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Mallory June 2010 Round 4 and it’s off to another local round at Mallory Park “The Friendly Circuit”, again 20 or so minutes from home and just 5 minutes spirited drive from work. Rolling out onto the sun-drenched circuito d’amigo for the first free practice (after forgetting to sign on and having to run to the circuit office with my licence, doh!) the bumps and quirks of Mallory were soon remembered as the bike gave me a few sharp slaps within the first lap of practice, reminding me that it’s still not particularly happy, even given love and new components since Silverstone. Marvellous. Nothing particularly noteworthy occurred in the session, although to say it was warm would be an understatement, as the baking sun tempted you into changing lines into bends just to find some shade, at least, that’s what I’m blaming being 7th fastest on. First qualifying, midday Saturday, was a bit more successful, breaking up the session with visits to the pits for water (couldn’t convince them to get me an ice cream!). 3rd on the grid was pleasant, although there was a fair bit of work left to do being 0.6s off pole. Race 1 was a chaos as usual, taking on from where we left off at Silverstone. The first attempt at the race didn’t even last a lap, as the unfortunate Miss Waddelow was knocked off at the chicane. Her chances of succeeding as a flute player are now thoroughly compromised by with a few more bendy bits than there should be in her finger, ouch! The restarted race yielded 12 laps of squabbling, with Freddy Pett doing his best to get away in the lead and me doing my best to stop him getting into a rhythm using the following dastardly tricks: Dastardly Deed #1: The Acme Pointless Lunge From behind your victim, make repeated wild lunges into bends, fully intending to run wide and with no hope or expectation of making the overtake stick, thus disturbing and irritating them as they have to pick their way round you each time Dastardly Deed #2: The “Old Lady in a Narrow Aisle” When leading, make good use of the sharp and technical bits of the track by dawdling through slowly, backing up the angry mob behind before nailing out the other side to stop them overtaking on the straights. Dastardly Deed #3, The Dastardliest Deed: Tum ti Tum, I haven’t seen you… When someone makes a genuine, fair overtake attempt, pretend you haven’t seen them and ride right in their way, to stop them coming past. Most unsporting! Having spent the majority of the race annoying Freddy in this manner, it came down to a last lap battle. Freddy had a big moment coming onto the start finish straight on the penultimate lap, allowing me to slip past and hold the lead until the chequered flag, sweeeeeeet! After such a manic race Saturday, you could be forgiven for thinking that Sunday’s couldn’t be any better, but forget edge of the seat, this was throw your seat at the telly in disbelief stuff! Phil got the holeshot and, knowing the pace he had, I decided my best chance was to get in front and deploy D.D.’s 2 and 3 to hold him behind me. Phil, however had other ideas, blocking my overtake into the hairpin by moving across to the right hand edge of the track. This presented 3 options to me –
Against all laws of Physics and common decency, I did manage (somehow) to keep it on track and ahead of Phil, leaving me with the lonely task of leading the race for the next 13 laps. Several topics kept me amused, passing the time as the laps rolled by. Mainly, “It’s gone quiet for a couple of bends, what’s Phil planning?”, “Where’d that shadow come from, oh it’s Phil again” and “Surely we’ve done 15 laps by now?”. After what seemed like an age, the last lap flag came out and I only needed to keep it together for a few more bends. I’ve deliberately omitted what was going on behind me because, as you probably are now, I was blissfully unaware of the carnage brewing. All I knew was that there was at least a Jimmy and a Phil practically on my pillion seat, but I’d be fine as long as I didn’t get all squirrely on the brakes into the hairpin and miss the apex. But I did. Showing a gap of any size to people like Jimmy and Phil is like leaving a cupboard full of sweets unlocked in a primary school, and sure enough Jimmy dived in head first, grabbing at bags of skittles and chewits. Unfortunately, we both wanted the same bag of skittles, and collided exiting the bend. I think the only justice that can be done to this is to display the incident in question in photographic form and you can try to work out how the hell I was still on the bike to take the chequered flag, because I’m damned if I know! The most plausible explanations I can come up with all involve lucky Mallory Park stickers and witchcraft. Poor Jimmy (who’s obviously not made the relevant sacrifices to the Mallory Park hairpin crash goblins) wasn’t so lucky, although remounted to snatch some points in 13th place. So there you have it, 2 wins, an incredible amount of luck and moderate sunburn. Next up its Snetterton in 2 weeks time, I shudder to think what’s in store for us there! Cheers to everyone who helped out over the weekend and thanks again to Destination Triumph for supplying me a speedy red Daytona to get into all this trouble with! Chris Northover Lucky #13 2010 Triumph Triple Challenge
