The aftermath

It's been almost a week and to be honest my shoulder is still really sore as is my right heel, the bruising is beginning to come out and I'm looking very yellow. As for the bike i think i got away lightly, the damage is only light, i need a new clutch lever,gear lever and left hand foot peg and a fibre glass repair kit to fix i few cracks in the fairings. The was however damage to my leathers which need repairing, my gloves which I'm sure will be fine.

My lid was the biggest loser though, it's completely wrecked but if it wasn't for the fact i use a top notch helmet I'm sure i would have suffered even more injury, so it just goes to show that good quality helmets,gloves etc aren't just there for show, they do save you in a crash.

I'm sure your wanting to know how much has the crash cost me???

Well regarding the bike, for the clutch lever,gear lever etc it has cost approx £70.

As for the repairs to my leathers I'm not sure really maybe £30

The cost of my helmet was £350

Lets just hope next time i don't experience the same thing, and stay on the bike and bring home even more silverware!

Cheers

Si 131#

Novice of the Day

Race 2

The weather had improved slightly but the track was still wet, no standing water and i'd backed off the suspension and was feeling confident.

Lights had changed and we were off, again it wasn't a great start but not too bad, i'd slipped into 5th going into Gerrards but as i powered out i was on the tail of 4th and you guessed it i was through on the brakes into Edwina's and back upto 4th, so now i was back to 4th and i was determined to get 3rd.

The bike was handling much better and was holding the gap on 3rd and slowly gaining ground.

I felt more confident in the conditions and was pushing harder and harder, lap by lap i was gaining on 3rd, the adrenalin was pumping and this was it. I was a couple of seconds from 3rd and as we passed the start finish line the last lap flag was out, i had one thing on my mind and that was 3rd!

Round Gerrard's and i clawed even more ground back, upto Edwina's and now i was right up behind him nearly touching distance, through Edwina's then hard on the gas then..........

I had high sided coming out, i had only one thing on my mind to get into 3rd and i'd just tried to hard.

I'd landed on my right shoulder and to be honest my first feeling was i'd broke my collar bone and the back of my left hand felt like it was bleeding, and my right heel was killing me.

After about 10 mins or so i was finally lifted into the ambulance, i was more concerned about my brother watching, he must have thought the worst as i had the medics holding a sheet around me so no one could see what was happening.

In the medical centre they thought i'd dislocated my right shoulder and told me i was to get myself to A&E.

Re united with my brother and speaking to my girlfriend on the phone i reassured them i was fine, as we were putting things away over the loud speaker i heard that i had won the Novice of the Day trophy!!!!!!!

I was in agony but was really happy i'd won a trophy but deep down gutted because i knew i should have had a 3rd place trophy as well.

Race 1

As forecast the heavens opened and it was a wet race.

The lights changed and we were away, going into Gerrards i slipped to 6th but up into Edwina's i was back to 4th, through the Esses and Hairpin and the Bus stop and down over the line, i was holding my own in 4th and now tried to push for 3rd.

Upto Edwina's and i saw 3rd place go down, i couldn't believe i was in 3rd and felt comfortable enough to stay there......but it was short lived as the red flags were waved and it was back to the start line again for the re-start.

So again i didn't get the best of starts and slipped down to 5th into Gerrard's up into Edwina's and got 4th back again, (Edwina's was proving to be my favourite overtaking section of the track) i was in 4th and holding my own again, a few laps in and i'd shook off 5th and was trying to push for 3rd, thing was i couldn't get the bike to turn into Gerrard's as there was standing water and had quite a few moments going into it and also half way round. I didn't realise it at the time but because i'd not backed the suspension off from the dry settings i just couldn't get the bike to handle in the wet.

I'd pushed for 3rd but had to ease off slightly as i couldn't get near, i was pushing hard but just couldn't get close to 3rd.

I'd come home in 4th with a gap of a few seconds from 5th. I'd had a good race but with the settings sorted on the bike i know i could have gone that bit quicker.

I'd done a 1:06.966 in horrible conditions. I just hoped for slightly better conditions in race 2...

Qualifying

After my last attempt at qualifying i decided this time i was gonna get out at the front of the pack and go for it from the off.

The weather was dry, quite warm but the forecast was to rain about dinner time.

The first few laps felt quite quick and got into a great rhythm, i was confident and overtaking bikes with ease. We had been put together with the 600's for qualifying and to my surprise i didn't have too many come past.

I had been overtaken by a Triumph 675 but within a lap he was holding me up, so i passed him on the brakes into Edwina's and pulled away from him, a few laps later i had been passed by MAR Kawasaki ZX6R (Malcolm Ashleys JNR Superstock bike) i didn't know who was on it but again within a lap i passed him with ease going into Edwina's and pulled away.

I felt great on the bike and felt really quick, i had past 3 junior superstock bikes as well as some other 600's and 400's.

Could i have broke the 1min barrier??

I'd qualified 4th on the grid, i was on the front row for the first time! I had felt awesome on the bike and was really looking forward to the race.

I was finally amongst the front runners from the off and confidence was sky high.

My time was a 1:00.517 my fastest time to date and i had missed out on the 1min barrier by half a second........nearly but not quite.

Bring on the first race!!

Mallory 31st August (EMRA)

This was a meeting i was looking forward to, i have slowly but surely grown to know and like Mallory Park, i've raced there about 6 times now and have consistently gone quicker every lap.

My aims for the weekend were to be top 5 in F400 and to win my novice race.

Confidence was high and the bike was fitted with new rubber and i was raring to go!!