Rounds 6 & 7 of the NG Road Racing championship took us to Castle Combe - a track that none of the team had ever visited before. We were advised that the paddock would strictly be closed until 5pm on the Friday, so we set off at 2pm. With heavy traffic on the M4 we eventually arrived at 6pm and the paddock was packed solid due to classic 'Grand National' parade, but we managed to squeeze into a bit of free space near the scruitineering bay - so setup base for the sunny weekend ahead.
The next order of the day was to walk the circuit in order to set the start/finish line for the GPS laptimer and also to see what the track looked like. Fast and bumpy is the best way to decribe Castle Combe. After walking the circuit we decided that the fitment of some new tyres would benefit us, so fresh rubber was fitted on the Friday night.
The next order of the day was to walk the circuit in order to set the start/finish line for the GPS laptimer and also to see what the track looked like. Fast and bumpy is the best way to decribe Castle Combe. After walking the circuit we decided that the fitment of some new tyres would benefit us, so fresh rubber was fitted on the Friday night.
Saturday first practice started early at around 9am. With only 6 laps of practice, we quickly tried to scrub in the new tyres and learn our way around the circuit. At the end of the session, we had put in a lap in the 1'29s.
We started the Saturday qualifying race from pole position. After a good 7-lap battle with Stephen Sweetman, we managed to finish in 3rd place and set a personal best lap time to 1'23.6.
We started the Saturday final race was 3rd position on the grid and again had a good battle with Stephen Sweetman for a few laps before breaking free. The lap times during the race were falling consistently and on the final lap we managed to set a new personal best lap of 1'21.5 and cross the line to win the race.
On Saturday, the Red Arrows performed a flypast as a mark of respect for RAF Reserves rider Simon Andrews, who tragically died following his North West 200 accident last month.
We started the Saturday qualifying race from pole position. After a good 7-lap battle with Stephen Sweetman, we managed to finish in 3rd place and set a personal best lap time to 1'23.6.
We started the Saturday final race was 3rd position on the grid and again had a good battle with Stephen Sweetman for a few laps before breaking free. The lap times during the race were falling consistently and on the final lap we managed to set a new personal best lap of 1'21.5 and cross the line to win the race.
On Saturday, the Red Arrows performed a flypast as a mark of respect for RAF Reserves rider Simon Andrews, who tragically died following his North West 200 accident last month.
We started the Sunday qualifying race from pole position again. Our personal best lap time reduced to a 1'20.7 and we finished the race in 4th place, just behind the Kawasaki Supertwin of Wayne Axon.
The Sunday final race was the final race of weekend so we lined up on the grid at circa 5.30pm. This race was quite lonely so we just got our head down and went as fast as we could, setting our new personal best of 1'20.1 on the very last lap of the race. We crossed the line in 3rd place - but the total time for this 8-lap race was 20 seconds faster than the Saturday 8-lap race, which demonstrates the rapid progress being made throughout the field.
The Sunday final race was the final race of weekend so we lined up on the grid at circa 5.30pm. This race was quite lonely so we just got our head down and went as fast as we could, setting our new personal best of 1'20.1 on the very last lap of the race. We crossed the line in 3rd place - but the total time for this 8-lap race was 20 seconds faster than the Saturday 8-lap race, which demonstrates the rapid progress being made throughout the field.
We are currently leading the NG Supertwins championship on 135 points, from Peter Gibson on 71 points. We also got quick mentions in both the NG Race Report and on the BikeSportNews website.
The onboard race videos are now online on our YouTube channel.
The next round of the NG Road Racing championship is Rounds 8 & 9 at Donington Park on 26th/27th July. But before that, we will be competing at Darley Moor Rounds 3 & 4 this coming weekend (28th/29th June).
The onboard race videos are now online on our YouTube channel.
The next round of the NG Road Racing championship is Rounds 8 & 9 at Donington Park on 26th/27th July. But before that, we will be competing at Darley Moor Rounds 3 & 4 this coming weekend (28th/29th June).
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