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Silverstone June 2010 Round 3 of the 2010 Triumph Triple Challenge saw us head to the newly revamped Silverstone National circuit, a mere 30mins drive from my house. Far too logistically simple I decided, so on the Thursday evening before the race, work mate Matt was cajoled into entering the rookie 600’s on another Triumph 675. This meant we got to spend Thursday night preparing that for racing, to avoid things being too simple and well planned on Friday. The new track layout loses the fiddly old chicane onto the start finish straight that has been the subject of so much grizzling from riders since it’s addition and replaces it with an altogether different beast. Now the lap is ended with a flat out, 6th gear monster kink with a narrow bumpy kerb being the only sliver of hope before you get the important lesson about why grass track bikes use knobbly tyres. That is, of course, providing you survive the mysterious patches of tarmac at the apex, or the comedy bumps right on the exit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an improvement on the chicane and an awesome bend, but picture this – you’ve just run wide at a 130-odd mph bend having made a 6 inch miscalculation entering the corner. Instead of a nice, forgiving tarmac run-off to bail onto, you skip straight across the flat kerb onto a strip of grass, put there to stop the tin boxes (cars) using the extra tarmac. Having survived the crash, you crawl to your feet and squint into the distance where, right at the other end of the straight, the closest marshals are trying to see through the dust whether you’ve walked to safety or not. I quote “there are no marshals along that stretch of track, as it is too dangerous to send them out there without a red flag...”. How many laps before Moto2 is red flagged at next weekend’s Moto GP? Place your bets now! Friday’s testing was fairly straightforward, just set the gearing and got myself used to the new circuit. Mike Edwards of Mist Suzuki was lurking in the garages, giving me tips and pointers which made big improvements both on track and in between sessions – thanks Mike! Friday night the preparation for the weekend continued, with a fully race-approved dinner, washed down with the appropriate racing beverage whilst watching the TT races – a racer’s work is never done! Saturday morning, all was going well right up until a few laps into second qualifying when my bike, presumably suffering from some breakdown in it’s nervous system, started shaking it’s head more violently than a five year old who’s just been asked if they’d like to swap their bag of sweets for a plate of broccoli. In a not-very-brave-at-all manner I held on for the length of the back straight until, when this wasn’t helping, I let go of the bars and things settled down. And relax. Oh, now there’s no brakes, panic again. By the time I got back to the pits I was a nervous wreck, and we initiated head scratching procedures to get to the root of the problem. Turns out the rear shock was staying compressed due to too much rebound damping. We wound the damping off and thought we were safe… Race 1, not particularly eventful but I was pleased with 2nd considering the woes of qualifying. I definitely didn’t get overexcited and pull wheelies on the warm down lap and certainly didn’t get pulled up in front of the clerk of the course for a ticking off about stoppies in pit lane. Oops. Race 2 got off to a clumsy start, with people all riding into each other into turn 1 allowing Jimmy Dye and Phil Atkinson to make a break for it. Once through the melee I pushed hard to catch them, but the race was cut short by Tommy Dale’s huge crash. In the second part of the race I managed to get away with Phil and Jimmy, but as soon as I got in the lead, the bike got all nervous and wobbly again, putting me on the grass coming out of the first turn. Faced with 3 options – jump off and risk the bike hitting Jimmy and/or Phil, find the reset button or pin it flat out across the grass to get across the hairpin before Jimmy and Phil get there. Unable to find said reset button and reluctant to get off, I held it flat out and hoped for the best! Luck was on my side as I bounced across the front of Jimmy with only about 6ft to spare, gulp new trousers please. Again. Once more, on inspection in the pits, the rear shock had inexplicably increased its rebound damping to a spoon in treacle levels of restriction! Once I’d finished gibbering and whimpering in the corner of the garage, we stuck a loaned shock in the bike (thanks Miss Waddelow!) headed out for the final race of the weekend. 11 laps of elbow bashing and pulling faces side by side down the straights later and I finally took my first win of the season, albeit by a narrow margin, woohoo! Just two weeks until round 4 at Mallory Park and lots of suspension investigation to be done by then. Thanks to Steve Jordan for helping sort the suspension woes over the weekend, Kirsty for catering services, Rich, Clive and Bruv for keeping the bike together, Destination Triumph for supplying the bike and Hel for all their support. Finally, an apology for the lack of race report from the first two rounds – I ran out of time after the first round (poor excuse I know) and then suffered a massive sense of humour failure when the bill from my crashes at round two landed on my doorstep. I would have tried to write something, but as my head was stuck in a bucket of sand pretending the bill didn’t exist I was unable to operate my laptop. To make up for it, here are the details in brief: Round 1 - Oulton Park
Round 2 – Pembrey
See y’all at Mallory Chris Northover #13 Triumph Triple Challenge
