Tom Tunstall Racing

Knockhill Qualifying...??!

2009-07-04T20:22:00.002+01:00

Photo courtesy of motoprofessional.com

Struggled a bit today [P4 in cup] I felt like I’d got to the limit of the set-up this morning so we changed the chassis setting quite radically and still could only manage the same time to within 0.03.....?!?

On a positive side the original set-up was giving me arm pump and was physically very hard work and the revision at least helped that side of things.
At the moment we’re still looking for where we can find about 0.5seconds to run the pace we need to get on the podium – at a circuit like this it’s quite difficult especially when the bike doesn’t want to play.

I never thought it’d happen and in some respects it the easy way out but I’m praying for rain - which up here is like hoping the pope’s gonna stay catholic – but judging by the forecast it looks like miracles are about to happen and we’ll need to find a better dry setting after all....

...Morning warm up it is then!

No time for a BBQ!

2009-07-01T16:29:00.002+01:00

There’s been good reason why I’ve not been on the blog since Snetterton and anyone either there or watching on telly will have a good reason why...

A bit of a "random, unforeseen and fairly major mechanical issue" is the political way of saying our engine went pop!

I’ve always said that motorcycle racing is the loneliest team sport I know....
When you’re on track it’s down to the rider but without the absolutely blinding work the whole team did to swap the engine and getting it running in around two hours, I’d never of got close to the grid let alone the podium in race 2. It wasn’t just a straight forward engine swap either. By the time I’d come to rest the bike on the Armco at the side of the track it was on fire!

I’d like to tell you how calmly and professionally I asked the marshals if they’d be kind enough to join me at the bike along with a fire extinguisher?....
Nah... Instead I was dancing around, more than likely flapping my arms, swearing like a navvy, in between screaming like a girl as the flames were growing bigger on my pride and joy! I’m just glad it never got caught on camera [or microphone] as it wouldn’t have done my image any good!!

Fortunately the man who put the fire out didn’t get carried away and although the guys had to clean all the extinguisher dust off the bike as well as do the engine work it could have been ALOT worse. If fact my season very nearly disappeared in smoke!

I think I probably owe the marshals at the Sears Corner not only an apology but a massive thank you.
A long story short the hard works continued and as we’re setting off for Knockhill in the next hour, you’ll be glad to know that we finally got our engine back this morning, all we need to do now is drive up there, set-up the awning/garage, rebuild the bike, run in the engine, in the next 36hours – and if all that goes well it should be a good weekend!....

TT#21

Snetterton Qualifying

2009-06-20T21:23:00.002+01:00

On reflection I’m fairly happy with how qualifying panned out – not so much the position [4th Cup – 19th overall] or the time for that matter but we did make some really good progress with the bike.
After this morning I felt there was nothing more I could get out of it and the harder I pushed the slower it went – classic set-up issues, but the bike felt good? If I hadn’t seen the lap time I’d have thought we were well on it.

We got our heads together and found a setting that gave us another consistent half second and more confidence.... We’ve got a plan to try a slightly different setting in warm up so all I need to do now is sharpen me elbows for tomorrow’s race!!

TT#21

Thruxton Qualifying...

2009-05-30T21:33:00.002+01:00

Photo Courtesy of Motoprofessional

Equalled my best qualifying with P2 in the superbike cup and 17th overall so I’m fairly happy with progress – I might have my work cut out catching P1 in the cup as Mason qualified 3rd overall, but I guess you never know how race day pans out!

It looks like the great weather will stay with us for race day as apparently it might be the hottest day of the year so far...
...No complaints here!

Looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow!
TT#21

Thruxton Day 1...

2009-05-29T21:33:00.002+01:00

Photo Courtesy of Dave Couldwell MONOPICS

Good first day at Thruxton...

Already gone faster than I’ve ever been around here.

Man this place is fast, I had a walk round the track yesterday and they we strapping hale bails to the bottom 12ft of trees at the side of the track!
Fortunately with the progress we made with the bike in the second session I don’t have to hold on “quite” as hard now!
Really enjoying riding this circuit and looking forward to more tomorrow...

TT#21

Cooking on gas....!?!

2009-05-27T16:06:00.002+01:00

Photo Courtesy of Kathy Nicholson

Pretty happy with how Donington Park panned out – which I’m partly putting down to the fact were running the bike on Butane these days [see photo above].

Off to Thruxton tonight so no time to stop and chat....!

TT#21

Donington Park – Qualifying...

