Team Talk




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COLD, HARD, EASTER OPENER FOR THE MACCLESFIELD BASED FATHER & SON SIDECAR ‘TEAM 37’, GARY & DAN KNIGHT

British F1 Sidecar Championship Round One

Donington Park, UK. 23^rd March 2008.

THE EVENT

Castrol Oils and Eastern Airways are the new sponsors of the British F1 Sidecar Championship for 2008. With some good prize money on offer and several rounds clashing with the World Superside events, the series has attracted an incredibly competitive grid.

Round one of was to be held at Derbyshire’s Donington Park circuit, with the races run on the slightly shorter (1.957 miles) National circuit. Donington has an excellent mix of slow and fast corners, most of which are made technical to a degree by the undulating nature of the track, and some curious cambers. For this event, additional complications and challenges were provided by way of high winds, freezing temperatures and snow. Nice.

Toward the end of the 2007 season we had increasingly become entangled in a downward spiral of handling problems with the bike. A few brief tests earlier in the week showed that while our hours spent on the problems through the winter hadn’t been wasted, a full solution was still some way in the distance. Like Africa or Australia maybe.

But on the plus side some off-season tweaks in the performance department seemed to be working even better than expected. Not exactly ‘more power than God’, but encouraging. All we needed now was a way to get round corners. A basic concept that most other teams seem to have good grasp of, and even take for granted.

PRACTICE & QUALIFYING

We ventured onto the circuit with a track temperature just above freezing, patchy damp and violently gusting wind.

After a long winter confined to tinkering in garages and workshops, inordinately enthusiastic teams were soon spinning off in all directions. We could only dream of having enough steering grip to induce a spin. This bike just wanted to go in a straight line, and the wind was providing more directional input than us. Maybe we should go drag racing.

First Qualifying on Saturday was cut short by 5 minutes, with the alleged earlier paddock announcement presumably carried away by the chill northeasterly. So while the residents of Melbourne village several miles away were possibly aware of this change to the programme, we weren’t. After our usual mid-qualifying brief we charged back onto the circuit just in time to be flagged back in. This saw us provisionally in 11^th place behind… well just about everybody really. Or so we thought.

If the ‘one-change-at-a-time-and-measure-the-result’ law were English statute, the raft of alterations we made before our second qualifying would surely see us locked up. But we didn’t care; these were getting to be desperate times - especially the lap ones.

On a machine indifferent to our crudely excessive adjustments, we chopped and notched our way around for several laps. But by the time the tyres were warm (using the term relatively, like ‘the inside of an igloo’) it started to snow.

We had gone a little quicker – just enough to drop us to an all time low of twelfth on the grid.

Race 1.

With more bikes in front of us than a motorcycle hypermarket, we lined up on the grid.

A good hook-up off the line ensured we managed to drag our way up half a dozen places or so into turn one (Redgate), but as we skittered around the outside of the non-stop twists and turns at the back of the circuit, hopelessly off line, all and sundry came past. The straights enabled us to use our superior performance to pass a few teams, but it was ultimately fruitless and whilst we scrabbled around trying desperately not to become part of the frozen scenery, we then had it all to do again. We eventually settled on the tail of 2007 EuroCup Champion Ken Knapton, but we were losing too much ground around the long Coppice corner to make a realistic lunge before the finish. Still, a couple of prominent DNF’s lifted us to a lowly 8^th place.

Race 2

A similar good start saw us up into 8^th, and after many more hours of meddling with the myriad adjustments on a modern Formula one sidecar, we seemed to have a slightly better handling bike under us, at last. We managed to hold position at least, and when we eventually reached the straight we were able to draw alongside and pass Ken Knapton, out-braking first Simon Gilbert and then Dan Morrisey into the tight chicane. We made it all stick, and in a repeat manoeuvre the following lap managed to take both Steve Norbury and Brian Peddar. Both these teams are top World Championship contenders. This was better, and we were up to 5^th place. Still struggling with right-handers particularly, we constantly were getting sight of the noses of various other bikes, and we had to ride at our defensive best. I already wanted this race to end when it started to snow. After a couple of scary big slides we eased off a little only to have Norbury and Gilbert blast past, still racing hard. Following them at a ‘safe’ distance down the infamous Craner Curves, both Norbury and Gilbert went into long slides, and eventually spun off together. We picked our way around tumbling passengers, dirt thrown onto the track and eventually Simon skilfully holding a reverse up the track without flipping over. As we passed, I could see red lights and flags at the next marshall post, stopping the race.

I suspected this was going to become an issue. The regulations state when a race is stopped, positions are taken from the last time the finishing line is crossed, with the person who caused the race to be stopped eliminated. Would they both be eliminated?

As it turned out, the race was stopped because of another incident, not this one. Non-the less, Steve Norbury was eliminated and Simon Gilbert wasn’t, so something of a political battle looks set to continue. We think they should both be eliminated. But then we would, wouldn’t we? Nothing personal.

