Round 2 of the Hottrax Endurance Championship would take the usual format of practice on the Friday, qualifying Saturday morning and the race Saturday afternoon.
Team Army made there way to Cadwell Park throughout the day on Thursday, setting up the FOB and getting their bikes prep’d for practice the following day. Loz and Iain had been the most affected by events in the previous round and were keen to get out and ride their machines for the first time.
A soggy morning was their greeting so the riders opted out until the second session giving the track the chance to dry up a bit. The practice day served it’s purpose again however. It was steady away for most of the three Team Army factions with only Team 1 suffering from a reliability standpoint.
First up was Deano’s ZX10R – the bike blew a fuse which was easily remedied and he also had a reoccurrence of an issue discovered at Brands Hatch with a split in his fuel tank. He played about with it a bit to see how high he could fill it without petrol escaping. He would also complain of a suspension problem – making adjustments to the set up all day he just couldn’t seem to get it right.
Next was the turn of the seemingly cursed GSX-R of Loz. An engine rebuild and switch-out was still not enough, with the bike suffering yet more problems throughout the day. The Suzuki engine was running hot due to a lean fuel mix – the problem so severe that one of the spark plugs actually cracked. The fuel filter was blocked so the tank was stripped. ‘Black stuff’ was removed yet it is unknown what it actually was – this seemed a plausible explanation for the lack of power at the top end of the rev range and for the lack of petrol making its way through the injectors. The spark plug problem was discovered late on so replacements would have to be sought early Saturday when Halfords opened.
A cold Cadwell morning sees Loz’s GSX-R rather naked – photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Saturday dawned colder than it looked. The sun was attempting to break through the high cloud but by the time qualy came around it couldn’t be anything over 10°C. Loz had been to Halfords, however they did not have the plugs he needed. This didn’t stop them helping him out – they contacted their local dealer who had some at his house – Loz paid Halfords for the plugs which he would then have to pick up from the dealers house once qualy was done. Above and beyond the call of duty according to Head of timings and strategy Andy Dark so we’d like to extend our thanks to those who made this possible. Luckily, in the meantime, Pep had some spares which John was able to fit in time to allow Loz to go out and set a qualifying time.
Jon hard at work as usual stripping Loz’s tank – photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Qualifying was run from the paddock, not the pits. This gave the teams the choice of running from the FOB or moving their paraphernalia down to the paddock to allow for tyre warmers to be in place right up to taking to the track. Team 1 chose to operate fully from the paddock. Loz failed to take the advantages of this set up. In the first mishap of the day a last minute diversion back to the FOB was required for him due to leaving his pass and dog tag in the caravan. Once fully kitted he headed back to the track.
The other two teams opted to leave the following rider at the FOB waiting for a signal to say the previous rider was on their way back. Lewis stayed with them so de-warmer the tyres and get them off the stands and on their way to the track. After the morning tyre rubber was laid down the results were in.
Team 1’s best time was courtesy of Pep; 1:41.89 securing 12th overall position, 3rd in the Clubman 1000 class and Pole position in terms of Rookie 1000s.
Spence posted the quicker time for Team 2; 1:45.69 grabbing 21st overall, 3rd in the Clubman 600s and Pole for the 600 Rookies.
Fastest for Team 3 was debutant Lee; 1:47.40 was enough for 23rd overall and 9th in Clubman 1000 class.
Tyre warmers galore – photo courtesy of Wil Collins
With qualifying in the bag the bikes returned to FOB Cadwell before being deployed to the pits at lunchtime. With the race due at 13:40 there was time for Loz’s excursion to Horncastle to pick up his new spark plugs and for Deano to visit ‘the Suspension Man’ as he still wasn’t entirely comfortable with his set up. Everyone else fired up the gennies and got the slippers on their machine’s feet.
A barrage of red flags caused the start time for the endurance race to be pushed back. A serious accident (click here for close up photos) in one of the races meant our race was delayed by just over 60 minutes. The time seemed to pass pretty quick though and before long it was time to relocate to the pits.
It’s the pits – photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Pit crews for this weekend were:
Team 1 – Andy Dark; Jon Capstick; Lewis Williams
Team 2 – Roy Spencer-Fleet; SSgt Andrew Day
Team 3: Charlie Hodder; Kerry Murphy; Michaela Newell; Tracey Robertson
With the pits set up, rider order established and the transponder changing strategies devised, at 14:44 it was time to go racing.
Pep, Spence and Darryl running the Le Mans – photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Pep made a groggy start. He got to the bike well enough but the GSX-R again didn’t fancy going into 2nd gear properly. Spence on the other hand got away like a 155mm high explosive L15 round. He sailed up to the back of Pep before being blocked out. He decided to go round the outside to gain what must’ve been 10-11 places off the start. Pep was quick to recover and was able to regain the positions he’d lost in pretty quick time. He eventually found his way back past Spence making for some good photo opportunities for Wil.
Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
In the midst of all this Darryl had made a much better start than the one at Brands. A lot of hard work however was undone when Team Sorrymate.com forced him off the track into Coppice – it did make for an entertaining video clip which you can watch here (3:30ish in if you’re inpatient).
30 minutes classification
Team 1 – 10th
Team 2 – 12th
Team 3 – 19th
Spence had just about managed to hold onto the smell of Pep’s exhaust, while Darryl’s excursion highlighted his excellent start as he was still up on his qualifying position. After a steady few out laps Moggy settled down into a respectable high 1:40s pace throughout his first ever racing session at Cadwell. Iain couldn’t quite manage to dip below the 1:50 mark but he was still able to pick up a couple of places, getting Team 3 to their highest position of the race. Loz was out for Team 1 and immediately banged in a 1:43.46. After a blip due to traffic on the next lap he would only drop slower than a 1:43 once more in the session, reaching the coveted 1:40 mark just before returning to the pits for the transponder change.
1 hour classification
Team 1 – 9th
Team 2 – 13th
Team 3 – 17th
Lee headed out to make his racing debut for Team Army. He dropped his GSX-R 750 below 1:50 a few times in a consistent third session for Team 3. Spence was on it again posting sub 1:45s on all but one of his laps on his second time out….he was starting to mix it with the National teams after gaining 2 places and maintaining the gap to his nearest Clubman rival. After a smooth session for Loz, Deano could not boast the same. Study of the lap times shows an erratic collection of times. The explanation for this was not down to the bike, or Deano himself, but a thin veil of plastic that attaches to the visor creating an air pocket between, known as a Pinlock – the purpose of which is to stop your visor steaming up from all the heavy breathing. Deano’s had come loose which meant not only was the back of his normal visor steaming up, but also the front part of the Pinlock, making it doubly difficult to see where he was going. He was still able to not lose any places, in fact he gained a position due to reliability problems for the Linxcel Trik Moto Racing team.
1 hour 30 minutes classification
Team 1 – 8th
Team 2 – 11th
Team 3 – 19th
Moggy was next out for Team 2 following the next round of pit stops. Obviously getting more comfortable with the picturesque surroundings of the circuit he dropped consistently into the 1:46-1:47s.
Moggy in Hall Bends – Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
An excellent effort but he was unable to keep the National 600s of Initiatec Racing behind him. Darryl couldn’t improve Team 2’s overall position; nevertheless, he was keeping it below 1:50 and building a solid foundation following the lowly (but extremely rewarding) finish the previous round. Pep was blasting out some blistering times. Again he was sub 1:44 except for the lap before coming in. In an awesome display, considering he’d not fully recovered from his groin injury sustained at Brands Hatch a month earlier, he was able to catch and pass Team Sorrymate.com. He was ready for a well earned break.
Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
2 hour classification
Team 1 – 7th
Team 2 – 12th
Team 3 – 19th
The penultimate stint saw Iain out for Team 3 and registering mid to low 1:50s, with his best lap of the race coming in at a time of 1:50.37 – I bet he can’t wait to come back at get into the 1:40s!! Spence was out for the final time and continued his excellent form posting mainly 1:40 to 1:42s – a few blips, no doubt due to lapping the inevitable back-markers, couldn’t overshadow another brilliant round for the REME-man!
Now Cadwell is what you’d call a bogey-track for Loz. He’s had a couple of triumphs here but most encounters with the circuit have ended up with him picking the bike up off the floor or being unable to due to being in the Med Centre. After a positive opening session, you could forgive him for taking his (scheduled) last segment of the race a little easy, not wanting to take any risks, given what’s gone before…(cue Highway to the Dangerzone by Kenny Loggins).
1:46.02, 1:41.49, 1:43.08, 1:40.90, 1:42.58, 1:42.54, 1:42.22, 1:43.64, 1:42.15, 1:41.63, 1:41.93, 1:39.39, 1:41.05, 1:41.81, 1:39.85, 1:38.88
After an opening lap to forget Loz proceeded to blitz Cadwell into submission on the now symphony-like notes of the GSX-R’s new(ish) 1000cc engine. Grabbing onto T.Watson Bikes’ coat-tails (who set the fastest lap of the race in Clubman 1000s) he broke the bucket list barrier of 1:40, not once, but 3 times. The poorly functioning Live lap timings meant all on the pit wall were unaware of this and his accolade did not get the recognition it deserved until well after the race had ended. Considering what Cadwell Park has done to the man in the past, I think today he can consider himself the overall victor.
