Snetterton Round 4 the 6 Hour Race

Snetterton Round 4 the 6 Hour race

The teams assembled on Thursday and some had still not learned the lessons of Pembrey. So those that sat in an adjoining field for 3 to 4 hours before being let into the pits/paddock area just before 6pm RTFFI (Read The F***** Final Instruction) All the pictures are courtesy of Wil Collins our dedicated lens man!

Test Day Friday

Firstly it was warm and dry, a sensation none of us had experienced so far this year (except Biz who had just got back from the Maldives). T2 had the very likeable and quick Sam Cox and his very likeable and Knowledgeable dad Graham on board. There were a number of issues and niggles to sort, some were previous that had resurfaced, like Pauls throttle sensor, Moggy chewing tyres up and Lees clunky and difficult gear changes.

Sam showing Moggy and Spence the ropes.

Pauls 600 K4 Gixxer got steadily worse and on investigation faulty wiring, soldering and a plug blowing out and snapping all added to his bike spending most of the day and evening with its tank raised! Moggy and Spence were learning the track and tips from Sam. Graham added the suspension and performance tuning expertise, so they were looking good right until the last session when it seems Sam’s engine let go. There were a few other niggles and oil leaks but most were sorted as they happened.

Pauls bike spent most of the day in this mode!

We all got scrutineered in the late afternoon except Paul. Then we organised our pit crews (some of who were new, (Steve, Rick, Paul and Mark ) There was also the little matter of race strategy. We had just about every mix going. A 3 man 3 bike Team (T4) that was simple 40 mins each. 2 by 2 man 2 bike Teams (T1 and T3) a little trickier and a 3 man 2 bike Team (T2). I gave up on this one! It wasn’t just ensuring rider time was equal but also re fuelling and which bike is used by whom etc….. Loz left it to the degree blessed REME to work out.

A couple of our new crew Steve and Paul under close instruction from Spence!

Needless to say it was a very late (10pm plus) finish before final fettling, exhaustive diagnosis and fitting of new bits was complete. Sam’s bike had still not made it, and the Hokey Cokey of Lees quick shifter and road or race pattern lingered on into everyone’s pre sleep thoughts.

It was a busy and late evening prior to race day

Race Day Saturday

This was a topsy turvy day, it’s expected you will get problems running bikes and riders at high pace for 6 hours, yep we did!

Sam was our top qualifier and fastest on Spence and Moggs 675rs’

Qualifying was not the best it was a cooler cloudier day and the morning track temperature was well down on test day which showed in everyone’s times. So far the weekends track sessions had been very good no red flags, no sessions stopped and the first one happened in qualifying. Unfortunately Team Army, well not to name names, go on then, Team 4s Leon was responsible. Hark back to Cadwell and Leon and Aaron built a chain mostly out of master links. At high speed Snett not the best thing to transfer drive to your back wheel. It snapped on Leon’s R6 destroying the swing arm and their hired transponder! £100 lighter and with an Ebay list running to 2 pages of things to source our only 3 man 3 bike team was no more! T2 did well, Sam was flying and getting used to Moggy and Spence’s Triumphs they got P5.

Epic chain fail and swing arm smash

Team 1 not so good down in P15 and 5^th in class, Team 3 only a few places behind in P18 and Team 4 had a mare. As well as Leon’s epic chain fail, Andy’s side stand switch decided to pack in, cut the ignition as far away from a barrier or prop as possible. Race bikes don’t have stands so he just dumped it in the middle of a filed in disgust and set off with the transponder to try to rescue something of qualifying! Believe it or not Pauls very untrusted old K4 Gixxer was the only T4 bike left standing at the end of qualifying!

Moggy gets a telling off from Graham

So he pulls rank and does the same to Spence!

The 6 hour race started just after lunch. Pep T1 did his usual flying start and gained a number of places, Coxy went first for T2 and immediately dropped to sub 2 min laps;

He gets away fast Pep is off!

