Easter Monday saw the firts round of the 2009 BSSO championship at Mallory Park.
I was very much looking forward to it, after making some positive progress in teh two test sessions at my most local circuit.
Being local I could get there on the morning quite easily. Upon arrival I drove around the paddock a little and found a spot next to the SRP base, and also next to VMCC rider Keith Prime who is also from Grantham.
So..... hopefully the igniton problems I had experienced in pre-season testing would be behind me...... I set out for the practice session.... scooters were running in our own group. I immediately felt comfortable as I should do after two full tests there! i was really pleased that within 4 laps I had matched my best times from testing.... which was a good sign.
Our first race was not until lunch time, so after much standing about it was finally out to the grid for my last race wearing the dreaded orange bib! I was starting from 2/3 of the way down the grid, so I was hoping to hold my nerve round my nemesis bend Gerards and try and hang on to the pack!..... I got a reasonable start and was quite pleased with the first couple of laps hanging onto a few people. Phil Bevis binned it at Edwinas on Lap 1 which provided some excitement, followed by Stuart Day and the flying Tony Obrien having acoming together at the same spot later!
The second race was really late in the day - not starting until after 5.00! This is one of teh downsides as all this hanging around is tiring and you get a bit 'off the boil'.
The second race was similar to the first except I actually passed a couple of people around Gerards on the first lap! So things are looking up. Although lap times were slightly down on the first race, Gerards was actually feeling faster!
At the end of the day I had two starts and two finishes. There seemed to be that first day of term feeling about it with a few tumbles and crashed. Unluckliy for him Bert Conneely was the worst injury as he came off exiting teh hairpin. A broken shoulder and collarbone will see him out for most of 2009 .... but i'm sure he'll be back at the end of the season to play!
A big thanks to 2009 sponsors Lambretta Cottage and of course Replay Scooters for providing such a great engine.
No comments:
Post a Comment