2009-05-24T19:00:00.002+01:00

PHOTO COURTESY OF : motoprofessional.com

So far so good...

It’s been a weekend of getting back on track – nothing too daft just building steadily and the perfect weather has kinda helped that. Fairly happy with how qualifying has gone – P17 and P2 in cup for most of the session only a couple of tenths off mason...

Ended up getting nudged to P19 and third in the cup, only by 0.13second and its all fairly close – feeling good on the bike, and looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings eh?..

TT#21

Yep thats about right...

2009-05-21T13:43:00.001+01:00

Depending upon the mood I’m in either “tough”, “difficult”, or “frustrating” seem to be the words I’m using a lot to describe the first couple of rounds this year.

The damage from Brands cast a bit of a shadow over the last round at Oulton. In reality we were still building and commissioning the bike when we got there. It wasn’t until qualifying that we had it running something like right and back near it should have been.
In fact I was still getting up to speed by the end of the event – I set my fastest lap of the weekend on the last lap of the last race/session which kind of back up my feeling that we haven’t yet shown what we are truly capable of.
The “frustration” comes from knowing how well testing went and wanting to show what we can do...

That’s where Donington Park comes in...
At the moment I’m not too bothered what anyone else is doing until I’ve got the best from myself, the bike, and the team, and having scored double podiums the last two years at Donington I’m looking forward to having a “straight forward” weekend... getting my head down... oh and tasting champagne again!...

Till next time – TT#21

Competitive streak?!?...

2009-04-29T11:02:00.005+01:00

The way my average day pans out means I’ll walk through the workshop maybe 10+ times. Since the crash at brands it’s just been bits of bent & broken bike making each trip a bit distressing!

I’m not sure if all racers are the same but I kinda get attached to my race bikes, especially the good ones [but if a bikes not competitive we end up hardly even speaking!?!]. At this point I want to make clear this “relationship” isn’t in anyway filthy - like you might see on a channel five documentary...

Anyway... All the team including myself have been working very hard, repairing, bending parts straight, chasing new parts, and trying to raise support to get us back on track at Oulton.

When I’ve not been working hard – I’ve been focussing the frustration into training hard and by the end of last week I was starting to feel it.
On Sunday I decided to ease off a little, and go for a steady cycle. Nothing too hard, more a stretch of the legs. This was going fine and I’d been out for about 40 minutes until I saw a group of cyclists up ahead.
It wasn’t a conscious decision to chase after them, but I guess it was the competitive side in me [especially on 2-wheels] – an occupational hazard if you like.

Once I caught them I saw more ahead and went after them. This pattern repeated itself until I asked one of the cyclists what they were part of. It turned out to be a 400rider strong “sportive”, undeterred I ploughed on...
The alarm bells really should have started ringing when we left Yorkshire and went into Lancashire!

With only two half litre bottles of water for company the adrenaline eventually wore off and with another ascent of the Pennines to get home my legs were about as strong as fag ash when I eventually climbed off my bike - what was going to be a 20 mile cruise turned out to be a 60 odd mile sprint!

If the team budget could ever stretch to a therapist I think he/she work have their work cut out with plenty of hours on the Chaise lounge required!!

TT#21

Noggin Floggin...

2009-04-15T14:46:00.002+01:00

Photo courtesy of londonbikers.com

As you’ll probably be aware Brands didn’t quite go to script!!

The headache I got from the crash is wearing off and it’s only down to the fact that Arai make the world’s best helmets [in my opinion!!] that I didn’t get knocked out – this usually cues jokes about nothing inside to damage etc but thankfully the internet can’t take the Mick... yet.

Like a fallen rider at the Grand National the bike saw fit to make a run for freedom – or at least complete the lap [probably chasing a good lap time, the sign of a committed bike eh?]. However as the start/finish straight at brands is like a banking it wasn’t going to work out and it headed south.

You don’t have to be a physicist to work out that when a race bike picks a fight with a concrete pit wall there’s only going to be one winner, and unfortunately this time form book stayed true.

I may be a “bit” biased but the punishment didn’t fit the crime and to not do either race probably stung more than the bruises, as we’d gone so strong in qualifying....

Anyway... It’s going to be a long 3 weeks till Oulton...
Ta ta, TT#21

The rollercoaster continues...

