3 of 5… Hottrax Practice

Hey hey… so there it is, a day pretty much the same as yesterday. I suppose I’ve become a bit of a weather reporter really… first thing I do but yeah a few dry sessions this morning and we just messed about with the gearing a bit and it was all good. Peter Baker had an off , coming together with another guy and all about half a metre in front of me… how i didn’t go off with them i don’t know. So yeah it got everything moving, that’s for sure… and we got out there me and Paul, tried to put in as hot a laps as we could… but I must admit it didn’t feel like i was really learning anything, was more just riding round in circles which sometimes sets you back a bit really to be honest. Then the rain come down during lunch and i was actually quite excited to get back out in it cos brands was he only time I’ve raced in the rain… i mean you can’t have big egos in the rain and say yeah I’m fucking great, but i loved it I really did. People often talk about the wet and how it smooths you out, and yeah it does. I was a bit more physical with the bike, to sort of stand it up and get on the gas sooner… but I’m writing this now cos I’m so buzzed and really enjoying it. And some really fast guys out there today man… you get on the back of them and they take you into some of them bends in the wet… and you really get to know what the wets can do. The performance isn’t far off road tyres out on track… amazing. If i could get those working that really would be something else, but you know what, I’m not the slowest man out on track, thats all that matters. I’ve got a smile on my face… that matters, I’m enjoying the company of the people I’m in the garage with… all cool guys. We got Peter Baker in with us… Wag, who’s a Manx rider and a cool lad… and Derek Redmond’s next door. they’re all nice faces and thats why we do it really, hanging out with your mates and doing what you love… thats why we’re here isn’t it? So anyway… tomorrow… more weather, haha…

Be good,

Flinty

Yeah so its Friday, the day before the race weekend… and it’s been an interesting day… with a mixture of wet and dry conditions, it’s almost exactly the same as yesterday. We started out with a bit of practice on the dry tyres after the torrential rain yesterday afternoon,  and it was good… we made a couple of changes to the bike which made it do exactly what i wanted, and its feels fucking brilliant to be sitting on a motorcycle again and feeling like i can make it do what i want. And I’m enjoying it again, which i haven’t been recently. I’ve been a little bit scared of it really, kind of going through the motions and doing it all, but not really enjoying it or wanting to be here… but that turned around today and it’s a big positive for the weekend. So naturally, being Snetterton and the middle of summer, the weather didn’t last long and this afternoon we’ve had the wets on again… been out, had a bit of a splash around, got used to the wet settings again. Keith’s riding brilliantly, I’m happy with the way I’m riding… and though haven’t checked who we’re up against this weekend, we’re reasonably confident for the race… you never can tell, and need a bit of luck on our side, but wet or dry, our settings are good and we’re up for it… so away we go!

Nice one,

Paul