Snetterton 2015
Friday 2nd – 4th October 2015 I was very busy over the weekend and wrote nothing in the diary at all. So that’s it. Actually, Chris and I have decided we’d cover the bullet points of the meeting this time starting with his grateful thanks to Tony Hayward for entrusting his FZR600 to Chris! This insured Chris plenty of practice with MSV who had a 102db limit on their sessions. Our Neil (Baldrick to his friends) had a great track day on his BMW GS. (Chris only lapped him a couple of times to save his feelings) Following Neil, Gav’s MT125’s rev counter went off the scale. Gav said it was like slip-streaming behind a barn door. A good time was had by all. We had great weather all weekend. Very hot at times with a cool breeze. Perfect conditions for racing - Chris got a first in class in the 1300 Multis! Sunday was the day with the best results though. Chris lay only a few points behind Rob Whittey after the count back in the UK Classic 1300 so it was all to play for. They shook hands in the holding area and said ‘May the best man win’. Chris just got his head down in the race with the 930 singing – the best it’s gone all season – and managed to put Cormac in between him and Rob to seal the championship. In The Race of Aces Chris had a fantastic dice with Cormac, nipping underneath a back-marker before heading for the line, finishing a very credible forth behind some very fast post-classics. The Classic 1300 Twins/Multis & Post-Classic Superbike Race of the Year – Cormac took the Post-Classic win and Chris the Classic win. A great finish to a very, very challenging season! The Top Wanca Annual Trophy (T.W.A.T) was presented Saturday evening to Gav for being with us from the start, for his continuous help and support and for his achievement on the track this year – a 5th in class at Lydden. Even though he is now racing in his own right, he’ll always be a W.A.N.C.A to us. Before witnesses Gav took the solemn oath to polish the T.W.A.T to a high shine on a weekly basis. (unlike Martin when he had it) (It came back back all stained) Lesley of Nozzer was over to visit Snetterton on Saturday and helped me with lunch - and the washing up afterwards. I like to make the most of her. We all felt the late, great Nozzer’s presence.
Always a pleasure to have the support of Richard and Sandra Peckett for the weekend. Richard actually went home with clean hands!! The RPS was running like a dream.
Chris’ Bro Richard and daughter Rebecca came up for the weekend and we love having them with us.
Graham Redrup and Janet very kindly transported two bikes this weekend which added quite a bit to their journeys. Chris thanks them so much.
Baldrick volunteered to marshal on the Sunday as they were short.
Thank you Derek for packing with us on the Wednesday and unpacking on the Monday
- And to Martin who rushed about with the starter all weekend through a haze of red wine. Well done Rob Whittey for winning two of his three championships and for letting Chris have a share in the spoils. Rob has had a very challenging season too. Emily, may we congratulate you on Rob’s success. To Steve Panter, who has shared three garages with us in a row and is as mad as a bucket of frogs, we hope your concussion has subsided after knocking yourself senseless on Friday. (Have you remembered anything about Friday night yet??) Thank you all. The Grateful Ones.
Always a pleasure to have the support of Richard and Sandra Peckett for the weekend. Richard actually went home with clean hands!! The RPS was running like a dream.
Chris’ Bro Richard and daughter Rebecca came up for the weekend and we love having them with us.
Graham Redrup and Janet very kindly transported two bikes this weekend which added quite a bit to their journeys. Chris thanks them so much.
Baldrick volunteered to marshal on the Sunday as they were short.
Thank you Derek for packing with us on the Wednesday and unpacking on the Monday
- And to Martin who rushed about with the starter all weekend through a haze of red wine. Well done Rob Whittey for winning two of his three championships and for letting Chris have a share in the spoils. Rob has had a very challenging season too. Emily, may we congratulate you on Rob’s success. To Steve Panter, who has shared three garages with us in a row and is as mad as a bucket of frogs, we hope your concussion has subsided after knocking yourself senseless on Friday. (Have you remembered anything about Friday night yet??) Thank you all. The Grateful Ones.
Lydden Hill 2015
Friday 4th September
After the frustratingly constant barrage of breakages on both bikes at Donington Chris had a lot of work to do.
The first evening Chris had in the garage, he removed the fairing from the RPS and discovered a little hole in the timing cover with the crankshaft stud and nut making a break for freedom - memories of Martin’s Rob North at 2014 Beezumph – except he hadn't touched his bottom end for ten years (although Chris did ride Martin’s bike the session before the nut bored a perfect sphere in the timing chest).
Anyway. Another thing to fix before Donington. And of course the North had to be sorted in four days for the Beezumph, which ended up being another mechanical nightmare when it shed a tooth from the sleeve gear in the gearbox.
So both bikes, again, requiring lots of work in the garage and a visit to P&M where Richard welded the timing chest and manufactured a new silencer.
The decal for the seat unit on the RPS were delivered by Peter Samuels (thank you Peter) and Chris and Derek applied them that evening and they look great.
We left for Lydden with both bikes intact followed by Martin in the pick-up. We’d driven less than twenty yards when we heard Martin sound his horn. One of the caravan movers was still on and smoking nicely. This is how you get a slick.
We arrived arrived at 1.10pm, an hour and ten minutes!, and secured a great camping area, with a huge forecourt, next to the holding area to save Martin’s little legs.
Chris signed on and they got the bikes and clothing scrutineered to get it out of the way. That meant a bit more of a lie-in next morning.
We tried to get to bed early, murmurings of ten o’clock being a good time to go. As always though the hours slid by and it got to midnight before we knew it.
Saturday 5th September
PA system was being tested first thing but remained rubbish for the weekend’s entirety. Another good reason for parking by the pit lane.
It is a fact that Chris only made the National on Sunday by the skin of his teeth as he couldn’t hear the calls but someone noticed the bikes in his class go past our gazebo.
Threatening rain most of the morning we were lucky to have only a little at lunch but it was damp on the track in the afternoon, although it didn't really affect racing because of the warmth.
Chris’ brother Richard and niece Rebecca, Derek Wiltshire, Richard and Sandra Peckett arrived, and Jimbo! Haven’t seen him at a race meeting since last summer he’s been working so hard, and Marshall Neil drove through the night to be with us. Paul and Tony Potter, with masses of Paul’s grand children, were also racing this weekend.
Dave Lord arrived on his Triumph which he loaned to Chris to deliver tickets to the gate. What a trusting fellow he is.
We also had the pleasure of Tony and Hilary Hayward with Maisie and Alice and also Gav, Lou and Fanny the Wonder Dog. (our team owner)
It’s worth mentioning the dust. Lydden had held the International Rallycross Championships the weekend before and although the track had been swept, after the first practice the bikes were coming in filthy. God knows what got swallowed into the bell mouths but Chris certainly ate some of it.
Saturday’s results F750 4th in class, 1300 4th in class, F750 4th and 3rd in class in the 1300 which got him a medal in the prize giving.
A good day’s results with Chris keeping it in his trousers and bringing both bikes back in one piece, and NO BREAKDOWNS!!!!
Sunday 6th September
A late start, due to noise restrictions, was quite welcome. Richard Akers and Amy turned up and Tony Howard on his Rocket 3 which everyone wanted to photograph, Bro Richard and Alison and three daughters and Richard and Sandra Peckett came back to what turned out to be a beautiful day.
Chris, having just made it to the warm up of the National, and starting 5th on the grid, led for the first three laps. Graham Lawlor, doing the commentary, was enthusing about George ‘taking a commanding lead’ and only realised his mistake when George overtook Chris on the third lap.
However. Chris kept everyone else at bay and finished 2nd on the road, 2nd in class.
Paul Potter, having broken a pushrod Saturday, paraded Chris’ North to cheer himself up and had a sticky pants moment right by Chris at Paddock bend – everyone was beginning to feel the affects of Lydden’s ‘Cheese-grater’ track. Certainly Chris was starting to be very careful on the corners, getting lots of drift through the aptly named Chessons Drift.
Steady riding in the two F750s gave him a 5th and 5th in class. Better some points eh. You get none for a close look at the tarmac.
In the final 1300 of the meeting Chris pulled a dirty great wheelie which didn't give him the start he wanted – going up is not going forwards at the rate one would ideally desire.
Midway through the race the North just stopped. Chris had to pull off just past the start/finish straight and had to be recovered.
Richard Peckett was waiting with us for the van to drop Chris off. Once unloaded Chris started to pull the fairing off and looked down at the timing chest to see, with horror, that history had repeated itself - the end of the crankshaft stud poking out of the timing cover. Watch out! It’s catching.
Well done to the brave girls from the paddock who were putting together a ‘Calendar Girls’ calendar to raise money for Breast Cancer. Chris will definitely be purchasing a few of those.
Congratulations to the CRMC members who raced in the Classic Manx – Alex Sinclair who got a 2nd and Lancelot Unissart who got a 3rd. Joop Van de Pol had a very serious crash in the Manx badly damaging his leg. He’ll be missing for about a year they reckon. A warmest get well message from us all in Team W.A.N.C.A.
Congratulations to Gav, who’s target for the weekend was to get a 7th in class and got a 5th! He’s making his way up the grid. So watch out all you guys on MTs.
Derek presented Chris with three mugs with Chris and the RPS on it in romantic posture. (One was given to Richard Peckett who has yet to discover that when he pours the boiling water in it Chris becomes naked.)
And Alan Major narrowly missed being given a spanking for being moody by winning his last race of the meeting.
Thank you, as always, to the wonderful Martin, and to Derek for unpacking with us when we got home.
Chris took a look inside the timing chest on Monday and, apparently, things don’t look too serious. He will take a trip down to P&M this Saturday to get some parts.
Thanks to all who came to support Chris.
The final meeting this year is at Snetterton.
See you there.
Long Suffering Wife
After the frustratingly constant barrage of breakages on both bikes at Donington Chris had a lot of work to do.
The first evening Chris had in the garage, he removed the fairing from the RPS and discovered a little hole in the timing cover with the crankshaft stud and nut making a break for freedom - memories of Martin’s Rob North at 2014 Beezumph – except he hadn't touched his bottom end for ten years (although Chris did ride Martin’s bike the session before the nut bored a perfect sphere in the timing chest).
Anyway. Another thing to fix before Donington. And of course the North had to be sorted in four days for the Beezumph, which ended up being another mechanical nightmare when it shed a tooth from the sleeve gear in the gearbox.
So both bikes, again, requiring lots of work in the garage and a visit to P&M where Richard welded the timing chest and manufactured a new silencer.
The decal for the seat unit on the RPS were delivered by Peter Samuels (thank you Peter) and Chris and Derek applied them that evening and they look great.
We left for Lydden with both bikes intact followed by Martin in the pick-up. We’d driven less than twenty yards when we heard Martin sound his horn. One of the caravan movers was still on and smoking nicely. This is how you get a slick.
