troutslayer
21-05-2007, 05:10 PM
official trouty report can now be found at http://www.curzonweb.co.uk complete with pics and witty captions :)
well bugger my boots, that was an interesting day... and lady luck must have been watching over me! no rain, and qual'd in 22nd with 1'08 (remember i was timed at consistent 1'11s in the wet) so i had the wrong gearing for the dry, but went with it anyway.
Race one, got away from the lights well and tipped into Gerards 5th gear in around 12th position. I was carrying a bit more speed into the entry than those immediately in front and either side, couldnt go anywhere so closed the throttle down to bring my pace down to match, when someone ahead touched a brake, the guy in front but slightly to my right stood it up momentarily, his back wheel clipped my front wheel and suddenly i was running off the tarmac at circa 110mph, across the grass, through the gravel and towards the tyre wall. Somehow kept it upright and got it under control about 6feet from the tyre wall... rejoined the track in last (28th) and could see the tail end of the pack already going through Edwina's. I went on a bit of a mission to catch up. With 8 people that did not finish, and 5 that i caught and passed, i finished 15th. just 4 seconds behind 14th and only 10 seconds behind 10th! Even after my rather sphincter trembling excursion, i managed to lap 3 seconds a lap quicker than my qualifying time!
Race 2 was ok... good start from 22nd place, went into gerards about 14th, but the race 1 incident was in my mind and i found myself braking for the corner a bit too much/early, also i had a couple of passing opportunities that i decided to back down from as they were a bit too risky. Ended up in a 6 or 7 way battle for 11th but finished 14th. I was ½ sec per lap slower than in the 1st race, but still posting 1'05s.
I'm not sure how these results affect the standings. After the first race, i had moved up into 8th overall - not bad considering i gave everyone around a minute headstart! But havent been able to do the maths to see where i am overall after the 2nd race
well bugger my boots, that was an interesting day... and lady luck must have been watching over me! no rain, and qual'd in 22nd with 1'08 (remember i was timed at consistent 1'11s in the wet) so i had the wrong gearing for the dry, but went with it anyway.
Race one, got away from the lights well and tipped into Gerards 5th gear in around 12th position. I was carrying a bit more speed into the entry than those immediately in front and either side, couldnt go anywhere so closed the throttle down to bring my pace down to match, when someone ahead touched a brake, the guy in front but slightly to my right stood it up momentarily, his back wheel clipped my front wheel and suddenly i was running off the tarmac at circa 110mph, across the grass, through the gravel and towards the tyre wall. Somehow kept it upright and got it under control about 6feet from the tyre wall... rejoined the track in last (28th) and could see the tail end of the pack already going through Edwina's. I went on a bit of a mission to catch up. With 8 people that did not finish, and 5 that i caught and passed, i finished 15th. just 4 seconds behind 14th and only 10 seconds behind 10th! Even after my rather sphincter trembling excursion, i managed to lap 3 seconds a lap quicker than my qualifying time!
Race 2 was ok... good start from 22nd place, went into gerards about 14th, but the race 1 incident was in my mind and i found myself braking for the corner a bit too much/early, also i had a couple of passing opportunities that i decided to back down from as they were a bit too risky. Ended up in a 6 or 7 way battle for 11th but finished 14th. I was ½ sec per lap slower than in the 1st race, but still posting 1'05s.
I'm not sure how these results affect the standings. After the first race, i had moved up into 8th overall - not bad considering i gave everyone around a minute headstart! But havent been able to do the maths to see where i am overall after the 2nd race