Matt Bond, 29/05/09 – 31/05/09
British SuperBike Cup
Round 4
Friday – Practice
Learning the circuit was always going to be a big task, and I felt it from the first lap. I just couldn’t get it right throughout the first sessions. I was trying to find a line, set-up and get the gearing right and it just wasn’t happening.
The bike was all over the place and was such a handful to keep hold of. The bumps just kept making the bike unload so fast that it had no rear end grip at all, even in a straight line it was unmanageable. I had to back off so much just to stay on board!
[Matt forgot to mention the minor incident where a quick shifter wire broke cutting the engine at over 120 mph. He managed to pull the clutch in and ran on in to the long grass at the back of the circuit. He was forced to miss the rest of the session as the grass was too long for the recovery truck to reach him – Mike]
Saturday – Qualifying
Qualifying went a little better, but we still hadn’t got an optimum set-up and were having so many problems it just got to the point of becoming a salvage mission and very much aggravating for me. I was being held back by the bike not doing what it should and I knew it.
Sunday – Races 1 & 2
Despite all the problems and being left to a very lonely ride in both of the races, we still collected more data and got more experience, even if it wasn’t really filled with positives.
Knowing how a fast track affects tyre wear, and how the bike deals with bumps were all useful in enabling us to format a set-up for Snetterton, only a few weeks away. Soemthing I am looking forward to, having not raced there since 2005.