard. Despite my best efforts, I didn’t manage to get past him (I’ll get you next time, Gadget!) but our hard charging had placed us 13th and 14th on the road, making me 15th overall on aggregate! I was also distinctly chuffed to get a quicker fastest lap than Matt which I may have mentioned to him, once or twice! Fifteenth place also gave me my first ever European Championship point, which has had some interesting side-effects, namely skipping about with glee, smiling so hard it hurts and occasionally just leaping up into the air shouting “One Point!!!”. The doctors have suggested some mild sedatives to aid the sanity of my family and friends! After some Last lap celebrations, it was back to concentrating on the racing as the 750 Cup was about to get under way.

GSX-R750 European Cu

Ahh, Italian organisation! After sprinting the length of the pit lane in full bike gear, I rode round to the grid to discover a lack of mechanics, paddock stands and, some may say most importantly, brolly girl!! In London nightclub stylee, the pit lane bouncers, sorry, marshals had randomly refused entry to my team, no doubt claiming a “No Trainers” policy or some such rule! Dragging my brain back off cloud nine, planet party, from race one I set my mind back into first corner mode. Having wheelied off the line to almost the first turn (750’s are FUN!) I carved my way through and set about getting into a rhythm. With a keen eye on my pit board each lap, the gap behind me began increasing until I was out on my own in 16th place, with a 2 second comfort zone behind me. Just past the midway mark of the race and the nice comfortable 2 second gap became 1 second and then 0 seconds. Darn and blast. I pushed really hard but just kept having huge slides and losing the front so much I wore through my knee sliders! With a few laps to go I was mugged coming into Priory by German, Janakova. I decided to follow her for the last few laps, conserve some energy and try for a move on the last lap. My chance came as on the last lap, she made a mistake and ran wide at the hairpin. Unfortunately, in my attempt to stick it up the inside, I ran just as wide meaning I had to be content with 17th place. After such a long race the chequered flag was a welcome sight, although I mysteriously found enough energy for celebratory wheelies!

It was a truly great feeling to see everyone in my team, who’ve worked so hard and sacrificed so much looking so elated after the race. The “Thank you List ™” for this race is going to be huge, but still not as big as my grin right now!!! I can’t thank Kenny Pryde and Steve Booth enough for giving me this opportunity to double my track time over the weekend, I think it is clear from the results how much it has helped!

Misano is next. Mission: beat Matt and score some more points!!

And now, iiits:

The Thank you List ™

A massive thanks to :

• Steve Booth for the chance to ride the GSX-R750
• Kenny “Oreo Supplier” Pryde for gambling on a lunatic like me in the 750 Cup!
• Steve “Skyline Stupidity” Jordan
• Mark Bentley for some cracking photographs of the weekend despite the soggy camera!
• Mike Edwards as usual for his Oracle-like powers
• And everyone who came to see and help me at the weekend, superstars the lot of you!

Summary

Friday - Free Practice

Having never ridden on the international configuration of the circuit meant I was at somewhat of a disadvantage to some of the riders who competed on the circuit the previous year, but I was still hopeful of another decent finish.

Straight away though it was raining, “oh bugger”, was my first thought after the first time out on the bike in the wet at Monza where it all went a little wrong to say the least. But with Mike assuring me it would all be fine if I just took my time, used my head and built up the pace I began to feel more settled. I got out onto the circuit and used the first few laps to find my way round and feel how the bike was. The engine seemed to be running a lot better than in previous rounds thanks to Steve Jordan Motorcycles paying for and fitting a new kit head gasket, cheers Steve, made a huge improvement mate and a dyno run just to check the engine map, cheers to the Mark and the guys at DynaPro for that one! After a few laps I pulled in just to relay the info about the bike to the team and had a few adjustments made to the bike due to front end being fairly unstable mid-corner. I got back onto the circuit and everything felt , much more comfortable and after tailing onto the back of Frank Millet I began to string together some much improved lap times, eventually ending up 23rd, which was about the norm we have experienced so far this year. The worst thing to happen during the session came just after I past Chris and had a huge slide and got thrown out of the seat, how I managed to hang on, I don’t know, but Chris reassured me he had a good laugh to himself over my misfortune. Arse!

