The scheduled highlight of our 2017 season was NG's fifth meeting of 2017 - the Grand National held at Castle Combe - which didn't fail to disappoint! With fantastic weather and a proper 'show' put on within the paddock, this was a great race meeting to be a part of.
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Having struggled to find paddock space at the 2014 event we were eager to arrive early on the Friday to setup. But as there were trackdays on both the Thursday and Friday the paddock was rammed full. We were fortunate to find a little space of grass near the scrutineering bay - and then even more fortunate to find that our paddock neighbours were willing to move around their vans so that we could setup as usual. How very friendly! :-)
Having setup, we successfully went through scrutineering and noise testing - but NG once again had an issue with our onboard cameras - so we removed the front camera and then modified the rear camera. So unfortunately the onboard cameras were on "butt cam" mode again.
Since we last raced at Castle Combe (in 2014), the track had been resurfaced. Our PB lap was 1'20.129, which we were hoping to beat over the weekend. We went out on the Saturday morning for a free practice session and remembered how fantastic the circuit is and then waited for hours and hours whilst the day's scheduled programme was delayed by numerous red flagged races.
Since we last raced at Castle Combe (in 2014), the track had been resurfaced. Our PB lap was 1'20.129, which we were hoping to beat over the weekend. We went out on the Saturday morning for a free practice session and remembered how fantastic the circuit is and then waited for hours and hours whilst the day's scheduled programme was delayed by numerous red flagged races.
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Heading out to the grid for the first race of the weekend
Eventually, around 3pm, we headed out for our Qualifying race. Our Supertwin race shared the track with the Supermono and Sound of Thunder classes, and we started 34th on grid. When the race started it was mayhem and we witnessed many close calls on the first lap. By lap two things had settled down but our conservative start to the race meant that we had lost a lot of ground to the frontrunners in our class. Nevertheless, we pushed on and set a best lap of 1'21.341 and finished 8th in Supertwin class.
With the first race over, there was another long gap until the points race - so we took turns entertaining Lucy!
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Just after 6pm the second race of the weekend started. Our race one finish put us on the 24th grid position. After a better start and more consistent lap times we finished 5th in Supertwin class. In this race we put in what would be our best lap of weekend, with a 1'20.195 being very close to our personal best lap. We also saw the highest top speed we have ever recorded on our Kawasaki ER650 Supertwin - 136.6mph.
Sunday morning brought another clear, dry and hot day. An estimated 20,000 spectators flocked to the circuit for the close racing, numerous parades and superstar appearances - including Freddie Spencer, Guy Martin, Stuart Graham and John McGuinness.
The big crowdpleaser was ‘Mike’s Bikes’ parade - a tribute to Mike Hailwood, who is still seen by many as the greatest rider of all time. And the prospect of seeing, and hearing, the 297cc Honda six on which he set that incredible TT lap record of 107mph from a standing start in 1967. Around the paddock there were also a variety of attractions and machines on show.
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The Sunday race schedule ran a lot smoother than Saturdays and we started our third race of the weekend - the Sunday qualifying race - around noon. Our Saturday race 2 finish put us up to 17th on the combined starting grid. A consistent race meant we finished 6th in Supertwin class. Our lap times were good enough to run with the podium finishers so we aimed to get a better start in the Sunday final race to see whether we could capture a good finishing position.
For the final race of the weekend, we started 22nd on grid. After a decent first few laps, we finally managed to join the group that was battling for 3rd place. And then, just when we were starting lap 6, we saw the 'black and orange' flag with our number shown. We immediately pulled up and were advised that we were stopped due to "signs of smoke". The rear exhaust hanger rubber had began to melt on the titanium exhaust can and was smoking. It was a shame as the issue did not pose any safety concern to us or any other riders - but the organisers were not to know that from the trackside. Regardless, the issue will need to be resolved before our next race meeting at Darley Moor Round 4 on Sunday 16th July.
 Close racing at times... |  ...until we were black flagged |
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