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| Sunday, 18th June 2000 - Mallory Park Another scorching day, I’ve lost my
Jonah tag at last…. everyone thought that it was my fault that it rained. I was beginning to think that it was! One ten
minute practise session is all you get at Mallory, which is pretty shite, not
too bad for me, cos I don’t really know how to set my bike up anyway! I was out in
Race 1 (the Drayton Croft Mallory Trophy Qualifier) as was Juan.
I didn’t fare too well, starting from the 4th row.
Ann said I finished about 17th so I didn’t qualify (first 16
qualify in the two heats for the final). I
wasn’t on the results sheet so I went to the timekeepers office and asked.
They found that they had number 36 down twice, one in 17th and
one in 22nd so they posted me 22nd.
I said I was 17th but they weren’t having it………
tossers! As it turned out, it made
no difference so I never bothered to complain. My second
race was Race 7 and this time I was on the front row…. my favourite…… I
was up for this. I got an
absolutely brilliant start, and led into Gerrard’s, down the back straight I
expected to be passed into the Esses, but no, I was still in front.
Going up to Shaws Corner I thought the race must have been stopped cos I
was still leading, so I had a look behind me……. Jesus….. they were all
after me. Got outbraked into the
Bus Stop chicane and was second going into the second lap.
The front end was pattering like mad going around Gerrard’s and
wouldn’t hold a tight line, so I had to roll the throttle every lap to bring
it back in, and in doing so got passed every time, so I finished 12th,
which I would have been well happy with before the race, but was a little
disappointed, wishing I could have held them off. My 3rd
race was Race 21, and this time I was on the 3rd row, not too bad and
I finished 14th. My race
time was lower than it had been, so I was improving, but I wasn’t happy about
the way the bike was handling and also slightly unhappy about not improving by
much. I thought this time round
I’d be loads quicker, but at least I wasn’t going backwards. Race 4 was
the last race of the day, the one I wanted to do well in.
The Novice/Intermediate Race. This
time I was on the back of the grid, the 8th row…… I was cursing
my luck……. Bloody typical! I
could hardly see the guy at the front with the flag.
Anyway, got my usual good start and made up about 10 places before the
first corner and made up a couple of more by the end of the first lap.
Everyone seemed to be defending their line at Shaws Hairpin so I had to
start going around the outside to gain more places.
The front end was still pattering like mad around Gerrard’s, so
improvements here will have to be made. I
hadn’t noticed this before, I was always of the attitude……. just get on
and ride it, but when you’re following someone and can’t hold the same line
as them, you start to notice. On
the penultimate lap I was side by side going into the Bus Stop with some bloke
and he tried to outbrake me…… unfortunately (for him) he never managed it,
and couldn’t stop in time and went straight into the bales and flew over the
top. On the last lap I saw him on
his feet, so not too serious. Ended
up 10th, could have had 7th if they hadn’t reduced the
race from 7 laps to 5 cos I was catching the front and knew I could definitely
have got them if the race had been longer.
So made up 22 places in that one, still not too happy, cos I know I can
do better. Not letting that bloke
outbrake me was the first semi-aggressive move I’ve made, so I’ll have to
start doing that more. Juan fared
really well, still leading the ACU Star Championship after his excursions both
in the 600 and Open classes. His
best lap was a 53.5 while mine was 56.9, so he was well quicker than me, mind
you, he was on the grass a few times more than me.
Still, keep it up Juan, I’m right behind you. So far I’ve
gained 10 signatures which is enough to upgrade me to Clubman…. So no orange
jacket anymore. Now I have to start
finishing in the top half (which I’ve been doing), to get the next 10. Next trip
away is in July…… there is an MRO meeting at Oulton Park on the 8th……which
I probably won’t qualify for, so I think I’ll do the track day there on the
Friday and get 4 x 20 minute sessions and try and sort my suspension out for
Sunday the 9th at Cadwell Park (my first trip there).
Also, I want to go round Oulton much faster than I did before, which is
always my goal, I’ll do that easily cos it pissed down the previous time….
and this time I know where I’m going. I’m going
to try dropping my yokes 5mm down the forks to see if it will steer quicker,
also going to back off the rebound damping to stop the pattering, going to raise
the tickover to 3000 rpm which apparently keeps the back wheel loaded under
braking and stops the arse end fishtailing -
all these tips from other riders so I’m going to try them all….. any
other tips would be more than welcome cos I don’t know my arse from a hole in
the ground when it comes to bike set up. So back up
the garage for me….. to do a spot of tinkering and service and check the bike
over, also give the old van the once over, we did 630 miles in it this weekend. Tune in next time for another exciting episode of Tommy Clucas Racing. Mallory Park, Leicestershire. Circuit length: 1.35 miles
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Copyright © 2000, 2001 Tommy Clucas Racing.
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