2009-04-12T19:46:00.002+01:00

Photo Courtesty of londonbikers.com

Having gathered engine bits from all over the country and started the engine rebuild at early a clock, they morning fog at Brands looked to be working in our favour with the delays giving the guys enough time to swap the engine before the first session of the day.
However with minutes to go before the session started the engine was fired up, and still having a problem was unusable – meaning out of the 6 free practice sessions we had done less than 2 full sessions & qualifying was next...

Another engine swap later & I got my head down in the 1st phase – I kinda surprised myself by getting up to 14th then sat the rest of the session out to save the engine hoping it would enough to get us through to the 2nd phase – which it was.

Being the first time into phase two, only having one tyre, and again watching the engine mileage I did only one stint – at the end of it I was again in 14th only 0.2 off the top ten!!
I knew it would slip and although I tried to get out again we ended up joint 17th = 18th and P2 in the cup.

Not bad all things considered... Let see what tomorrow brings...
TT#21

Bit of a short one tonight....

2009-04-11T22:17:00.004+01:00

Photo courtesy of londonbikers.com

The team did a blinder overnight and we got out on a patchy track this morning – it wasn’t ideal conditions to feel the different swing arm but everything’s a bonus at the moment.

We ended up sitting out session two as it wasn’t raining but kinda spitting – and as we’re doing a bit of damage limitation at the moment we saved the bike, hopefully without giving us a disadvantage as the track time wasn’t ideal.

In the meantime a whole bunch of people have been doing a mega job travelling the country to get engine parts to try and get the weekend back on track...

You know who you are guys and I owe you more than a few beers...

Watch this space folks – the adventure continues

What a day!?!...

2009-04-10T20:50:00.000+01:00

Good to finally get the season kicked off but it’s been a funny old day.
It started really well...

In the first practice session I got dialled in fairly quickly [had a bit of a tantrum getting the onboard lap timer set-up/working] and ended up lapping consistently faster than last year & feeling like I wasn’t putting on the line to do it. P2 in the cup by a couple of tenths, and 16th overall. So all good.

Unfortunately after about four laps of the second session I had a mechanical problem with the bike which cut out – and even worse poor old Ian Lowry ran into the back of me whilst I was still doing just over 100mph!!

Once I got back to the pits I went to check he was ok – He was still in the medical centre- apparently he’s on crutches and I feel for the guy [and his mechanics as his bike ended up in 2 pieces. But there was nothing I could do.

Needless to say we missed the rest of the second session and all of the third session having a broken engine and a bent swing arm!

And now....? We’re trying to get things together for official practice tomorrow – a late night for the team me thinks.

Fingers crossed eh?
TT#21

BSB Media Day

2009-03-31T21:19:00.002+01:00

Yesterday along with the other BSB teams/riders we were at the BSB Media Day.

Held at Bedford Autodrome, which is an ex RAF military site so if you tried to find it with a sat nav you’d have problems as apparently it “doesn’t exist” still!?!

The day went pretty smooth to be honest – my only mistake wasn’t wearing a few layers of clothes under my airtex M-Tech leathers, great when you’re working hard on a race bike – less so when you’re standing on a airfield on a windy spring day!

I not sure if it was the random questions or the hat but it did feel like I was being interviewed by a gnome at times [see photo above] I’m sure the suspect answers I gave will turn up on the internet or BSB DVD to haunt me soon!

9 days and counting!!...........
TT

Practice makes....

2009-03-23T22:25:00.002Z

After our successful Spanish test we were keen to see how things would go back on home soil & managed to get in with a pre-club meeting test at brands hatch last Friday...

For those with sharp eyes that bright white light behind the bike is actually sun, and to get that at brands this time of year has got to be a lucky eh??

I knew before hand there would be a big mix of abilities and experiences there – and don’t get me wrong I’m certainly not knocking anyone – especially as it was me who sneaked into their test day! The downside was trying to get a clear lap and therefore get a reference to what I was doing on the old bike.

I didn’t manage to do that, but I did manage to equal my qualifying and race times from last October... in heavy traffic... with well used tyres...
Now Brands wasn’t my strongest race last year but considering the circumstances, I’m more than happy with progress so far!

TT#21

“El Testo Completo”

2009-03-10T19:30:00.003Z

...or something like that anyway...

Another good day on track, and more progress with suspension set-up. Managed to dial in a better balance to the bike.
Knocked another two seconds off yesterdays time, but really struggled to get a clear track of one lap let alone a few in a row to get a good rhythm.

Still, really happy with the how tests have gone – it’ll be interesting to see how it goes around a British circuit!