We arrived arrived at 1.10pm, an hour and ten minutes!, and secured a great camping area, with a huge forecourt, next to the holding area to save Martin’s little legs.
Chris signed on and they got the bikes and clothing scrutineered to get it out of the way. That meant a bit more of a lie-in next morning.
We tried to get to bed early, murmurings of ten o’clock being a good time to go. As always though the hours slid by and it got to midnight before we knew it.
Saturday 5th September
PA system was being tested first thing but remained rubbish for the weekend’s entirety. Another good reason for parking by the pit lane.
It is a fact that Chris only made the National on Sunday by the skin of his teeth as he couldn’t hear the calls but someone noticed the bikes in his class go past our gazebo.
Threatening rain most of the morning we were lucky to have only a little at lunch but it was damp on the track in the afternoon, although it didn't really affect racing because of the warmth.
Chris’ brother Richard and niece Rebecca, Derek Wiltshire, Richard and Sandra Peckett arrived, and Jimbo! Haven’t seen him at a race meeting since last summer he’s been working so hard, and Marshall Neil drove through the night to be with us. Paul and Tony Potter, with masses of Paul’s grand children, were also racing this weekend.
Dave Lord arrived on his Triumph which he loaned to Chris to deliver tickets to the gate. What a trusting fellow he is.
We also had the pleasure of Tony and Hilary Hayward with Maisie and Alice and also Gav, Lou and Fanny the Wonder Dog. (our team owner)
It’s worth mentioning the dust. Lydden had held the International Rallycross Championships the weekend before and although the track had been swept, after the first practice the bikes were coming in filthy. God knows what got swallowed into the bell mouths but Chris certainly ate some of it.
Saturday’s results F750 4th in class, 1300 4th in class, F750 4th and 3rd in class in the 1300 which got him a medal in the prize giving.
A good day’s results with Chris keeping it in his trousers and bringing both bikes back in one piece, and NO BREAKDOWNS!!!!
Sunday 6th September
A late start, due to noise restrictions, was quite welcome. Richard Akers and Amy turned up and Tony Howard on his Rocket 3 which everyone wanted to photograph, Bro Richard and Alison and three daughters and Richard and Sandra Peckett came back to what turned out to be a beautiful day.
Chris, having just made it to the warm up of the National, and starting 5th on the grid, led for the first three laps. Graham Lawlor, doing the commentary, was enthusing about George ‘taking a commanding lead’ and only realised his mistake when George overtook Chris on the third lap.
However. Chris kept everyone else at bay and finished 2nd on the road, 2nd in class.
Paul Potter, having broken a pushrod Saturday, paraded Chris’ North to cheer himself up and had a sticky pants moment right by Chris at Paddock bend – everyone was beginning to feel the affects of Lydden’s ‘Cheese-grater’ track. Certainly Chris was starting to be very careful on the corners, getting lots of drift through the aptly named Chessons Drift.
Steady riding in the two F750s gave him a 5th and 5th in class. Better some points eh. You get none for a close look at the tarmac.
In the final 1300 of the meeting Chris pulled a dirty great wheelie which didn't give him the start he wanted – going up is not going forwards at the rate one would ideally desire.
Midway through the race the North just stopped. Chris had to pull off just past the start/finish straight and had to be recovered.
Richard Peckett was waiting with us for the van to drop Chris off. Once unloaded Chris started to pull the fairing off and looked down at the timing chest to see, with horror, that history had repeated itself - the end of the crankshaft stud poking out of the timing cover. Watch out! It’s catching.
Well done to the brave girls from the paddock who were putting together a ‘Calendar Girls’ calendar to raise money for Breast Cancer. Chris will definitely be purchasing a few of those.
Congratulations to the CRMC members who raced in the Classic Manx – Alex Sinclair who got a 2nd and Lancelot Unissart who got a 3rd. Joop Van de Pol had a very serious crash in the Manx badly damaging his leg. He’ll be missing for about a year they reckon. A warmest get well message from us all in Team W.A.N.C.A.
Congratulations to Gav, who’s target for the weekend was to get a 7th in class and got a 5th! He’s making his way up the grid. So watch out all you guys on MTs.
Derek presented Chris with three mugs with Chris and the RPS on it in romantic posture. (One was given to Richard Peckett who has yet to discover that when he pours the boiling water in it Chris becomes naked.)
And Alan Major narrowly missed being given a spanking for being moody by winning his last race of the meeting.
Thank you, as always, to the wonderful Martin, and to Derek for unpacking with us when we got home.
Chris took a look inside the timing chest on Monday and, apparently, things don’t look too serious. He will take a trip down to P&M this Saturday to get some parts.
Thanks to all who came to support Chris.
The final meeting this year is at Snetterton.
See you there.
Long Suffering Wife
Donington Park 2015
Thursday 6th August
Another damned three day meeting. Damned in every sense of the word as you will discover.
We drove up with Graham and Janet who had the North in their van. Got seriously cut up by a National Express coach on the M1 which we reported to ‘How's My Driving’. Yet another meeting where we ended up setting up camp late so we didn't eat until 9.30pm.
When Martin got to the gate Chris had gone AWOL, with the tickets. Eventually Graham was able to take one to Martin, riding up there on the Hanca which, having already shed its chain, decided to get a stuck pedal giving Graham a precarious ride. Martin went to put up his tent and, having found a note on his tent last year at Donington saying he was ‘illegally’ camping on the picnic area (where everyone has camped since we started racing) he opted for a grassy area under some trees inside the track.
The Mk 3 gazebo light became troublesome when the transformer broke and took out the lighter/charger plug in the van. One of the knobs on the oven had snapped off leaving the hot plate on permanently. The remaining stem of the knob had a screw driver sticking out of it for the rest of the weekend. Marshal Neil bravely went off to his car on the Hanca and fell off several times on the way back and the chain came off again and got stuck in the sprocket which made pushing it very difficult. A jolly evening was had by all though.
Friday 7th August
Only one of Chris’ bikes had a practice Friday morning. The other was incorporated in a qualifying session. This was all meant to have been sorted at the AGM where it was decided that practice and qualifying should be in different sessions. Chris had to pay £25 for the practice for the other bike. He was not pleased. Graham Lawyor read out some information for the spectators and finished with ‘ And what you have been watching is free practice’. Not for everyone Graham!
Martin said he was woken by lots of birds over him (the feathered variety) and couldn't go back to sleep. They've taken to playing Donington FM over the PA system. It was far too loud, sounded dreadful and ruined the small amount of peace one got between races and the planes taking off.
Chris took the North out in practice and the power box went down, taking out the ignition. The spare ignition had a dry joint and couldn't be used and an obtained ignition was not compatible, so that was the end of the North’s weekend. Richard Peckett said Chris could use the RPS for all races. (He is convinced Chris is trying to avoid stripping down the North this winter by only using the RPS all year.)
Then, after a few laps qualifying for the Wheatcroft Trophy, the rocker shaft on the RPS snapped. Not a good start to the meeting. All bikes down, including the bicycle, before elevenses. The North was broken for spares and, while Richard Peckett got stuck in to another busman's holiday, Chris fixed the problem with the chain on the Hanca.
Ready in record time for the F750 Chris headed to the grid with Steve Dobby’s wife chasing after him. He hadn't signed on. Somehow it had got overlooked. Finished 3rd in class behind Cormac and George getting 1st in class. Chris rode back to the paddock and went in the wrong garage a distance away but eventually came out again and returned to us.
After a cool start the temperature was rising fast. Luckily it was not to be the sunny twenty eight degrees we were promised. We’d have been dropping like flies. It was a day of horrors for others as well as Chris.
Steve Perlinski fell off and had to move to his spare bike but was just as quick on that.
Rob Whittey’s ignition fried and he had to go Luton to pick up another which wasn't much good. Luckily one he’d ordered was delivered to Donington on Saturday so he could keep racing.
It had been a trying day for many. Chris was also suffering from nervousness after his big off at Brands and being at Donington, which he finds slippery, didn't help matters. Team W.A.N.C.A. turned in earlier than usual that night.
We were all a bit spent - the boys from all the bike traumas and me from doing the Times Cryptic with sodding Donington FM blasting my ears out all day. The speaker was above our garage door!
Saturday 8th August
A very unrefreshed looking Martin arrived in the paddock first thing. He’d got to his tent last night only to find that some total arse-wipe had collapsed it and thrown the pegs about. We hope the guilty party dies painfully and alone soon.
Early start today for the boys to do a few things to the RPS. The weather was warm and still. None of the Donington FM bollocks so far which is SO nice. It was all very silly. The riders couldn't hear the calls.
Chris got a 2nd in class in the Multis. Cormac taking 1st in class. We all got a weeny bit excited as the time sheet said Chris was 1st in class but (for reasons I always find hard to understand) it was not as the paperwork stated.
In the 1300 National Chris kept to the steady pace he’d adopted on Friday and came in 13th and 3rd in class. George suffered a bike problem, Carl had a ‘moment’ which lost him valuable places and Graham went and had a shower.
The RPS back tyre was starting to lose grip at certain places on the track but it saw out the day and brought Chris back in one piece. He brought and had another fitted that evening and blagged a practice Sunday to scrub it in.
Martin and I went to move his tent and belongings from the in-field and found the reason for the bird noise he’d suffered from. A mass of nesting boxes were mounted on the ring of trees around his tent. On the way back we noticed the very area he’d been evicted from last year had tents in the corner! He waited until later to see if they were still up and went back and pitched his own next to them.
In the F750 – Chris had a DNF due to the silencer cracking. Pushed it, what felt like miles, to Gristwood's where it was welded. Thank you boys. Had terrible trouble with the supper that night. Very very frustrating would be putting it mildly. I was glad to call it day.
Sunday 9th August 2015
Up early again to do breakfast and made some sandwiches for Marshal Neil. He would normally go out daily for supplies but his car was blocked in and he was almost down to the last sausage roll. I missed him though so he didn't get them till they had a very late lunch hour.
The horrors of Friday and Saturday would continue today.
In the first F750 of the day another DNF as the silencer broke off again, in a different place this time.
Pat had arrived. No children, but all strapped up from the carpal-tunnel op he’d had recently. He went off with Chris to Gristwoods and Martin did meals-on-wheels on the Hanca with a bacon sandwich for him. He’s lovely our Martin. The Hanca, having been threatened with the mallet, kept its chain on and lives to receive further bottoms at future race meetings after all.
Chris and Pat got back with no races missed thanks to Reg at Gristwoods doing a sterling job on the silencer. Determined it would see out the race meeting it now looks like scaffolding and see out the meeting it did. Wonderful Reg!
Chris, slowly shedding the nerves, got 3rd in class in the multis to Rob Whittey who was beaten by George.
He did the ten lap Wheatcroft Trophy race and came back knackered and finished the day 5th in class in the F750. We all finished the packing in record time and left the circuit at 5.30pm!
