Emra Rd 6 Final Round

Well time seems to have flown by and we have finally reached the final round of the EMRA season.

After the previous meeting i was determined to do better than 7th and 8th places. I was really annoyed and was disappointed that id let myself down, so this time id done what i could to prepare myself, id done some cycling, ate healthy and drunk plenty of water and to be honest i was feeling good

Conditions were perfect and it was time to go out and qualify, i was really looking forward to it and wanted to get out and show what i could do..

The only problem was we were out with the earlystocks......oh dear..

Well i managed to get past a few down the straight on the outlap, and a couple more into Gerrard's, to be honest i was struggling with traffic and when i came round Gerrard's on the stop in 6th and there was a link pipe on the exit i was kind of suprised and lucky not to hit it, it seemed one of the earlystocks had shed it......mmmm, anyways i had one clear lap and i felt quite good, i got off the bike and felt ready for more, it was good not to feel like id done a days work..

It showed on the time sheets too, id qualified 3rd on the grid!! it wasn't my fastest time by a second or so, i managed a 1:01.212 which wasn't too bad.. roll on race 1

Race 1

It was a weekend really that was marred by a horrendous crash in the 600 practice, Richard Saunders crashed at the hairpin at high speed and was air lifted out of the track, Richard was due to race in the f400 race and we were expecting a real battle for the title with Mike Dorey.

All my best wishes go out to Richard and his family, i hope you get well soon and hope to see you out on track in the not so distant future..

The race was underway and i got an average start, but i was still quite happy as i was tagging on to some of the quicker boys, in the previous meeting i wouldn't have been able to keep up, but now i was showing some speed and hanging in there..

It was to prove one of the best races i've probably had, i don't know why but i seem to have found myself battling with a green zxr last round and this one....

and without fail we were swapping positions again, we were battling for 5th and we were swapping positions on a regular basis, especially at the hairpin where he was running wide, and on the 8th lap he ran wide and i took advantage, and as i powered out and covered the line he smashed into the side of me and i was out of the seat and found the bars swapping ends.....mmmmm, it doesn't take a lot to get my back up and he had certainly had done that!!!

I then proceeded to chase as hard i could, and the next lap i set my fastest time ever and did a 59.743!! Id broken the jinx and gone under a minute.

Unfortunately i had to settle for 6th......but now i was really pissed off and i was determined to do better in race 2.....

Race 2

Now there was just one thing about race 2 which u should know, Leon Jeacock, last years f400 champion was doing a one off ride on Mikes 2nd bike, and it proved to be very interesting indeed..........

I got a good start now from the second row, and was determined that i was going to get past and stay past that pesky green zxr!!

In the mean time i'd had a rvf 400 in BMC colours come past me like i was stopped, Leon i think had decided he needed the toilet and set off like a scalded cat!!!

Anyway id got a decent start and i passed the pesky zxr and a vfr round Gerrard's and was now in 4th behind Mike and was holding my own not too far behind, when a familiar looking orange zxr come past!

I was now in 5th but had my head down and was putting in what felt like quick laps, i was slowly catching Mike in 4th and i was certain the green zxr wasn't too far behind but upto the hairpin and a look over my shoulder and there was no one to be seen.

Round Gerrard's again and the bike was sliding a lot more, and then again the next lap at the same place it was getting more out of shape, so upto the hairpin and another check over my shoulder and still nothing there, i would have had to push really hard to catch Mike and get 4th, and i was way in front of the green zxr so i decided to bring her home and settle for a well earned 5th place, i'd only ridden 3 times all year and i was well chuffed as i knew i had tried really hard to improve myself and it showed on the track.

As for times i had done a 59.549 and i had finished 7 seconds in front of Daniel Brown on his quick and too familiar green zxr 400 and was 6 seconds behind Mike (BMC Racing)

All in all i was really happy with my results and my times, i now know i can go faster and next year i'll be trying my hardest to get to the front!!

Oh one last thing, Leon went on to win from the back of the grid and break the lap record......