Round 8
Cadwell Park 25th July 2009
In hindsight, trusting the words of the seller when they say, ‘this bike is ready to race’ may not have been the best thing to do. We finally had the rear shock absorber serviced for this round and the difference it made was startling! So with the bike in tip top shape we went off to race at our home track.
Race 1
Paul got a cracking start and really felt that he could keep with the front pack until the pace just started to pick up after 3 laps and he began to fall back a little. The bike was definitely an improvement having been treated to a rear shock service but was still a handful at some points on the track. With Charlie Wilson and John Coughlan just ahead it gave Paul a target to chase and then John made the two of them run very wide onto the grass at Mansfield. John was back on the tarmac right on Pauls tail but Charlie had a lot more grass tracking to do before rejoining. Head down Paul tried to keep John at bay but it wasn’t to be as he outbraked him into Park corner. Charlie had too much work to do and finished just behind Paul who was 6th.
Race 2
Between races we identified a problem. Paul was still racing the bike like it was last years Yamaha R6 and we felt that it needed a different technique to get the laptimes down further. We had now just about matched the times from last year but a change in riding style was the only way things could progress further. We sat down and decided on all new gear change places to make use of the different engine characteristics.
The start was good again and Paul had to work had to put the new gear changes into practice. This proved somewhat tricky and although it all felt smoother and easier to ride, the laptimes had gone the wrong way. Paul crossed the line in 8th place having battled hard all race long with Philip Usher on his Honda RC45.
Round 9
Cadwell Park 26th July 2009
Race 1
But we weren’t going to give up that easily and decided to continue with the new technique until the gear changes were second nature and (hopefully) the speeds would increase.
Another great start had Paul right up with the leaders but Philip Usher was there too and the two of them got involved in a battle while the leaders pulled away.
Then the red flags came out after just 5 laps as Mike Moulai had a big highside out of the chicane. It was decided that we had done enough to call it a result which was a shame as Paul felt he was getting into a rhythm and would have been able to get past Phil if the race had run its full 10 laps. But 6th place was a reasonable result.
Worse though was the results sheet that showed we had lost even more time with the new technique.
Race 2
But we really were convinced that we were heading in the right direction so we went into the last race of the weekend to give it another go.
Finally our luck ran out with the starts and Paul was just about last into the first corner and had loads of work to do to get past some slower riders. He dispatched Paul Noble at Charlies Corner and made an awesome pass on Simon Rooms in front of the crowd at Hall Bends. Philip Usher was a long way ahead by now but things livened up when the yellow flags came out to warn that Charlie Wilson had taken to the grass again. Paul knew Charlie would be quick and that he had plenty of time to reel him in but as he caught and re-passed Paul tried his best to keep with him.
Although Charlie just began to gap Paul, Philip Usher was being closed down and the last lap was a real nail biter as a 4 second chasm was reduced to just 1 and a half seconds on line.
And best of all? We did a new personal best around Cadwell and had beaten the times on last year’s bike. The new technique was making the bike easier to ride and as we got used to it, so the laptimes came down.
We had some fantastic support from friends and family for the whole weekend and would really like to thank all those who came alone to make it a really great weekend.