Leaving the M1 at J15a and taking the M40 then swapping to the M4 we avoided the traffic jams as best we could and kept moving most of the way home. We had to detach the caravan to get round the final corner to our house because some people’s parking is atrocious.
Thank you Graham and Janet for taking the North. (Its quite out of their way)
To all involved with the welding and tyre fitting.
To Spike mark 3 for the stool sample.
To Richard Peckett for working so hard, again, and to Sandra Peckett for the doughnuts and other goodies and for doing without her husband, again.
To Spike Mk 1 (Livingstone) for the wine and other scrumptiousnesses in the bag he left us.
Sorry we missed you Neil hope you had a safe journey home. & finally, good to see you Pat - hope the drive didn't ruin your operation.
To Juan and Catie, who came up and camped for a couple of nights. Thank you for the shopping. Hope to see you both again soon.
Finally – we have to mention Peter Samuels who made the Triumph decals for the tank on the RPS. They are absolutely brilliant. Have a good look at them if you are at a meeting with us. The decals for the tail piece have just been delivered for Chris to fit. If they don’t need altering the RPS will be complete again for Lydden. Peter and Karen called in today and for the first time saw the tank decals on the bike and he was very pleased. Thank you Peter. You worked long and hard on this job and Chris is very grateful.
We leave for the Beezumph this Thursday evening so Chris has to get his finger out and get the North rebuilt. Two evenings to do it in and he’s rarely in from work before 8pm. He’s at P&M now regarding the ignition. I may have died from exhaustion by Wednesday having had to squash five working days into two last week and the same this week. So if I don’t see you again it was nice knowing you and have a good life.
Long Suffering Wife
Another damned three day meeting. Damned in every sense of the word as you will discover.
We drove up with Graham and Janet who had the North in their van. Got seriously cut up by a National Express coach on the M1 which we reported to ‘How's My Driving’. Yet another meeting where we ended up setting up camp late so we didn't eat until 9.30pm.
When Martin got to the gate Chris had gone AWOL, with the tickets. Eventually Graham was able to take one to Martin, riding up there on the Hanca which, having already shed its chain, decided to get a stuck pedal giving Graham a precarious ride. Martin went to put up his tent and, having found a note on his tent last year at Donington saying he was ‘illegally’ camping on the picnic area (where everyone has camped since we started racing) he opted for a grassy area under some trees inside the track.
The Mk 3 gazebo light became troublesome when the transformer broke and took out the lighter/charger plug in the van. One of the knobs on the oven had snapped off leaving the hot plate on permanently. The remaining stem of the knob had a screw driver sticking out of it for the rest of the weekend. Marshal Neil bravely went off to his car on the Hanca and fell off several times on the way back and the chain came off again and got stuck in the sprocket which made pushing it very difficult. A jolly evening was had by all though.
Friday 7th August
Only one of Chris’ bikes had a practice Friday morning. The other was incorporated in a qualifying session. This was all meant to have been sorted at the AGM where it was decided that practice and qualifying should be in different sessions. Chris had to pay £25 for the practice for the other bike. He was not pleased. Graham Lawyor read out some information for the spectators and finished with ‘ And what you have been watching is free practice’. Not for everyone Graham!
Martin said he was woken by lots of birds over him (the feathered variety) and couldn't go back to sleep. They've taken to playing Donington FM over the PA system. It was far too loud, sounded dreadful and ruined the small amount of peace one got between races and the planes taking off.
Chris took the North out in practice and the power box went down, taking out the ignition. The spare ignition had a dry joint and couldn't be used and an obtained ignition was not compatible, so that was the end of the North’s weekend. Richard Peckett said Chris could use the RPS for all races. (He is convinced Chris is trying to avoid stripping down the North this winter by only using the RPS all year.)
Then, after a few laps qualifying for the Wheatcroft Trophy, the rocker shaft on the RPS snapped. Not a good start to the meeting. All bikes down, including the bicycle, before elevenses. The North was broken for spares and, while Richard Peckett got stuck in to another busman's holiday, Chris fixed the problem with the chain on the Hanca.
Ready in record time for the F750 Chris headed to the grid with Steve Dobby’s wife chasing after him. He hadn't signed on. Somehow it had got overlooked. Finished 3rd in class behind Cormac and George getting 1st in class. Chris rode back to the paddock and went in the wrong garage a distance away but eventually came out again and returned to us.
After a cool start the temperature was rising fast. Luckily it was not to be the sunny twenty eight degrees we were promised. We’d have been dropping like flies. It was a day of horrors for others as well as Chris.
Steve Perlinski fell off and had to move to his spare bike but was just as quick on that.
Rob Whittey’s ignition fried and he had to go Luton to pick up another which wasn't much good. Luckily one he’d ordered was delivered to Donington on Saturday so he could keep racing.
It had been a trying day for many. Chris was also suffering from nervousness after his big off at Brands and being at Donington, which he finds slippery, didn't help matters. Team W.A.N.C.A. turned in earlier than usual that night.
We were all a bit spent - the boys from all the bike traumas and me from doing the Times Cryptic with sodding Donington FM blasting my ears out all day. The speaker was above our garage door!
Saturday 8th August
A very unrefreshed looking Martin arrived in the paddock first thing. He’d got to his tent last night only to find that some total arse-wipe had collapsed it and thrown the pegs about. We hope the guilty party dies painfully and alone soon.
Early start today for the boys to do a few things to the RPS. The weather was warm and still. None of the Donington FM bollocks so far which is SO nice. It was all very silly. The riders couldn't hear the calls.
Chris got a 2nd in class in the Multis. Cormac taking 1st in class. We all got a weeny bit excited as the time sheet said Chris was 1st in class but (for reasons I always find hard to understand) it was not as the paperwork stated.
In the 1300 National Chris kept to the steady pace he’d adopted on Friday and came in 13th and 3rd in class. George suffered a bike problem, Carl had a ‘moment’ which lost him valuable places and Graham went and had a shower.
The RPS back tyre was starting to lose grip at certain places on the track but it saw out the day and brought Chris back in one piece. He brought and had another fitted that evening and blagged a practice Sunday to scrub it in.
Martin and I went to move his tent and belongings from the in-field and found the reason for the bird noise he’d suffered from. A mass of nesting boxes were mounted on the ring of trees around his tent. On the way back we noticed the very area he’d been evicted from last year had tents in the corner! He waited until later to see if they were still up and went back and pitched his own next to them.
In the F750 – Chris had a DNF due to the silencer cracking. Pushed it, what felt like miles, to Gristwood's where it was welded. Thank you boys. Had terrible trouble with the supper that night. Very very frustrating would be putting it mildly. I was glad to call it day.
Sunday 9th August 2015
Up early again to do breakfast and made some sandwiches for Marshal Neil. He would normally go out daily for supplies but his car was blocked in and he was almost down to the last sausage roll. I missed him though so he didn't get them till they had a very late lunch hour.
The horrors of Friday and Saturday would continue today.
In the first F750 of the day another DNF as the silencer broke off again, in a different place this time.
Pat had arrived. No children, but all strapped up from the carpal-tunnel op he’d had recently. He went off with Chris to Gristwoods and Martin did meals-on-wheels on the Hanca with a bacon sandwich for him. He’s lovely our Martin. The Hanca, having been threatened with the mallet, kept its chain on and lives to receive further bottoms at future race meetings after all.
Chris and Pat got back with no races missed thanks to Reg at Gristwoods doing a sterling job on the silencer. Determined it would see out the race meeting it now looks like scaffolding and see out the meeting it did. Wonderful Reg!
Chris, slowly shedding the nerves, got 3rd in class in the multis to Rob Whittey who was beaten by George.
He did the ten lap Wheatcroft Trophy race and came back knackered and finished the day 5th in class in the F750. We all finished the packing in record time and left the circuit at 5.30pm!
Leaving the M1 at J15a and taking the M40 then swapping to the M4 we avoided the traffic jams as best we could and kept moving most of the way home. We had to detach the caravan to get round the final corner to our house because some people’s parking is atrocious.
Thank you Graham and Janet for taking the North. (Its quite out of their way)
To all involved with the welding and tyre fitting.
To Spike mark 3 for the stool sample.
To Richard Peckett for working so hard, again, and to Sandra Peckett for the doughnuts and other goodies and for doing without her husband, again.
To Spike Mk 1 (Livingstone) for the wine and other scrumptiousnesses in the bag he left us.
Sorry we missed you Neil hope you had a safe journey home. & finally, good to see you Pat - hope the drive didn't ruin your operation.
To Juan and Catie, who came up and camped for a couple of nights. Thank you for the shopping. Hope to see you both again soon.
Finally – we have to mention Peter Samuels who made the Triumph decals for the tank on the RPS. They are absolutely brilliant. Have a good look at them if you are at a meeting with us. The decals for the tail piece have just been delivered for Chris to fit. If they don’t need altering the RPS will be complete again for Lydden. Peter and Karen called in today and for the first time saw the tank decals on the bike and he was very pleased. Thank you Peter. You worked long and hard on this job and Chris is very grateful.
We leave for the Beezumph this Thursday evening so Chris has to get his finger out and get the North rebuilt. Two evenings to do it in and he’s rarely in from work before 8pm. He’s at P&M now regarding the ignition. I may have died from exhaustion by Wednesday having had to squash five working days into two last week and the same this week. So if I don’t see you again it was nice knowing you and have a good life.
Long Suffering Wife
Brands Hatch 2015
Thursday 2nd July 2015 / Friday 3rd July / Saturday 4th July 2015
Thursday 2nd July
We finished packing early and at 9.30pm Chris came up with the idea of taking the caravan and gazebo to Brands that night so we would get a good place for the weekend. It was lucky we went as the fence area, which is the best view from the gazebo, was filling up fast. We left the circuit at midnight and had a quick journey home.
Friday 3rd July
Chris was sharing a track day with Carl Adams and was using the afternoon sessions to test the bikes and scrub in the tyres. He was out on the track soon after we arrived and the North snapped its gear box main shaft and it was decided that it was not a good time or place to attempt to sort it. Richard Peckett said Chris could do all the races on the RPS. He offered to take the North to the workshop but Chris told him to stay and enjoy himself, especially as Sandra and some friends were with him for the weekend.
Very late setting up camp as a result of the misfortune. Graham and Chris took the RPS to scrutineering and Janet and I put the sides on the gazebo in a rather brisk breeze and slowly our living quarters came together. After a late supper Chris went on the scrounge for tickets and did a sterling job, ending up with nearly forty – and this was from the garage area. He hadn’t even gone to the paddock. So thank you to everyone who helped out.
Amazing lightning and thunder around 10pm which continued for a few hours. It tried to rain but we were let off with a few large drops which sounded like stones falling on the caravan roof.
