Oulton Park

 

 

 

Last Wednesday we went testing to Oulton Park, A fab day out with good weather conditions.

We have now found a couple of area's which we need to work on, this mainly being carburation (appears to be flooding on number four cylinder causing'bogging' out of slower corners) and also front suspension, this I have today stiffened up, so hopefully that will improve handling.

Just making final adjustments ready for Sunday's meeting at Mallory Park.

 

Keith 221



Round 5 Darley Moor

Darley Moor

We got to Darley around 4pm on Saturday and managed to get scutineered, so that would save a rush on Sunday morning. Having got set up we cooked tea and then went to the pub!

Sunday morning, and the weather was dull and cool (not what they had forecast), we had had some light rain over night. I walked the track to re-familiarise myself with it as it had been about eight years since I had raced at Darley.

I went out in timed practise and took it steady for a couple of laps, Jon Mould came past (I think he was trying to prove something!) and he pulled a bit of a gap. I gradually built up speed and soon caught him up, I then realised that it is not an easy track to over take on, so I tucked in behind him to see where he was quick and where he was slow (as he was generally the quickest of the Earlystocks riders there, and therefore my main opposition).

I sussed out that he was quite quick off the corners and down the straight, I could gradually pull him back towards the end of the straights, but I was much quicker though the chicanes. I decided to stay behind him as I didn’t want to give away my game plan.

As usual we were out with several other classes, but I qualified fifth which put me on the second row.

Race One

Track conditions were dry and not too hot so pretty much ideal.

I lined up on the start and realised that it was very tight on the grid, being on the second row I lined myself up to go straight between the two riders in front of me. The lights went out and I got a flyer, the two riders seemed to be closing the gap but I was much quicker, I breathed in! And went straight through (just brushing arms with the guy on the left) I pulled over to the right side of the track to block the line and I was first into the first corner.

With no one in front of me I pushed as hard as I dared (on cold tyres). As I got to the far side of the circuit, one of the GP bikes came past (not in my class) so not too concerned, then another came past at the hairpin, that didn’t last long as he missed his breaking at the end of the main straight and went straight through the gravel trap and into the tyre wall! (he was ok).

I got my head down and tried to keep focused, I realised that this wasn’t going to be as easy as the previous round at Donington, my bike didn’t seem to be as suited to this track and so it was obviously going to be a tough to get away.

On lap four I could hear a bike right behind me, he came past at the right hander at the end of the start straight, I didn’t recognise him, he wasn’t one of our guy’s, so therefore not in my race and not anyone to worry about, (thankfully) as he was very quick!

I carried on concentrating on my own race.

But on lap seven coming around the left kink which brings you on to the main straight, the gear lever had stuck down and I couldn’t change up (this has happened a few times, I think the linkage may be get caught under my foot as it is working perfectly when tested), after several attempts it changed but by this time I had lost some momentum, I could see in my peripheral vision, that a bike was coming along side me. He came past, and to my surprise it was Pete Stringer and not Jon Mould! Pete had developed an oil leek at the previous round so wasn’t all that quick, so I hadn’t even thought of him as being a threat, just goes to show… you should never assume anything!

I set about going after him, he like Jon was pretty quick off the corners, so it wasnt going to be a case of driving straight past him. I was catching him towards the end of the back straight, I was once again a lot quicker through the chicane so I closed right in on him and managed to go around the out side of him on the left hander, putting me on the inside for the hairpin. I was back in front and put my head down.

By the end of the race I had managed to pull a bit of a gap on him.

I had once again finished 1^stin class and 1^st in the Earlystocks class, so I was over the moon, not only that but had finished 3^rd on track in the overall positions! This was a bonus as that would put me 3^rd on the grid in the second race, on the front row.

Race Two

The weather (which was far from the 29 degree’s forecast) had changed for the worse and it had started drizzling, I lined up on the grid, pointing the bike towards the right side of the track, which is the line into the first chicane.

The lights went out and we were off, once again a fling start straight into the lead, through the chicane and down to the first right hander, this time the unknown rider came up the inside into the corner, (it turned out that he was a late entry, on a big classic bike, as well as racing in the superstocks class).

That’s ok I thought, not in my race, not my problem! I got up to the hairpin and once again the two GP bikes came past, once again same scenario, not in my race…

I settled into the race and all was well. It was now more like light rain, but there was quite a lot of rain on my visor, always a difficult situation because you just don’t know how wet the track is getting, so you don’t know how hard you can push! I kept my head down.

