Welcome to my 2012 motorcycle racing season
Hello again and welcome to the 2012 season, after a massively long lay off after my knee injury last year, I parted company with Newcastle Motorcycles on good terms, It was quite sad really as I’ve been with them since 2006 but I just wasn’t happy riding the Honda last year and didn’t want to waste their time or mine for another season but I would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to Dave Winfield and the rest of the staff for their help and support over the last 6 years.
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August 2011
Hello again
I eventually got the bike finished and took it down to Paul at Dynobike in Malton for him to work his magic on it, I left it there for a day or so then went to pick it up with the news that we had 116bhp which I was happy enough with he’d also fitted the quickshifter which makes things a little easier on my hand so we were ready to rock.
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June 2011
Well 2011 finally got under way at an unusually sunny Croft back in April and while I was extremely rusty having not even had my leg over a bike since October I was looking forward to it, We still hadn’t sorted out what I was riding yet so we dug the old girl out of retirement and dusted her off for the first two meetings of the year. Practice went ok and then it was the timed session and that felt better although I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular but was pleasantly surprised to find I’d qualified 5th behind four 125 GP bikes who’d come up for practice ahead of the BSB meeting. The first race was a good one and I made the perfect start, I got my head down and never looked back but with a couple of laps to go I could here a 125 behind me so I just tried to keep it nice and tidy and not make any mistakes, on the last lap he came past on the brakes into Tower and it was 14 year old Luke Hedger who went on to win the first round of the British 125’s at Brands Hatch, I got a good run out and got alongside on the exit of the Jim Clarke esses just enough for him to know I was there and he overcooked it into sunny running wide so I nipped back through and went on to take the win which I was over the moon with.
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APRIL 2011
Well the 2011 season is upon us and after what seems to have been the longest winter in history, we are finally getting ready to go racing again. There’s been a few changes during the off-season, the main one being that Kawasaki Newcastle are now Newcastle Motorcycles a Honda & Yamaha dealer. Yes, the Kwaka’s have gone, so it came as a bit of a shock to learn that I wouldn’t be out on an ER6 this year.
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October 2010
Back from the Manx GP
Hello again, we’ve been back from the Manx GP a while now and what a fortnight it was the weather was fantastic and we all had a really good time. We got to the Isle of Man on the Saturday morning and got set up in a really good spot, I then had to go through the usual signing on, rider briefing and technical briefing before preparing for 1st practice. I had the bike sorted and ready to go so there was nothing to do but wait, the weather was decent apart from fog on the mountain and I was a little apprehensive as we went up to the holding area as it was four years since I’d ridden here and I ended up in Nobles hospital with a broken wrist. The butterflies quickly disappeared as I set off down Glencrutchery road for the first time and I’d sort of forgotten what a great feeling it is to go flat out down Bray Hill, you just can’t get that anywhere else in the world.
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Air Ambulance Charity ride
Coast to Coast cycle ride
The Saturday after Knockhill, my brother in law Kyle Deswert and I, did the Coast to Coast cycle ride, the plan was to do it in a day and we set off from a very dark Whitehaven at 1:20 am and finished at Sunderland at 5:20 pm absolutely knackered, but over the moon to do it in 16 hours.
We thought it would take longer, but we completed the course, assisted by Stephen Graham driving the back-up van, and raised a decent amount of money for the Great North Air Ambulance along the way.
When NEMCRC vice-chairman Mick Anderson heard about the ride he decided a contribution was necessary and went round Croft on club race weekend collecting with a bucket.
Mick collected over £200 toward the fund and I presented a cheque for £ 2050.00 to the Air Ambulance in August (see photo)
August 2010
Hello again and after what seems like the busiest month of my life I’ve got plenty to tell you about
it all started back in early July when we went down to Scarborough for the Barry Sheene Classic, we set off early as we were only going down for the day and I treated my Dad, Trevor & Jeff to a high speed roller-coaster ride over the North Yorkshire moors, at one point Trev asked if I was using this as practice for the racing and all the time Spencer sat beside me cool as a cucumber like a proper co driver. We arrived at the circuit in plenty of time, got scrutineered then went for breakfast, it was soon time for practice and things went well as this was the first time I’d ridden the bike with the fairing on, it took a bit of getting used to as the bars were a bit lower than normal but I soon adapted.
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June 2010
Hello again, as usual I’m miles behind with doing my write up but you’re probably used to it by now
East Fortune
Way back in May we went to East Fortune for the NEMCRC championship Round One and unlike previous years I’ve decided to concentrate solely on the MiniTwins/ Ultra Lightweight championship this year purely to save money as I’m going to need it when we go to the Southern 100 and Manx GP later in the year.
The weather was good and we got off to a flying start qualifying on pole position, Race one started well and I slotted into 3rd on lap one behind my fast starting mate Peter Minns and Pixie, I moved into 2nd at Railway corner on lap one then got a better run onto the back straight passing Peter for the lead only to be demoted to 2nd again when Pixie picked up a double draft and passed us both, I made a move for the lead again at Railway and never looked back pulling away to win by 3.5 seconds.
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May 2010
Hi again and before anybody thinks it, I know it’s been ages since I put anything on the site, Susan has already reminded me! So here we are again, the start of the 2010 season, it’s been a long winter looking forward to getting back on a bike, almost needing a refresher course it’s been so long. Anyway we’re back again with another brand new ER6 courtesy of Dave Winfield at Kawasaki Newcastle, which without his generosity and many other of my sponsors it just would not be possible.
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August 2009
Hello again, a little bit late I know but I am getting better, slightly!
Anyway we were back at Olivers Mount for the Cock ‘o’ the North on July 11-12th 2009 and it was an excellent meeting, practice went well and I rolled up onto the grid for the Superbike qualifier only to find they didn’t have me on their sheets Pixie was in the same boat, after a short discussion we both had to start from the back which wasn’t ideal in a four lap race. I made a good start and made up a few places into Mere hairpin, I picked up a few more positions over the next couple of laps to finish 7th and qualify for the main races so I was happy. The Superbike first leg was up next and I made an excellent start slipping down the outside I made up a load of places on lap one, a few came past over the next couple of laps and the rest of the race was pretty lonely finishing 15th. Without a break and a quick refuelling stop I headed out for the Minitwin race, I made a good start leading into Mere, I put in some quick laps and built up a good lead by half race distance. On the last few laps I eased off and pulled some wheelies but won quite comfortably. We retired down to Scarborough for fish & chips and another slot machine fest with Spencer to tire him out, this is after he’d already done god knows how many laps of the paddock on his bike, anyway it worked and he went straight to bed when we got back.