Summary

A difficult weekend, mostly due to weather and handling problems, which we still haven’t managed to completely dial out. But it’s better, and with the fast Snetterton circuit host to the next round, we’re hoping for some good racing.

Given our desperately slow lap times, we came away an unlikely 6^th in the Championship. Not ideal, but for 2008 this series is our practice and testing for the World Championship. To this end, the weekend was very useful.

Congratualations to our Team Mates Craig Chaplow and new passenger Danny ‘Evo’ Evanson (Team 73) on their solid finishes and clutch of points, now lying 4^th in the F1 Cup Championship

THANKS

Special thanks to all organizers and marshals of the Bemsee Motorcycle club who stood for hours in the freezing conditions.

Big Thanks to all our 2008 product sponsors and helpers (in alphabetical order): Agip Oils, Danger UK graphics, Daytona Boots,Goodridge UK, Lintek (EK chains), Louis Christen (LCR), all the Knights, Frank Thomas (Arashi Helmets), PAW Engineering, Ready Design, Rock Oil, James Lister & sons, JP Exhausts, and the O’Driscolls.

NEXT EVENTS (In red):

2008 Redline Superbikes Team 37 Calendar:

British F1 Round 1 March 22^nd - 23^rd Donington Park

British F1 Round 2 April 12^th – 13^th Snetterton

British F1 Round 3 May 10^th – 11^th Brand Hatch (GP)

Worlds Round 1 May 24^th – 25^th Donington Park (UK)

Worlds Round 2 June 20^th – 22^nd Sachsenring (Germany)

Worlds Round 3 June 26^th – 28^th Assen (Holland)

British F1 Round 4 June 28^th - 29^th Cadwell Park

Worlds Round 4 July 11^th – 13^th Sachsenring (Germany)

Worlds Round 5 August 15^th – 17^th Rijeka (Croatia)

British F1 Round 7 September 13^th – 14^th Snetterton

Worlds Round 6 September 19^th – 21^st Le Mans (France)


	From Geoff Lapworth 12/13 May Cadwell Park

Derby Phoenix Round 4 & 5 Cadwell Park
Sunday the 13^th May 2007 will be a day Geoff Lapworth will never forget without exception. He rode his Clarkson Penhale sponsored Suzuki GSXR 1000 though the chequered flag at Cadwell Park to record his 1^st ever race win. Competing in the 751 – 1300cc Derby Phoenix open class the 22 year old Lancaster motorcycle technician outshone all of the 23 starters with an outstanding display of motorcycle riding in the wet conditions.

The event was a truly international affair with entrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man. This was Lapworth’s 1^st competitive race at the 2 day Cadwell Park meeting so, Saturday’s racing was a steep learning curve which turned into the blue touch paper for the fireworks that happened on Sunday. On Saturday the weather was kind and riding conditions pretty good for the “AllComers” and 751 -1300cc “Open Class” races. The Lancaster lad put in some decent laps but inevitably making mistakes with some of the racing lines through ignorance. Saturday’s results “Allcomers” and Open Class Geoff finished 11^th 13^th 18^th 10^th respectively through a combination of track blindness and getting stuck in traffic. However when dawn broke on Sunday it certainly was a different day. Race 2 “Allcomers” was a steady affair with Geoff finishing 14^th from 35 starters but by race 6 for 751-1300cc solo machines he was on the pace leading a chasing pack of 7 riders throughout the race returning a 6^th place over the 7 laps. From this result and Geoff being a relatively unknown at the club the Derby Phoenix big guns Jonathan Lester, Daz Bellworthy Martin Hutchison and Andrew Black could never have seen what coming. As the rain fell on the Cadwell Park circuit the competitors changed wheels because the afternoon sessions were declared “wet races” 23 machines went to the grid with Lapworth on the second row following a 6^th place finish in the 1^st open class race. As the lights went out he sped straight into 3rd slot on the approach to Coppice and by out braking Lester on the drop into Mansfield Lapworth dived into 2nd place. This was riding with a high degree of skill and conviction in terrible conditions . After the mountain section and on the run through the start finish he was dialling into Martin Hutchison who had no reply as Lapworth unleashed the 1000cc Suzuki power on the climb up to “Charlies” taking the P1 position. The chasing pack soon had some unwelcome attention from another Lancastrian in the shape of Andrew Haines who in 4^th place was the filling in a Hucthison Bellworthy sandwich. At the start of lap 3 Geoff Lapworth looked pretty comfortable although Hutchison was in his slip stream passing opportunities were rare and each one neatly snuffed out by Lapworth on his debut at Cadwell Park. Lap 4 saw Lapworth Lester and Hutchison start to gap the chasers and it seemed nothing was going to spoil the party for the Lancaster Road Racing Team as the race was shortened to 4 laps. A minor error at Hall Bend close to the home run by the Lancaster lad gave only a glimmer of a passing chance to Lester but as both bikes returned to the vertical the sheer power of the Suzuki rifled Geoff passed the chequered flag 1.2 seconds in front of Lester with Hutchison close behind. Apart from wining the race Geoff recorded the fastest lap at 72.73 mph on lap 4 with a race time of 7min 32.51seconds.

