White Dalton Solicitors Blog

As previews go, this one is rather late. I wholeheartedly apologise. By the
time anyone reads it I’ll probably have finished qualifying. But then, until
a couple of hours ago I wasn’t sure exactly what sort of weekend I needed to
preview.
The first big shuffle came last weekend when my ZX-10R was sold. It wasn’t
supposed to go until after the last round this weekend but the chap who came
to see it really like it and was ready to pay the asking price, there and
then, in cash. You don’t send those people away, especially as race bikes
can be very hard to sell and it was co-owned with a RSRmotosport.
My entry to the last round was never at risk though. The streetfighter was
offered to me again so I’ll be able to defend my points position on that.
Mallory Park is even better suited to the GSX-R750 than Brands Hatch;
Edwina’s and the Bus Stop reward terrier-like agility and you’re rarely
upright. There are two straights but you wind up the speed onto both from
fast corners so powerful bikes can’t make the same sort of impact as they
can when drag racing out of a tight bend. Last year I set a best of 55.0s
here on the streetfighter. If I can do that again then I should be in some
decent positions for GP1.
So that’s that, except it isn’t, because someone made a suggestion that
initially sounded daft and a second later was unmissable. It began with,
“Seeing as you’re riding the Streetfighter anyway…” And ended with me
deciding, yes, entering both classes this weekend is an awesome idea.
The timetable works out well, I should only need one more tyre and it gives
me more practice for the GP1 races. I can’t think of a better way to end the
season.

Good news and bad news.
Bad news first. My bike dropped a valve during practice and my weekend was
over before it had begun. I’d hoped that the poor running was an electrical
fault but when I found pieces of metal – valve collet, it turned out – in
the airbox, I knew I wasn’t that lucky.
I can’t grumble too much as this is my first mechanical problem in nearly
four seasons of racing. Nevertheless, this could be rather expensive to fix.
Much more unlucky still, when the bike failed my dad was on his way to watch
me. From Canada. 8000 miles and a ten-hour overnight flight. I’m waiting to
meet him in Swansea right now, at which point we’ll retrace most of his very
long coach journey through flash floods and terrible traffic.
The good news? There’s a lovely rainbow over Swansea at the moment…

One week after the royal wedding, Anglesey – new home of the Duke and
Duchess – is about a million times more famous than it was the week before.
Prince William owns a Ducati 1198 so perhaps he has ideas of a few trackdays
between duties at the island’s Royal Navy search and rescue base.
Today was practice day for the third round of the ThundersportGB
championship. Luckily, and in contrast to the forecast, we had a sunny day
and I got some useful riding time. I’m still learning the new bike and made
another good step with the settings today.
The times were’t great but I think there’s plenty more to come as I was
using old tyres. In fact, check out the picture below and spot what’s
missing. See it? The tread on one side is completely worn away. To the
credit of the Bridgestone BT-R10s, it was still rideable and as grippy as a
sports road tyre even if the performance had dropped off.
There are several riders from the British championship here this weekend so
it looks like being a hard weekend again. Hopefully that will also mean lots
of exciting racing.

Meet my Kawasaki ZX-10R, the bike I’ll be racing this year in the Superstock
1000 class at ThundersportGB.
Today is practice ahead of the first round. It’s chilly but sunny and it’s
great to be here. The aim for the whole weekend is to learn the bike and
settle myself in. I’ll post updates regularly. Wish me luck.

Despite missing practice and getting very little sleep all week (thanks, dear employer) I put the S&B GSX-R750 Streetfighter on pole position by half a second.
To be honest, I didn’t think I was going especially well and I was really short of grip, so I think there’s more to come.