T 3 was Darryl who unfortunately only lasted a handful of laps before his bike started losing power. So the bad luck had switched from T4 to T3 (momentarily). An unscheduled stop and Lee went out for T3 while a frantic Pit crew tried to find the fault on Darryl’s bike.

Paul’s old K4 gixxer (the oldest bike in any Team bar the classics!) lead for T4. It’s a long race 6 hrs so settling into a rhythm is important. It seemed it was working and the first few stops for T1, T2, and T4 went well. T1 and T2 had climbed a few places and T4 had climbed a lot from their very low qualifying saga.

Darryl’s bike was allegedly fixed so at the next changeover he went back out again. Only to come in after a handful of laps when it re surfaced and they called it a day for his bike. So they changed to a 2 man 1 bike team and Lees GSXR1000K7 would need to run the next 5 hours. Which it did without missing a beat.

Lees very well presented Gixxer ran perfectly

It was frantic in the pits for most of the race.

Biz refused to work in doors as he wanted to keep his Maldives tan as long as possible.

T 1 had a fairly steady race, Peps brakes were an issue and he ate 2 sets of pads and Loz had to come in early on one session when his clutch packed in. The hydraulic fluid had boiled! We tried hard to get to P2 in class which we managed up to mid race point but lost out in the second half to the 3 man teams, finishing 10^th overall and P3 in class. T2 did the best they could and Sam was amazing using a mix Of Spence and Moggs bikes. Also Spence and Moggy had brilliant races, learning lots from Sam and supported by the Knowledgeable Graham. Very steady fast consistent times. They finished 9^th overall and P2 in class behind a world class National 600 team (RST1) who were the fastest on track at 1.55!

Sams lustful reaction when he hears a 1000cc rev up.

Leon kissing the Apex, he is such a flirt.

So to our other 2 teams. Their races were a roller coaster just as their whole weekends had been. T 3 were now down to 1 bike which meant lengthy pit stops as the single bike had to be refuelled and even had to have rear wheel (tyre changes) during pit stops. 3 tyres it went thru and also Darryl was unfamiliar with the bike so they did the best they could and got to the end of the race. Their pit crew did too! 25^th and P8 in class. Lee had to deal with a few harsh overtakes on track and Darryl’s usual uber fitness deserted him towards the end. They had to crowbar him off the bike and dump him in a chair (Lorenzo style) the last few sessions.

T4. it couldn’t get any worse after qualifying. It did! Andy and Leon were already sharing after Leon’s epic chain fail. Then in Pauls 2^nd session he crashed out. So the untrusty old Gixxer which had become Mr Reliable was no more and neither was Paul. He was not too bad but declared unfit to race. It took an age to get the transponder back and 4 Safety car laps before T4 could get back out as a 2 man 1 bike team. The last 4 hours were spent in that format which meant the lengthy pit stops. They too salvaged the best result they could which was to get to the end and they did it. Believe it or not they won the 600 rookie trophy. (They were the only 600 rookie team to finish!) They should give the trophies to their pit crew who had to work the hardest fixing bikes, re fuelling and changing wheels etc……

So an eventful Race and even more eventful weekend. We go to lick our wounds, prep our bikes, (3 down) and recover. We could not have made it to the end without our pit crews and helpers and a special mention to Kerry who gives up lots of her time to come support and help us. Also we could not have done it without our sponsors and especially our new affiliation with Metzeler thru Bike Tyres Leeds. They are awesome tyres and some lasted the whole race. 85 plus laps on one set!

Darryl makes a remarkable recovery when beer is mentioned

Kerry adds a lot to our pit image!

These guys worked their socks off

Another plus was we only had 1 crash and Paul is ok. In general the whole meeting was brilliant. 1 red flag in Qualifying (T4) 1 Safety car in the race (ahem T4) and after 6 hours of racing the winners AC Racing were 26 seconds ahead of Go racing developments in P2. So well done to all riders, pit crews and Hottrax organisation.