I think probably because I spent most of the race on my own, I started thinking too much about my line through the fist chicane, trying to go faster I managed to cut in too tight on the way in, I went across the painted rumble strip and the front tucked.. Oh bugger!!! This could be a whole lot of pain!! It all happened very quickly (obviously) but as the tyre came back onto the tarmac, somehow (miraculously) it gripped again, this then gave me a big tank slapper, which then put me right off line. I went straight off the track over the rumble strip, over the grass and then back onto the track… phew… Still upright and in one piece ( the moral of this storey is… don’t think too hard about a certain part of the track, just concentrate on being smooth!!)

I had obviously lost quite a bit of time with my off track antics, and lost momentum, once again a bike comes past me and once again it was Pete! By this time we were getting towards the later part of the race, I re-composed myself, and went about chasing after Pete who had gained a bit of ground on me. By the end of that lap I was getting close to him, I saw out of the corner of my eye the last lap flag! Double bugger!!! I need to get pas him and I need to do it in the next minute or so! I chased him down the back straight and once again I was much quicker through the back chicane, I closed him down and went to go around him again, we were level but I was on the inside for the hairpin, fair play to him, he didn’t back down, and cut across my nose, I had to turn really tight in order not to run into him! This slowed my momentum out of the corner and on to the main straight; he had now got a couple of bike lengths on me. I tucked in behind him, half way down the straight I remember saying to myself.. ‘There is NO WAY I am letting him, beat me!’

There was just the last corner to go…. It went through my mind.. ‘I would rather crash in the gravel than let him beat me!’ I pulled out to the inside (we are doing something in the region of 140MPH at this point) I waited for him to brake; he seemed to be leaving it rather late!! Then he braked.. I didn’t! I made sure I was past him then hit the brakes hard, trouble is I’m on the inside which is making the corner tighter than it would be on my normal line, I tipped in and then drifted out to the white line on the exit (if he is trying to get around the outside he will have to give way or he will be on the grass!) I was past, victory was only 20 yards away…. or was it?

The flag man, now had both flags, the last lap flag in one hand and the chequered flag in the other!! He was obviously confused, and if he wasn’t I certainly was! There was no way I was stopping now, I put my head down and went as fast as I could, knowing that Pete couldn’t be far behind. I successfully completed another lap in the lead and won the race, in fact I had pulled a bit of a gap as I had put in my fasted lap on that last one.

Once again, 1^st in class and 1^st in Earlystocks, but by no means an easy win, in fact I think that was one of the hardest races I have ever had, on a par with the battle with Cooty at Mallory back in 2003!

A great days racing and a great result, you couldn’t ask for any more than that.

Next we are of to Oulton Park for some testing, then on to Mallory Parkfor the penultimate round of the championship in August.

Once again I would like to thank all the people who have helped and supported me this season, including Nigel Lawrence,

KJD Motorcycles, Hiflo Filters andNorth Norfolk Mouldings

Without their help and support I wouldn’t be here!

Thank you all very much

Keith 221

Round 5

 

 

I am just loading up the van ready to set off to Darley Moor for the fifth round of the Earlystocks championship.

The forecast is good, if not exceptionally hot, which is a stark contrast to the last round at Donington, but its the same for everyone and I'm not going to complain!!

I will post the race report on Monday, all being well.

 

Keith 221

Donington Park

 

I think it is fair to say that on the whole, it was a very successful weekend.

Although there had been heavy rain Friday night, we woke up to showers and strong winds. Thankfully, the wind helped in drying out the track, so by the time we went out for practice the circuit was pretty dry.

Practice went well, trying to learn the circuit and get up to speed ( having only raced there once before about ten years ago on a bike which had developed a running problem).

Due to lack of entries (an increasing problem) we were out in a race with several other classes, which meant that we were at the back of the grid.

Race one, I started from 33^rd on the grid which was on the outside. The lights went out and we were off, a pretty good start but by the time I got to the first corner I was being pushed out wide, I could see several Earlystockers getting through on the inside, it was mayhem, getting cut up by 650 super twins, formula 400’s and GP250’s, all in their own battles in there respective classes but doing me no favours whatsoever!

I thought it best to try and keep out of trouble (I didn’t want to be apart of someone else’s accident).  By the second lap it had calmed down a little so I started to pick off riders one by one or two or three at a time where possible! By lap 4 I had got past most of the guys in ‘my race’ (who had got through on the inside on turn one) and I could see Jon ahead, he is usually the  front runner in Earlystocks, so I knew I must be near the front. I managed to pass him on the brakes going into the chicane and that was the last I saw of him.

By the end of the race I had managed to gain a good lead over my rivals and won both my class and finished 1^st overall in the Earlystocks class, not bad for my 1^st (completed) race!

