2012 Round Seven: Cadwell Park Sunday

We were halfway through our races of the weekend and the season was nearly over. Despite the weather looking cloudy, race three arrived and we were still safe to use our dry tyres - an aspect of machine setup that I have learnt to appreciate over the season. I got quicker again through the race matching my best lap time ever at Cadwell Park which was a real positive for the day. I had another great battle with Stewart McKenezie on his PX too.

When I arrived back to the camp, I inspected the bike and noticed the magneto housing gasketing had started to creep out. Some silicone and a tighten of the nuts satisfied my preparation for the fourth race - which turned out to be damp.

In my limited experience, I would have said that the weather conditions were no worse than Darley Moor so I decided to go out on my usual dry tyres again.

The sighting lap came and I was excited to have a wet race. Unfortunately, I didn't get much further than the corner you see in the picture. I got to Chris curve before the back wheel locked solid. I pushed it to the side of the track and watched the last races of the 2012 BSSO season.

Most notable was that James Campen (53) had won the group four championship outright so he wasn't near the front of the pack. Steve Conneely (99) also had an off at Chris curve chasing after his brother Bert (51). He came off a lot better than the bike. 

Most notable on our long journey home was the fact that our Mazda Bongo roof wouldn't come down, forcing us to have a slow drive back. Annoyingly, the issue was solved the next day by simply pressing the unlock button. Won't make that mistake again!

Now is as good a time as any to conclude my 2012 season, which despite trials and tribulations, had most importantly brought me some fun. I have met and raced against some fantastic people and have developed myself as much as the bike. Thankyou to everyone for their help over the season. Roll on 2013!

Photos: Lee Hollick Photography 

Race Scooter: All events occurred 30th September 2012

2012 Round Seven: Cadwell Park Saturday

In retrospect I should have posted this blog post much closer to the time but in the interest of completeness, I have returned to finish the posts for 2012. Naturally with time we forget things and it has now been a whole six months since this race weekend.

And how eventful it was! What can I actually remember? The group four championship had been as close as ever and was going own to the wire. A three way battle too! James Campen (53), Chris Geyton (16) and Mike Bonett (98). The overall champion was also to be decided between Guy Topper (2) and Damon Tunnicliffe (91).

Due to my successful last race at Darley Moor, I started much further up the grid than before where I was still in my first three races. In race one, I got a great start taking two places before coppice and followed the front runners through charlies but once on the park straight, everyone pulled away. That was unfortunately the most action I had all race. After one lap, Bert Conneely (51) took me at park and by old hairpin, I was took out by Stewart McKenzie on his PX - he has been racing fantastically all season!

There were no hard feelings after the race and luckily there was no damage to myself and the bike had come off relatively unscathed. Still, the accident had ruined a brand new helmet so I was lucky that we had bought a spare lid.

Race two didn't go great to be honest as I just wanted a finish as that was the third successive race at Cadwell Park that I had not completed. In race two I managed a finish though, I went backwards through the grid but by the end of the race I had took a few people back and ended with fair lap-times again.

Photos: Lee Hollick Photography 

Race Scooter: All events occurred 29th September 2012