Saturday 4th July
We had a lot of rain during the night which cooled things down a lot. So the early morning was fresh and cloudy. Lovely.
Chris went out for first practice and a bike in front of him started smoking heavily and dropping oil, and covering Chris in it. The session was red-flagged but the rider of the smoky bike got round half of the track before he was pulled in. The remainder of the practice was taken up by the poor marshals spreading the oil soaking agent around the affected areas.
By the time Chris got out on his second practice the sun came out and it was suddenly quite hot and it was only 9.30am.
Richard Akers and friends arrived nice and early and Chris’ brother Richard and his daughter Rebecca pulled up shortly after on his trusty old CBR 600. The RPS had a weep from its rocker cover but after a little tightening it wept no more. A re-run of practice one meant a test for the work done and it was fine. So hot by now. Graham took his shirt off to be Brolly-Dolly but Chris insisted he only wanted one in spandex. RPS had a problem selecting neutral and the clutch was adjusted slightly as it wasn’t very far out.
Chris’ first race – Unlimiteds – Finished 2nd in class and in the F750 finished 2nd on the road, 2nd in class. Far far ahead was Rob Wittey who was untouchable and had Emily jumping about hoping he’d slow down a bit.
The weather was so very hot!
Chris did not have the start he’d have liked in the next Unlimited which left him playing a frustrated game of catch-up. Finished a respectable 3rd in class though.
F750 – The most exciting race of the meeting so far. Chris and Steve Perlinski continually swapping places - after overtaking each other about twelve times, which allowed Rob to clear off into the distance again’ Chris managed to pip Steve to the line by 0.1 seconds. Great racing and a good ride by Steve and another 2nd in class for Chris. Rob was 10 seconds in front!
I plugged the oven in the garage to cook supper and did something to the bank of sockets. Eventually Chris found one which still worked and we were saved. Someone (Chris) having not obeyed the notice ‘Please lower the garage door with the chain hand over hand’, had caused the chain to slip off the pulley. Chris’ kamikaze act, balancing on two 20 litre jerry cans one on top of the other, with Graham having to press himself up against the top one and the backs of Chris’ legs, lead to a successful repair and we left the garage merely four sockets down.
Our caravan fridge was getting warmer and warmer for some reason as the day went on and I had to transfer Sunday’s food so we would not all die.We had a death on the track by Marshal Neil’s station at the top of paddock. A Wagtail, strutting its stuff, was hit and scattered to the four winds. No red flag for that poor little chap or chappess. (probably chap though as I think a chappess would have stuck to feeding on the grass.)
Sunday 5th July 2015
Very wet for a few hours. Breakfast was late as I hoped we’d get drier weather if I waited. Martin was in need of nourishment though so I barbecued bacon in the rain for what felt like an hour. I was pretty soaked afterwards. Andrew Philips, a Coca Cola colleague, arrived with spare tobacco for me, and strawberry Pimms which he plied me with immediately (and further administrations later in the day).
Chris’ first race – 1300 National – on a very wet and slippery track. From 5th on the grid he got a good start and was into Druids in second place behind John Warwick on his P&M Kawasaki 1000 who unceremoniously dumped it in front of Chris at Graham Hill bend. How Chris didn’t hit him was a miracle. Chris braked hard with both feet down (and thought he was going to be off) which allowed Rob Wittey to sail past. Back on the gas Chris chased Rob down. By McLaren he was catching him and passed him going through Clearways with the RPS spinning up like a good ‘un. Chris said he had a few scary slides but kept putting distance between them, making the most of his being comfortable on a wet track. Spike’s turn to jump up and down and wave his arms about. Commentator, Graham Lawler, was telling the crowd, as Chris stretched his lead, ‘I’ve seen this before at Knock Hill’, and we all shouted out ‘No! No!’. Chris won the race this time though - because he managed to stay on! Testament to fourteen years as a motorcycle courier having to ride flat out in all weathers.
F750. On a partly drying track, Chris was battling with Rob once again up to the sixth lap. He followed Rob into Paddock Hill bend, inches away from his back tyre. Rob missed a gear and Chris’ taking avoiding action, and also trying to take advantage of the situation, came off line with the throttle nailed, hit a wet patch and the bike was sideways, spinning up furiously. He had to back off and steer out of the slide. Sadly, just at the point that the RPS got grip, with all that kinetic energy it sling-shot Chris out of the seat by six foot. With the added drop of the track bike and rider somersaulted into the gravel.
Chris immediately picked himself up and went to the bike to flick the kill switch. He would like to thank all the ‘Men in orange’ for their help in recovering the bike and himself.
Meanwhile, back at the racing -
Congratulations was going to Cormac. Finding his form he won both F750 races that day.
And to Carl Adams as he took his first outright win in the Unlimited. Thank you to - Richard Peckett for being so understanding regarding Chris squashing his bike and thank you Richard and Sandra for the (Richard’s home grown) potato salad and tomatoes and for taking the RPS with them to P&M in their van.
To all Chris’ supporters who got third degree burns visiting us on the Saturday.
To all Chris’ supporters who thought it was worth coming down on the Sunday even though there was a chance it was going to rain most of the day.
To the wonderful Mr & Mrs Martin Harrison, who spent their 29th Wedding Anniversary with us! and supplied their own cake to share with us!
Thank you Andrew, Graham, Janet, Derek and His Pinkness for your help setting up/striking camp. And thank you Andrew for the tobacco which we never paid you for.
And for the alcohol treatment at stressful times ie most of the afternoon.
Thank you to my niece Laura and to Hal for bringing all the stuff I’d forgotten.
Thank you Fi (Her Pinkness) for searching us out. (as I’d missed the text you sent)
Great ‘group’ shots on the track on Rusty Lee’s web site ‘Sports Pics’. Have a look! Rob and Chris look like they’re on a tandem.
Also very nice photos to be seen on-line on ‘Derek Wiltshire’s Brands Hatch 4th July 2015’.
See you at Donington.
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife
Thursday 2nd July
We finished packing early and at 9.30pm Chris came up with the idea of taking the caravan and gazebo to Brands that night so we would get a good place for the weekend. It was lucky we went as the fence area, which is the best view from the gazebo, was filling up fast. We left the circuit at midnight and had a quick journey home.
Friday 3rd July
Chris was sharing a track day with Carl Adams and was using the afternoon sessions to test the bikes and scrub in the tyres. He was out on the track soon after we arrived and the North snapped its gear box main shaft and it was decided that it was not a good time or place to attempt to sort it. Richard Peckett said Chris could do all the races on the RPS. He offered to take the North to the workshop but Chris told him to stay and enjoy himself, especially as Sandra and some friends were with him for the weekend.
Very late setting up camp as a result of the misfortune. Graham and Chris took the RPS to scrutineering and Janet and I put the sides on the gazebo in a rather brisk breeze and slowly our living quarters came together. After a late supper Chris went on the scrounge for tickets and did a sterling job, ending up with nearly forty – and this was from the garage area. He hadn’t even gone to the paddock. So thank you to everyone who helped out.
Amazing lightning and thunder around 10pm which continued for a few hours. It tried to rain but we were let off with a few large drops which sounded like stones falling on the caravan roof.
Saturday 4th July
We had a lot of rain during the night which cooled things down a lot. So the early morning was fresh and cloudy. Lovely.
Chris went out for first practice and a bike in front of him started smoking heavily and dropping oil, and covering Chris in it. The session was red-flagged but the rider of the smoky bike got round half of the track before he was pulled in. The remainder of the practice was taken up by the poor marshals spreading the oil soaking agent around the affected areas.
By the time Chris got out on his second practice the sun came out and it was suddenly quite hot and it was only 9.30am.
Richard Akers and friends arrived nice and early and Chris’ brother Richard and his daughter Rebecca pulled up shortly after on his trusty old CBR 600. The RPS had a weep from its rocker cover but after a little tightening it wept no more. A re-run of practice one meant a test for the work done and it was fine. So hot by now. Graham took his shirt off to be Brolly-Dolly but Chris insisted he only wanted one in spandex. RPS had a problem selecting neutral and the clutch was adjusted slightly as it wasn’t very far out.
Chris’ first race – Unlimiteds – Finished 2nd in class and in the F750 finished 2nd on the road, 2nd in class. Far far ahead was Rob Wittey who was untouchable and had Emily jumping about hoping he’d slow down a bit.
The weather was so very hot!
Chris did not have the start he’d have liked in the next Unlimited which left him playing a frustrated game of catch-up. Finished a respectable 3rd in class though.
F750 – The most exciting race of the meeting so far. Chris and Steve Perlinski continually swapping places - after overtaking each other about twelve times, which allowed Rob to clear off into the distance again’ Chris managed to pip Steve to the line by 0.1 seconds. Great racing and a good ride by Steve and another 2nd in class for Chris. Rob was 10 seconds in front!
I plugged the oven in the garage to cook supper and did something to the bank of sockets. Eventually Chris found one which still worked and we were saved. Someone (Chris) having not obeyed the notice ‘Please lower the garage door with the chain hand over hand’, had caused the chain to slip off the pulley. Chris’ kamikaze act, balancing on two 20 litre jerry cans one on top of the other, with Graham having to press himself up against the top one and the backs of Chris’ legs, lead to a successful repair and we left the garage merely four sockets down.
Our caravan fridge was getting warmer and warmer for some reason as the day went on and I had to transfer Sunday’s food so we would not all die.We had a death on the track by Marshal Neil’s station at the top of paddock. A Wagtail, strutting its stuff, was hit and scattered to the four winds. No red flag for that poor little chap or chappess. (probably chap though as I think a chappess would have stuck to feeding on the grass.)
Sunday 5th July 2015
Very wet for a few hours. Breakfast was late as I hoped we’d get drier weather if I waited. Martin was in need of nourishment though so I barbecued bacon in the rain for what felt like an hour. I was pretty soaked afterwards. Andrew Philips, a Coca Cola colleague, arrived with spare tobacco for me, and strawberry Pimms which he plied me with immediately (and further administrations later in the day).
Chris’ first race – 1300 National – on a very wet and slippery track. From 5th on the grid he got a good start and was into Druids in second place behind John Warwick on his P&M Kawasaki 1000 who unceremoniously dumped it in front of Chris at Graham Hill bend. How Chris didn’t hit him was a miracle. Chris braked hard with both feet down (and thought he was going to be off) which allowed Rob Wittey to sail past. Back on the gas Chris chased Rob down. By McLaren he was catching him and passed him going through Clearways with the RPS spinning up like a good ‘un. Chris said he had a few scary slides but kept putting distance between them, making the most of his being comfortable on a wet track. Spike’s turn to jump up and down and wave his arms about. Commentator, Graham Lawler, was telling the crowd, as Chris stretched his lead, ‘I’ve seen this before at Knock Hill’, and we all shouted out ‘No! No!’. Chris won the race this time though - because he managed to stay on! Testament to fourteen years as a motorcycle courier having to ride flat out in all weathers.
