Our 2018 season didn't get started in the way it should have done - with "The Beast From The East" causing the race meeting to be cancelled before it even started!

Here is our story of the weekend - and how we used our newfound spare time...

The race weekend was supposed to consist of a Friday test day, Saturday race day and Sunday race day. By lunchtime on Thursday we had packed up and were ready to leave. Our original intention was to hit the road at noon but due to a few delays (relating to household plumbing and toddlers!) we headed off around 2pm and then immediately sat in traffic on the M6!

Around 3.30pm we received notification (via the power of social media!) that the meeting had been cancelled by the organisers. Due to the poor traffic we were still 175 miles from Brands Hatch at this point. The Friday test day was still going ahead but we didn't think that continuing the journey (which would be a further ~400 mile round trip) would be worthwhile, so we managed to organise a ride out at a Darley Moor track day on the Friday instead.

We headed home, partially unpacked the van and caravan, then headed to Darley Moor on the Friday morning - arriving to a sodden track and paddock - but track time was track time and on a brand new (to us) bike, the more time we would get the better!!

We headed out on track in the first session and there was a lot of standing water around. After racing our Kawasaki Supertwin for the past five seasons (which revs to ~10500rpm), the need to rev our Kawasaki ZX6R to almost 16000rpm was a different experience! And when the revs (and speed) increased it was quite an initial shock - this bike moves!!

We took part in three morning sessions. In the following two sessions the track conditions improved from "wet" to "damp" and each time we rode until our fingers were numb - then when the lunch break arrived so did the sunshine! This dried the track sufficiently so that we could swap to dry tyres  :-)

During the dry session we we able to increase our pace gradually as we got more and more used to the bike - and we even hit 140mph on the back straight.

Whilst we were receiving tannoy calls for our next session a light rain shower started to fall, which then quickly turned into rain. We decided at that point to call it a day, as did the vast majority of the other attendees, so the track day was abandoned at that point by the organisers. But in one day we managed to ride the bike in wet conditions, damp conditions and dry conditions! We also managed to setup the bike to our preferences - handlebar and lever positions, etc - and found a couple of changes that were required, so it was most definitely a useful experience.

As for the NG Brands Hatch meeting, it turns out that cancellation was probably the best decision as Saturday brought snow, strong winds and an air temperature of -1.5C

With our preseason test schedule now complete (as short as it was!), our next outing will be the opening round of the Darley Moor championships on 7th/8th April.
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With the start of our 2018 race season arriving next weekend, we thought it was about time to provide you with a further pre-season update (see Part 1 here) as there has been a lot of work happening behind the scenes at the Two Daves Racing HQ.

2018 Machine Livery
Another season brings along another refresh to the sticker drawer! Our old racing buddy, Joel from Freshfield Graphics, sorted us out once again.

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Kawasaki Supersport 600 Dyno Results
Following the resolution of a number of small issues/problems whilst at the dyno centre, the eventual dyno results were very positive with a peak rear-wheel power figure of 123.69bhp and 47.11 fl/lb of torque. If you missed our previous post regarding the dyno run you can find it here.


Kawasaki ER650 Supertwin Engines
The Black engine was installed into our ER650 Supertwin over winter so that it could be run-in on the dyno - but on initial startup, a serious oil leak was evident - so the engine was immediately removed so that the issue could be identified and resolved.

On our Silver engine, the valve clearances were checked (and two of the eight valves were adjusted) and then the Silver engine was refit, ready to be used at the start the 2018 season.


2018 Paddock Racewear
Our 2018-season fleeces and jackets are currently in production. Once these arrive, and have been distributed to all team members, we'll continue to look sharp around the paddock(s) this year  :-)

Awning Banner
We have taken delivery of a new 18ftx4ft banner for our race awning. Like last year, we decided to go for one big long banner (rather than two smaller banners that joined in the middle of the awning) as it worked really well last season.

Confirmation of Race Numbers
Our race numbers for the NG and No Limits race events have now been confirmed - at both clubs we will be running #88 on our Kawasaki ER650 Supertwin and #18 on our Kawasaki ZX6R Supersport (as #88 in the 600 class was already taken at both clubs!).

We are still unsure what race numbers we will be allocated for the Darley Moor events.


First Race Meeting of 2018
With the snow melted away, we are looking forward to taking part in the opening round of the NG championships - read the official race preview here. There is a test day on the Friday where we will finally get the opportunity to ride our new Kawasaki ZX6R Supersport machine for the first time. We will then race both machines on the Saturday and Sunday but this event is mainly a shakedown test for us, so hopefully we can stay out of trouble!

As always, we will provide race reports and updates through the year, so please keep up-to-date by visiting this website and our Facebook page.
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