BROKEN TEETH KNOCKS ME OUT IN THE FINAL ROUND

Not quite the end to the season I was hoping for. After a luckless year things took a turn for the worse at Cadwell Park during Friday’s practice. A mechanical failure in the gearbox ended my hopes of a third and possibly – although it would’ve been a tall order – a second place in the Golden Era Superbikes Championship.

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A cold and wet start on Friday, but soon things started to warm up.

 

The first morning session was wet so I just went out, nice and smooth to get the track into my head again. It was a good long session and quickly got the feel of the circuit again even in the wet – it felt good.

In the second session it was only just beginning to dry with quite a lot of wet areas off the line so I had to really concentrate with slicks on, placing the bike within the drying line. It was good practice at being precise though, and I soon found my rhythm.

The third session, just before lunch, was much better. The track was starting to dry out although still wet in some areas. I was able to push the bike into the mid 1.39’s, not a fast time by any means, but wasn’t too bad on a knackered slick from the previous round on a track that was not completely dry.

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As the track dried out, Cadwell began to feel like its old self again.

 

After lunch I had new rubber on the ZX7R with my old favourite: the Metzeler Racetec. I couldn’t wait to get cracking. The bike was going faster than the previous meeting there. It felt so much quicker with different gearing and I managed to stay with the more powerful bikes on the straights, which really surprised me! Everything felt perfect and I really got into the flow once I got few clear laps under my belt. I went 2 seconds quicker even though it was still wet through the Gooseneck and going into the bottom of the Mountain – 1.37.6 best time. I knew I had a lot more in me, and the bike too. I was looking forward to the next session.

I made a couple of adjustments to rear suspension and was out again on track. This is when it all went wrong. After about 2-laps, coming through the Gooseneck and into Mansfield, there was a terrible, loud noise accompanied by a deep shudder coming from the engine. A noise when you instinctively know that nothing good could possibly come from it. My heart sank as smoke started to rise from below.

I could see that there was oil in the belly panel when I pulled in just before the Mountain where my Dad met me – looking very worried. We pushed the bike back to the paddock and started the investigation. It was definitely gearbox, but the oil in the belly panel alarmed us both.

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Taking out the clutch revealed a broken tensioner, but the real problem was further inside.

 

Anyway, we took out the clutch, with a bit of help from Andy Chalice’s buzz gun, to find a broken drive chain tensioner. Once we took the sump off we found the debris in the bottom: three gear teeth, bits of metal and the rest of the tensioner. It was all over. Without a spare engine we were left with no alternative but to pack up and return home.

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Losing three teeth from the gearbox meant a premature end to my season.

Richard Blunt kindly offered me his bike when I told him what had happened, but I just couldn’t bring myself to accept. It didn’t feel right him handing me 3rd place in the championship without a fight. After all, he was the one challenging me for it. It was a nice gesture though. I was glad to see him win all 4 races later.

Looking back I’ve really enjoyed my return to racing this year. I’ve had a trophy from every meeting, apart from this one and Oulton Park and I can honestly say that at the beginning of the year I didn’t even think I would be anywhere near the front runners at the end of the season with the bike I had.

Well it’s all over until Brands Hatch again next year and we have much work to do on the new engines and the bike. All the parts – thanks to Wiseco and Carrillo – are with us now; we just need the cranks and re-bored cylinder blocks back and in a couple of weeks we can get started again for next year. It can’t come quick enough. I’ve got my sights set on top spot next year… a bit more luck would go amiss though!

Thanks to my sponsors: Kais Suspension, R&G Racing, Cradley Kawasaki, Holbeach Tyres, TA Creative, Opie Oils and Bike Torque Racing. For next year I would like to thank Wiseco and Carrillo in the USA for joining in with us and all for their help and advice so far.

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