Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire - 13th & 14th April 2002

New ERA Club Championship Rounds 2 & 3

Friday 12th April

Picked up my help for the weekend, Jon 'The Wad' Wade, who again took the weekend off to help me……… Top Banana……… and headed off to catch the ferry to Heysham at 0900. Met the whole Sells clan on board, and again, Phil Bell-Scott was riding shotgun……… also, another local was going, the Pesky Kid himself, young Gavin Feighery…… we all sat together and told each other tales of how fast we were going to be, have been…… etc, etc…………

Boat journey was okay, and it took about 4 hours to get to Cadwell Park (after a lengthy pit stop)…… My mate Derek, had sorted the steering on my van, couple that with the new rear shock absorbers and it was a massive improvement, no more getting blown into the hard shoulder every time a ford fiesta struggled past……… got there around 5pm, and the paddock was pretty full, was hoping to get on the same level as the Scrutineering bay, but no such luck, there was a track day on and it looked like most of them were staying for the whole weekend……… Found the others, and parked near them, and started to get set up, it had been a really nice day all day, but as soon as we stopped, the wind started to pick up, which didn't help us with the Awning trying to take off. Got everything sorted eventually, and had it looking 'Factory', then went to the pub for a couple of shandies, and got my head down in the back of the van around 2330hrs, The Wad elected to sleep in the Awning, wondered who was going to be the coldest, in the cold weather, the van, with all its steel sides, acts like a fridge, but it's a draughty old Awning………

Saturday 13th April

Had been awake a few times in the night, every time I drink shandies, they go through me like a Porsche, if you know what I mean……… lay there and listened to the rain bounce off the roof of the van…… so it looked like I'd be using No 2 bike then………

Wad knocked me up at 0715 as we had agreed, and we pushed a bike each to be scrutineered…… as we did so it started to rain again and we got soaked……… it took ages to get through and then I went and signed on…… found out that I was in Division 2 (Races 2 & 10) of the Formula 600's, 28th (7th Row) on the grid for the first race and 10th (3rd Row) for the second one…… Gav was in Division 2 as well, but Rob was in Division 1 (Races 1 & 9)……… Got 2 practise passes (one for each bike) the track was soaking wet, so warmed up No 2 bike and went out in the second 8 minute practise session, but unfortunately, in the first session, somebody had dumped it in the Woodlands Section and his bike had caught fire…… bummer. Got out eventually, wanted to get my head round the track as I had only done this once before and that was when I was a Novice two years ago, seemed to be going alright, was only out 4 laps and there was a dry line appearing, although it was a small one, but it was still well wet under the trees……… went out again soon after and it was drying up pretty quickly, and the weather was getting better, so pulled in before it ended as I knew it was chewing up my wet tyres. So it looked like I would be using my No 1 bike, which is the one I'm more familiar with anyway…… so fettled that ready for my first race…… decided on leaving the tyres on it that I had used at the MRO round at Oulton Park, wanted to see what the pace was going to be like before I put my new ones on, and these ones had only done 18 laps…… past their best, but they were staying on.

My race was called and I took my place on the grid on the 7th row, all the races had been reduced from eight laps to six, the sun was shining now but there was still some damp patches on the grid, but nothing to really worry about, and after the warm up lap the lights went green and we were off……… Got one of my customary average starts, but made my way up through the field and was quite enjoying it, and after the 3rd lap, Wad was hanging off the pit wall with my board and it said P3 +8, so I was up to 3rd, and had pulled out an eight second gap on the 4th placed bloke, started trying a bit harder and exiting Charlie's 2, saw the leaders a couple of hundred yards ahead, reeled them in by the time we got to the Gooseneck after a huge slide coming out of Park Corner, and recognised the leader……… it was a bloke called Glyn Ormerod on his ex John McGuinness CBR600 Honda, the very bike that holds the lap record at Cadwell Park, and very nice it looked too…… he started to pull a gap on the second placed lad, so I had to try and get past sooner rather than later, he held me up longer than I would have preferred, but managed it and then reeled in the leader……… was having a great time, and going over the line for the last lap I was right up his chuff…… into the Coppice left hander went around his outside so that would have the inside line into the right hander that follows that (Charlie's 1)…… and shot past him and into the lead…… way hay…… exiting Charlie's 2 for the last time, had another huge slide as I fed in the power, flicked me off the seat and the bars slapped a bit……… expected Glyn to come back past, but he never……… but he did show me his front wheel on the brakes into Park Corner, he went in there pretty hot, so gave him plenty of room and let him come back past, could have wiped his nose but it could have taken us both off, better to be safe than sorry, was confident of making another move on him stick before we got to the flag……… decided on having a go at the bottom of the mountain, to go around the outside on the left hander so that I could be on the inside on the right hander going up the hill to the famous jump, and if I never managed that it would come down to an anchors Jobby at the hairpin, so went wide and made this move, but as he obviously knew I was going to try something somewhere, he went in a bit hot again, went wide and was in front of me……… to avoid hitting him I had to scrub some speed off…… had no choice but to dab the brakes, not a good idea when your knee is scraping on the deck, and it was no surprise when the front end tucked and I was down, luckily it was only a slow speed spill and I held on to the bars to keep the motor running, ended up on the grass…… Marshall's ran over and told me I couldn't carry on, apparently your not allowed to…… you have to be re-scrutineered after any get off…… bollocks…… could have still got on and finished in the top 5 we had that much of a lead, then I noticed that the LH bar was bend to an angle where the clutch wouldn't work…… great. The bike was also flooded, and wouldn't start so pushed it back up the hill to the paddock with the help of a couple of spectators who said they were gutted for me cos I was flying…… still didn't finish the bugger though. Got back to the Awning and got out of my leathers, was jumping out of my van when Glyn introduced himself to me, a really nice bloke, recognised him by his leathers before he said who he was, he came to see if I was okay………… he said he was trying blocking tactics at every corner cos he thought I was still behind him, he looked around after he'd won and I wasn't there, so he had a look for me on the cool down lap and still never spotted me…… told him had to brake to avoid hitting him…………… he said he knew I was behind him on the last lap by his pit board and couldn't believe how fast I went past him, that made me chuffed…… felt like I've been going okay, confirmed by the fact that I had set the fastest lap, which was 2½ seconds quicker that anybody else had managed…… so get the bike fettled and through scrutineering again and it was looking good.

