Next up on our calendar was a trip to the iconic Brands Hatch circuit, with a three-day weekend consisting of Friday practice and Saturday/Sunday racing. We travelled down on the Thursday (which was Dave Snr's birthday!) and a clear run saw us arrive just over 4 hours later. By this point, all spots located near power points had already been taken, so we took the opportunity to setup in a central spot close to everything we needed.
 A weekend at Brands Hatch... |  ...which was busy when we arrived! |
In the week leading up to the event, sections of the track had been re-laid - so we had some fresh tarmac to enjoy!
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Friday Test Day
First things first, we unloaded the van and then got setup. We were only testing on the RS660 Trofeo today, which meant that we could focus our efforts on the one machine. The morning started quite cold, so we used the track time to get reacquainted with the circuit layout. Contrary to what we expected, the fresh tarmac was lovely to ride on - but Druids and Clearways were covered in dust/dirt and was a bit sketchy until a clean line appeared.
Unlike at the previous Darley Moor event, the suspension felt extremely stiff at this circuit - so we proceeded to make changes to soften the front suspension setup (preload and compression damping changes). At Brands Hatch there is not a lot of braking done whilst the machine is upright, which may be why there is such a pronounced difference.
In the third session, we saw smoke on the entrance to Druids and on the exit saw a rider going around Graham Hill Bend with smoke pouring out of the exhaust - which turned into flames down the Cooper Straight. Not knowing what slippery stuff may be on the circuit, we pulled aside and then saw what looked like the "Ghostrider" in the distance - flames had engulfed the machine and the rider ended up in the gravel at Clark Curve. You can see the rider flash by at 0:28 in the video below.
With the lunch break arriving - and with free WiFi available in the paddock - we decided to watch some MotoGP practice sessions in-between our sessions :-)
We then focused on taking more notice of our braking/turning markers out on track and then made a few further suspension changes in Session 5, which again made a positive improvement. In order to validate that the changes were actually an improvement, for the final session we reverted to our "initial/default" settings. Out on track, the original settings did feel more "vague" than our new settings, but as we somehow managed to get 20 laps of track time in before the chequered flag was shown, we went even faster and managed to set a new PB of 53.31 which was great news!
Our final task of the day was scrutineering & signing on - where the technical team were unhappy with the Kawasaki Supersport camera mounting (as we expected as it was on the top yoke), but allowed us to carry a camera in the Supertwins races. With that done, it was time to nip to the Kentagon for a beer!
Saturday Race Day
We were the first out onto track in the 9am Supertwins practice session, where we didn't learn much due to the cold temperatures - but it woke us up and got us in the mood for the day ahead.
About half an hour later we took the Kawasaki Supersport out for the first time (after making some equivalent front suspension changes to the RS660 Trofeo). The Pirelli Supercorsa tyres fit to this machine felt nicer to ride on in the low temperatures than the Metzeler TD slicks, but that might just be because I have had so much prior experience with them... Out on track we were using the wrong gears in the wrong places - but that was resolved when we went faster later in the day.
Shortly after the Formula 600 practice we went out into the Formula 600 qualifying session - and went as fast as we could comfortably go - but some guys out in the session were flying! We qualified in 12th position (13th on the combined grid) with a lap time of 51.95.
Our final qualifying session was for the Supertwins, where we struggled to get a clear lap, but qualified in 3rd position in class with a 53.73 lap. This put us 7th on the combined grid.
It was now onto the races, starting with the Formula 600 race. When the lights went out we got a decent start, then settled in and got quicker. We managed to pass one rider to move up to 12th place, which is where we finished at the end of the 12-lap race. We set a New Personal Best lap time of 51.81 on the Supersport machine and had got our best-ever finishing position in the NG Formula 600 class!
Our final task of the day was scrutineering & signing on - where the technical team were unhappy with the Kawasaki Supersport camera mounting (as we expected as it was on the top yoke), but allowed us to carry a camera in the Supertwins races. With that done, it was time to nip to the Kentagon for a beer!
Saturday Race Day
We were the first out onto track in the 9am Supertwins practice session, where we didn't learn much due to the cold temperatures - but it woke us up and got us in the mood for the day ahead.
About half an hour later we took the Kawasaki Supersport out for the first time (after making some equivalent front suspension changes to the RS660 Trofeo). The Pirelli Supercorsa tyres fit to this machine felt nicer to ride on in the low temperatures than the Metzeler TD slicks, but that might just be because I have had so much prior experience with them... Out on track we were using the wrong gears in the wrong places - but that was resolved when we went faster later in the day.
Shortly after the Formula 600 practice we went out into the Formula 600 qualifying session - and went as fast as we could comfortably go - but some guys out in the session were flying! We qualified in 12th position (13th on the combined grid) with a lap time of 51.95.
Our final qualifying session was for the Supertwins, where we struggled to get a clear lap, but qualified in 3rd position in class with a 53.73 lap. This put us 7th on the combined grid.
