Monday 28 June 2010

Anglesey Rounds 7&8

Following the excellent results from Snetterton Phil and the team headed to the picturesque circuit of Anglesey for rounds 8 and 9 of the Championship.

Getting a good start from the second row of the grid (due to being fifth in Championship) Phil ran well in fourth place but halfway through the race he out-braked himself into the final turn allowing a rival to slip up the inside. Phil started to lose touch and then lost another place to a faster rider a couple of laps later. A few minor mistakes on the following laps allowed the riders behind to close and Phil was mugged on the last lap losing a further two places and finishing 8th.

The second race was frustrating for a number of reasons. Phil suffered a poor start as he was on the left hand side of the grid and got squeezed onto the inside kerb losing a number of places, ending up dicing in and around the top 10. He quickly began to get frustrated as he was slightly faster in some areas but not close enough in others to challenge a move and was unable to pass. In the closing stages of the race a backmarker actually worked in Phil's favour for once and allowed him to close on the rider in front, finally putting a move on him into the final left hand bend. On the final lap Phil was cautious of yellow flags still being waved at Rocket and had a lucky escape as a rival went straight across the grass off the back straight immediately in front of him as he was flicking left through Rocket, crashing heavily into the tyres. Unsettled by this Phil hesitated momentarily and was passed on the inside, still on yellows, but as the marshals were too busy dealing with the incident they didn't report the infringement. Despite Phil's protestations in race control the Clerk of the Course was unmoved and the pass remained. Phil finished ninth.

On Sunday, with local council restrictions causing the Club to pause racing at 2pm, the Club were keen to complete the days racing as soon as possible. A better start from the outside of the grid saw Phil amongst the action but was unable to convert it into any meaningful progress and slowly began to slide down the order finishing a disappointing 11th.

As the riders assembled for the final race of the weekend the weather began to change for the worst and large spots of rain started to fall. Although it wasn't too heavy and, due to the warm ground temperature it didn't appear to be settling, Phil and the other riders went out on slicks. An average start saw Phil just outside the top ten until the 3rd lap when he again out-braked himself into the final turn and was forced to run straight on. A swift 5 point turn got Phil back on track but he was way down the order and the weather had further deteriorated causing the oil/ lack of adhesion flags out around the circuit. Pushing as hard as he felt safe in the slippy conditions he managed to make progress back into the points but was finding the track extremely slippy and had a number of slides and scary moments. A number of riders fell on the 6th and 7th laps and as Phil entered the fast Church corner on lap 8 he too succumbed to the treacherous conditions and slid off uninjured, although the bike (as usual) was heavily damaged.

Extremely disappointed the Team packed up in the now torrential rain and made the journey home.

Friday 25 June 2010

FANTASY RIDERS: ROUND 12




The league table after the twelfth round of the Jagger Racing Fantasy Riders 2010 League can be seen above (click image to enlarge).

The battle at the top of the table got even closer, with Stuart on 770 points, just three points behind leader Darren, with reigning champion Graham a further three points back on 767. MotoGP title leader Jorge Lorenzo lead from the first lap to take a convincing win at Silverstone, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and rookie Ben Spies, with the Ducati pairing of Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner fourth and fifth respectively.

Round 13 of the Jagger Racing Fantasy Riders League takes place next weekend with a triple header. MotoGP continues with the Dutch TT from Assen, World Superbikes head to Misano, while British Superbikes takes place at our local Mallory Park circuit. See the Fantasy Riders website for further updates.

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Snetterton Report Rounds 5&6

After 10 days - and late nights! - of frantic repair work Phil managed to finish the damaged Suzuki at 6pm on the Thursday.......and promptly left at 7pm for Snetterton!! The test day on the Friday was used as a shakedown and Phil was pleased with the way the bike was working. After a thorough check the bike was prepared and readied for Saturday's racing.


Getting a good a start in Race one, Phil got away with the leaders, before being relegated to 5th by a quicker rider sweeping past. Setting a reasonable race pace he made steady progress, until one of of the leaders -a superstock guest rider - made a mistake on the last lap and sat up abruptly exiting Russells Chicane forcing Phil to ride over the rumble strip, narrowly avoiding him. This elevated him to fourth.

Getting another great start from the front row in race two there was a close call into the first corner as a rival clipped his boot as he passed round the outside. Phil managed to stay on in fifth, hanging onto the back of fourth place. He settled into a rhythm and enjoyed passing and re-passing fourth place. On the penultimate lap the superstock rider again made a mistake, out braking himself into the Esses and Phil was elevated to third place. Making a conscious effort for a clean, smooth, fast lap, Phil caught the backmarkers on the final part of the circuit and got through well, covering his line into Russell's Chicane, sweeping between two more backmarkers up the start/finish straight. Powering over the line he narrowly beat fourth place and claimed a fantastic THIRD and Phil's first trophy for 2010. After the problems at Cadwell this was quite an emotional moment. The team were all very, very happy.