Thanks to our sponsors

BAMA, Bike Tyres Leeds, Metzeler, Direct Distribution, Hampshire Motorcycles, Hill for Leathers, Epaton storage, Purple Construction, 2Wheelskool and 4see.

Lee

Andy

Darryl

Moggy

PEMBREY ROUND 3 HOTTRAX ENDURANCE

Pembrey round 3

First visit for all 4 teams to the rather basic old Airfield track that is Pembrey in South Wales. Only 1 team member down from T4 Paul. He was AWOL for this one.

As it was the First Visit make sure you read HX final instructions, arriving at 1pm on the Thursday is good for tan topping but not for circuit entry before 6pm. Boyo do those Welsh Pembrey staff know their jobs. Easier to get into than Fort Knox! We then found out that Moggy is a Vet around here, he is in 2PWRR (Prince Wales etc….)so has done many log races around the circuit and the odd track day.

You can tell by the sky that this was going to be a mixed weekend weather wise! All the pictures on this post are courtesy of Wil Collins.

We did all eventually get in with a few trickles arriving late Thursday night. The FOB (Forward op base) was all set up and ready for the test day on Friday. Except schoolboy errors began to appear. Darryl wanted an angle grinder “where’s me keys syndrome?”

He may look friendly and affable but when he has just had to chop up his faviourite ingersol it is best to keep a wide berth. This pic is coutesy of Simon James

The weather over the weekend was very unpredictable and with two damp cold races under our belts it looked like round 3 would be no different. Test day was interrupted a few times with big offs as cold tyres and lack of grip caught out many riders. Thankfully we all got thru the day with lots of improvement, learning the track and fine tuning. Biggest job was Leon’s QS (quick shifter) it had the whole of the WWW downloaded into it and still took all day before it finally began to work.

Loz’s new bits kept falling apart (rear sets) but his brake upgrade was awesome. Final tweaks made then we dashed to scrutineering and waited, and waited and guess what? Waited a bit more. Those Pembrey BOYOs  we love em! Quite a few of the teams missed the mandatory briefing by HX that evening maybe they were still queuing for scrutineering!

Last minute fettling

Race morning was typical. Think of a famous Scottish soft rock band from the early mid 90s and that sums it up (Love is all around). Qualifying was as above but very changeable. So tyre choice was paramount. Loz is in love with the new Metzeler RR, he may have mentioned it once or twice, but it worked for T1 who qualified 4^th on the grid.

Loz and his Metzelers is beginning to get a bit creepy!

Moggy’s usual smooth weekends showed the first few cracks. His back brake disc almost ate itself and Roy (Spence’s dad) had a lot of filing to do to make it good. Anyone seen a Triumph rear wheel spacer let us know, cos it weren’t in Moggy’s bike! Regardless T2 had a strong quali in 11^th and T3 just behind them in 13^th

Only came to watch!

T4 were still learning the track and Leon was getting used to having a QS. They set themselves a good race target which they promised to improve on. Qualifying 24^th out of,  ahem….. Not many more than that.

Still going round even on the Sunday did 587 laps in total

Darryl entered a few sprints again in the Formula EVO thingy and had some good results; he is a fit lad for his age! We were all chillaxing ready for the race at 2pm.

Also it is a bit risky doing sprints as one of the top national teams (Team Edge RST 1 Brown/Johnson) found out when Mick Brown crashed and wrecked his bike and his self. Still raced in the Endurance in the afternoon but under heavy braking his collar bone snapped. Ouch!

The Race.

10 mins to go and the teams are just doing final prep and it starts to pour down. I think all of us had one bike ready for full wet and one for not so. It meant a few eleventh hour changes to rider running order, whoever had the best tyres on. So Pep T1, Moggy T2, Lee T3 and Leon T4 were the start. All on wets then it stopped raining. Within 5 mins the track began drying out and by the end of that first 30 min session all the wet tyres were destroyed! Leon had to come in early as his gear linkage came loose so their target of bettering 24^th was even more of a mountain to climb. It would mean an extra stop to keep the riders overall race time within the rules.