Friday - 1st Qualifying

At least it was dry for the opening qualifying stint, and I was feeling confident on improving position towards at least the top 20. After nearly forgetting to attach the tyre stickers before going on track I flew on circuit with a few minutes of the session gone. I done a few laps then entered the pits and had Steve make some small adjustments to the forks, which made all the difference. The bike was just so much better everywhere! It held the line a lot better, was more stable mid turn and was easier to ride overall.

Towards the end of the session I just decided to go for it, and miraculously the lap times dropped by nearly two seconds! Guess Mike’s little talks are starting to pay off! It just felt like someone had flicked a switch in the back of my head and I was amazed at how much easier it was to go quick than I had previously thought.

The rest of the session is pretty much a blur and all I can remember is just having some really good slides into and out of the turns at almost every turn and changing the steering damper settings due to some major tank-slappers down the back straight.

It was nice to return to the pits and see Mike smiling and happy with what I’d done and when he told me id just sneaked into the top 20 I was stoked, only to then get bump back to 23rd as the final few riders crossed the line and put their fastest laps in during the final seconds of the session. Gits! At least I knew we had a good setting for Saturday’s second qualifying and knew I could go just that little bit faster.

Saturday - 2nd Qualifying

Well, the weather wasn’t on our side and it literally chucked it down just before and then during the second qualifying session and I just didn’t feel confident or at all safe onboard the bike throughout the 30 minutes I was on track.

I’m guessing we just need to work on the set up of the bike for wet conditions as I just had no confidence at all in the front end of the machine and just couldn’t get it to settle during the turns. In all the session was made more difficult by the amount of laying water on track, I could have probably gone quicker of someone would have given me an outboard motor! It was so deep in places I’m surprised we were allowed on track at all! Anyways, we still got faster and faster and used the time as best we could and we started to get the bike feeling much better, but we still seem to be lacking something. We are heading in the right direction though, so that’s a major positive.

I ended the session 27th, but fortunately no one went any quicker than in the dry, well would b sill y if they did, so grid stayed the same as it was set on Friday, so another 6th row start for me, I’m getting used to being 30 metres behind the front guys before the race has even started!

Sunday - Race

Sitting on the grid, tyre warmers on the bike and microphone right in my face, welcome to your home round at WSBK! That’s the impression I got from everything. We had planned to get a good start, get as far forward as possible and follow the leading bunch; there was just the small matter of 30 other guys having exactly the same idea.

I must admit I was a little sneaky on the grid, having watched the other races get off the line I had figured the red lights were on for roughly four seconds before they went out, so I just estimated it and dropped the clutch! I got off the line pretty well and entered the first turn a few places higher and then…..smack. Will Gruy decided I was good target practice and clipped my rear end, luckily he was the only one who went down and I exited the corner pretty much unscathed only to run out wide and nearly into the side of Chris! If it wasn’t for the fact he was my team mate id have just kept running out, but I thought it’d be better that time to force the bike down lower and ride round him! The first lap was manic with people and bikes three or four a breast everywhere. And Chris was still right there behind me, how? He’s never usually that close and then when he divided past at Abbey, I thought, to myself “you still there?” and had a small chuckle as I got back round him on the exit. We began to chase down Daniel Beretta and Bjorn Pintar and it was the four of us nose to tail for a good four laps and after Beretta got ahead and began to gap us I decided I had to break through as well but by the time I got past Pintar, Beretta was well in the distance. I put my head down and began to close on him and was up to 14th until the red flags came out, gutted. As we had only completed half the race we had to run a two part race over another six laps, something I’d never done before.

I got another good start and was once again ahead of where I had started and by the end of the opening lap was up to 11th and could still see the leading pack, with Barry Burrell just ahead of me I was spurred on to go even harder. I put in the best laps I had done all weekend but got stuffed up through Becketts and slipped down to 13th and this was where I stayed to the flag, beating Beretta on track, but dropping behind him on aggregate timing, meaning I ended up 14th, just getting two points once again! Best bit for me though was finding that I can ride with the guys up in the top 10, I just need to get myself with them right from the start of the weekend. Also seeing Chris finish right behind me and score his first points was also quite cool.