Due to plenty of time remaining at the end of all the regular races the club decided to run an extra Championship race. Phil got a reasonable start but the quicker, lead group of riders got away. Phil soon became part of a battle for 4th through to 6th place. He had just started to close the gap on the final lap hoping to put a move in, only to be thwarted by backmarkers through the Esses and the Bomb Hole. Although disappointed with the outcome the useful pit signals meant Phil was able to pass the backmarkers without worrying over his position, finishing in 6th place.

Sunday's races were increased to 15 laps (from 10 on the Saturday). With this in mind Phil fitted new tyres and also brake pads following practice and the 3 races on Saturday. With no practice on the Sunday Phil had to 'scrub' the tyres on the sighting lap. Wary of the fresh rubber and new pads and also the slightly cooler temperature due to the earlier race time, Phil got a poor start by his usual standards and struggled to settle into a rhythm. This allowed the pack behind him to close and attempt passes only for them to run wide and allow him to move back underneath. Clearly struggling, Phil was becoming increasingly frustrated with each lap. A rival made a move exiting the Bomb Hole only to slide off as he changed direction at Russell’s and Phil was very lucky to miss both rider and machine. This only added to Phil's frustrations and to make matters worse on the next lap he narrowly avoided yet another back marker on the very fast entrance to the Esses forcing Phil to sit up and shoot up the slip road at high speed. This effectively ruined any repeat of the earlier results and a disappointed Phil brought the Suzuki home in 11th place.

After a chill out and a severe talking to from the Team Phil lined up for the final race eager to make amends. A slight delay due to oil from the previous Sidecar race along the Start/Finish straight didn’t help and as a precaution (and also to clear the cement dust) the riders were given two sighting laps. A great start got him amongst the leading group and at the end of the 1st lap Phil was in 5th place. Feeling much more relaxed he slowly began to close the gap on the two riders in front and could see a number of places he was stronger than his nearest rival. On the final lap he seized his chance and easily passed him on the brakes into the Esses. Driving hard through Coram he darted past a backmarker and covered his line into the chicane and sped over the line in 4th place.

The fantastic results had taken Phil from 8th to 5th in the Championship.

Phil would like to say a MASSIVE thanks to his girlfriend and Charlie for all their help repairing the bike following Cadwell, put simply it wouldn’t have happened without you! Big Ju, Claire and John for coming along to help and support and Chez for the help with the arm pump! Also Jono at Sprint and Amanda and Steve at KBC for their assistance yet again.

Jagger

Tuesday 8 June 2010

FANTASY RIDERS: ROUND 11




The league table after the eleventh round of the Jagger Racing Fantasy Riders 2010 League can be seen above (click image to enlarge). Valentino Rossi's nasty crash in practice for the Italian MotoGP at Mugello lead to a muted race day at the reigning champion's home circuit and also had a negative effect on the points scored by the managers in the Jagger Racing Fantasy Riders League this week. After a low-scoring round, Darren retains the lead on 744 from Stuart on 738 with reigning champion Graham on 729. Dean was our top points scorer this round with 23 for his Supradino team.

With the hospitalised Rossi missing a Grand Prix start for the first time in his career, Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa took the victory at Mugello, cruising away to win by a five second margin from championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and Honda team mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Round 12 of the Jagger Racing Fantasy Riders League is in two weeks' time as the British MotoGP heads for Silverstone for the first time since 1986. See the Fantasy Riders website for further updates.

FANTASY RIDERS: ROUND 10

The leading six managers in the Jagger Racing Fantasy Riders 2010 League all scored the same in round ten, so Darren retains the lead on 739 from Stuart, one point behind on 738, with reigning champion Graham on 717. Nigel was our top points scorer this round with 83 for his A10 Racing team.

Following his home win in Jerez, Jorge Lorenzo sealed his first back-to-back victories in MotoGP as he romped home ahead of Valentino Rossi. Andrea Dovizioso got the better of Nicky Hayden and Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa to take the final podium place.

Round 11 of the Jagger Racing Fantasy Riders League is next weekend, as MotoGP heads for Mugello in Italy. See the Fantasy Riders website for further updates.

Pix Pix Pix

2010 photos from Croft (March) and Cadwell (May) are now online at flickr and can be viewed via the slide show below.

Snetterton photos to follow shortly but almost hit our monthly publishing limit.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Anglesey Here We Come.

This weekend, 4-6 June the team heads to North Wales and hopefully a gloriously sunny Anglesey for the weekend's racing on the Coastal circuit.

Is a pretty easy journey and we hope that some of you would be able to drive up and support us.

Cheers

Lou & Jagger