PROJECT 39 ~ Junior 600 Championship
A disappointing weekend...
Anglesey was round 3 of the Endurance Championship and rounds 5, 6 & 7 of the MotoGrande Championship, another busy weekend then...
Both Colin and Andy struggled to get prepared for Anglesey, Colin with work and family commitments and Andy with new bike issues (following the write-off at Snetterton), but sure enough, it all came together and we arrived at Anglesey very early Friday morning for the track day.
Both riders liked the circuit so were optimistic for the weekend’s results. As it stood, PR39 were joint 2nd in the Endurance Championship with Tango & Crash and behind NR Racing, so this weekend would be a good time to get a win!
Friday’s track day was wet, very wet but also quite confidence inspiring. Both riders were running at a good pace and were kind of hoping for the wet weather to continue over the weekend. Saturday morning came and the wet weather had gone, never mind, best get some dry time in then!! Both riders went out for Junior and MotoGrande practice and qualifying but weren’t going very well. Andy had discovered some pretty serious bike setup issues and couldn’t get below 1:19 which put PR39 5th on the grid. The MotoGrande times weren’t much better, Colin qualified 23rd overall and Andy qualified 11th overall, but they like a challenge so that’s ok!
First up was MG Race 1:
MG Race 1 was absolutely ridiculous! At least 3 bikes were down at the first turn and people were barging each other off left right and centre (9 DNFs). Both riders got their heads down and tried to keep out of trouble. Colin managed to get his 4th DNF due to a ‘close one’ on the oil dropped all round the circuit in practice resulting in him struggling back to the pits to remove his rear brake lever from being jammed under the frame! Andy finished with a 5th in class. With just a Supermono race as a break it was straight back out for MG Race 2...
MG Race 2:
By race 2 everyone had calmed down a bit (thankfully) so the riders took their positions and waited for the flag. Both riders got a better start this time but especially Colin who got from 23rd to 14th by the end of the first lap (well done Col!). With the pace upped a bit in this race both Colin and Andy got their heads down for the 20 lap race. At the end of the race Andy finished 4th in class and Colin 9th.
The next event was the start of the Endurance and there was about 5 mins to get out on the grid. Both riders rushed back to pit lane to get ready to go straight back out but Andy needed a new rear tyre as his bike setup issues had resulted in completely shagging a rear tyre in just the two MG races! So, quick tyre change, transponder swap and a splash of fuel then Andy headed up pit lane to get out onto the grid for the Start Procedure, but we weren’t allowed, we were a few seconds late trying to leave pit lane to form the grid so were going to have to start from pit lane (but we like a challenge...yeh right!).
Junior Endurance
The rules were that we were to be held in pit lane until the last bike had left the grid, once the last bike had passed the pit lane exit then (and only then) would we be allowed out. The flag dropped and all the riders ran to their bikes, jumped on, started them up and headed off...well almost all of the riders...there had to be one that wouldnt fire and was being pushed up the start finish straight by his team mate!! Finally he got it going and was passed so Andy was given the thumbs up and out he went (with a brand new COLD rear tyre). Andy picked his way through the field and at the end of his stint was in 5th, but the team were to make their next mistake, Andy came in a lap earlier than expected so Colin wasn’t ready to head out. In a manic rush the transponder was swapped over and Colin headed out but the team were now even further behind. Colin did a really good stint and got us up to 4th. The second rider change was much better and there was a glimmer of hope of catching the leaders. Andy rode as hard as he could and was putting in times faster than the leaders (NR Racing) but we still couldn’t catch 3rd place. The pit board was shown and Andy came in for the end of his stint (which is when mistake number 3 happened). The generator powering Colin’s tyre warmers had tripped and it hadn’t been noticed so Colin was going to have to go out on cold tyres and warm them up over a few laps (eek). Transponder swapped and out Colin went. The cold tyres unfortunately cost us a place as TMR crept through into 4th then 3rd so we were now down to 5th! Both riders tried their hardest but unfortunately couldn’t close the gap. PR39 finally finished the 3hr race 5secs behind 4th and only 25secs off 3rd.
Quite a disappointing result but the team as a whole had learnt quite a few lessons. It just goes to show how you can practice all you want, and ride a fast as you want, but if the team as a whole isn’t organised and on top of things then the riding counts for nothing.
Never mind, we will take the lessons we have learnt on board in time for the next meeting at Cadwell in early July.