Adios for now... TT#21

Everything’s Rosy in Valencia

2009-03-09T21:56:00.003Z

Got to Valencia late last night and it was nearly midnight by the time we’d eaten & got back to the room.

The idea behind testing at least two circuits on a trip to Spain is to try and get a better understanding of the bike, and of what set-up works across tracks with different characteristics which can usually throw up different issues. Also more than a few days a one track is pointless, as you end up getting in a rut & jaded with the same bit of tarmac after so many laps!

Cartagena and Valencia are both tight, twisty, and aren’t really like circuits in the UK but they’re still great circuits that test the bike and give no time for rest. With tests so close it didn’t take long to get up to speed, and straight away we worked on the balance of the bike and before lunch break had lapped faster than I ever had done before on race tyres.

Testing is in many ways more intense than a race meeting and the schedule has been hard work. After the forth/fifth long day in a row testing me and the whole team are starting to feel it....

Still can’t wait to get out onto the sun baked track again tomorrow though!!
TT#21

Adios Cartagena

2009-03-08T23:00:00.002Z

Testing at Cartagena completed today - more sun 23degs - all good - lapped consistently faster than I ever have done before and it still feels like theres more to come.

We tried a few different thing with both chassis and electronics set-up also, to help understand the bike and how it reacts to different changes and made some progress there too.

Onto Valencia next [tomorrow] so we'll see how the set-up that worked here goes at a different circuit....

TT#21

Gentlemen.... Apply your Antihistamine Cream...

2009-03-07T18:05:00.002Z

photo courtesy of SMARTFotos.

... Nah doesn’t quite have the same ring to it eh?? The old bee sting swelled up over night but nothing to slow us down.

1.7 seconds knocked off yesterday’s times indicated we’re making good progress – the next 1.7 maybe a bit harder to knock off but it won’t be for the lack of trying [and that would be under the circuit record set by the WSBK boys.

Good news is the new bike sure aint short of power – just keeping the front wheel near the ground is the first task – she’s a bit lively!

Another load a laps done and it’s good to build up bike fitness. No gym really prepares you for the blisters and aching muscles of hauling a superbike around Cartagena.

The weather was even better today – 21degs in the shade and track temp around 40deg is what we’ve travelled 1500miles to get.

Bath & good night’s kip tonight can’t wait for tomorrow already.

TT#21

Bring me sunshine....

2009-03-07T09:44:00.002Z

Finally.....

After a long winter preparing its time to get back on a race bike.

Our spanish test has kicked off yesterday after a pretty eventful trip down here [another story].

60 laps done and cobwebs blown off. Although i cant be going fast enough yet as i got stung on my neck by a bee!! [ok it was on a slow down lap at the end off a sesssion].

Anyway less typing - more riding!!

TT#21

2009-02-19T14:43:00.004Z

It’s about this time of year I usually harp on about how hard I’m training...

Well this year I thought we’d have a change...

Don’t worry I’ve not let the temple like body go to waste!! But this year I thought I’d let someone else tell you what’s been happening...

Huddersfield Examiner Article – Linzi Nicholson

TOM REVVING UP!!

The new British Superbike season is only months away and for Denby Dale bike ace Tom Tunstall preparations are slotting firmly into top gear.

Sports reporter Linzi Nicholson finds out what’s involved.

FITNESS PLAYS KEY ROLE TO SUCCESS

Fitness is incredibly important to a top-class racer.
Not only does Tom Tunstall have to have the strength to handle the power, but also the agility to handle the corners.

He explains "People often ask me what I do in the off season, and their usually surprised when I tell them I’m actually busier than after the seasons kicked off.
“Because we run our own team I organise the support, race bikes, team personnel, equipment - basically getting everything in place for the season.”

“Like many things, successful results come down to good preparation. This is why I’ve been spending a lot of time here at the Total Fitness Gym in Huddersfield.

“Physical condition is very important on a 1000cc 200Bhp superbike.
“The weight and power of the bike, the constant acceleration and braking, plus moving your body around to control the bike is hard work!

“We have two races and if you get tired not only do you slow down but you can lose concentration and make mistakes which isn’t good when you reach speeds of around 190mph!