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Round 7 Mallory Park 19th July 2009 After more ups and downs than the last episode of drunks dancing on ice, Mallory Park shines out as the best result of the season so far and another prime example of why it should rain more often! For the first two practice sessions on Friday, the sun was blazing in the sky and I ended the sessions 25th and 24th fastest respectively. No major dramas to report so far and a fun day in the sun was had by all. Saturday qualifying proceeded in much the same manor with me progressing to 23rd after first qualifying. Now, being of engineeringy slant, I noticed a pattern emerging – 25th then 24th then 23rd, and after some (imaginary) beard scratching, careful balancing of pencils behind ears and biro chewing I deduced that I’d only need another 22 sessions and I’d be on pole, simple! The theory almost held out, as I was indeed 22nd fastest in the final qualifying session, but as luck would have it, the times were generally down in this session so I was relegated back to 24th on the grid, drat and double drat. Sunday race day was upon us before we could say Kawasaki and my endless pleas for rain were finally answered less than an hour before the race. The rain fell so hard, some folk began to suggest that we’d have been better off building an ark than messing about riding round in circles all day Saturday, but fortunately, the predicted apocalyptic flooding turned out to be a passing heavy shower and the sun was soon back out. After an emergency 10 minute wet weather familiarisation practice (presumably not for us hardened rain washed Brits) the mad panic ensued to decide what tyres to run. Liking to cover all bases, I ran full wets in the practice, wet front with intermediate rear for the warm up lap and with fractions of a second to go I decided on both intermediate tyres. The wheels were changed in ridiculously fast time (top work Clive and Rich!) and we were sitting pretty for the start. I say sitting pretty and with fractions of a second to go I decided on both intermediate tyres. The wheels were changed in ridiculously fast time (top work Clive and Rich!) and we were sitting pretty for the start. I say sitting pretty, I’d had a massive highside on the warm up lap and also the intermediate tyres I was on were the decidedly second hand ones which I’d already raced on at Oulton! I magic-ed up a decent start with a cheeky manoeuvre around the outside of everyone (well, a few people) as they all queued for the first corner, before cutting in front of them in a most un-British manner. Ignoring the tutting and muttering of the disgruntled queuers behind me, I set about trying to launch myself into orbit at every bend, convincing myself that I had to get away quickly or my tyres would go off and I would lose. After bashing precious parts of my anatomy onto the back of the petrol tank for what seemed like the millionth time, I had a quick reality check and remembered that the tyres were already “gone off” and decided to adopt a more controlled technique of standing the bike up and then getting all fruity with the throttle, thus improving my chances of avoiding doing the sky ground mud gravel waltz with a dance partner three times my weight. As the race drew on, it came to a battle of wits between Dean Hipwell and myself, with me getting close on a number of occasions before running away shyly and having to do the work all over again. With two laps to go, he allowed a younger bike to come between us, which quite frankly spoiled the relationship, so I settled for a sulky safe 3rd in cup and 14th overall. I say sulky, this clearly wasn’t the case as I was dangerously pleased with the result after all the hard work everyone’s put in, and after my family and friends, Astro, Ixon and Scorpion have continued to offer amazing amounts for help and support this season, even when things have been looking bleak. So for all the grey hairs and sleepless nights I’ve caused, I’d like to say a massive, massive thankyou to you all! Lets hope we can get to Brands and do it all again! Chris Northover #17 British Supersport Cup Thanks again to: Bernard and Margaret, Stu and Astro, Ye Northover Clan, Friends/Long suffering acquaintances of the Northover Clan, Mark at Thunderchild, Jacko, Tee at BS9, Signs and Graphics, Knox, Daytona, Beckie And to everyone else who has contributed along the way so far! |
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Round 2 2009 Oulton Park Hmmm. That is about all I can say about Oulton, just Hmmm! With the poorly engine from Brands reassembled with a new head gasket (thank you Mr Jackson!) it should have all been perfect! First free practice, an electrical problem stopped the bike revving properly, but this wasn’t as big a problem as the faulty circlip on the gear selector shaft which kindly helped lubricate my rear tyre with engine oil, to stop it going rusty you understand! Luckily it was a gentle departure from the bike, and no major damage was suffered and my Ixon leathers prevented any tarmac to bum interface! With the circlip replaced and the bike given a thorough going over, we headed out to the second session, meeting MSS Kawasaki in pitlane to check the ECU was functioning correctly. With the all clear given to the ECU I managed an epic half a lap before the head gasket failed again and ended my session, hence “hmmm”. A night of phone calls and grey hair cultivating followed but the end result of it all was a shiny green and orange supersport Kawasaki to use, courtesy of Gearlink Kawasaki (saving the day again!). Unfortunately my body decided to throw in the towel on Sunday, mumbling something about missed service intervals and despite my best efforts I only managed to qualify a sneezy, wobbly and lemsip-fuelled 35th (I was actually 34th on the grid but only because