2018 No Limits Racing Race Calendar 24-25 March Snetterton 300 21-22 April Cadwell Park 19-20 May Donington Park 6 hour 9-10 June Anglesey 500km 14-15 July Croft 10 (Fri) -11 August Oulton Park 1-2 September Cadwell Park 6-7 October Donington Park First race weekend of the season racing for the Army team. Happily managed to keep it shiny side up for the race days which was my main goal. I did manage to send it into the scenery on the last corner of the first flying lap of qualifying and picked it up and set a decent lap time straight off the pickup The Le Mans style running start is a fun novelty. I used Metzeller M7RR for the weekend and they were great. Most of the fast guys were on the usual slicks but the moment it spitted a few drops of rain there would be ten of them crashing at the same time because their tyres were not up to temperature. The M7RR didn't bat an eyelid so it was a great decision and they even look like they have another weekend in them which is unheard of for me as I usually go through a rear in a day or so. I got my best lap time of 2'09'' in the sunday sprints which is not bad at all for a 600 since it's a massive advantage being on a 1000 at this track. I counted over five seconds gained on the back straight and corner before hand by my team mate when he passed me on his 1000. The fastest 600 was BSB Lee Wells who was doing under 1'59'' which is incredible in these conditions.
Nice one pal, knew it was only a matter of time before you had numbers on your bike. Now get one of those Ducatis sorted and start making a bit of noise.
Mate, it's so tempting. I got rid of the S when the finance finished last year but I have the R here. I can just see it being a very expensive experience where as the R6 is reasonably practical!
I remember racing in the Hottrax endurance days and the Le Mans starts, one race Derek Redmond was beside me at the start, needless to say he beat me to the bike lol.
To be fair I got asked if I wanted to run an 1199R in the stock 1000 and I turned it down. It would've have just been a money pit. Buying the bike and preparing it would've have been outrageous and then the thought of smashing it up was the deciding factor. One day maybe but for now the 959 is ideal. Brands this weekend and now I've got the first meeting out of the way I'm looking forward to it. Will keep an eye to the results now I know you are running the R6.
I'd do it if I was a bit faster and I knew I had some decent assistance but they do not seem to make it very easy with the race prep and (arguably for the UK I guess) the bike could do with a bigger radiator which cost a fortune. I've got plenty to learn on the R6 anyhow but I'm going to see how my lap times are looking in the next few rounds as it warms up and if I can get it prepped up I might look at entering the R in a couple of races to see how it goes.
Forgot to say I got some half decent positions in the sprint races on Sunday. 12th and two 15th after starting from the back of the grid because I didn’t do qualifying. I was being careful not to push too hard in the wet and cold conditions so 13th is definitely within reach and hopefully one or two more places with slicks.
Everyone did well, definitely a successful first round. Peps team got a second place which is super cool.
They asked me at the end of last year as I had commisioned into the reserves doing my day job (IT Consultancy) for the MOD. I knew a couple of the guys in the team from trackdays and its great having the logistical support around you. The couple of weekends racing I did last year were really stressful when things went wrong and I was on my own with a blown bike so it was a no brainer to take up the offer of being part of a team with guys to help with the spannering and other things.
Best way to learn, I know Spence got a lot faster as he got a lot more tack time. Practice is key. Pretty simple solution
Mate you're welcome anytime. During the races it's just the teams in the garage but we have plenty of space in the support wagons for drinking endless wets and there's always food, etc. Unfortunately there's no free ride! I am classed as on duty so there's a few quid but otherwise it's all my own money, but the extra support hands of the team are priceless. Yeah consistent practice is deffo the key. Spence and some of the other boys are very fast as well. Most are on the liter bikes so they just dissapeared over the horizon at Snetterton but I'm hoping I can grab a tow or two on some of the other tracks where the power doesn't makes such a difference.