Loz defeating Cadwell – Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
2 hours 30 minutes classification
Team 1 – 7th
Team 2 – 12th
Team 3 – 20th
No dramas for Moggy on his final ride. He continued his impressive Cadwell Park debut, topping his own timesheet with a 1:45.79 on Team 2’s 97th lap. Lee was also out to conclude his Team Army debut. A brilliant ride again, hovering just around the 1:50 mark throughout allowed him to hold position during the final 30 minute push.
Team 1 however were again suffering the pitfalls of the Cadwell Park hoodoo. Remember that leaky fuel tank on Deano’s ZX10 from earlier? Well, the tank was filled as high as it could go without leaking and Dean was sent on his way. He emerged from the pits around 27 seconds behind the leading Clubman 1000 bike of Seven Racing. After a few laps of the stint he’d managed to get a few seconds back but the chase looked a lost cause; not enough time left in the race to bridge the gap. This led to hand signals from the Andy Dark et al for him to slow down and bring the bike home. Deano’s response to this was, of course, to pull a wheelie at 160mph as he past them all franticly flapping their limbs. At this point the timing screens again failed, so it was left to the pitwall to count out loud and argue over how far behind he was.
In the meantime Jon The Amazing Mechanic (to use his full name) had been busy prep’ing Loz’s GSX-R, filling the tank and putting the tyre warmers on, just in case. As the timings came back online the gap was suddenly down to around 17 seconds. Deano’s consistent low 1:40s laps were being contested with times mainly around 1:45. He was catching him up. A frenzy of waving fists greeted Deano the next time round. Lewis had been using creative licence with the timings on the pit board but when the real times were on there it spurred him on further. With time running out Seven Racing passed the start finish line. Deano should’ve been around 10 seconds behind him. 10 seconds came and went without sight of the #23 bike – had the curse of Cadwell struck again?
Deano finally appeared trudging out of Barn onto the start finish straight heading towards the pit lane. Jon and Lewis were quick to sprint over to the waiting GSX-R to get the warmers off and get it off the stands. Loz rushed to get his helmet and gloves on and as Dean came to a stop the transponder was switched and Loz was sent on his way.
Fuel.
It had run out coming up the Mountain and into Hall Bends – the leaky tank meant not enough fuel could be put in to get him to the end. All hope of catching the Clubman 1000 leaders had gone but the awesome performance by the riders and crew in the previous 5 sessions gave enough of an advantage over 3rd placed Tech Group Racing that Loz brought it home without losing a position in the one extra lap he hadn’t expected to complete.
Final Result – for the full list of results and timings go here: theresults.co.uk
Team 1 – 2nd Clubman 1000s; 1st Rookies 1000s; 7th Overall
Team 2 – 1st Clubman 600s; 1st Rookies 600s; Fastest Lap Clubman 600s; Fastest Lap Rookies 600s; 12th Overall
Team 3 – 7th Clubman 1000s; 20th Overall
A great set of results again for Team Army Endurance Racing.
2nd in Class -Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Top Rookie 1000s – Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Team 1 improving on their opening round performance was a fantastic achievement considering the bad experiences that have gone before at this circuit. One of our main rivals also finished out of the points with T.Watson Bikes crashing out and recovering only to 6th in class. But bad luck and misfortune probably cost Team 1 a win. Had Deano’s Pinlock stayed intact his first stint would have been quicker. And as the ZX10’s fuel tank couldn’t be brimmed and in going for the win the fuel just didn’t last…but you’ve gotta go for the win!!!
1st Clubman 600s – Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Top Rookie 600s – Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Team 2 continue their dream debut!! Team 2 were unable to improve on their previous result at Brands given they won again. The ever reliably speedy Spencer-Fleet and the magnificent Moggy were able to put their interview practice to good use come the podium and prize giving.
A triumphant Team Army – Photo courtesy of Wil Collins
Team 3 could, and did improve at Cadwell. Having finished last in class at Brands, penultimate position in the overall field and 29 laps off the winner. They’d narrowed the gap significantly this time around, just 13 laps behind the leaders. Lets hope for more good news at Anglesey next time out in May.
Thanks for your help and support at round 2 go to all the above mentioned as well as:
Our Sponsors – ARMY Motorsport; Hampshire Motorcycle Centre; 2WheelSkool; Nationwide Event Support; Bike Tyres Leeds; EMC Tyre Support; Knee-Down.co.uk; Hill 4 Leather; Stadium Garage; Breaking-Point motorcycle spares; BLD Group Ltd; Direct Distribution Services; Geoff Westerby Motorcycles – Bradford
Supporters/helpers – Robyn Hartley; Kelly Spencer-Fleet; Roy Spencer-Fleet; Mum Spencer-Fleet; Kim Rycraft: Rachael Martin; Dawn Brown; Joanne Stevenson; Mum and Dad Rowett
Army Endurance Motorcycle Race Team 