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| Snetterton 12th-13th April 2008 |
Snetterton 12th-13th April 2008
Firstly many apologies for not getting these two reports up on time. Its been very busy here in the shop now the good weather is upon us which traditionally signals the start of the biking season. We have also added some new systems which have taken a little time to integrate.
Snetterton was a main championship round for Steve and a test round for myself, therefore i had taken the plunge and entered the Powerbikes. Possibly not the best circuit in the UK to be on a 600 in a class full of litre capacity powerbikes. Tracktime though was something I needed so we came to the conclusion that as Steve was riding that weekend, 3 days on track in whatever class would be a huge benefit.
Friday testing went well and Saturday morning started with a 15 minute qualifying. This was good for me as it meant that I wouldnt have to start from the back of the championship points scorers, well as long as i qualified ok!.
With both of us determined to get good grid slots it was head down from the off to give ourselves the best chance of a clear track. This strategy worked well giving Steve a 4th place, front row position and myself a 15th position on the grid from 34 qualifiers. I was very happy with this as Snetterton is a track that suits big powered bikes. Being upto 70bhp down on the majority of the field any points would be a bonus for me.
This is where the race weekend took on a deju vu kind of feeling. Saturday race days dawned dry, sunny and fairly warm. Race one went very well for both of us with Steve comming home in 4th and myself in 17th. Race two though was a little different. Literally 2 mins before we were due out on track the drizzle started. I was on Racetecs so wasnt too bothered, but as normal for the Powerbike class, the majority were on slicks. We managed to start the warm up lap when the rain really started comming down hard. It was soon red flagged and we were sent back to the paddock to change to wets for safety reasons.
So back on the grid I got a storming start as normal and was up with the leading pack into the first two turns. Steve hadnt got a great start and I even managed to pass him on the entrance to Sears. He soon powered back past me on the straight though. I stuck with him for 2 laps until he started to pull away. The track wasnt offering much in the way of grip or feedback with it being now quite cold. I decided not to take any chances as this was only a test weekend for me. Steve came home in 8th and myself a strong 11th after the race was red flagged due to an incident.
Sunday again dawned dry, bright and warm. Same conditions then as Saturday. Race one again went well with me starting to get there with the bike setup. Its a big learning curve after racing the SV as the 600 requires more setup and more thought regarding the gearing. I was pleased to come home again in 17th having fended off attacks from an R1 and GSXR1000 and a best of a 1.15.3 which isnt too bad for first time racing the 600 at this circuit. Steve did very well again also having worked on his setup and just missed out on a 3rd place by half a second.
So to Deja Vu. 2 minutes before the second race it started raining again. But the meeting had already been called wet due to some drizzle half an hour before. This meant that if you went out on slicks the race wouldnt be stopped and re-started. Sadly Steve did not manage to get the wheel change completed in time on his bike and I only just managed to make the start from pitlane (thanks to all those that helped!). Five of us lined up in pitlane to start what was going to be a very wet race. Standing water on most of the track made visability hard and braking hard difficult. I just kept plugging along overtaking a fair few riders on the first two lap |
| Race Date: 07/05/2008 |
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