I’d always choose to go with the toughest competition as it’ll bring you on. however my opinion for what it is worth and from what I have seen is that Bemsee is the nicer club to be involved with. No limits is just a business in my eyes and can be very cliquey. have a look at the calendars, see what suits you best my dude
Depending where you are based, NGRCC seem pretty good. Bit of a funny set up with qualy race rather than times practice. Bemsee seem to have always attracted the fastest club racers. Re small vs large bike, I was great with 65ho but struggled to transom it to 170. My style is high entry and mid corner and the bigger bike doesn’t work quite as well that way. Bit took me ages to realise its NOT a lot slower in, it doesn’t have to be too different really you just need great grip and/or great electronics on the bigger bikes if you don’t have much finesse
Aslong as ridebility is improved, that’s largely all that matters in my book. You getting some off season - pre season testing in dude? I’m helping out a lad on an r6 next year, if you’re in the same paddocks, come and say hi. We are tbc on that bit.
Was saying to them earlier I just want to get out on it now to see how it feels. Was quite snatchy before. Expecting it to be a bit smoother. Was looking at a few dates in Feb in Spain to do some testing/get my eye back in. No limits are doing an open pitlane at one of them. And will do mate. Decided on No Limits and see how it goes.
Been a while so for anyone remotely interested, thought I'd keep you posted. So Round 1 at Silverstone came round quick! Friday was test day and was a lovely day for it. About 14-15 degrees, sunny. In our group we had all sorts. Newcomer 600 (my class), pre injection 600, CB600, Minitwin, 400s, Endurance newcomer etc. Didn't like the CBs and Minitwins mixed in on such a fast track. Nearly collected a few on the exit of Woodcote as it's flat out on a 600 and closing speed is massive, but we all made it without a single crash. So in comparison to a standard trackday, thumbs up. Day 2 and I had a quali and one race. Qualified 3rd in class so was happy. Nearly messed up bad on the exit of Woodcote. Mega windy and going on the outside of someone, the wind pushed me wide and onto the run off at full beans. Bike went mental, half spat me off, foot hot the floor and pulled it back hitting my calf on the footpeg at 140 off Mph (see below), but I pushed on anyway. Race 1 and starting on the inside. Crap start and lost a few places, but did come back dropping a second a lap from quali. Finished 5th in class. Day 3. We had 3 races. Race 2 (race 1 of day 3) started okay, again, poor start which was frustrating, but within a lap, 3 into one didn't go and a few crashed with another highsiding. Red flag for several minutes. Race restart with 2 warm up laps and we were off again. No more drama and finished 4th. Race 3 and it was almost a carbon copy of race 2, but I got a much better start so first few corners I was on the back of the guys in front, but then on the inside of aintree the guy got a little too excited and all I saw was a bike flipping and an orange bib fly in the air. Another red flag. 2 warm up laps and we were off. No more drama and finished 3rd! Progress!!! Plus a little trophy Final race. The BSB 400 rider (forgot what the class was called) who somehow ended up in newcomer 600 had gone home so that was one less position to gain. Great start again and was right up there with the leading group. Slowly the top couple (street bike cup and a newcomer) escaped beyond reach and found myself battling with another street bike cup chap who thought me never to leave a door open otherwise I'll end up with tyre marks on my leathers . Race finished, 2nd in class (of 20). Really happy with my progress. Be keen to see how the more technical tracks play out.
Another update after round 2 @ Snetterton A weekend of ups and downs as was the case for many, but ended up brilliant! Can't wait for Donington which I think suits me better. Friday, drove down first thing as I didn't finish packing till late (rear ended Thurs, bent my bike key etc etc). Friday was a bit of a disaster for many. Very little track time due to the cold and damp track first thing, people dropping oil all over the place etc so really just a write off. Woke up Sat after 0 hours sleep due to the glorious weather and I was provided a Maccys breakfast. Automatically perked right up . Time for qualifying. Was a bit stiff, but got up to a half decent pace fairly quick, caught quite a bit of traffic, but don't think it hindered me too much. Qualified P3 overall, P2 in class. Race 1. Really enjoyed this race. Nearly got bowled over by one of the Street Bike cup chaps into turn 2, but avoided some of his bike on my leathers this time , still amazed how he made that stick! Got passed on the exit as I missed a gear, but settled in behind one of the other Street Bike cup bikes and had a great race. He had some tyre issues so ended up getting past. Finished P2 in class Race 2. Started the race well and I did improve pace over race 1, but dropped off the pace massively for 2 laps. Not too sure why, but on one lap I went 2 seconds slower which allowed the guy behind to close up even quicker and eventually made a pass on the last corner with a few laps to go. I was able to keep hot on his tail and tried to make a few passes, but he was able to keep P2 with some nice race craft and I finished in P3 by 0.2 seconds Race 3. Picked up the pace again and I wanted to focus on staying consistent after the last performance. I was able to bang in the same times lap after lap so was really pleased. Wanted to get to a low 2.03, but was a second off with an ideal time of 2:03.8, putting in 2:04's every lap. Although some what uneventful, finished P3 again Race 4. Started well, was on the back of P2 and thought I would be able to have a good go at some point. Near the end he just gapped me and to my surprise, someone else pulled the pin big time and lost P3 in the last few laps of the race. I was quite hard on myself after, but overall the weekend was solid in terms of points. Another big weekend of learning A LOT!!!! Got track days booked before each race now which will help a lot as well as a coaching day with Dean Ellison so hopefully I can throw a few P1's in the mix before long.
