Croft, Setember 2003.

Here is my dairy from the September meeting at Croft, once again I had a loan of Peter Burgess bike. This time things went quite a bit smoother. I had fitted new pistons and rings to the bike after I discovered it had had a mild seizure at East Fortune. I had also rebuilt the forks with fresh oil and freed off the rear ride height adjuster and raised the rear end up a bit.

Since East Fortune I had also bought a TZ250W of my own, however it has not been raced for some years, so needs a bit of work before it is race fit.

Arrive at circuit about 5:30 on Friday evening. Weather good though cold.

Have a couple beers and settle down for night.

Batteries fail really quickly, however I get the genny out and charge one up for an hour which makes a big difference. I end up putting the bike battery on the van to charge.

Weather remains dry overnight and Saturday dawns bright and clear though cold.

Bike noise tests at 100Db.

The club issues a warning about the track being cold and threatens to fine anyone falling off during the first lap of practice with a £50 fine and a severe boot up the bum. One 400 rider goes on to fall off at the first corner on the first lap much to everyone’s amusement.

I am out in the third practice and take my time only revving to 11 to run the new pistons in. Bike seems to be running very well though and I am very pleased.

It is a rush to get ready for second practice as they are rattling through the programme at an alarming rate.

Second practice and I take the bike up to full revs. Feels really good.

I decide to try and follow Barry Utting for as long as I can. He makes this easy for me as he has slowed down to try and let one of his mates see his lines. I manage to stick with him for a couple of laps before he buggers off. He does show me how important corner speed is though on the 250.

I do a plug chop at the end of the session and decide to go up a size on the mains as the plug electrode is white nearly to the end.

I also go up a couple of clicks on the rear rebound as the rear end is still skipping a bit. Also the rear tyre is cutting up badly on the shoulder. I don't know what is causing this though yet.

The first race is before lunch so it’s still a mad rush to get ready in time.

The 400's etc are out first however and their race turns out to be a disaster with three red flags before they give up. The officials are not amused and warn them that the will be no more second chances and that it has been some of the worst riding that they have seen.

Our turn comes around and I nearly fluff the start as I am expecting it to be a staggered one with us being set off after the SOT guys. We are all let away together though and to my surprise I get the lead in our class and manage to keep it for a lap and a half before Barry comes winging by. I manage to stay with him for a short while but he is so good at riding round the outside of people that he is gone before long. I eventually get stuck behind on of the SOT bikes and just can't get by him despite being quicker through the corners. Stu Thomas then comes by on his RS250 and gets by the SOT too, so I end up finishing third in class.

The rear end is still skipping a bit so I go up another click rebound. I also take a bit of compression of to try and soften this side off really as an experiment more than anything else as so far it has not had any real effect going down.

I have done another plug chop and it still looks a bit lean so I decide to go up another size. This should be 390 but there are none in Budge's kit and I only have one so I go up two sizes to 400 instead.

Speedy and family arrive just after lunch, though fortunately my next race is not till 16:30 in the programme so we have plenty of time to chat.

Mark Middleton's brother is also in attendance and he gives me a photo of me on the grid at EF on the TZ.

Stuart Sturrock regails us with tales of 140mph front end wash outs on his GSXR1000 through Barncroft. Lovely.

Race two and this time Barry Utting is a bit sharper and I only lead till the next straight. I am stunned by the ease with which he breezes by people on the outside. I eventually get stuck behind an SOT bike again and then Stu Thomas comes by, so it is basically a repeat of race one. However two laps from the end something clicks and I find a rhythm on the bike. It is too late to capitalise on it however as I am getting a bit tired. I am very pleased with this though. I do a plug chop again but decide to leave it till the morning to check it.

Speedy and family stay for dinner and a couple of drinks. He manages to get his car into the pits so we can have a look at it.

Once the washing up is done etc, Myah goes to bed and is asleep for eight o’clock by some miracle or other. No dramas either.

I take a walk up the paddock and stop in on Gus, Moira and the Nichol bros for a chat and a couple of drinks then it’s off to bed.

Sunday morning dawns dry and clear. I am up at 7 and go and get water etc. For some reason things do not start till 12 noon so there is nothing to do but check the bike over and sit about and wait. It later transpires that this is because there are noise regs in force and no engines are to be run till the local church comes out at 12. I don't find this out till later however and get mightily pissed off about it in the meantime.

Practice is meant to be for those that were not racing yesterday or some other reason so as I'm a bit short on fuel I don't bother to try and get out.

The first 400 race goes off without a hitch but the 600s go badly wrong when a bike hits the Armco at the start off the race and another two bikes go down on the debris. One rider looks to be seriously injured, but luckily this turns out not to be the case. It takes 45 mins to get the wreckage cleared away though and all the races are then shortened to 8 laps as a consequence.

The start for race one turns into a total farce when the starter does not make it clear that it will be a staggered start today and one of the 250's blasts off with the SOT bikes. The flagman who was meant to be holding us back the waves off just as the lights man puts the red lights back on again! By this time another 250 is away and a couple of others start and then stop again when the red light comes on. I get away dead last but angry and set off in hot pursuit. I catch the two slowest 250's at the complex on the first lap and dispatch with them. I soon catch Stu Thomas too and sit with him for a while, while the two of us pass some SOT's. I am miles quicker than him through the Jim Clark Esses and soon get by and start pulling away. I have managed to keep the rhythm that I found yesterday and am flying, however it starts to go pear shaped come about lap six when I start loosing concentration and become fatigued. I run over the inside curb at the Esses at about 130mph while right over due to peeling in too early. This gives me a big fright and I back it off a bit to stay safe. Stu Thomas comes back past again and I let him go. I end up finishing third in class again.

When I check the results sheet I am delighted to find I have pulled another 1.2 secs off my lap times since yesterday.

During the races Craig Douglas comes round with another guy and we discuss how badly the back tyre is chewing up. The other guy reckons the rear spring is too heavy and is loading up the back tyre too much out of the corner. Thinking about it this seems right as the rear end does feel quite nervous just as you come on power.

Race two and this time the start goes off as it should. I definitely prefer the staggered start as it gives a bit of time before we get mixed up with the SOT bikes. I get a good start and am right behind Barry into the first turn. I put in a blinder of a first lap and am able to keep with him throughout the first lap. I go well at first but start to get tired very quickly and soon fall back into the clutches of Stu Thomas who I had been pulling away from steadily. Once again I finish 3rd in class.

After I get the results we have dinner the clear up and get away for about quarter past seven and make good time up the road to get home about ten thirty.

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