“Fitness is one of the things that a bike racer has direct control over.
“I’m really please to get support from Total Fitness. They’ve got loads of good equipment for all my training plus the pool and hydrotherapy areas are great for relaxing muscles after a training session”

“My training programme is always evolving to strengthen any weak areas, and involves a good mix of Cardio [Cardiovascular] work, plus weights sessions to build muscle endurance and strength.
“It’s important to get the right balance of strength and not bulking up. The extra weight not only slows the bike, but you lose agility and flexibility which you need to move around on the bike & to try avoid injury when you crash!”

“Through winter I train daily with a rest day every two weeks or if my body tells me I need it. I’m lucky to get help from the Nike shop in Castleford with training kit as I tend to get through it!

“I’m working on the theory you get out what you put in – I'll be stronger and fitter than ever when the season begins in April.”

Tunstall Back on Track in 2009

2009-01-21T21:12:00.004Z

Tom Tunstall and the Hardinge Doodson Motorsport Team have confirmed they will be back on the British Superbike [BSB] grid in 2009, with their sights set on success in the Daily Star Superbike Cup Championship.

The highly popular BSB championship is renowned as the toughest domestic motorcycle championship in the world and will once again be screened live on Eurosport reaching 32million homes in 46 countries, as well as enjoying terrestrial coverage on Channel 4.

Sticking with Honda machinery the team have upgraded to the latest spec CBR1000RR Fireblade having sourced the race bikes from the World Superbike paddock.

Tunstall said “I’m very happy with our preparations for 2009. The new bike looks great and although I haven’t ridden it yet everyone I’ve spoken to says it’s a big improvement over the old model. I can’t wait to get down to Spain and start testing”.

The team are delighted to continue their partnership with Hardinge Machine Tools Ltd who sold over £18million worth of CNC machine tools in the UK in 2008 and have strong links with the motorsport engineering sector including technical partnerships with Force India F1 team.

A spokesman for Hardinge added “Our machine tools are being used, and are increasingly being specified by the motorsport sector. Our customers know that we share their passion for the sport, and that we understand the manufacturing and commercial challenges they face. They also recognise, through our motorsport sponsorship and support, that our involvement and dedication is genuine”.

The team are also very pleased to welcome increased support from Doodson Motorsport - specialist insurance brokers in the motorsport sector, who also have an impressive reputation in corporate and entertainment insurance.

Neil Clayton [MD Doodson Motorsport] said “We are delighted to be involved with Tom again in 2009. We think working with Tom in the BSB series gives us a great opportunity to continue to build our brand in the Motorsport sector”

With testing booked in both Spain and the UK before the 12 round championship kicks off over the Easter weekend [10th-13th April] at Brands Hatch. The team are looking to be well prepared for the 26 race long season.

Well it’s been a while!......

2008-08-21T12:57:00.003+01:00

.... Since I’ve had a go at bump starting the old blog again...

To be fair there has been a good amount for me to harp on about this season, but consider yourselves lucky as I’m not going to dredge back into the season, whine about the problems and gloat about the successes. So I’m not going to mention anything about the run of podiums we’ve had...

Neatly that run took a break at the last round at Knockhill [known affectionately to some as Jockhell – me NOT one of them]
It seems to becoming a traditionally eventful trip to Scotland and weather always seems to play its part.

Apparently in 2006 [I wasn’t there to verify this] people in the paddock talk about that year as if it was a mythical and wondrous time. With scorching temperatures, no rain, and a bright yellow light in the sky that gave heat and made your skin go a bronze colour!

After the flooding of last year, when ironically there was hosepipe ban!?! And the heavy showers this year I think people are either making it up. Or they’ve become delusional, after running out of dry footwear/socks, and suffering from either trench-foot or hoof-rot.

Personally I enjoy the place; for sure I would be happier if it didn’t take about six hours to get there maybe some cargo planes can be chartered for next year? The track although small has got a real character to it and the race fans that make the trip are certainly keen and committed. Almost as a confirmation of Charles Darwin’s evolution theory some have adapted over time to the “different environment” of knockhill [see the photo above].

Talking of evolution I’ve finally managed to get rid of a pair of “Cankles” I’d developed. In case you don’t know what a Cankle is, it’s when a person’s CAlf merges with their aNKLE – often seen on people who have been challenged in the weight department.
For me it was a combination of impaling my right leg on a fence when out running [long story] and after getting a wasp up my left trouser leg left me with one calf with fluid [and stitches] and the other swollen.

Now I cut I slight figure! And having been described as “narrow gutted” by a former work-mate you can imagine it wasn’t a good look. Alas the story has a happy ending as both legs are back to normal, twig like size. But I have been left with a 5inch scar and in the words of Bart Simpson, apparently “Chicks dig scars” so it aint all bad.