Overall it was an awesome weekend once again and I cant thank Steve Jordan enough for the help he gave us on suspension set up, he’s now given me a bike I’m really comfortable and confident on. If I can get my qualifying sorted I’m sure I can run up with the top boys and challenge for top tens, I just need to go quick from the opening lap of free practice. Bring on Misano!

After driving to Spain and Italy it was nice to head just up the road to Silverstone. Unfortunately the home advantage wasn’t to be had as neither rider had ever seen this configuration before yet alone raced on it. Even the riders who had been in the class last year had more circuit knowledge. Doh!

Thanks to Kenny Pryde at SuperBike magazine Chris has been selected as one of the wild card entries for the GSXR Cup. It proved a big help as he was finally able to give us some suspension feedback by comparing the two bikes. Unfortunately all of his practice sessions, and the race, were directly after the SuperStock 600 equivalent so after half an hour on a 600 he then had forty minutes on a 750. No rest for the wicked!

Getting interviewed on the grid was a novelty that I’m sure we could all get used to!

Photos copyright @ MIST Suzuki Racing 2006

Summary

Despite the luxury of only having to drive 1.5 hours to Silverstone rather than 16.5 hours it had taken to get to Valencia everyone was getting rather nervous as the weekend got closer. Perhaps the pressure was starting to show or maybe it was torrential rain that was forecast or maybe the fact that neither rider had even seen the International circuit we were to race on. Bizarrely most track days use the GP circuit and most club races use the National configuration. Unless you are already a BSB rider, or have raced in WSB previously, the International circuit will be all new. Rather an odd feeling when you realise that most of the field had raced at the WSB round in 2005 so had the advantage over the guys who should have had the local knowledge!

The previous two rounds at Valencia and Monza had been interesting and we had recognised that the lack of track time and limited qualifying experience had left us with a lot of work to do. Fortunately both riders were taking on board the direction and targets set by the Team Manager for each session and were coming on leaps and bounds with every round. With two very different riding styles as well as different approaches to learning each circuit Chris and Matt were facing an uphill struggle. Fortunately Kenny Pryde at SuperBike magazine was on hand having been offered a wild card slot in the European GSXR Cup. Instead of joining in with the most of the UK magazines with the “my already proven nominated racer is faster than yours” Kenny had taken the brave decision to give Chris the opportunity of both more track time and the chance to ride a bigger bike for the first time. Hopefully the GSXR750K6 machines will be similar to the GSXR600K6 bikes the team were using albeit with more power all round.

Prior to the round both bikes had been serviced and the team had taken advantage of fitting the thinner head gasket allowed under the rules to boost the power of the bikes. When we first had ran the bikes in they both made 100 hp. The Arrow race exhaust had increased that to a respectable 107 hp and now, having loosened up the motor over the first couple of meetings and with the new gasket fitted, the bikes were making 110 hp. Hopefully the new found power should make itself felt over the weekend. Many thanks to team supporter Steve Jordan Motorcycles for doing the work so quickly.

Thursday saw the team arrive at Silverstone and despite starting to set up next to the same SuperStock 1000 team we had pitted alongside at Monza were soon moved on and positioned about as far from the pits as humanly possible. In fact it turned out we were in fact at the back of the P6 car park, way behind the motor homes and reliant on an erratic generator and no running water. That’ll teach us to get ideas above our station Once scrutineering was over and the bikes prepared there was nothing to do but walk the track and wait for Free Practice on Friday lunch time. The day started out wet and we were sure that it would dry in time for practice but luck wasn’t on our side. Although it didn’t actually rain during the session the track was wet enough to give everyone the opportunity to get some damp practice although some confusion over suspension settings meant both riders had to be cautious and take the time to learn the track.