 

We then had showers followed by a heavy down pour, which thankfully didn’t last too long. As our second race was after lunch, we were fortunate enough for the strong winds to dry the track out and by the time the start of the race came around, the circuit was all but dry.

 

I started race two from 15^th on the grid, which was ahead of the other guys in my race. I got a good start and a far better first corner, as I had got to the inside and ahead of the main pack. The race was pretty uneventful as I didn’t see anyone else in my class, in fact I was pulling 3 seconds a lap on them all!

I had a couple of good battles with some ‘modern’ bikes, and nearly out braked myself at the end of the back straight, but just about kept it on the track. As I have only just built the bike, this is obviously a year of development and learning, which also includes learning how far I can push things and I think I found the limit as far as the brakes go!

Once again I finished 1^st in class and 1^st overall in the Earlystocks class, so I couldn’t have hoped for a better start.

 

Day two, was a different story, as showers and rain continued throughout the day and without any let up so it was definitely going to be a wet race.

The first thing I did on Sunday morning was to change tyres, as we are not allowed to use race ‘wets’ as stated in the Earlstocks rules, it is a case of trying to find a decent tyre for the wet conditions. I had got a heavily treaded tyre which thought should be good as I had one which looked almost identical that I had been using on my FZR in the wet and that worked really well, the only apparent difference was that this one is ‘road legal’ meaning it was within the rules to use it!

Went out for race one, still raining, and it was immediately apparent on the warm up lap that this tyre was not at all the same as the one’s I had used before.

As the race started I was being rather cautious as I didn’t know how fast or slow I would be able to go, it wasn’t many seconds before it became rather apparent that it was definitely going to be the later!

The back end was sliding all over the place, every corner it was trying to let go, even on the straights I had no grip, it was just spinning up, it was as much as I could do to limp round trying to salvage some points. The race seemed to go on forever, each lap on the start and finish straight I looked up hoping to see the last lap flag, but it wasn’t there, as it turned out we had longer races on the Sunday but I hadn’t noticed that in the program!

The race finally came to an end having been lapped by several of 650 super twins and formula 400’s (as they are allowed to use wets).

 

I was very disappointed with the way it had turned out, but that’s racing! And as I said, this is a development year and a good time to learn what works and what doesn’t, as I think next year will see more competitors joining this new class.

Once back in the garage, I changed the tyre back to my Pirelli ‘dry’ tyre (it couldn’t be any worse!)

Race two and the rain still coming down, I was 31^st on the grid but felt a little better on the warm up lap as the back wasn’t trying to let go everywhere!

I got a good start and cautiously tipped into the first corner, so far so good. I gradually built up speed as my confidence in the tyre grew, slowly started picking off my rivals one by one. On lap 4 I caught Jon so I knew I must be near the front of our race, I managed to get passed him coming out of Macleans and although he tried to stick with me, by the next lap I was starting to pull quite a lead. I had several ‘moments’ especially around Redgate, which seemed extremely greasy, but managed to bring it home in 1^st position.

 

Some great results and lots of progress, we now know that the bike is basically very good and also where we can make some small improvements, not to mention that I can race on the Pirelli in the wet if need be, but I will persist in finding a better alternative, needless to say the ‘wet’ tyre is now going in the bin!

 

Once again a big thank you to all my sponsors and supporters: KJD Motorcycles, Mid Norfolk Mouldings, HiFlo filters and Simply Stickers for all their continued help.

 

Next round Darley Moor 21^st July.

 

Keith 221

Donington Park 22nd. / 23rd. June

 

With all the latest mods and repairs completed, its time to load up the van!

I am off to Donington this afternoon for the two day meeting with the Derby Pheonix Club.

The weather forecast is light rain and windy, so not exactly ideal but we have no control over that!  We will wait and see what the track conditions are this afternoon when walking the circuit and make a discision on which tyres to go with.

I will be posting a race report on Monday so check in again for the latset update!

 

Keith 221



Testing



We have now booked in to Mallory Park on Wednesday for a test session to give the motor a shake down. As long as all goes to plan, then I can get my entry in for the two day at Donington!



Fingers crossed.

I will let you know how it goes.



Keith

#221

Update

 

I have now fitted another motor ( to save time ) and plan to rebuild engine number 1 over the winter.

There a few more modifications I want to make over the next few days and then I plan to go to Mallory Park on Wednesday testing (weather permitting). The forecast is not looking great at the moment, but that of coarse can and I'm sure will change over the coming days!

I really need a dry test to push the bike to its limits to see exactly what she is capable of, and also to make sure we don't have any other problems like with the last motor.

