Pre-season Training, Almeria, Spain
Just got back from Almeria in Spain where we went for pre-season training. The set up at Almeria is great and so was the weather and the racing with no limits. On arriving at the track on Friday morning there must have been some rain the previous night as the track was wet. Nothing else for it but to unload the bike off its travel cradle and get the wet wheels on.
Everyone took it steady for the first session which gave Ross chance to learn the track. Ross stayed on wets until the track dried out a little and then it was on with the dry tyres. From the first dry session Ross was on it and riding with confidence. Towards the end of the day we changed the gearing and found a little more speed through the twisty bits.
Saturday and Sunday and track conditions could not have been better and Ross managed to get a lot of track time. Come Sunday afternoon and a few sessions were red flagged as tired riders rode over their limits, so we reluctantly decided to call it a day.
Mallory Park 6 March 2011
The first race meeting of the year was a local one for Ross, just a 45 minute drive to Mallory Park for the East Midlands Racing Association season opener. It was going to be a busy day as we had entries for 600 Superstock and Formula 600.
Qualifying for both races was wet which saw Ross in 12th place on the grid.
Ross made a poor start (in the first 600 Superstock race) but it didn't matter as the red flag came out after just one lap. In the restart, another poor start, but he managed to finish 9th.
The first F600 race soon came around and Ross had put himself in 10th on the grid. A not too shoddy start and a smooth riding style put him in 5th place at the finish.
The second Superstock race got underway shortly after lunch and Ross made a reasonable start but took to long to get past a rider who was a demon on the brakes, leaving Ross to finish 8th.
The final F6000 and Ross made a pretty good start and was 3rd on the first lap. This was short lived however and he was passed leaving him in 4th place where he stayed for the rest of the race.
All in all a good start to the season and a good warm up for Thundersport's first meeting on 12 March.
Mallory Park 12 & 13 March 2011
The second race meeting of the year saw us back at Mallory Park for the first round of the Thundersport GB championship. Ross decided against competing in the MRO series as he has raced on most of the tracks involved in Thundersport before.
Qualifying was wet to start with but dried enough for most riders in 600 Superstock to go out on dry tyres. Ross was probably a little over cautious posting a time of 57.76 seconds, leaving him a lost of hard work in the afternoon's 18 lap super pole race.
A really good start was required and Ross had a belter, coming from 20th on the grid up to 10th on the first lap. A few laps in and he had dropped to 14th, only to regain his position with interest when 5 riders took to the slip road at 'Edwinas'. This was to be Ross' fate on the next lap when a slightly out of control rider chopped in front of him and he also went down the slip road. This dropped him down to 20th place where he finished the race.
Sunday's 10 minute warm up was wet but Ross went out so as to get a feel for the newly resurfaced track.
The first 14 lap race got underway on a dry track and Ross was going quicker but so was everybody else. Compared to the previous day's 18 lapper this was over in no time with a 14th place. With a best lap of 57.39 will we ever see a 56?
Second race of the day was another 14 lap race and Ross kept his customary 14th place right up unto the last lap when he was dumped down to 15th. When Ross came in his back tyre was shot and he was complaining of slides out of devils elbow. The best thing about the whole weekend was that in the final race he managed to post several 56 second laps, his best being 56.69. Finally Ross has got well inside 57 seconds, could a 55 be achievable in the future?