Thursday 14 October 2010

Cadwell Park Rounds 14 &15

Phil and the Team were eagerly anticipating the final Rounds of the Derby Phoenix Championship, keen to make amends for the lacklustre performance from earlier in the season. Although the winner was already acknowledged, the remaining positions were still to be decided and Phil was just 7 points clear of sixth.

Phil had taken a different approach to the meeting in his attempt to secure fifth in the final standings by ensuring the bike was finished the previous weekend (it’s normally a last minute panic!), getting early nights and also trying to stay hydrated in the week leading up to the event.

Arriving in torrential rain the caravan was quickly set up for the test day on the Friday, although it was far to wet to attempt to put the awning up. Phil missed the first two sessions of the morning as it was still damp – although it was drying quickly – and began setting up and preparing the bike. The preparation work in the week was soon apparent when he was pleased to learn he’d been easily circulating in the low 1.38’s on worn tyres. The day went well and Phil was in good spirits as he readied the bike for Saturday’s action.

Lining up in fifth (his Championship position) for Race one, Phil made a great start nearly slipping under second as they sped up Coppice for the first time. Relegated to fourth he was determined to stay with the front-runners and pushing hard he began to reel in third place as the laps wore down. Seizing his opportunity, he slipstreamed his rival on the Start/Finish straight and went underneath him as they sped up the hill through Coppice. Unfortunately Phil made a minor error as they sped along Park Straight and momentarily ran on the grass (apparently it was rather more than just ‘running on the grass!’) but he didn’t shut off, although he was pushed back to fourth again. On the final lap Phil was pushed back to fifth but was pleased with his pace and lap time, getting back in to the 1.35’s again.

Starting from the same grid position as earlier, Phil made another good start and was sitting in third when light rain began to fall. Driving past third onto Park straight he was soon upon the leader who was being cautious in the tricky conditions and Phil was quite disappointed when the race was stopped.

On the re-start Phil wasn’t so fortunate and was battling in fifth/sixth for the majority of the race. Getting pushed back to eighth on the penultimate lap, he was lucky to survive a massive slide as they exited Charlie’s 2 for the last time and lost all drive, seeing a rival simply drive past him. Although disappointed with ninth (and the fact he was now sixth in the standings), it was a thrilling, close race and judging by the reaction of the commentator Phil was extremely lucky to finish with his ‘moment’ being described as “save of the day”!!

Heavy overnight rain left the track very wet although Phil was quietly confident of his wet weather skills. Again Phil made a great start, slotting into third but the race was soon flagged due to an incident. On the re-start an extremely determined Phil leapt off the grid and lifting a rival into Coppice moved into second only to be pushed into third as his Championship rival rode round him up the hill. Comfortably following him, Phil chose his moment to pass and nipped underneath him along the Finish straight. Soon after it was all change again as he was again relegated to third then elevated to second when the leader fell exiting The Gooseneck. On the penultimate lap he was pushed back to third where he finished, his second podium of the year.

The final race was a nervous affair as the weather was still playing games. Just as it seemed to clear, the light rain continued to fall ensuring it was going to be a ‘wet’ race. A fantastic, trademark, “Jagger Racing” start saw Phil get the holeshot up the hill into Coppice again and he led the race for just over 3 laps. His only complaint was a slight lack of rear grip as he tipped into Barn and this was to lose him the lead as a small slide allowed a rival to pass as they sped over the line. He was pushed back to third by a rival on a new BMW with traction control but managed to keep him in sight until, on the final lap another rival made a rather messy lunge as they peeled into Mansfield. Seeing “red”, Phil chased after him and determined to end the season on a high he made a rather ambitious move into the left-hander at the bottom of the Mountain. Carrying far too much speed Phil swept underneath him but was lucky not to run on the grass and was immediately passed back as he slowed to make the right up the steep tarmac, crossing the line fourth. Although frustrated, Phil but was overjoyed when he realised he’d secured fifth in the Championship and on his return to the paddock he was told he was 23 seconds clear of sixth!!

After a long and exiting season Phil would like to say a MASSIVE thanks to Louise, his long suffering partner for all her help and support, Stu and Claire, Big Ju and Claire and Charlie for all their help and preparation and also to any one who took the time to come along and support Jagger Racing this season.

Phil would also like to extend his thanks to his Sponsors for their help, without whom it would not have been possible: KBC Helmets, NGK Spark Plugs, Lindstrands Leathers, Sprint Dampers, DXP Design, Chatsworth Signs, Censol, SPR Racing and Autoborepair@Breaston.

See you all next year on the grid………Jagger

Thursday 7 October 2010

Championship Standings 2010

Just to let you all know that Phil (Jagger) maintained his Fifth place standing in the Derby Phoenix 751-1300cc Four Stroke Championship at Cadwell on 19th September.

It was a hard fought battle on Saturday but the rain came down on Sunday and Phil's confidence of wet riding gained him a third and fourth place on the day, to finish the weekend Fifth overall.

Well Done Phil.