F750. On a partly drying track, Chris was battling with Rob once again up to the sixth lap. He followed Rob into Paddock Hill bend, inches away from his back tyre. Rob missed a gear and Chris’ taking avoiding action, and also trying to take advantage of the situation, came off line with the throttle nailed, hit a wet patch and the bike was sideways, spinning up furiously. He had to back off and steer out of the slide. Sadly, just at the point that the RPS got grip, with all that kinetic energy it sling-shot Chris out of the seat by six foot. With the added drop of the track bike and rider somersaulted into the gravel.
Chris immediately picked himself up and went to the bike to flick the kill switch. He would like to thank all the ‘Men in orange’ for their help in recovering the bike and himself.
Meanwhile, back at the racing -
Congratulations was going to Cormac. Finding his form he won both F750 races that day.
And to Carl Adams as he took his first outright win in the Unlimited. Thank you to - Richard Peckett for being so understanding regarding Chris squashing his bike and thank you Richard and Sandra for the (Richard’s home grown) potato salad and tomatoes and for taking the RPS with them to P&M in their van.
To all Chris’ supporters who got third degree burns visiting us on the Saturday.
To all Chris’ supporters who thought it was worth coming down on the Sunday even though there was a chance it was going to rain most of the day.
To the wonderful Mr & Mrs Martin Harrison, who spent their 29th Wedding Anniversary with us! and supplied their own cake to share with us!
Thank you Andrew, Graham, Janet, Derek and His Pinkness for your help setting up/striking camp. And thank you Andrew for the tobacco which we never paid you for.
And for the alcohol treatment at stressful times ie most of the afternoon.
Thank you to my niece Laura and to Hal for bringing all the stuff I’d forgotten.
Thank you Fi (Her Pinkness) for searching us out. (as I’d missed the text you sent)
Great ‘group’ shots on the track on Rusty Lee’s web site ‘Sports Pics’. Have a look! Rob and Chris look like they’re on a tandem.
Also very nice photos to be seen on-line on ‘Derek Wiltshire’s Brands Hatch 4th July 2015’.
See you at Donington.
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife
Anglesey 2015
Thursday 4th June 2015 / Friday 5th June / Saturday 6th June 2015
Thursday 2nd July.We finished packing early and at 9.30pm Chris came up with the idea of taking the caravan and gazebo to Brands that night so we would get a good place for the weekend. It was lucky we went as the fence area, which is the best view from the gazebo, was filling up fast. We left the circuit at midnight and had a quick journey home. Friday 3rd.Chris was sharing a track day with Carl Adams and was using the afternoon sessions to test the bikes and scrub in the tyres. He was out on the track soon after we arrived and the North snapped its gear box main shaft and it was decided that it was not a good time or place to attempt to sort it. Richard Peckett said Chris could do all the races on the RPS. He offered to take the North to the workshop but Chris told him to stay and enjoy himself, especially as Sandra and some friends were with him for the weekend. Very late setting up camp as a result of the misfortune. Graham and Chris took the RPS to scrutineering and Janet and I put the sides on the gazebo in a rather brisk breeze and slowly our living quarters came together. After a late supper Chris went on the scrounge for tickets and did a sterling job, ending up with nearly forty – and this was from the garage area. He hadn’t even gone to the paddock. So thank you to everyone who helped out.Amazing lightning and thunder around 10pm which continued for a few hours. It tried to rain but we were let off with a few large drops which sounded like stones falling on the caravan roof.
Earlier it had been noticed Chris was put down to ride both bikes at the same time – Yes! He’s that good!. He got it changed for one on Saturday morning when, we hoped, the weather would be drier.
1.45pm and the sky became almost totally blue. Memories of our first meeting ever, which was also at Anglesey, started to slowly fade. That meeting was a baptism of fire for me, Chris and Gav. Anyway. It was now glorious sunshine but blowing a gale. I feared for the gazebo. It was starting to tear at the base where the fabric was screwed down. Not that we had made holes in the tarmac of course as that would be wrong. Someone before must have had the same gazebo to ours and the holes matched exactly.
At 7pm we moved into the garage and took the gazebo down. I couldn’t stand the ripping and creaking any longer and I would have been in and out of bed all night having to keep an eye on it as it definitely would have blown away that night. It’s a heavy thing to have hitting your sleeping quarters.
Ask Mike Dollittle about Silverstone! Our gazebo took off and hit their campervan during the night.
Chris didn’t bother to secure it to the ground before bed. It was only my putting one bungee on it that stopped it cartwheeling through the paddock.
Saturday 7th
Went to do a tent inspection at Neil’s and Martin’s and they were still there. Matin’s tent has a little damaged but nothing he can’t fix. Our gazebo is going to have to be given some TLC. It can go to a tent mender as I’m not bloody doing it. I had to fight Chris to agree to take it down. He would have just left it, like at the Anglesey Beezumph. So a lesson on how to save your stuff. Very windy = leave as little of one’s stuff in the gazebo as possible for quick clearance. Gale force gusts = take the damned thing down before the tornado and your gazebo will be saved and all your stuff won’t blow away, like at the Beezumph, and you won’t have to buy it all again and get very cross. Simple.
Chris got a practice first thing so he could get the feel of the gusts, especially around Rocket and Peel. It’s hard to hear the PA system so everyone kept missing their calls. This was a good time to have a naked bike and Carl and Tim will be glad they don’t have a fairing.
Chris’ first race, 1300 – 2nd on the grid. Finished 3rd in class behind Rob with George winning. Sidecar no.66 needed a passenger so Carl, who had a licence, said he’d do it. Then he realised no.66 was on pole! Kevin Hunt said he’d start from the back but Carl said pole would be fine. We were looking forward to cheering him on.
Race 2 for Chris, F750 – Red-flagged from George high-siding at Rocket. Chris had it sideways for most of the race, especially at the Corkscrew, frightening the proverbial out of the riders behind him. Having lost ground in the struggle Chris crossed the line in 6th. 3rd in class.
Race 3. 1300. 3rd on the grid. Finished 5th. 3rd in class.
Then the sidecars! About 5th lap in Carl signalled to the driver to pick up the pace, missed his handhold, fell out and got a bit battered particularly round the ribs. Poor Carl. We thought it was extremely courageous of him to have a go so that 66 could keep racing.
Chris’ last race of the day, F750. Started 6th. Finished 4th. 3rd in class. Chris had the bike sliding again but actually managed to keep up with Rob for a while too. Both bikes in one piece. A good day for Chris. Going back to George – he was taken to hospital to have his neck and head checked over. His crash helmet was badly damaged. Finally news came that he seemed to be okay. Team W.A.N.C.A wish him a speedy and complete recovery from his injuries.
Sunday 7th June 2015
Chris went AWOL before his first race, the National, Even Nigel Hall-Smith was in the holding area before him. Chris had gone to watch sidecar practice.The big rush lead to him scooting off with the rubber mat the bike sits on, wrapping itself round the back tyre and the transponder was still on the RPS from Saturday. He started 5th. Finished 5th. 3rd in class.
I was spending most of the day packing so I missed a lot of the results after that race.
Going by the time sheets, in the F750, Gary Thwaites pulled out and I know that Rob and Steve Perlinski had a tremendous battle for 1st. Steve just managing to stay ahead. Chris came in 5th. 3rd in class.
Carl went out in the sidecar again and redeemed himself big time as they came in 4th! He’s a brave boy. 1300 – Chris finished 5th. 3rd in class. And finally the F750 – I did watch some of this from the pit wall which is unusual for me. During the laps I watched, Chris and Rob were leaning on each other most of the time at the bends so I decided to go back to the packing as looking at them made me nervous. However, Chris said it was his favourite race of the weekend. At one point, going round Peel, Rob was on the outside, just on the white line, whilst the North started sliding sideways towards Rob round the right-hander. Rob did manage, after half a lap, to get passed and pulled out a two second lead on Chris before crossing the line. So Rob 2nd, 1st in class. Chris 4th, 2nd in class. Due to Chris’ last race of the day being earlier than usual but mostly down to my packing the whole day through we managed a quick getaway. Lots of traffic jams on the way out of Wales so we went the Haywards’ Way via Nantwich. We liked that and will do it again. Embarrassingly we lost Martin for the second time, apparently a hundred miles back! and we hadn’t noticed. He’d got stuck behind a tanker. He caught up eventually and we pulled in for coffee on the M40 to revive him. Two bikes intact and nothing lower than a 3rd in class spells a good weekend for Chris.
Newcomer and rising star, Steve Perlinski, is one to watch out for.
Thank you to our French colleagues for the alcoholic fruit flavoured liquid tar they gave us as they had no wine left. Very interesting. Chris loves it! At least it didn’t rip the skin off my throat like their home made Pear Schnapps. Brands next. Only down the road. Bliss.
See you there
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife
Thursday 2nd July.We finished packing early and at 9.30pm Chris came up with the idea of taking the caravan and gazebo to Brands that night so we would get a good place for the weekend. It was lucky we went as the fence area, which is the best view from the gazebo, was filling up fast. We left the circuit at midnight and had a quick journey home. Friday 3rd.Chris was sharing a track day with Carl Adams and was using the afternoon sessions to test the bikes and scrub in the tyres. He was out on the track soon after we arrived and the North snapped its gear box main shaft and it was decided that it was not a good time or place to attempt to sort it. Richard Peckett said Chris could do all the races on the RPS. He offered to take the North to the workshop but Chris told him to stay and enjoy himself, especially as Sandra and some friends were with him for the weekend. Very late setting up camp as a result of the misfortune. Graham and Chris took the RPS to scrutineering and Janet and I put the sides on the gazebo in a rather brisk breeze and slowly our living quarters came together. After a late supper Chris went on the scrounge for tickets and did a sterling job, ending up with nearly forty – and this was from the garage area. He hadn’t even gone to the paddock. So thank you to everyone who helped out.Amazing lightning and thunder around 10pm which continued for a few hours. It tried to rain but we were let off with a few large drops which sounded like stones falling on the caravan roof.
Earlier it had been noticed Chris was put down to ride both bikes at the same time – Yes! He’s that good!. He got it changed for one on Saturday morning when, we hoped, the weather would be drier.
1.45pm and the sky became almost totally blue. Memories of our first meeting ever, which was also at Anglesey, started to slowly fade. That meeting was a baptism of fire for me, Chris and Gav. Anyway. It was now glorious sunshine but blowing a gale. I feared for the gazebo. It was starting to tear at the base where the fabric was screwed down. Not that we had made holes in the tarmac of course as that would be wrong. Someone before must have had the same gazebo to ours and the holes matched exactly.
