The recent Bank Holiday weekend saw us all hike across the country to Pembrey, in South Wales. The weather was predicted to be a mixed bag, so the racing was always going to be full of surprises. Leon was again out on the RVF 400 and the R6, James was on his ZXR 400 and I was there to do the full weekend for a change.
So, what happened then? Well, Saturday started very wet indeed. And just as we thought it was drying out, it would chuck it down again! In fact, the weather kept us guessing in much the same way Cadwell Park did! Leon went out for warm-up on the R6 and got to grips early with the tricky conditions. The 400s were then out on track, and I intended to take it nice and steady to learn the track. I'd never been to Pembrey before, so this seemed the best course of action. All was going quite well as I gently felt my way round the track. Midway through the session, as I was taking the right-hander at 'The Esses', I was aware of a very fast RVF which was hurtling round the outside f me...yep...it was Leon who was clearly 'In The Zone'. The problem was, though, I had just slightly lifted the bike as I cautiously took the apex. And it was at this precise point that Leon was next to me...he clipped my clutch lever and sent me in to a bit of a wobble. I'm not sure how I stayed up, but I did and gave Leon the thumbs up in front of me as he had politely looked over his shoulder to see if I was ok. I then just got my head down and carried on. A couple of laps later I remember seeing James come past me down the start and finish straight. I was just approaching the very tight hairpin and pulled the clutch to change down...but it fell straight off! The bang from Leon had obviously weakened the metal and it took a few laps to decide to drop off. So I slowed right up and pulled in behind the safety barriers at the bottom of the 'Hairpin'. Oh, and one of the marshals kindly went and found the lever...not that it's much use anymore though!
It wasn't long before Mike had fitted me a new clutch and we were all looking forward to the races. Let's start with the Co-Ordit 600. The qualifying race was a wet one, and Leon was to start from grid number 34! Grid placings outside of the top two rows are random set, but to stick Leon on the back of the grid just didn't make sense. Oh well, I guess you work with what you're given. So it was going to be a tough race for Leon, and he doesn't yet have a wet set-up for the R6 that he's happy with. Anyway, Leon got away as well as you'd expect him to. And it wasn't long before he had carved his way through the field to finish a very credible twenty third place. Some of the overtaking manoeuvres down the back straight were a joy to watch.. .and his lap times were somewhat quicker than a good handful of riders in front of him. So the points race was going to be a much better grid position, but was still going to be tough for Leon to land some points. Again, Leon got off well...and very quickly made his way through the field. He worked hard to get himself up to a fantastic eleventh place...and earn some valuable points too. Plus he managed to record the fourth fastest lap time of the race, not bad considering he was making his way through the pack the entire time!
Now let's look at the 400s...race one was a wet one, so it was going to be tricky. But we all got away well (although that first hairpin corner was a little hairy), and soon the race hit it's natural rhythm. Leon rode a fast, yet steady race to bring it home fourth in class and eighth overall. James finished fifteenth and I finished just inside the top twenty in nineteenth place (both in-class results). The leaders started to come past me a couple of laps from the end, and it was good to see Leon up there in the mix. So a good first race was had. By the time the points race was upon us the weather really couldn't decide what to do. It seemed like it wanted, and was sporadically light raining, but the track appeared to be dry. So it was a tough call. Leon decided to go with a wet front and dry rear...I wasn't quite so confident and opted for full wets. James went for full drys. When we got out on track it was obvious that I had made the wrong decision! The track was dry, so I pulled in on the first lap to preserve the tyres. Leon, however, stayed out on his wet front and pushed hard right at the front of the field. He managed to finish second in class and record the fastest lap of the race. But he well and truly killed his wet front! And he caught an almost certain 'off' on his knee towards the end of the race. An amazing ride from Leon. James went well to finish an excellent eleventh place and more useful points.
And so to Sunday...which saw the sun well and truly come out to play. It was a very welcome sight indeed! Now, this day was a different race day than usual. It was an anniversary event called the 'Prince of Pembrey' and was a ten year celebration of the NG Road Racing club. The format of the day was to be based on lap times and not on classes. So, we all went out for a qualifying session to deter our race groups. There were five groups in total...Leon was, as you'd expect, placed in the top group, James was in group four and I was in group five. James' group was out first, and his first race saw him get a great start (up to fifth) but dropped back down the field slightly towards the end of the race to finish tenth. It was a solid race though, and he managed to record the fifth fastest lap of the race. In race two James made another solid start, but it seeemed obvious early on that he had some kind of problem. He pulled in after a few laps, with what turned out to be a gearbox problem...so unfortunately James was to take no further part in the weekends racing action. Bugger!