The awesomeness of a Le Mans start

Pep

Leon

Moggy

And Lee lead the first damp but drying session out and kept the wolves at bay

The race positions were all over the place as some teams pitted early and changed to slicks or intermediate tyres and by the 30 min point T2 were 9^th, T1 in 10^th T3 in 21^st and T4 in 26^th and Stone cold Steve Austin! Last. So it seemed not the best of starts. The next 30 mins to the hour point saw it all settle back in place. (Thankfully)

It was now a dry track and everyone were on their best tyres, Metzeler RR Loz loves

Like these

em…. by the hour point T1 were 3^rd T2 in 5^th both leading their respective classes, T3 in 17^th and T4 had climbed off the bottom to 22^nd.

There had been a few crashes in the early part of the race. Twatson bikes, Team Big lads both usual front runners. And even the pole sitters More Moto had dropped right back. One of the key points on this circuit is a Hairpin after the flat out straight! The amount of run ons and out braking there was almost continuous. Pep nutmegged quite a few riders going into that turn.

There were some really strong improvements during the race. Loz, Spence and Moggy

Spence

had been on it all weekend, they seemed to learn the track quicker than others but Pep was knocking seconds off every session. So too Leon, who eventually got quicker than Andy in T4. T3’s Darryl and Lee were battling to see who got their quickest times and it changed every session, getting quicker and quicker.

Darryl

Lee had a little blip when he miscalculated fuel in sesh 2 and had to come in early. This, as in T4s case, meant an additional stop later in the race. Probably scuppered their chance of that podium.

Andy

Loz chasing Full on down

Absolutely no idea but he is doing a great job

Into the final session and T1 were still well placed in 4^th and T 2 had their first problem.

Moggy pretending he actually knows what he is doing

Moggy’s weekend crack got wider. He out braked himself into the hairpin (yep as most of us did!) and while trying to turn around and get back on track, he stumbled and fell over and broke his front brake protector and lever.

D. I. S. A. S. T. E. R. Another school boy from him.

T3 and T4 had settled into where they were probably going to finish and we all got a

Not the best way to cross the finish line, especially following a rover! Gotta love these BOYO

place boost as the race leaders crashed twice in the final session which ended up under a safety car.

Final positions.

A first for Team 1 as they won their class on circuit. 2 laps ahead of their nearest rivals and only 2 laps down on the winners finishing 3^rd in the race. T2 were again on the Podium at national level, against professional teams and finished 3^rd in class. T3 a sterling effort and getting closer and closer to podium finishes at Clubman 1000. They were 5^th in Class and only a few laps off that elusive 3^rd spot. T4 surpassed their pre-race target. They climbed away from any hint of embarrassment and finished Top Rookie 600s again and 4^th in Clubman 600s.

Finished

Pit stops were slick

The spoils of war

And a few more

A great weekend for all of us and only Moggy had an off which he will dispute on a technicality. A great way to recover from the carnage of

Cadwell where Moggy and AWOL Paul were the only ones who didn’t crash!!!!!! Darryl and Andy also did some sprints on the even wetter Sunday and Darryl won both races in Class and Andy had a good showing in Rookie 600s.

Thanks to the pit crew and helpers who turn out race after race, giving up their time and travelling the country to help us. Aaron, Bobby, Roy, Yan, Nick and Our wonderful WAGS Robyn, Cath and Stacey.

Thanks also to our sponsors

BAMA, Bike Tyres Leeds, Metzeler, Direct Distribution, Hampshire Motorcycles, Hill for Leathers, Epaton storage solutions, Purple Construction, 2Wheelskool Motorcycle training and 4see.