Round 9 Thruxton

After the long trips to Snett and Cadwell which are both in Holland I think, the hour and a bit to Thruxton was pure bliss. It would have been quicker but we own the slowest Transit van in the whole world. The poor thing had to tow our "new" caravan and I had to use first gear to get up Marlborough hill!.
Once there I found a spot with loads of space so I could set up the huge awning with ease, this was great till the wind started howling across the airfield and the awning turned into a sail, poor Khia was trying to hold one end but was getting lifted right off her feet and we managed to bend three poles it was that strong. Strangely though as soon as it was up the wind died down, bloody typical!
Had a quiet night and a lovely sleep until 6;15 am when the entire cast of Eastenders set up there awning two inches from our caravan and started clanging jerry cans into it. I was proper annoyed so yelled at them but they didn't seem to get it and carried on"Givin it all Thaat" and worst of all playing Faithless over and over and I hate Faithless!!!! They turned out to be Mini-twiners from another club so hopefully wont be seeing them again.
Practice was a bit slippy so took it fairly easy but was really up for the Sound of Thunder quali race and got away really well with the leaders just in front. I was struggling with the braking point into the last chicane and lost places most laps but the guys getting by were all front runners so I wasn't that concerned and was pleased with my 9th place out of a full grid of 35.
Next up was the 600 quali race and I lined up next to team mate Dazza so when the lights went out I shot off in front of him and got my head down and tagged onto the second group of racers and really could have got amongst them but for one guy riding like a complete twat trying to go under people at really crap places without a hope of keeping to the line, this slowed me a bit and was happy to stay behind what I thought was going to be carnage! Again I was happy with 12th with Daz a few places behind.
The SoT Final was brilliant and again the only guys that got by me were either ex class champions and currant front runners, it really would be great to have longer races at Thruxton because its pure joy to ride and I can see where I'm losing time to my rivals so more track time would sort it I think. By finishing 11th I earned a signature towards my national licence so I was well chuffed.
In the 600 final I was confident I could do the double over Daz and again tagged onto the same group where the same guy was cutting everyone up till he went straight on at Seagrave so with him now behind me I put the hammer down and did some good laps wanting to get away from him, but it wasn't to be as I did the same thing at Seagrave and he and Dazza went by, I gradually reeled in Daz but wasn't close enough to get by and as is the norm at Thruxton we crossed the line with a fag paper between us in 13th and 14th.
Overall a great days racing with more new personal best laps and I'm still riding in my comfort zone so there should be more to come. Pembrey next and I would love to get a 1;02 lap

Round 7 Cadwell Park

Another long distance trek but this time in "comfort" of our new Transit van, when I say new it cost £800 so you guess what its like. The journey was broken up by trying to guess the radio code to try and drown out the noise of the engine with but with no success.
Its always a worthwhile trip up though, Cadwell is fantastic and I'd love to be able to ride there more often to crack the circuit.
The Sound of Thunder quali race was fun but I eased off a bit on the last lap and a guy tried to take me at the Gooseneck but I held my ground and we banged together with his clutch lever taking a big gouge out of my bodywork! I knew he would try again so went defensive into the hair pin but he was already by my side so we nearly hit again and he got through, this made me hit neutral and another Triumph appeared next to me and we had a drag race to the line but he just pipped me putting me 10th.Fair play to the bloke I clashed with, we had a good laugh about his clutch lever bent up and his front tyre marks on my leg!
For once it stayed dry all day and absolutely loved the SoT final, got away well but the sub 1;40 guys gradually crept away but I was gaining on the Triumph that pipped me on the line. Instead of concentrating about him I just tried to ride smoother and it worked, finally making the pass after the Gooseneck. After getting by I started getting faster and missed out on a 1;43 by 0.5 but the main thing is I'm really enjoying riding again so am sure the lap times will come down.
8th place made me sure I would get a signature but to many bikes DNF'd so that will have to wait.
As we started the journey home the black clouds appeared and it looks like we got the best day because Sunday was a washout in Lincolnshire but I spent the afternoon on my allotment and all was good with the world.