The final race of the day the “Allcomers A final” which was shortened due to worsening weather conditions. Lapworth was again on the pace but gracefully accepted to finish 4^th.

After the race a jubilant Lapworth was quoted as saying “after taking the lead I had no doubt about winning I was so comfortable I could have done 10 laps” The idea for the 2007 season was to establish himself as a big bike rider and to consistently get into the top 10. His weekends work at Cadwell Park has propelled him to 10^th place in the Derby Phoenix Championship. So, at this early in the season and with this form it could be said job done.

The next Derby Phoenix meeting is on 27^th May at Mallory Park.
Thanks to other sponsors:- Plasauto, CM Signs and John Speller Body shop.


	From A W Racing 12/13 May Cadwell park

Final signature ripped from the grasp of A.W Racing at Cadwell.

A.W Racing attended the Cadwell Park meeting on their quest to obtain their last two signatures, having had a 100% success to date, to relieve them of their novice vests.

Saturday got off to a tricky start due to race contact. It left the team with no option but to disappointedly withdraw from the first race. The second race of the day saw them placed thirteenth and gaining their ninth signature.

Sunday got off to an excellent start working their way up the field into a strong position. Two laps into the race it was red flagged and all able competitors returned to the start. Given the okay the race began, Atkinson had a smooth start moving up the field into Copice, on to Charlie's, still making ground with an excellent run down Park Straight and hard on the brakes for Park only to find brake failure to the front. Atkinson, fastly approaching the next outfit had no option but to take evasive action taking the outfit off the racing line and onto the grass sending them spinning before hitting the tyre wall. Both Atkinson and Wheatcroft felt the full impact of the safety barrier but were fortunate to only sustain minor injury but unable to compete in the second race.


	2007 Season David Lillie and Jimmy White

2007 season David Lillie and Jimmy White

MEETINGS

All the F2 British Championship Rounds

The North East Championship

The season will be a bit of a learning curve for David as some of the circuits he hasn’t seen yet, never mind raced on them, but with Jimmy (who has had a good few seasons with Tony Baker) the pair of them should have a good year in the F2 class.

The outfit there using was made last winter (05-06) is a copy of a one Dave Molyneux made for Ian Bell for the 2003 season, but unfortunately that didn’t last too long..just 3x laps at croft at the beginning of that year before Ian bent it at sunny. Ian , David his Dad Mick and good mate Kieth put the bent bike together again for the end of 2005 with the idea of having David and Ian sharing it.

Then David had a mint idea (as he does sometimes) lets make one from scratch !!! it seemed like a good idea at the time !! A couple of trips to Tony Bakers for some tubing loads of bits of Terry Windle then what seemed like a 1000 hours work and several trips to the Wharton for refreshments and that was it ready, but it was now towards the end of 2006 !!!

David had been using the 1^st. bike a few times in 2005 and 06 with various passengers but when Jimmy told him he would have a full season with him in 2007 he was over the moon!! A strange thing about this pairing is when David first started racing it was to passenger Jimmy !!!The pair of them should bring some good laughs to the paddock this year and some good racing.

David and Ian,s outfits are painted in the same colours thanks to Graham at Autominster and Graeme at A&J Grapics the pair of them look very impressive.

Ian is racing with his son Carl this year and will link up with David at some meetings where ever possible.

A notable date in David’s diary this year is the birth of his 1^st child , its around the Oulton Park Round, he’s asked Jill if she could have ( Tino or Tallulah) earlier? She’s not sure if he’s joking…neither are any of us !!!

David & Jimmy..Ian & Carl would like to thank Mick,Kieth & Brian for all the on going help, Michael and the team at Lamplas,Graham at Autominster, Graeme at A&J Grapics, Michael Brandon for EBC.Brakes and Denso Plugs, Feridax for RK Race Chain, Dancer for all the Motul products and AGV, Jelly for Lazer Helmets…many thanks from all of us


	From #57 Rich Thompson 12/13 May Cadwell park

Had a very eventful weekend, after a couple of poor results on Saturday (2nd time ever at cadwell) i got my act together on Sunday, managing a 5th in the 1st race.

Then the weather rolled in and a tropical storm ensued before the 2nd race, now i normally go quite well in the wet and this was no exception, after picking my way through the pack i was leading by lap 2 and 150 yards clear on lap 4 when i managed to lose the front at the old hairpin, dumping me unceremoniously into the kitty litter and depriving me of my 1st win of the season.(cue dummy out of the pram and a bit of a sulk for an hour or so)

But thats racing i guess, good when it's good, utterly gutting when things go wrong.

Looking on the bright side, both the bike and myself are fine and well.

Hope ya didn't get too wet on the Sunday!

See you at Darley chap, if you pop in at any time theres always a cup of tea, ham cob or a bottle of stella on offer from the Thompson hospitality suite

Cheers, Rich #57