Round 4: Oulton Park

Don’t get greedy on the slow bits…

After a good day’s practice on the Friday, we were in high spirits and looking forward to racing when Saturday dawned.

A slight change in the timetable, following on from the overrun at Anglesey, with qualifying scheduled for 8.45 and the race at 1pm. Before every race day starts, the rider briefing takes place on the pitlane. This is really essential as the riders and timekeepers can also ask questions. The day was declared wet and at the end of the briefing a vote was taken – should the race run to 3.5 hours as suggested?  We voted for the longer race – and the majority carried it.  For us, the more track time we get the more we learn and the more we are able to push the team. That’s what helps us improve and get stronger, as individuals and together, so we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to mix it up a bit!

Qually went well. The weather conditions were really changeable and we qualified a very respectable 2^nd in our class.  Ben wanted to make some adjustments to his bike, but really the big questions of the day were going to be around tyre choices. Anyone who watches or races will knowthat making the right decisions on tyres can be race winning, or losing, calls. The problem was, the weather kept changing every 20 minutes…

It was a full-on morning in the garage with a great vibe and journalists, photographers and sponsors around. Time seemed to be racing to the earlier start and at 12.20 we refocused, had our team meeting and got our strategy agreed.  The team meeting is a crucial part of our race ritual and important to all of us, so it always happens, without fail.

So, the lights went out and Ben was out first as usual. It was dry so we’d plumped for slicks. We got a great start and then the rain came. There was definitely a feeling of deja-vu after Snetterton!!  After 4 -5 laps Ben decided to come in so we did the first changeover and out went Keith on wets. About 4 laps later it stopped raining…and so began the pattern of the day.  It didn’t seem to matter what tyres we went out on, about 5 minutes later the weather did the complete opposite and we had to readjust.

At one point we had a bit of drama where Keith came in and the tyre choice hadn’t been made quick enough on Ben’s bike so it wasn’t ready. As soon as he realised he was off out again, and luckily we didn’t lose too much time. We did, however, pick up a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane somewhere along the line.  But it all added to the drama of the day, and luckily by this time we were well ahead of our nearest rivals on the track.

We claimed a hard fought win in our class. By the end of the 3.5 hours we had done 9 stops - the most we’ve ever done in any race, but the buzz from winning takes the stress away!!!  It goes to show, when the conditions are that variable, the real strength is the whole team’s ability to adapt quickly.  We’re still learning with every race, but as championship class leaders 4 races in, we’re more than happy with that!!!