At 7pm we moved into the garage and took the gazebo down. I couldn’t stand the ripping and creaking any longer and I would have been in and out of bed all night having to keep an eye on it as it definitely would have blown away that night. It’s a heavy thing to have hitting your sleeping quarters.
Ask Mike Dollittle about Silverstone! Our gazebo took off and hit their campervan during the night.
Chris didn’t bother to secure it to the ground before bed. It was only my putting one bungee on it that stopped it cartwheeling through the paddock.
Saturday 7th
Went to do a tent inspection at Neil’s and Martin’s and they were still there. Matin’s tent has a little damaged but nothing he can’t fix. Our gazebo is going to have to be given some TLC. It can go to a tent mender as I’m not bloody doing it. I had to fight Chris to agree to take it down. He would have just left it, like at the Anglesey Beezumph. So a lesson on how to save your stuff. Very windy = leave as little of one’s stuff in the gazebo as possible for quick clearance. Gale force gusts = take the damned thing down before the tornado and your gazebo will be saved and all your stuff won’t blow away, like at the Beezumph, and you won’t have to buy it all again and get very cross. Simple.
Chris got a practice first thing so he could get the feel of the gusts, especially around Rocket and Peel. It’s hard to hear the PA system so everyone kept missing their calls. This was a good time to have a naked bike and Carl and Tim will be glad they don’t have a fairing.
Chris’ first race, 1300 – 2nd on the grid. Finished 3rd in class behind Rob with George winning. Sidecar no.66 needed a passenger so Carl, who had a licence, said he’d do it. Then he realised no.66 was on pole! Kevin Hunt said he’d start from the back but Carl said pole would be fine. We were looking forward to cheering him on.
Race 2 for Chris, F750 – Red-flagged from George high-siding at Rocket. Chris had it sideways for most of the race, especially at the Corkscrew, frightening the proverbial out of the riders behind him. Having lost ground in the struggle Chris crossed the line in 6th. 3rd in class.
Race 3. 1300. 3rd on the grid. Finished 5th. 3rd in class.
Then the sidecars! About 5th lap in Carl signalled to the driver to pick up the pace, missed his handhold, fell out and got a bit battered particularly round the ribs. Poor Carl. We thought it was extremely courageous of him to have a go so that 66 could keep racing.
Chris’ last race of the day, F750. Started 6th. Finished 4th. 3rd in class. Chris had the bike sliding again but actually managed to keep up with Rob for a while too. Both bikes in one piece. A good day for Chris. Going back to George – he was taken to hospital to have his neck and head checked over. His crash helmet was badly damaged. Finally news came that he seemed to be okay. Team W.A.N.C.A wish him a speedy and complete recovery from his injuries.
Sunday 7th June 2015
Chris went AWOL before his first race, the National, Even Nigel Hall-Smith was in the holding area before him. Chris had gone to watch sidecar practice.The big rush lead to him scooting off with the rubber mat the bike sits on, wrapping itself round the back tyre and the transponder was still on the RPS from Saturday. He started 5th. Finished 5th. 3rd in class.
I was spending most of the day packing so I missed a lot of the results after that race.
Going by the time sheets, in the F750, Gary Thwaites pulled out and I know that Rob and Steve Perlinski had a tremendous battle for 1st. Steve just managing to stay ahead. Chris came in 5th. 3rd in class.
Carl went out in the sidecar again and redeemed himself big time as they came in 4th! He’s a brave boy. 1300 – Chris finished 5th. 3rd in class. And finally the F750 – I did watch some of this from the pit wall which is unusual for me. During the laps I watched, Chris and Rob were leaning on each other most of the time at the bends so I decided to go back to the packing as looking at them made me nervous. However, Chris said it was his favourite race of the weekend. At one point, going round Peel, Rob was on the outside, just on the white line, whilst the North started sliding sideways towards Rob round the right-hander. Rob did manage, after half a lap, to get passed and pulled out a two second lead on Chris before crossing the line. So Rob 2nd, 1st in class. Chris 4th, 2nd in class. Due to Chris’ last race of the day being earlier than usual but mostly down to my packing the whole day through we managed a quick getaway. Lots of traffic jams on the way out of Wales so we went the Haywards’ Way via Nantwich. We liked that and will do it again. Embarrassingly we lost Martin for the second time, apparently a hundred miles back! and we hadn’t noticed. He’d got stuck behind a tanker. He caught up eventually and we pulled in for coffee on the M40 to revive him. Two bikes intact and nothing lower than a 3rd in class spells a good weekend for Chris.
Newcomer and rising star, Steve Perlinski, is one to watch out for.
Thank you to our French colleagues for the alcoholic fruit flavoured liquid tar they gave us as they had no wine left. Very interesting. Chris loves it! At least it didn’t rip the skin off my throat like their home made Pear Schnapps. Brands next. Only down the road. Bliss.
See you there
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife
Cadwell Park 2015
Friday 1st April / Saturday 2nd May 2015
Arrived at Cadwell at 00.10am Friday. Graham had stayed up to make tea. Bless him. We had got separated from Martin on the last section of the journey and I said to Chris I hoped Martin hadn’t had an accident to which Chris answered ‘MY BIKE!!!’. Graham and Janet had done an amazing job of securing the twenty metres of space for us considering they had only a van, a three metre gazebo, a gas bottle and a piece of string. It was below freezing.
We had a leisurely start with breakfast in the cafe while the track day started. Chris wasn’t doing one this time.
That evening the bikes were prepared for scrutineering and sound testing and it was the RPS’s turn to not start. The original power box had finally bitten the dust but once a new one was in it was fine.
Marshall Neil arrived and I took a trip into Louth with him to Morrisons to get a few packs of biscuits and more chocolate having first placed the supper in the barbecue to slowly cook. We came back and we all dined. Gav and Lou joined us for for pre bedtime drinks.
At 10pm Lou fetched her blanket for Martin to put over his sleeping bag and I gave him the king size fleece to put under his sleeping bag and filled the hot water bottle for Neil and we all turned in by 10.30pm. Another freezing night.
Of this three day meeting, Saturday morning was spent with ‘test’ sessions for everyone until lunch. (Didn’t that make everyone who PAID for a test day on the Friday a bit annoyed?) What a total waste of time and money. Then the normal practice sessions followed and racing eventually started started around 3pm! Being self employed I had to have five and a half days off work for this bollocks.
Apparently Mark George has asked for feedback regarding these ‘three day meetings’. If you have a problem with them, as have all our team members, please email Mark with your thoughts on the matter. It will be too late to talk about it at this year’s AGM as the dates for 2016 will already be booked. So get typing to The Man.
The North wetted its plugs again, this time without the help of the carb covers. Chris did the first test session on the RPS while Martin got to work. Chris finally got out on the North.
Ollie Linsdell came out of the holding area late and straight away fell off in Hall Bends at Marshall Neil’s post. Previously Neil had said ‘I like it here because there’s not much to do’. There was plastic everywhere! Later a Gold Star crashed and burned at Hall so it was all go for Neil.
Saturday morning Martin and Chris decided to take a look at the adjustment on the front suspension on the RPS – at Pembrey it managed to scrub out a new front tyre in one meeting. They found the damping was wound all the way off, giving minimum damping. They followed advice from Nigel Hall-Smith on Maxton suspension adjustment and got a base setting. Chris took it out in Practice and felt it was better.
It was a very cold, and by the start of racing, damp day. Chris 1st race – Unlimited's. Leading the field, on the first lap, lost the front end while making the transition from coming off the brakes and tipping it in and getting on the gas. He slid across the corner at the end of Park and the bike hit the grass bank and rolled over, twice. Paul Soulby was again on the corner where Chris crashed but this time was not so lucky and only got Chris just before the crash and then landing at the end. Look on Paul’s web site. He takes a good photo and you might be in one of them.
The North has cracked its frame right through on the left hand down tube just below the headstock as well as the normal damage you’d expect – fairing, screen, footrest hangers, levers etc and the brake banjo on the master cylinder actually stretched! so they had trouble getting the bolt out.
So the rest of the weekend’s races would be done on the RPS.
That afternoon I had a discussion with Graham about strange activities which take place at the urinal in the men’s toilets. Apparently little yellow disinfectant blocks are placed along the trough and the game is to ‘move’ them up the gradient towards the top until one runs out of power. Now I don’t know if it is only Graham who plays or if there is mass participation but I managed to get a photo of the set up for those who, like me, have not heard of this. Fascinating.
After what racing there was I set off with Marshall Neil again to the supermarket. Martin fancied some pastrami and salami with his salad for Sunday lunch as a change. Morrisons have a wonderful deli and the prices are so low. We had supper when we got back and once again we all turned in quite early that evening.
Sunday 3rd May 2015
We had torrential rain from the early hours and the F750s were sent out in it. Chris brought the RPS in after the warm up lap with its oil pressure warning light dimly lit. He had an idea it was due to the amount of water but couldn’t take the risk. In many ways though it was quite fortuitous because, after doing a lap he found there was water flowing across Barn, across the start/finish straight, a smaller river at the end of Park and one across Mansfield. The race went ahead! and the rest of the riders managed to tip-toe round.
Meanwhile Gav and Martin got stuck into the RPS. Chris had lengths of wire so the they could bring the connections up to make it more accessible and it was discovered that water had made the light come on. Gav made the light come on just using his finger as a switch! So a DNS for the first race.
The second Unlimited's (done on the RPS) was also wet and horrible but not as bad as the F750. Going carefully, Chris, starting 17th on the grid (again!), finished 10th, 4th in class. George 1st in class, Nigel second in class and Rob 3rd in class.
The F750 was sent out in a thunder storm (see photos of sky prior to downpour) and the riders sat on the grid in it but although the weather was not as bad as it had been earlier, the race was postponed and the poor side car riders were sent out instead. The F750 was eventually called and George won the race with Rob 2nd and Chris 3rd in their class.
UK classic – Rob 1st and Chris 2nd in their class with Nigel 3rd, going very well on Cormac’s Piper framed Trident.
We had Spike join us for supper and we all had a lot of fun. Graham and Janet headed for home as soon as racing was over for the day so we had an forlorn space in our impressive line up of stuff. Pat had visited with the children and Lea had taken on time sheet duty for the day.
We used almost the entire side of the paddock by the helicopter pad, with the caravan at the top and Gav and Lou’s bus at the bottom. Considering we were all less than a couple of foot from the helipad’s fence it was a good thing one didn’t have to be sent for that weekend as we’d have been blown to bits. The sign on the top fence says no gazebos and tents within twenty metres!
Monday 4th May 2015
Marshall Ron arrived. Lovely to see him as always. He will be at Brands too apparently. Gav had a big tank-slapper after the Mountain but he just kept it open and took it in his stride. Great for the spectators though. Then he lost the back end coming out of the Hairpin on the clutch and saved it again. Spare pants city in the Kidwell camp.