And that’s the end of this blog...

I hope you enjoyed it. If not I can only apologise, as that’s a few minutes of your life you won’t get back!!

Until next time....

Ta ta,

TT#21

Weather, Wrestling, and a Riddler Costume? It’s all here....

2008-05-01T16:50:00.001+01:00

Now we’ve finally got the first round of 2008 done there aint no more excuses for not kick starting the old blog again....

It’s been a weird start to the season with mother nature seeing fit to throw some snow at any racetrack we took the bikes to....

That combined with the inconsistent weather at brands & thruxton means I could do with some more track time away from a race meeting to dial in the new suspension.

In fairness we did get a few days in Spain but that was well over a month before brands and although it was brilliant to blow the cobwebs off – it felt like they’d come back when we got to brands.

It wasn’t till we got to thruxton that it really became a problem – for some reason the new forks just didn’t want to play at that type of track – in the wet it was ok but the dryer the track got the harder it was to keep the bike on the tarmac....

Believe me there is nothing more frustrating than riding a race bike that doesn’t want to play – race one just felt like a wrestling match...

In the yellow corner, weighing in at 70kg featherweight racer Tom Tunstall.....
In the blue corner, at 165kg and over 200BHP undefeated heavyweight Honda Fireblade...

There was only going to be one winner and it wasn’t me... each lap felt like pulling teeth – being passed by riders I can normally run rings round and watching them pull away while I was just making the blisters on my hands bigger.

Luckily in between races me and the bike made friends after I made a peace offering of the old suspension!

Race two was a bit more like it and at least at oulton we shouldn’t be too far away to begin with?!?

Off the track I went straight from Thruxton to the NEC in Birmingham where my sponsor Hardinge Machine Tools had a stand at the MACH Engineering show. And I mean literally straight there we were dropping off race bikes just before midnight! I was there for the full 5 days the first of which I was joined by Chris “Stalker” Walker.

ALOT of people in engineering are big into bike and racing and the week flew by as I was in my element talking about bikes and racing with some genuinely great and enthusiastic bike fans. I also managed to get through signing two thousand of posters – fear not the throttle hand held up well!

Since then we’ve being getting everything in order for Oulton this weekend, but I did get chance to see Sean Lock [comedian of the telly] in Leeds. It wasn’t the first time I’d ended up on the front row at this type of thing but fortunately this time I wasn’t dragged up on stage and forced to pretend I had a duck stuck up me [that’s another story]. But he did end up stripping off the reveal a skin tight Riddler costume... sprayed on I tell you.... I guess it was a case of having to be there...

Anyway less typing and more racing required, see you at oulton.....

TT#21

Back to Brands…

2007-10-09T11:32:00.000+01:00

After a hectic start to the year with something like four races in five weekends, the last part of the season seems a bit sparse, with one race per month?

It’s probably worse as we (that’s the royal we team n’ all) are really making ground at the moment & therefore daft keen to be on the track.

The Donington weekend didn’t get off to a great start; after getting my wallet etc nicked. I couldn’t help thinking that some ****** scoundrel [*feel free to add a word of your choice] had read the last blog and saw how easy it was for a squirrel to infiltrate our awning, still at least the blagard didn’t leave a dirty calling card – there’s always a positive!

On the track it was our strongest weekend of the year with the cup pole, two second places and importantly getting close to that first win.

I was back at Donington three days later at the Ron Halsam race school. A group of my friends had booked onto a load of the 600 courses. I’ve done a bit of instructing there in the past and Anne let me out with the guys to give them a few tips – or learn some new lines? Andy and Marks wide line at Goddard’s isn’t one I’ll use – too much green stuff involved for my liking – there’s no grip out there fellas!!

The last three weeks have seemed to drag on, as I’ve been looking forward to Brands Hatch since I was on the motorway back from Donington.

Its strange considering how short it is but I really enjoy the Indy circuit. It’s got a good flow to it, maybe because of the changes in elevation.
I reserve the right to change my opinion as I’ve not done any laps around there on a 200bhp Superbike, and after 30 of them I might be getting a bit dizzy.

A bit of a shame that it’s coming up to the last race as I’m really enjoying the Superbike and want to keep the momentum going.

As the temperature starts to drop though I’m sure that will help curb my enthusiasm until next season… a bit… hey we could go testing in Spain… oh can we… just a few laps… can we?????

TT
#21