There is something quintessentially British about the sound of tyres crunching on gravel. It releases endorphins and takes us to a happy place, like rice krispies, snap, crackle and pop. A whole cereal brand promoted on Its sound. It promotes images of Bentleys, beautifully manicured gardens, gravel driveways and magnificent stately homes. Georgian of course. What a lovely thought.
Unfortunately the group of people who are reading this and who it is aimed at don’t share in this unique experience. To them the sound of rubber on gravel induces nightmares. It plagues their minds and floods their body with adrenaline, anxiety and horror. Their picture is not of Bentley’s and stately homes, Its of plaster casts, hospital beds and wrecked bikes. It’s a sound that means pain is imminent. Not only physical but financial too.
Peps house
Croft circuit nestled in the wonderful county of North Yorkshire is the venue for this story of Endurance racing at its toughest. The track is quite abrasive and a tyre eater. It is quite flat but twists and turns and even the straights have kinks and bumps in them so there is no respite. The weather played a huge part. We are experiencing the driest and warmest summer for decades and that heat saps the leather clad body. It also causes strange phenomena with tyre grip, as the track temperature escalates above a certain point it has a negative effect on grip. Tyres wear much faster but also the grip level begins to reduce and it feels almost greasy to the riders. So a lot to endure and to top it all a biblical grade invasion of fruit flies. I have never seen visors so splattered!
Take your time Paul we know its hot!
For a military outfit there were a surprisingly large proportion of Virgins amongst them. Of course this is not a sexual reference it means many had never ridden Croft before. So the test day was essential to learn the track and get the bikes set up to suit the conditions and challenges of the circuit. It didn’t work out that way. The morning sessions were littered with red flags and delays. In the afternoon it started to rain. Not heavy but enough to crush the stuttering, shy, embarrassed virgins and deny them the first taste of a fast and satisfying lap. So with very little under the belt ( a bit like the Etheopianesque author) tweaking with gearing and suspension settings was still going on during qualifying and the race itself. Not ideal. To top all this Andy of Team 2 had gearbox issues and a full strip down was needed between test day and race day. British Forces Broadcasting caught the drama of it in this video.
BFBS Catterick interview during test day
Two newcomers were present as we reach the mid-way point of the championship. Team 1 had a very experienced rider standing in for Sam. Jonathan Lodge aboard his factory ZX10. He also brought his own talented pit crew. Team 5 had Paul Pridmore, ex Sea taxi, I mean Her Majesties Royal Navy the senior service. A retired Submariner who can hold his breath for hours. Team 2 and 4 were the usual suspects.
Qualifying report was Team 1 in a very good position. If we used rows it would have been the first. Position 3 and 3rd in class. The pole setters were a second up but then only half a second separated the next 3 National 1000 teams. Pep had a mare as his steering damper worked loose and he ended up riding a bucking bronco. So Jonny Lodge did the business for their excellent time of 1.26.
Team 2 were a little down on their expected place but as usual the clubman 1000 was the largest class, making up over a third of the grid so 5 out of 14 wasn’t bad. They were in P16 mid grid. Team 4 were a few positions back but 3rd in their class and also a very good lap time of a high 1.33. They were probably in one of their best qualifying positions for many races. Dave Monaghan had pulled this one out of his sleeve and Daz was snapping at his heels taking chunks out of his personal best lap times. In fact all the qualifying times were low. Team 5 did a superb 1.32 thanks to Paul but it seems the whole paddock was doing the same. The top 10 places were all below 1.30, which is a fast lap here at Croft.
So a fair qualifying across the teams. There were still set up issues to conquer and race strategy to settle. The bikes were all running good and thankfully none of the team had heard fingernails dragging across blackboards! No visits to the tyre crunching gravel traps! Well maybe just a little for Pep and his steering damper.
A few of the riders entered sprint races in between qualifying and the start of Endurance. It’s a little risky but luckily did not affect the main event, or did it??
Jonny Lodge was smashing great times in the Pirelli 1000 race which is like Formula 1 in regards to the weekends sprint races. 1.26 and 1.27 laps. By far the most beautiful bike this weekend won that race at a canter. Lee “the General” Johnston was on the Honda Legends World Endurance bike a real head turner and breezed to the win doing 1.24s. Paul also ran out in the 600 class for more track time and put in healthy times. Finally in the sprints one of our old comrades in arms turned up and raced his R6. Tobias George, now sporting a National licence and a Luftwaffe grey bike oberstrum Fureher “T” is back on track.