In the F750 George did a 1:41.609 in lap four, seven seconds ahead of the next rider. Alan Oversby came off trying to chase down George and Chris came in a respectable 4th - considering he was quite battered from Saturday he did well.
Final Unlimited's – George did a 1:40.380 in lap 2 and finished ten seconds ahead in this race. He’s so quick. Rob and Chris finished 2nd and third in class respectively.
Final F750 – George, Rob, Chris again. Another faller this weekend, in the Colin Breeze qualifying, was Gary Thwaites who lost it big time and bent the frame on the Rob North but we finish this diary with a story of success – Gav achieved a best ever 8th in class this weekend and in his final race on Monday he knocked three seconds off his lap time.
Our thanks again to Graham and Janet for travelling up early on Thursday. Good positioning and a bit of space where the camp is concerned helps make the weekend pleasant – and to Lou for porridging Chris as I refused to stand in the deluge barbecuing bacon for him for breakfast – to Gav for dropping everything and helping us when the shit’s hit the fan – to Martin, as usual, for all he does.
We will up-date the site with news of the North’s rebuild progress and hopefully it will be going to Anglesey, albeit in an unpainted state fairing-wise.
Apologies for the diary being delayed for both meetings. I will try to do better next time.
Thank you all for your support.
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife
Arrived at Cadwell at 00.10am Friday. Graham had stayed up to make tea. Bless him. We had got separated from Martin on the last section of the journey and I said to Chris I hoped Martin hadn’t had an accident to which Chris answered ‘MY BIKE!!!’. Graham and Janet had done an amazing job of securing the twenty metres of space for us considering they had only a van, a three metre gazebo, a gas bottle and a piece of string. It was below freezing.
We had a leisurely start with breakfast in the cafe while the track day started. Chris wasn’t doing one this time.
That evening the bikes were prepared for scrutineering and sound testing and it was the RPS’s turn to not start. The original power box had finally bitten the dust but once a new one was in it was fine.
Marshall Neil arrived and I took a trip into Louth with him to Morrisons to get a few packs of biscuits and more chocolate having first placed the supper in the barbecue to slowly cook. We came back and we all dined. Gav and Lou joined us for for pre bedtime drinks.
At 10pm Lou fetched her blanket for Martin to put over his sleeping bag and I gave him the king size fleece to put under his sleeping bag and filled the hot water bottle for Neil and we all turned in by 10.30pm. Another freezing night.
Of this three day meeting, Saturday morning was spent with ‘test’ sessions for everyone until lunch. (Didn’t that make everyone who PAID for a test day on the Friday a bit annoyed?) What a total waste of time and money. Then the normal practice sessions followed and racing eventually started started around 3pm! Being self employed I had to have five and a half days off work for this bollocks.
Apparently Mark George has asked for feedback regarding these ‘three day meetings’. If you have a problem with them, as have all our team members, please email Mark with your thoughts on the matter. It will be too late to talk about it at this year’s AGM as the dates for 2016 will already be booked. So get typing to The Man.
The North wetted its plugs again, this time without the help of the carb covers. Chris did the first test session on the RPS while Martin got to work. Chris finally got out on the North.
Ollie Linsdell came out of the holding area late and straight away fell off in Hall Bends at Marshall Neil’s post. Previously Neil had said ‘I like it here because there’s not much to do’. There was plastic everywhere! Later a Gold Star crashed and burned at Hall so it was all go for Neil.
Saturday morning Martin and Chris decided to take a look at the adjustment on the front suspension on the RPS – at Pembrey it managed to scrub out a new front tyre in one meeting. They found the damping was wound all the way off, giving minimum damping. They followed advice from Nigel Hall-Smith on Maxton suspension adjustment and got a base setting. Chris took it out in Practice and felt it was better.
It was a very cold, and by the start of racing, damp day. Chris 1st race – Unlimited's. Leading the field, on the first lap, lost the front end while making the transition from coming off the brakes and tipping it in and getting on the gas. He slid across the corner at the end of Park and the bike hit the grass bank and rolled over, twice. Paul Soulby was again on the corner where Chris crashed but this time was not so lucky and only got Chris just before the crash and then landing at the end. Look on Paul’s web site. He takes a good photo and you might be in one of them.
The North has cracked its frame right through on the left hand down tube just below the headstock as well as the normal damage you’d expect – fairing, screen, footrest hangers, levers etc and the brake banjo on the master cylinder actually stretched! so they had trouble getting the bolt out.
So the rest of the weekend’s races would be done on the RPS.
That afternoon I had a discussion with Graham about strange activities which take place at the urinal in the men’s toilets. Apparently little yellow disinfectant blocks are placed along the trough and the game is to ‘move’ them up the gradient towards the top until one runs out of power. Now I don’t know if it is only Graham who plays or if there is mass participation but I managed to get a photo of the set up for those who, like me, have not heard of this. Fascinating.
After what racing there was I set off with Marshall Neil again to the supermarket. Martin fancied some pastrami and salami with his salad for Sunday lunch as a change. Morrisons have a wonderful deli and the prices are so low. We had supper when we got back and once again we all turned in quite early that evening.
Sunday 3rd May 2015
We had torrential rain from the early hours and the F750s were sent out in it. Chris brought the RPS in after the warm up lap with its oil pressure warning light dimly lit. He had an idea it was due to the amount of water but couldn’t take the risk. In many ways though it was quite fortuitous because, after doing a lap he found there was water flowing across Barn, across the start/finish straight, a smaller river at the end of Park and one across Mansfield. The race went ahead! and the rest of the riders managed to tip-toe round.
Meanwhile Gav and Martin got stuck into the RPS. Chris had lengths of wire so the they could bring the connections up to make it more accessible and it was discovered that water had made the light come on. Gav made the light come on just using his finger as a switch! So a DNS for the first race.
The second Unlimited's (done on the RPS) was also wet and horrible but not as bad as the F750. Going carefully, Chris, starting 17th on the grid (again!), finished 10th, 4th in class. George 1st in class, Nigel second in class and Rob 3rd in class.
The F750 was sent out in a thunder storm (see photos of sky prior to downpour) and the riders sat on the grid in it but although the weather was not as bad as it had been earlier, the race was postponed and the poor side car riders were sent out instead. The F750 was eventually called and George won the race with Rob 2nd and Chris 3rd in their class.
UK classic – Rob 1st and Chris 2nd in their class with Nigel 3rd, going very well on Cormac’s Piper framed Trident.
We had Spike join us for supper and we all had a lot of fun. Graham and Janet headed for home as soon as racing was over for the day so we had an forlorn space in our impressive line up of stuff. Pat had visited with the children and Lea had taken on time sheet duty for the day.
We used almost the entire side of the paddock by the helicopter pad, with the caravan at the top and Gav and Lou’s bus at the bottom. Considering we were all less than a couple of foot from the helipad’s fence it was a good thing one didn’t have to be sent for that weekend as we’d have been blown to bits. The sign on the top fence says no gazebos and tents within twenty metres!
Monday 4th May 2015
Marshall Ron arrived. Lovely to see him as always. He will be at Brands too apparently. Gav had a big tank-slapper after the Mountain but he just kept it open and took it in his stride. Great for the spectators though. Then he lost the back end coming out of the Hairpin on the clutch and saved it again. Spare pants city in the Kidwell camp.
In the F750 George did a 1:41.609 in lap four, seven seconds ahead of the next rider. Alan Oversby came off trying to chase down George and Chris came in a respectable 4th - considering he was quite battered from Saturday he did well.
Final Unlimited's – George did a 1:40.380 in lap 2 and finished ten seconds ahead in this race. He’s so quick. Rob and Chris finished 2nd and third in class respectively.
Final F750 – George, Rob, Chris again. Another faller this weekend, in the Colin Breeze qualifying, was Gary Thwaites who lost it big time and bent the frame on the Rob North but we finish this diary with a story of success – Gav achieved a best ever 8th in class this weekend and in his final race on Monday he knocked three seconds off his lap time.
Our thanks again to Graham and Janet for travelling up early on Thursday. Good positioning and a bit of space where the camp is concerned helps make the weekend pleasant – and to Lou for porridging Chris as I refused to stand in the deluge barbecuing bacon for him for breakfast – to Gav for dropping everything and helping us when the shit’s hit the fan – to Martin, as usual, for all he does.
We will up-date the site with news of the North’s rebuild progress and hopefully it will be going to Anglesey, albeit in an unpainted state fairing-wise.
Apologies for the diary being delayed for both meetings. I will try to do better next time.
Thank you all for your support.
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife
Pembrey 2015
Thursday 2nd / Friday 3rd April 2015
Mike Pink was joining us for this meeting. He and Martin picked up the North while Chris and I were at work and they headed off to South Wales to call in on a friend before heading to the circuit.
After a very early start and a hectic day I managed to be home by 4.30pm and pulled all our gear out of the garage and onto the drive.
We set off at 7.15pm and had to detach the caravan from the van and push it round the first corner of our road due to the other residents’ being rubbish at parking.
When we arrived at the circuit Martin and Mike had already gone to sleep but they had spread themselves out as much as they could to save space for us. It was a perfect location. It rained on and off and was quite breezy so we kept leaping into the van for shelter. After nearly parking the van on Mike’s very small and black tent we clattered about for a while getting the bike out of the caravan and putting the legs down (Martin popped his sleepy head out of his tent briefly) and we were closing our eyes at 2.06am.
It started to pour with rain and, with both my ear plugs in, it took me a while to realise that Chris was out of bed again and leaning out of the caravan door. Apparently there was a very loud and constant drip-dripping of water from the roof onto one of the caravan’s plastic wheel arches and it was like torture. I told him that Gavin had sorted it once by placing a cloth on the wheel arch to deaden the noise. Chris did that and everything was quiet again.
After that excitement I was awake for ages while Chris went out like a light. Typical.
Test day - Friday 3rd
We had a bit of a lie-in and got up at 8am.
Once the gazebo was up we made tea. As they were awake before us Martin and Mike had paid for a cup of tea each from the club house and said it left a lot to be desired.
The track was live at 9am and the call went out for the riders in the first session to go to the holding area. It was raining quite hard and, to begin with, there were only a couple of bikes to be heard out there.
Graham and Janet arrived and I made everyone bacon sandwiches for brunch and at 11.15am the boys decided to fire up the Rob North and get it warm.
The four of them huddled round the bike but it wouldn’t start. It was such a shame. It went fine in the garage at home.Then they took the carb covers off and it nearly fired but by 12.40am the well-flooded plugs still wouldn’t produce a spark. The plugs went on the stove and the time ticked by and the bike wouldn’t start. Graham spent so long trying to fire it up he had to refuel the starter, and it only gets refuelled twice a year.