Jenny Tinmouth was disqualified for using normal pump fuel instead of the 5 billion pound a litre control fuel!). Monday was a new day and I was dosed up on poorly pills and ready to fight the world! In a wet morning warm up I was 12th fastest and with this in mind spent the remainder of the day up to the race partaking in ancient rain rituals. The race fell under the trickiest of weather conditions with spontaneous showers randomly striking various parts of the track whenever they felt like it. Starting the race on intermediate tyres, I was at a slight disadvantage to begin with. A few laps in, Max Hunt decided to try and launch himself into the clouds to see if he could sort out the weather situation but, unfortunately for him, the clouds failed to catch him before gravity played its cruel game, prompting a few laps for the rest of us behind the safety car. Then, not wanting to miss out on the attentions of the valiant boy and girls in orange (the marshals) Mr McConnell laid his bike down for a rest as well. This entire calamity gave the rain a chance to set in briefly, so the race was stopped. On the restart I was promoted to the glamour and glitz of 24th place on the grid – I could almost see the first corner from there! We stuck with our choice of intermediate tyres, which proved to be a good call as the weather carried on with its mischievous shenanigans. A scrappy first lap after the restart, with a good amount of elbow bashing led into a survival race, having to judge your pace for each bend by the number of rain spots on your visor at each straight! Dodging bikes and riders left, right and centre I found myself running in 6th overall and 2nd in the cup, catching the riders in front of me! Sounds lovely, I hear you say and up till that point I’d agree. But, as they say, fate is the cruellest of mistresses and with 5 laps to go the battery on my bike slipped off this mortal coil and that was it, race over. I said many things to myself inside my crash helmet at that point, some of them rude, some of them angry and some things that weren’t quite words at all, just noises. But, chin up as they say and at least I proved that when chaos strikes and the lunch hall erupts into a riotous food brawl, I can avoid most of the flying custard pies given the chance! It’s going to be a busy few weeks before the next round, with three final exams to finish of the old degree and a lot of work to be done on the bikes to get us back into the fight. Until next time, 10-4, good night and that’s all folks! Chris “Jonah” Northover Lucky number 13 plus 4 (#17) British Supersport Cup 2009 Thanks To: ASTRO Kawasaki for their continued support even though everything breaks around me! Gearlink Kawasaki for handing the bull the keys to the china shop (loaning me a bike!) MSS Kawasaki for trying their best to talk sense into the ECU Scorpion Helmets and Ixon Leathers for keeping my bonce and bum safe! Ixon for giving my knee a fighting chance against the Nissan Micra Knox for excellent back protection when everyone slaps me on the back and says better luck next time! Daytona for superb boots that offer great protection and out-do Kirsty’s entire shoe collection BS9 Clothing for team clothing so stylish we spent a week in Cornwall all in identical hoodies! Signs and Graphics for stickering the bikes Derek and James from Team Haribo for helping me find a ride Everyone who’s helped out and stuck with us over the winter |
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Round 1 2009 Brands HatchAfter what felt like the longest winter ever, the first round of the season finally arrived at our old local circuit, Brands Hatch. All bright eyed and bushy tailed we headed out for the first free practice session ready to get the season off to a flying start. One lap later, it was all blown away as I was flagged off by another rider with steam and water pouring from my bike. With my tuned engine doing its best impression of a kettle, we were forced to use the standard bike in the afternoons practice session. Fortunately it rained and I managed to put in the 7th fastest time on my standard bike. For qualifying and the race, Gearlink Kawasaki saved the day with a spare tuned engine (thanks for going to pick it up Dad!) putting me back in the fight and in an eventful first qualifying a tyre gamble saw me 5th fastest in the tricky conditions. Unfortunately, the second qualifying session was dry and our lack of dry setup time showed, with me ending up 26th on the grid. The race distance was the longest I’ve ever raced and I’m pleased to say the winter training regime seems to have paid off! I rode harder than ever, and kept pushing the bike hard despite the protests from the suspension. Late in the race, I was passed supersport veteran Dennis Hobbs and gave myself two options – keep up or get a warning you can’t ignore trying! I managed to stick with him for a lap or so, but pushed the front a teensy bit too hard at Graham Hill and went down. Luckily for me, the bike decided that it really would like to see the chequered flag and picked itself back up a fraction of a second later, much to my surprise and I was able to continue to score a solid 17th place, 4th in supersport cup. All in all, a good result considering what we went through and a massive thanks to Stu at Astro Vans for his hard support in getting me out there – you are a superstar! Thanks also to Gearlink Kawasaki for the loan of the engine and invaluable help over the weekend and to everyone who worked themselves into submission on the bike throughout the weekend! |
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