he’d takenflight withabig high-side andthese are
only 50bhp bikes, so how bad could it be?Well, by
his own admissionGazis 20-stone in kit, so we
reckonedeventheTarmac winced when he landed...
Twolaps later and theracewasredflagged.A
rider hadtucked the front atEdwina’sandafurther
two riders got caughtupinthe incident. Three bikes
were now strewn across the trackand the ambulance
was out. As we lined back up in our starting
positions on the gridIrealisedthat Nick wasnot
there. Rushing to the end of this tale, all riders were
fine, but of thefourCB500s lined up in our spot in
the paddockIwas the onlyone left withthree more
racesaheadofme.
Itwashardtocontinuethatdayasnobodywants
toseeanyonegethurtanditwasastarkreminderof
whatcouldhappen.ButwithNickandJamesboth
sportingslingswithbrokenfingersandthumbsand
Garymovingslowerandslowerasthedayprogressed
Ihadtocarryon.Again,likethenervesIcontinually
suffer,mydoubtsdisappearedassoonasthebike
wasrunningandIwasheadingoutonthecircuit.
Thenextracewasoneofmybest,losingalengthybattle with #65 Jamie Page as wetraded places for
funover the finalthree laps,finally gettingbeaten
on the linebyamere 0.028 ofasecond.
In the endIdid maintain my last man standing
statusinround three,and remember whatIsaid
about luck?Well, it was my turn to have morethan
my fairshare as in thethird raceIfelt my front
brake wasalittle spongy–Istupidly carriedon.
Onceagain at my favouritespot at Mallory I
approachedEdwina’satpace and had no brakesat
all.Ihadto go straight on–cutthe nose offof a
fellowcompetitor who had to avoid measIhit a
cone, bending up my rear brakeandIfinally
trundledalongsidetheArmcoandparkedup.
Mybrakepadshaddisintegratedandonceagain,I
hadthelion’sshareofluckonTeamBridgestone.I
knewstartingthisracinglarkIwouldhaveahuge
amounttolearn,butIhadreallyunderestimatedthe
emotionalrollercoasterthatIwouldbestrapping
myselfinto.Ithadbeenquitearound.Earlyeveningatrace
eventsisprettycool...
Charlie safe behind
the Armco!And they're off! Cake time!James and Nick
injured!mechanics