Having suggested Chris and Matt take a more structured approach to the practice and qualifying sessions the team were fairly pleased to find themselves able to run with a few of the faster riders who were obviously having a few troubles of their own. Matt ended up in 23rd place with a lap time of 1’47.687 and Chris in 30th with 1’51.273 - Quite positive given the rapidly drying conditions and providing a good talking point for the debriefing session compared with the lines and reference points from the track walk the previous night. With the track now totally dry and the suspension back to the settings we had used at Monza the first qualifying session was next. Silverstone was one of only three rounds where we get to race on the Sunday so we had plenty of time to work on the track and the bikes which made a pleasant change.

With strict instructions to build the pace slowly whilst working on a couple of key sections of track both riders rode very sensible sessions making gradual improvements in lap times throughout the half hour period. Without the benefit of anyone to really chase during the session everyone was pleased to see Matt qualify in 23rd again with a 1’37.502 and Chris earn 29th with a 1’38.741 - A good result given that a 1 second improvement would move them up 8 - 10 places on the grid! Having ridden for a hard thirty minute sessions Chris had no time to rest as he was out next for a further forty minutes on the GSXR750 machine. The team decided that Chris should run two 15 minute sessions with a break in the middle to allow him to get his breath back and also think about the session and areas he needed to work on.

Chris ran a well deserved 11th until his break finding the 750 easier to ride than his 600. The biggest benefit was he finally had something to compare his 600 against and was able to give some very useful feedback on the suspension set up that we could use to improve things for Saturday on the smaller bike. After the ten minute break Chris went out again with some suggestions on how to tackle Becketts and Ireland bends and instructions to relax and concentrate on being consistent rather than all out. Despite fading towards the end of the session he was able to almost match his earlier best time but could string it together lap after lap. The team were convinced that the extra track time was crucial, particularly as there was no expectation and therefore no pressure on him to perform. Something at least two of the other SuperStock 600 riders had the benefit of every meeting with permanent rider in the GSXRP Cup in addition to their 600 class. With the rest of the field having had time to catch up with the early promise shown by Chris whilst running in 11th place he finished the session in 21st place with a 1’36.140 - A whole 2.5 seconds quicker than his 600 qualifying session despite the exhaustion from being on a bike for over an hour!

Another track walk on Friday night meant that Chris and Matt had a better understanding of the lines they ought to be taking and were eager to get out on Saturday for the second qualifying session. The weather proved to be a bit of a challenge with conditions similar to those that had required the BSB round at Mondello the previous weekend to be cancelled. Team suspension expert Steve Jordan was on hand for the session and was able to build on the now correctly set up suspension settings during the qualifying period. Did I mention that Steve Jordan Motorcycles won the Suzuki New Dealer of the Year in 2005? With a better wet set up the riders pressed on and were much more comfortable, able to keep with some of the vastly more experienced riders who were usually much further up the grid. Matt finished in 27th place with a 2’01.579 and Chris in 30th position with 2’02.804 - Now obviously slower due to the weather the times from the first qualifying session would count for the race on Sunday.

The final qualifying session for the GSXR Cup was at the end of the day so Chris had a bit of time to prepare the 750 and update it with the improved suspension settings from the 600. As it hadn’t rained for a while the track was drying but wasn’t yet dry so tyre choice was a bit of a gamble. Half of the field seemed to be on wets and the rest on drys. Silverstone always used to be quite treacherous in those conditions so we opted for wets in the hope it wouldn’t dry out too quickly. The first few laps showed Chris hadn’t lost any of his confidence in the 750 and he was soon running in around 9th place. Towards the end of the session a few of the faster riders on dry tyres went quicker but he still finished the session in 14th place overall. Sadly the times were slower than those from Friday so it didn’t make any difference to his qualifying position.

Race day dawned bright and sunny which was a relief for everybody and the prospect of having dry shoes at the end of the day made a welcome change for the team. Having fitted a new Yoshimura ECU to Matt’s Suzuki the team were finally able to spend some time in the morning working with Arrow to set the system up. Without being sure of the impact everyone was cautious about blowing around 900 quid on each bike but the new found power, and perhaps more importantly, the new found drive out of the turns was well worth it despite only showing a further 2 hp increase on the dyno. Not a bad way to spend some of the team’s meagre resources especially as we had now gained 5 hp since the start of the season thanks to the engine loosening up over time, the thinner gasket, a PiperCross air filter and the new ECU.

