PROJECT 39 ~ Junior 600 Championship
What a weekend! Snetterton was Round 2 of the 2009 Junior Endurance Championship and was also host to the first 4 rounds of the MotoGrande championship. Following the results of Mallory (3rd in class due to Andy’s overtake on the Yellow flag) it was important for Project 39 to put in a good show and try to reclaim some points on NR Racing.Friday’s trackday was to prove interesting as Andy had never been to the circuit before and the morning’s track conditions weren’t amazing. Colin (the figure of infamous wisdom) and Daz (the flying guru with a rocket up his arse (and Pr93 rider)) showed Andy round and thankfully the pace of both of the riders improved steadily throughout the day. Fairly happy with the day, Pr39 turned in for an early night as Saturday was to be a busy day.
Saturday wasn’t just the Junior Endurance, it also entailed 3 MotoGrande rounds for which both Colin and Andy were entered. Again, good weather so they both went out for MG and Jun600 practice and qualifying. Pr39 qualified 2nd overall and first in class for the Junior Endurance with a time of 1:14.8. Then for the MotoGrandes Colin qualified 27th overall with a time of 1:20.5 and Andy managed to qualify 6th overall with a time of 1:15.8. Now both Andy and Colin were hoping for decent places in the MG races, but a certain pair of Neat Brothers were to hamper their chances (Steve Neat was riding in the 1000cc class and Sam Neat was riding in the 600cc class...untouchable).
MG Race 1
Not a bad race for Andy (2nd in class) but not an amazing result for Colin (DNF), don’t worry, he didn’t crash (yet), he just didn’t tighten up his fuel cap (doh)! Let’s hope he has a better Race 2.
MG Race 2
Again, Andy managed to get 2nd behind Sam Neat, and Colin (with a spare fuel cap fitted, and tightened) managed to get 5th...well done Col!
Junior Endurance
Next was to be the Junior Endurance, so after lunch the riders began to assemble on the grid for the Start Procedure. Andy was starting and went off for the warm up laps. He pulled up on the grid, turned the bike off, passed it to Colin then went and stood on the opposite side of the track. Colin made some minor adjustments to the angle of the bike then we waited for the flag.....there it goes, Andy ran over, jumped on the bike, hit the start button, and ...nothing! It wouldn’t start! With a frantic pushing of buttons and turning of keys he finally managed to get it started and off he went (last but one into the first corner). It turned out that the bike had somehow, miraculously, mysteriously, put itself into first gear (and the R6 won’t start whilst first gear is engaged)...never mind. Anyhow, in the first half hour Andy managed to cut his way through the pack to 6th over all and 2nd in class behind NR Racing (the race is on now!). We pitted on the half hour mark and out went Colin. The gap between us and NR Racing kept going up and down so stayed pretty much steady at around 30secs. Colin managed to get us up to 5th over all then came back in to swap over. The race stayed pretty stagnant but there was still a chance of us catching NR Racing, until the safety car that was. When Colin pitted for the start of Andy’s last stint there was a yellow flag out that turned white while we were swapping over (not good), this put us a lap and a half behind NR Racing with an hour to go. In the last hour both Andy and Colin rode as hard as they could (Colin putting in his PB after some deliberately misleading pit board instructions) but the gap between us and NR Racing was pretty much unachievable. The last hour was not wasted though because we pulled ourselves up from 5th to 3rd overall! All in all a very good race and a well deserved 2nd!
This result would put us joint second overall with Tango & Crash.
Not wanting to waste any daylight, almost straight after the end of the Junior race, the organisers announced the start of the 3rd and final MotoGrande of the day. Both Colin and Andy looking a little worse-for-wear (understandably) donned their helmets and went out for the start of the 3rd MotoGrande.
MG Race 3
Warm up laps complete, the race was started by Colins daughters, Jennifer with the red flag and Rachel with the National flag. The flag dropped and off they went! Both riders made good starts but on just the 2nd lap the red flags went out and the race was stopped. Keith Savine (also sharing our garage) had come off at the first corner and was unconscious so the riders were held on the grid. The flag signals weren’t amazing and not all of the riders saw the instructions to stop on the grid, this unfortunately caused a crash in itself, and it was Colin! But not only that, he had crashed into the back of his mate Lee! We weren’t entirely sure what happened and who caused what, but it resulted in Colin endo-ing and cart wheeling his bike into Lee and down the track (luckily onto the dirt). Thankfully both of them were okay just some bike alterations to be made (eek). Keith was also discharged without serious injury.
Anyhow, the race must go on. 2 warm up laps later and the flag dropped. Andy got a decent start and got into a battle straight away for 2nd place with Adam Partons on his Triumph 675. Adam’s bike was faster on the straights but Andy could out-brake him into the corners. They swapped positions a number of times then Andy formulated a plan! The idea was to stick to Adam’s tail until the penultimate lap then out brake him into the left hander at the end of the straight, this would put him in front for the last lap and give him the chance to hold the position or if necessary the chance to repeat the move on the last lap. The plan was going beautifully until 3 laps from the end when Andy put himself into first gear coming out of Corum and into Russell’s (not good), this put a gap of about 3-4secs between him and Adam. Anyhow, a good race and another podium finish (just a shame about Colin).
This was to conclude Saturday’s racing with just prize giving to go. Andy and Colin collected their trophies for second and were also presented with the Slaters Bike trophy for the ‘best overall performance’, not bad eh.
Everyone turned in pretty early following a few drinks as Sunday was the 4th MotoGrande and also the 6hr National Endurance (go Project 93!)
Sunday morning came and Colin had decided for definite that he wouldn’t be riding following the crash the previous day so it was Andy out by himself for the 4th MotoGrande.
MG Race 4
The Neat Brothers had left for the weekend now so the race for 1st place was back on, and it was going to be between Andy and Adam Partons. Warm up complete and everyone was awaiting the flag. Flag dropped and they’re away! Andy had a better start but Adam was in front by the first corner. Andy passed him on the 2nd lap and surprisingly Adam didn’t come back passed on the back straight. This is when Andy formulated another plan “if I can put in two blinding laps then I can break him and he won’t be able to keep up and I’ll get first place!”. So that’s what Andy set out to do, and it was working until the Bomb Hole on the 3rd lap, because it was at that point that Andy threw his bike (and himself) down the track and into the tyre wall thus ending his chances of getting first place (or any place for that matter)...well done Andy! Fortunately he sustained no serious injuries, but the bike........
So, in summary it had so far been a mixed weekend, not necessarily bad because there were good results thrown in there, but then there were the down sides, so we’ll wrap it up by saying that for Project 39 Snetterton was a very eventful meeting, and Project Racing hadn’t finished yet...roll on the 6hr...
Colin had a bruised elbow (bless) and was reluctant to handle the re-fueling rig for his normal role with the national team so Pit Bitch Harry was a willing apprentice and they stayed for the afternoons event.
Both riders would like to thank everyone who helped them over the weekend and the marshals and medics for being there when we needed them.