It was now onto the races, starting with the Formula 600 race. When the lights went out we got a decent start, then settled in and got quicker. We managed to pass one rider to move up to 12th place, which is where we finished at the end of the 12-lap race. We set a New Personal Best lap time of 51.81 on the Supersport machine and had got our best-ever finishing position in the NG Formula 600 class!
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Our final race of the day was the Supertwins Race. The mixed grids meant that we got to have a battle, albeit not with riders in our class. During the race we set a New Personal Best Supertwin lap time of 52.97 and finished in 3rd place! This was despite the quickshifter not working - a configuration issue fixed after the race - and the Traction Control kicking in at several points around the circuit. But once we reduced it from level 3 to level 2 the intervention went away!
Saturday night signalled the end of the weekend for Dave Snr, as he had to return home for some pre-flight COVID tests. We collected our trophy and then ventured back into the Kentagon!
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Sunday Race Day
Sleeping in a caravan with two young children is not recommended! But despite our youngest doing her best impression of an Octopus overnight, along with some of the heaviest rain we've heard for a while - playing an impressively loud tune on the caravan roof - we did manage to get some decent sleep in! Little Kate turned 4 years old on the Sunday, so was treated to breakfast in "Hailwoods" cafe.
Our first job was to take the RS660 Trofeo rear wheel to A&R Racing to get the Metzeler TD Slick rear tyre flipped, due to it starting to show wear on the right-hand side. We should probably not be surprised after 50ish laps of Darley Moor, then 81 laps of Brands Hatch on the Friday test day and a further 30+ qualifying/racing laps on Saturday - but we do like to get value from our tyres!
 Before and... |  ...After! Flipping brilliant :-) |
We made a last-minute decision to take part in the Sunday practice session on the Supersport machine, which got us up to speed with a 52.73 lap. We had four races on the Sunday and had been burning through so much fuel (70+ litres) that we were risking running out - but fortunately Darley Moor marshals Jason & Joanne kindly took our gerry can and filled it up with Shell's finest V-Power so that we could get through the final day on track!
Onto the races and into Formula 600 Race 2. We got a good start and were straight up to speed - but there must have been less wind than on the Saturday, as our braking marker for Paddock Hill was no longer sufficient to pull up the bike in time for the corner. After running wide a few laps in a row we decided to pull back our marker which resolved the issue. The rear tyre started to move around during this race, particularly at Clark Curve and Paddock Hill, but we managed to set another New Personal Best lap time of 51.81 and finished the race in a best-ever 11th position! :-)
Onto Supertwins Race 2... Despite flipping the rear tyre, the Traction Control was still coming on at level 3 so we turned it back down to level 2 which allowed a much smoother ride. We again had a battle with riders from the other classes and when we got some clear space on track managed to set a New Personal Best lap time on the Supertwin machine of a 52.82 (over a second faster than we managed on the Kawasaki ER650 Supertwin) and finished the race in 3rd position.
A sunny lunchtime allowed us to grab a bite to eat, dish out some birthday cake and then let the girls play in the glorious sunshine!
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In Formula 600 Race 3 we rode consistently and put in a series of fast lap times (very close to our PB). Despite the rear tyre now appearing heavily used on the right side, it wasn't massively an issue and seemed to be moving around slightly less than in the previous race. Another 11th place finish was a great result for us - but this rear tyre has seen its best...
We need to find a left-handed circuit now ;-)
Following lengthy delays in the Minitwin (an oil spill) and 125/250GP (an injury) races, we managed to get out for Supertwin Race 3, which was the penultimate race of the weekend's schedule. When we arrived on the starting grid we noticed that the "Top 2" from the earlier races were not on the grid... We got a decent start and became involved in an on-track battle until the red flag came out on lap 7. After a short break the organisers decided to call it a result - meaning that we had won our first NG Supertwin race of the 2022 season! This also meant that we have taken the lead in the NG Supertwins championship standings!
Back in the paddock, former Darley Moor champion Richard Wardle (who got a hat trick of Formula 600 3rd places this weekend) gave his hat to Kate as a birthday gift - which she adored! :-)
Another couple of honourable mentions must go to...
* Joe Connolly, who managed to get on the podium in the Powerbike race!
* Stuart Fitton, who was debuting his new Triumph 765 bike - but unfortunately suffered a head gasket failure during the weekend :-(
So with the fun and excitement over, we packed up, headed home and watched MotoGP until the early hours!
* Joe Connolly, who managed to get on the podium in the Powerbike race!
* Stuart Fitton, who was debuting his new Triumph 765 bike - but unfortunately suffered a head gasket failure during the weekend :-(
So with the fun and excitement over, we packed up, headed home and watched MotoGP until the early hours!
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It has been a very busy start to the season for us, but we now have a couple of weekends off until a two-event weekend at Donington Park and Darley Moor on the weekend of 13th-15th May.
Other than our usual preparation, the Supersport machine will receive a new rear tyre and some new EBC GPFAX front brake pads - we'll see you on track soon!
Other than our usual preparation, the Supersport machine will receive a new rear tyre and some new EBC GPFAX front brake pads - we'll see you on track soon!
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