The GSXR Cup was due to be between the two SuperBike races with the SuperStock 600 class run after the second SuperBike race. Due to delays in the first race the GSXR Cup race was the victim of tight TV schedules and was postponed until after the 600 race so no rest for Chris between the two. Both riders made an excellent start with Chris almost getting the better of Matt in to the first turn. Will Gruy did his best to take Matt out at the first bend but came off worse when he lost the front after hitting the back of Matt’s bike. By the end of the first lap they were up to 17th and 18th, having started from 23rd and 29th respectively. Everyone on the pit wall was getting nervous was both riders were nose to tail for the first six laps and gradually moving up through the field. At the end of lap seven three bikes went down on the same corner and the race was red flagged bringing a short but frustrating end to to the MIST Suzuki charge.

A ten minute break before the restart allowed the team to inspect the bikes and correct the wheel alignment on Matt’s bike where it had been hit on the way in to the first turn. The race was destined to be run in two parts with the aggregate times deciding the final positions. At least the new grid was able to form up based on the finishing positions from part one. Another blinding start from both riders saw them running 12th and 14th respectively at the end of the laps and with Matt improving to 11th on the second lap before dropping back as a couple of the faster riders came through having recovered from their poor starts. A nail biting few laps saw the guys getting regular TV coverage as they were close enough to the front runners to appear in shot. A couple of mistakes saw Chris drop back for a lap or two before he got his head down to catch Matt who had been held up by another rider. Once again nose to tail Matt and Chris crossed the line in 14th and 15th place with Matt holding 13th for a few seconds until another rider came through putting his aggregate time a tiny fraction quicker than Matt.

Confusion reigned in getting Chris out for this GSXR Cup race as not only did the officials move the parc ferme after the race so Chris was unable to get the planned lift to collect the other bike and then a mix up with security meant it took much arguing to get out on the grid to put the tyre warmers on. To add insult to injury, or maybe just comedy effect, security hadn’t allowed another team member to bring the stands in to the pit lane so Chris didn’t quite get the planned opportunity to relax before the race and set out on to the warm up lap having got his breath back and collected his thoughts. Having effectively come straight in from competing in two races (if you count the restart) this would be the third race in a row and even the fittest racer would be tiring by the end.

A good start saw Chris in the points and he ran in 14th position for much of the race. By half distance he was clearly starting to get tired and the extra weight through the bars was causing the front to chatter in some of the faster corners. With the gap closing to the two riders behind Chris was in danger of being overrun and with just two laps to go he was demoted to 16th place. With just a lap to go Chris was running 2 seconds a lap slower than the next rider and once passed was unable to make up the difference due to sheer exhaustion. Finishing 17th in the class was almost a disappointment after the success of the 600 race but having been on the bike for over 100 kilometres he should be pleased with the results from the two classes. Thanks again to Kenny at SuperBike magazine and Steve Booth at Suzuki for giving Chris the opportunity - Despite all the hard work I think the extra track time really paid off and the team are most grateful.

Both riders in the points at round three? Who could have foreseen that at the start of the weekend, yet alone the start of the season. The team is now comfortable with both the suspension and the power set up for the bikes and both riders are maturing and improving every time they get on the bike. Chris earned his first ever point and Matt added a further two to his tally from Valencia giving him 4 points from the season so far. Race times of 1’35.865 and 1’35.675 show they both have the pace (down from 1’37.502 and 1’38.741 in qualifying respectively) and with a bit more track time the team are confident that they can improve on their qualifying positions allowing both riders to run in the top fifteen from the start of the race rather than having to overcome their qualifying position to get up to the competition.

The next round is at Misano and for once we may be able to get some time to go testing rather than repairing the bike or carrying out service or other set up work. Fingers crossed!

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

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve Jordan Motorcycles for their never ending support and the help given to the team from B & C Express, Dyna Pro, Pipercross, RaceDays.net, S&B Commercials and Silkolene.