Chris went out on the RPS to get a bit of track practice but, having had the North apart, that was the bike which really needed testing.
While waiting for the North Chris took Brendan’s bike out for a session to run it in for him.
Martin cast his eye over the RPS and noticed the bolt for the rear brake torque arm had come off in the last session. Very, very luckily Chris rarely uses the rear brake so he brought it home in one piece.
The Rob North finally fired and Chris did one session on it and it ran perfectly. Well done boys! Next time I will find something to hang on the carb covers that is so embarrassing Martin will want to rip them off at the earliest opportunity.
It had been a rather wet day on and off with a strong gusty wind that tried to make off with our gazebo. Thank you Martin for re-securing the back of it when he noticed the peg had been ripped out of the ground. What would we do without him.
During the evening the wind died down and the sky cleared. The night before the full moon.
Saturday 4th April 2015
Good practice on both bikes then a long, long hold up in one of the early races with the fire engine and the circuit car on the track. Poor Reg Squires got taken out by another rider on the first lap in PRACTICE. He broke his collar bone. Team W.A.N.C.A wish you a speedy recovery Reg.
In Chris’ first race, in the Unlimited's, he was drawn 17th!!! on the grid. Rob Whittey did a flying start (in fact all his starts were flying all weekend) Chris made his way swiftly through the pack and came in 4th on the road, 3rd in class with Rob 1st, Mike Russell 2nd, Cormac 3rd.
Alan Major started the weekend in fine fashion winning his first race.
In the F750 Chris on the RPS started 7th, finished 3rd behind Rob, with Alan Oversby in 1st place. Due to Pembrey’s timing equipment malfunctioning Chris again had to start in 17th place in his second Unlimited's. This time he managed a very respectable 3rd on the track, 2nd in class behind Rob Whittey. Mike Russell was 1st and 1st in his class. If they think Chris is starting 17th again Sunday they’ve got another think coming followed by a baseball bat.
In the RPS second race of the day Chris again did not start in the position he’d gained in the previous race. I can’t tell you where he came because there was no time sheet and I can’t remember.
We were blessed with lovely weather and a wonderfully clear night with the full moon. Mike had mentioned that he’d heard there was to be a ‘Super Moon’ that weekend but we all agreed it looked the same as always that night.
Much later that evening Martin noticed Chris was all Smurfed up – his hands, face and beard were all blue. It transpired that Chris’ brand new snazzy trousers had no dye-lock in them and he’d been rubbing his face with his blue dye stained hands.
Sunday 5th April 2015
Another beautiful sunny day. Chris on the North had a bad start in the first Unlimited's of the day. (aka National) Still he managed to finish 5th on the track, 4th in class.
He said he had a very blurry right eye. He has had his prescription contact lens updated and is now a 2.5 in one eye and a 2.75 in the other. They seemed to have been okay Friday and Saturday but today, even swapping them left to right and inside out, he couldn’t work out why there was a problem. Finally he removed the contact lens and decided he could see better without it. Then he realised he was wearing one on top of the other.
In the first F750 race Chris was going well and he’d just got in front of Cormac and hoping to put some distance between them when, at the Esses, he lost the back end and cautiously backed off the throttle for the next couple of corners by which time Cormac had howled past him again. Another 5th on the road, 4th in class.
We stopped for lunch and Sue Wale called by. We asked her if she missed doing her thing in the holding area and she said she did very much but she was pleased by the number of riders who still asked her if she’d, like before, pat them on the bottom for good luck before a race.
Unlimited's again and Chris finished 4th, 2nd in class and in the F750 he finished 2nd, 2nd in class. Cormac took a tumble and broke a bone in his left hand and his collar bone again. Is that ten times now Cormac? We wish him well. He’s so brave he’ll not let a couple of pesky smashed bones stop him from being at Cadwell. Oh, but the pain! It makes my eyes water.
We had an early finish compared to most race meetings and we were all packed up and ready to leave pretty much as racing finished. The circuit looked like a landfill as no bins had been emptied the three days we had been there. None of the other circuits are like that.
We headed for home followed by Martin and Mike and as we neared Slough Mike got his ‘Super Moon’, a huge red spectacle on the horizon. Very impressive.
Our last job of the day, putting the caravan back in the drive was hampered by a flat battery. We had to leave most of the caravan in the road while the battery charged. There’s always something.
Thank you everyone for your help and company. See you at Cadwell Park.
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife
Mike Pink was joining us for this meeting. He and Martin picked up the North while Chris and I were at work and they headed off to South Wales to call in on a friend before heading to the circuit.
After a very early start and a hectic day I managed to be home by 4.30pm and pulled all our gear out of the garage and onto the drive.
We set off at 7.15pm and had to detach the caravan from the van and push it round the first corner of our road due to the other residents’ being rubbish at parking.
When we arrived at the circuit Martin and Mike had already gone to sleep but they had spread themselves out as much as they could to save space for us. It was a perfect location. It rained on and off and was quite breezy so we kept leaping into the van for shelter. After nearly parking the van on Mike’s very small and black tent we clattered about for a while getting the bike out of the caravan and putting the legs down (Martin popped his sleepy head out of his tent briefly) and we were closing our eyes at 2.06am.
It started to pour with rain and, with both my ear plugs in, it took me a while to realise that Chris was out of bed again and leaning out of the caravan door. Apparently there was a very loud and constant drip-dripping of water from the roof onto one of the caravan’s plastic wheel arches and it was like torture. I told him that Gavin had sorted it once by placing a cloth on the wheel arch to deaden the noise. Chris did that and everything was quiet again.
After that excitement I was awake for ages while Chris went out like a light. Typical.
Test day - Friday 3rd
We had a bit of a lie-in and got up at 8am.
Once the gazebo was up we made tea. As they were awake before us Martin and Mike had paid for a cup of tea each from the club house and said it left a lot to be desired.
The track was live at 9am and the call went out for the riders in the first session to go to the holding area. It was raining quite hard and, to begin with, there were only a couple of bikes to be heard out there.
Graham and Janet arrived and I made everyone bacon sandwiches for brunch and at 11.15am the boys decided to fire up the Rob North and get it warm.
The four of them huddled round the bike but it wouldn’t start. It was such a shame. It went fine in the garage at home.Then they took the carb covers off and it nearly fired but by 12.40am the well-flooded plugs still wouldn’t produce a spark. The plugs went on the stove and the time ticked by and the bike wouldn’t start. Graham spent so long trying to fire it up he had to refuel the starter, and it only gets refuelled twice a year.
Chris went out on the RPS to get a bit of track practice but, having had the North apart, that was the bike which really needed testing.
While waiting for the North Chris took Brendan’s bike out for a session to run it in for him.
Martin cast his eye over the RPS and noticed the bolt for the rear brake torque arm had come off in the last session. Very, very luckily Chris rarely uses the rear brake so he brought it home in one piece.
The Rob North finally fired and Chris did one session on it and it ran perfectly. Well done boys! Next time I will find something to hang on the carb covers that is so embarrassing Martin will want to rip them off at the earliest opportunity.
It had been a rather wet day on and off with a strong gusty wind that tried to make off with our gazebo. Thank you Martin for re-securing the back of it when he noticed the peg had been ripped out of the ground. What would we do without him.
During the evening the wind died down and the sky cleared. The night before the full moon.
Saturday 4th April 2015
Good practice on both bikes then a long, long hold up in one of the early races with the fire engine and the circuit car on the track. Poor Reg Squires got taken out by another rider on the first lap in PRACTICE. He broke his collar bone. Team W.A.N.C.A wish you a speedy recovery Reg.
In Chris’ first race, in the Unlimited's, he was drawn 17th!!! on the grid. Rob Whittey did a flying start (in fact all his starts were flying all weekend) Chris made his way swiftly through the pack and came in 4th on the road, 3rd in class with Rob 1st, Mike Russell 2nd, Cormac 3rd.
Alan Major started the weekend in fine fashion winning his first race.
In the F750 Chris on the RPS started 7th, finished 3rd behind Rob, with Alan Oversby in 1st place. Due to Pembrey’s timing equipment malfunctioning Chris again had to start in 17th place in his second Unlimited's. This time he managed a very respectable 3rd on the track, 2nd in class behind Rob Whittey. Mike Russell was 1st and 1st in his class. If they think Chris is starting 17th again Sunday they’ve got another think coming followed by a baseball bat.
In the RPS second race of the day Chris again did not start in the position he’d gained in the previous race. I can’t tell you where he came because there was no time sheet and I can’t remember.
We were blessed with lovely weather and a wonderfully clear night with the full moon. Mike had mentioned that he’d heard there was to be a ‘Super Moon’ that weekend but we all agreed it looked the same as always that night.
Much later that evening Martin noticed Chris was all Smurfed up – his hands, face and beard were all blue. It transpired that Chris’ brand new snazzy trousers had no dye-lock in them and he’d been rubbing his face with his blue dye stained hands.
Sunday 5th April 2015
Another beautiful sunny day. Chris on the North had a bad start in the first Unlimited's of the day. (aka National) Still he managed to finish 5th on the track, 4th in class.
He said he had a very blurry right eye. He has had his prescription contact lens updated and is now a 2.5 in one eye and a 2.75 in the other. They seemed to have been okay Friday and Saturday but today, even swapping them left to right and inside out, he couldn’t work out why there was a problem. Finally he removed the contact lens and decided he could see better without it. Then he realised he was wearing one on top of the other.
In the first F750 race Chris was going well and he’d just got in front of Cormac and hoping to put some distance between them when, at the Esses, he lost the back end and cautiously backed off the throttle for the next couple of corners by which time Cormac had howled past him again. Another 5th on the road, 4th in class.
We stopped for lunch and Sue Wale called by. We asked her if she missed doing her thing in the holding area and she said she did very much but she was pleased by the number of riders who still asked her if she’d, like before, pat them on the bottom for good luck before a race.
Unlimited's again and Chris finished 4th, 2nd in class and in the F750 he finished 2nd, 2nd in class. Cormac took a tumble and broke a bone in his left hand and his collar bone again. Is that ten times now Cormac? We wish him well. He’s so brave he’ll not let a couple of pesky smashed bones stop him from being at Cadwell. Oh, but the pain! It makes my eyes water.
We had an early finish compared to most race meetings and we were all packed up and ready to leave pretty much as racing finished. The circuit looked like a landfill as no bins had been emptied the three days we had been there. None of the other circuits are like that.
We headed for home followed by Martin and Mike and as we neared Slough Mike got his ‘Super Moon’, a huge red spectacle on the horizon. Very impressive.
Our last job of the day, putting the caravan back in the drive was hampered by a flat battery. We had to leave most of the caravan in the road while the battery charged. There’s always something.
Thank you everyone for your help and company. See you at Cadwell Park.
Jane Chapman - Long Suffering Wife