The race.
Well qualifying had been promising a few teams sitting in podium positions. The race did not bring those efforts to fruition. It was a very event free affair for 3 hours of endurance. Only 3 yellow flags the whole race. No reds and no safety cars. What was surprising is that lap times dropped off. No teams achieved their qualifying times. As previously mentioned the heat may have been the cause, grip levels and the sap of energy. Some of the riders really struggled to maintain pace and achieve times set in earlier qualification. Finally from a stand back and analyse viewpoint, rider order and duration, race strategy could have been better,
Team 1 got off to a good start. Away in 4th and pretty much stayed top 3 to 5 for most of the race. It got quite exciting into the second half of the race when a potential podium was on offer. Jonny was quickest on track for many laps and closed to within seconds of 3rd position. But a mechanical problem with the gear linkage on Johnny’s bike erased that. Not once but twice the linkage failed and unscheduled pit stops had to be taken. Also I did mention whether or not the sprint races affected the endurance race. Well both man (lap times) and possibly these machine issues may not have occurred had both been fresher. A final 5th place in the race and a good sprinkling of 1.27s from Jonny and a couple of PBs at 1.29 from Pep. Very consistent riding from both but 6 sessions from 2 riders? This ultimately cost the podium and better championship points.
Andy Team 2
Team 2. Their qualifying was not their best and Carl did not get his usual flier off the line. But he pulled places back on the first session and again the team stayed pretty much static around 12th best to 16th lowest positions in the race. Also Carl got his magic PB of a 1.30 and Andy’s best was a 1.33. They went for the long haul and did long session which was probably the right call and it almost worked. They finished fourth and would have had that podium but were outsmarted by Mutts Nutts. The synonymous dogs bollocks saw Team 2 pit and then made an immediate one their selves, probably putting out their quickest rider. They pipped Team 2 to 3rd.
Team 4. The young and not so young 600 rookies had one of their best races. They were oh so close to a podium and had strategy been better I think they would have done it. They finished 23rd overall 4th in class , just one place behind their big rivals 2scoops.. They made an unusual 4 sessions out of 3 riders and varying durations. A bit savvier in utilising their quickest rider at whichever track they are on and I am sure a podium is possible. Dave was the man for Croft, he managed a PB of 1.33 and around the mid 30s for the rest of session one. Daz and Robbo were similarl times in the high 30s and straying, probably due to traffic into the low 40’s. Daz had managed to knock chunks off his times by choosing better lines. Keep at it lads, it’s all a learning curve, it’s going to happen soon.
Team 5 had an unusual line up of an ex submariner and the next president of the UN. Even their bikes were an awkward mix of a Triumph 675 and Yam M1? However it worked for them. Paul had a brilliant 2nd session and picked up 5 or 6 places. Chris is very consistent and in one session he did 13 laps within .9 of a second. Fitness hit Paul (he was ex Navy!) and his second session out had to be cut short. Endurance is a whole different ball game to sprints and to be fair it was Pauls first attempt at it. They finished a very commendable 18th overall and 6th in class just a few places behind Team 2.
Here are a couple of quotes and notes from the race.
Daz “F***ing thousands! We played yo yo for 20 laps. Got him in the corners and he just came past on the straights”
Pep “F***ing back markers, I passed one team 4 times during that session!”
Chris “I am damp”
Dave “ I am done”
Thanks to all our support staff. Lorraine for feeding everyone. Friends families and pit crews for keeping the Teams on track. But most of all to Loz for slagging us all in the write up!
On a final sad note. This year has been rather unforgiving for the sport. Motorcycle racing is very dangerous. There is an ultimate high that goes with thrashing a missile round a circuit or along a closed road, to achieve that there is an ultimate risk. As well the famous Dan Kneen, William Dunlop and James Cowton the paddock lost a regular rider. Kyle O’Donovan. He lost his life competing at Brands Hatch and a minutes silence was held for Kyle before the race. We send our thoughts to the ones left behind the friends and families.
Kyle o’Donovan
Army Endurance Motorcycle Race Team 