If its not too good, we have the option of testing at Three Sisters on Friday, the forecast is looking much better for that, but its not ideal as it is a tight a twisty circuit and therefore I wont be able to push to the upper limits!

 

I will post another update nearer the time as to what the final decision is?

 

As long as everything proves to be OK, then I can send in my entry for the two day meeting at Donington Park 22nd and 23rd June.

 

Come back soon for the latest updates and information.

 

Cheers

Keith #221

Team Top Banana Racing

1st Meeting of 2013 Cadwell Park

Race Report 19^th. May 2013

 

 

After mixed weather leading up to the weekend, we managed to have a dry, and at timers quite sunny day for the meeting at Cadwell Park on Sunday.

 

We were out in first practice / qualifying.  The bike developed a misfire but I still managed to get a few reasonable laps in and qualified 9^th on the grid.

I had also entered the all comers race at the last minute, just to get some extra track time (not knowing what I was letting myself in for at the time!)

 

After 1^st practice, we set about trying to find the misfire problem, having narrowed it down to number 2 cylinder, we found a little bit of dirt in the carb, after cleaning it out, it seem to be running fine again! Job done.

 

It was then time for the 2^nd practice / qualifying, for the all comers, unbeknown to me, I was up against top six British Superbike regulars, James Westmoreland and John Kirkham on the factory BMW’s!!

 

After a few laps everything was going well, then Westmoreland came past me on Park Straight as if I was stood still, I truly didn’t realise just how quick those BSB boy’s really are!!!

 

After five laps the misfire returned, only much worse. I pulled off circuit as I knew my first Earlystocks race was straight after practice, then I noticed that the radiator was starting to pump the water out of the overflow into the catch bottle!

We managed to empty the bottle with seconds to spare as we were being called to the start line.

This really wasn’t the start to the season that I was hoping for, far from ideal, going to the start with the engine now getting hot and a worsening misfire!

We did the warm up lap and I took my place 9^th on the start line, the light went out and on dropping the clutch the engine just bogged, I got away but the misfire was worse than ever, I was running around two thirds of the way down field and had adapted to the problem by running everywhere (possible) a gear higher (where it was not misfiring as badly) and keeping up as much momentum as possible not to put too much strain on the engine, with the hope of limping home for a few championship points.

 

Unfortunately, towards the end of lap four the engine had obviously had enough and blew all the water out of the rad!

 

I pull off circuit into the paddock, following a full inspection (after it had cooled down) it appeared that I have blown the head gasket!

 

As this was the first meeting on the bike and having only had a few laps testing, I had brought along my FZR 600, in case of such problems. After several discussions and a bit of arm twisting, I managed to persuade the organisers to let me out in the second race on that, but as it is not eligible, I would not be awarded any points and I had to start at the back of the grid.

 

I went out for the second race and went like billyo on the warm up lap (to get some heat into the tyres as we are not allowed tyre warmers in this class).

 

I took my position right at the back of the grid. The light went out and I was gone, passed three rows of the start ( I was always good at starts, even though I do say so myself!) passed about another six or seven riders around the outside on the first corner and up the hill.

Passing as many as possible in the first few corners is critical, as the front runners start to stretch out a lead you always get held up getting through traffic, making it difficult to catch them up.

At the end of the first lap I was up to sixth place, as

We then settled into the race I picked off riders one at a time until I was up to third on the fourth lap, they were quite spread out by this time but I kept my head down and got second position with two laps to go.

I then set about chasing the leader who was quite a way in front by this time,  by the end of the lap I was almost with him, I then saw the last lap flag and thought this is it, I have only one lap to get past him! I managed to get along side him down Park Straight, I waited for him to brake and I didn’t, one, two three.. hit the brakes hard tipped into park corner and I was in the lead. I managed to hold it all the way to the finish.

From last to first in my first race back with Earlystocks, I was over the moon! Just a shame the points don’t count, but that said, the FZ 750 is infact a little quicker than the FZR 600, so this boads well for the rest of the season.

 

Now back home and I need to get in the workshop and start work on getting the bike sorted.

 

The next round is a two day meting at Donington Park in four weeks, so I hope I can get it re-built in time for that!

 

I will keep you all informed nearer the time, as to the situation, in the meantime I would like to thank everyone who helped me over the weekend, especially Nigel who came up to mechanic for me. Also I would like to thank my sponsors, KJD Motorcycles, Hiflo filters and Mid Norfolk Mouldings for all their help and support.

 

Also a big thank you to Cass and Steve, who allowed me out in the second race, and the other riders who didn’t object even though the bike wasn’t eligible.

 

 

 

Many Thanks

Keith #221

 www.kjdmotorcycles.co.uk  http://www.kjdmotorcycles.co.uk