Leon was next up in the main event - the 'Prince of Pembrey'. This was the race full of the very best riders of the day. And Leon certainly didn't disappoint. Race one saw him get off to a flyer and quickly settle in to fifth position, which he held strong right to the chequered flag to be the leading 600 rider. Race two was another terrific display from Leon. Again he got off to a great start and was soon up to fifth as he was in race one. But by putting in some incredible lap times (his best being a 1:00:70) it wasn't long before Leon was up to fourth position, which is where he finished. And was good enough to put him fourth place in the overall standings...a fantastic achievement indeed!
Finally I was out in my group. Race one was fun, I started seventeenth on the grid and managed to ride a reasonably solid race to finish one better in sixteenth. And my lap times were coming down with every race that I completed, so I was excited about race two. However, race two was bearly under way (in was, in fact on lap one) when I got hit on my left handlbar again. I remember rolling off the throttle (probably a little too much) shortly before the final corner. Alisdair Rowland-Rouse was still 'on it' though right behind me...and before I knew it he was right alongside me and the front wheel was violently shaking its' head! My left handlebar was pushed forward too, making it impossible to ride. And negotiating that last corner was probably the best single piece of riding I've ever done. So i cruised to a halt at the hairpin and tried to straighten things out a little, and carried on. But things just didn't feel right, so I decided to call it a day and pulled in. Oh well, that's racing I suppose, and I still had Monday to look forward to.
Monday again saw the sun beaming down on us. And Leon seemed up for the day ahead, in fact I remember hearing him say that today was a good day to break the 400 lap record. But first up was the qualifying race for the 600 event, and again Leon was stuck at the back of the grid(!). So he was really going to have to work hard to get up to a decent finishing position. He did just that! Right from the off Leon was obviously on a mi55ion...I think he was up to twelfth on the opening lap! He then started picking the riders off in front of him one by one, and before we knew it Leon found himself in a four-way fight for fifth position. He was looking good to take that fifth place too, that was until they hit the backmarkers. But Leon still managed to keep his cool and bring the bike home in an amazing seventh place. A truly heroic ride from Leon, and would put him on row two for the points race later on. Oh and Leon recorded the fastest lap of the race. Awesome!
Next up was the qualifying race for the 400s. Leon was starting on the front row...and I was starting somewhere at the back of the grid. We all got away comfortably and with little drama. I settled in to my natural rhythm and was enjoying riding in such good weather conditions. It was towards the end of the race that the leaders started to come past me. Leon was obviously one of them...and was the leading 400 machine by a good few seconds. He came past (round the outside of me) on the fast left-hander, and he was leaning so far off the bike that he almost had his whole body touching the tarmac! It was clear that Leon was really pushing hard indeed. And he was...because Leon went and smashed the club lap record with a lap time of 1:02:09! Incredible! But then he had said earlier that he was going to do it...well done Leon, another fantastic ride.
Next up was the points race for the 600 event. With Leon starting on row two, and having recorded the fastest lap of race one, it was obvious that Leon was going to be pushing for the victory. The race started well with Leon quickly up to fourth place. He was starting to attack the three riders in front of him when the red flag came out...which was a shame as it had all the makings of a fantastic race. So there was a restart. Leon again got away well and was up to third by the time they hit the first corner. But he got balked coming out of the corner and dropped to about seventh place. He then very quickly set about picking the riders of in front of him. Which he did with intelligent precision and found himself back up to fourth place and only a few bike lengths behind the leaders. Leon was obviously pushing as hard as he possibly could...and was gaining on the front three at a rapid pace...that was until disaster struck. Coming out of 'Dibeni' Leon high-sided...and he went down hard! It looked painful indeed. He slid for ages until coming to rest just off the track. He looked like he was in pain and the race was stopped while the medical staff tended to Leon. After a while it was good to see Leon stand up, to a round of applause from the crowd, and walk himself in to the ambulance. However, that meant he wasn't able to take any further part in the race...and was also told he wasn't able to race in the Formula 400 points race either as he had concussion. A very frustrating end to a great days racing for Leon. But Leon should be proud of the way he rode today...it was a great display in both the earlier races.
So that left just me to fly the flag for the final Formula 400 race. It was a fairly uneventful race really, but I finished inside the top ten (in class) and got myself some more championship points. But I would have liked to see both Leon and James out there with me joining in the fun.
So there you go...a weekend with very high notes, and some very low ones too. But that's racing for you I suppose...
(Leon and Mike assess the conditions.)
(Leon in action on the R6.)
(Leon in action on the RVF.)
(One very 'dead' wet tyre!)
(Lawson enjoyed sitting on the bikes.)
(Leon got the RVF fairing down during his lap record!)
(Leon takes a hard tumble.)
(Rod went to check he was ok.)
(Leon was getting a round of applause at this point.)
(Thankfully Leon was ok.)
(And the bike didn't look as bad as it could've done.)I happened to be filming at the place where Leon fell off too...so here is a short video showing how bad it actually was...
(Thanks again to all involved.)
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