Had to change the LH handle bar, and put new tyres on and was ready to go, the crash protector mushrooms had done their job well again, but I was gutted that I had scuffed my new leathers, but what's done is done I suppose…… Was soon back on the grid for my second, and last race of the day, this time I was on the 3rd row in 10th spot…… Ormy (that's what's on the back of his leathers) was obviously going to be the boy to beat, but I was confident of doing it, as long as I could get in behind him…… it didn't help that he was on the front row in 2nd spot……… lights went green and I was about 8th into the first corner, could see Ormy at the front and he was already pulling a gap, made my way up to 5th by Chris Curve and was behind a group of three lads for the remainder of the lap, tried a few times to get past and the bloke in front was blocking me all over the place, so sat behind waiting for a better opportunity, decided on doing the same move I did to hit the front in the first race, so into Coppice went wide, saw the gap open up and dove up the bloke's inside, I had set my sights on the next bloke, when the next thing I knew was……… BANG! and I was down…… again…… flew into the gravel trap and landed on my sore shoulder……… ouch, the bloke had hit me with such a whallop, he took both of us off…… got up and though I was sore and thought I'd bust my little finger, I was okay…… but was not happy…… said to the other geezer, what the f**k was he playing at, and he said it was me that hit him……… your having a f**king laugh aren't ya……… Had a bit of a row, he even said why didn't I wait till the back straight to go past him, next time I'll tap him on the shoulder to see if its alright, or phone him up beforehand……… but again, it had happened and there was no point crying about it……… as far as I was concerned it was a racing incident, although if it was my fault, I'm big enough and ugly enough to have admitted it, and apologised, but as soon as he reckoned I hit him, it pissed me right off……… he had been holding me up and as far as I was concerned I was through, then the next second I was off…… I can see where he was coming from if he didn't know I was there, but I still reckon he could have sat up, or maybe he was trying to go across my front to block me, but all I know was that I was hit and I was down…… for me, it finished in the gravel trap.

Got carted back to the paddock in a van and once there was getting out of my leathers, (which were now looking worse than ever) in the back of mine when some geezer stuck his head in and started mouthing off, didn't have a clue who he was and he was bang out of order, it must have been the other geezers biggest fan, told him that it was me that was hit and not the other way round, and go and piss off, next thing I knew a few more arrived and had a go…… I couldn't believe it, it really pissed me off, I would be mortified if I had knocked someone off…… really ended a bad day for me…… felt like packing it in and going home.

Checked the bike over and I had been lucky, (sort of) as the bike didn't take off like the other blokes did, it had smashed the fairings on the right hand side, damaged the exhaust but didn't hole it, fortunately the crash mushrooms had done well again, but they had been snapped off and the bolts were still in the engine mountings………… triffic. Stripped the bike down with Wad and got it all back together, even managed to get the snapped bolts out with stud extractors, and used spares off No 2 bike…… taped the fairings up and lashed them back on, and it shaped up ok, although I still wasn't really wanting to go back out…… these New ERA races have been well unlucky for me so far. To round of a shit day, Phil had jumped off his Suzuki at Charlie's 2 in the Open Race with the old classic, Highside City manoeuvre…… he was fairly banged up and had hurt his ankle and fingers, so Carolyn (Rob's sis) took him to the Hossie…… he was ok though thankfully……… if any potential sponsors are out there, give this bloke a decent bike and he'd take some stopping.

Went to the pub for a few, but my heart wasn't really in it, after a while got up to go, and Rob asked was I going to 'crash'……… nice one, usually I'd be gutted if I hadn't thought of that one first……… Got me head down at around 2300 hrs……

Sunday 14th April

Was awake from 6am, but stayed in my wanking chariot till around 8 o'clock……… The sun was shining already, which was a nice change, walked in the awning and The Wad looked a bit rough, then he puked his guts up……… must have been a dodgy pint of Jonathon Smyths (John Smiths) ………… My little finger had stiffened up so much I could hardly bend it, but after 5 minutes of trying it, was freeing up a bit, so as long as I kept it moving, I thought it would be okay…… My shoulder was worse as well…… but, 'That's Racing'…… Someone once said to me that racing was like taking Heroin………………… "It's expensive……… addictive……… and it F**ks your body up!" They weren't wrong.

There was meant to be no practise for those who raced the previous day but I went and got a pass as I had yee-ha'd and was allowed out to see if the bike was okay………… went out and wobbled round and the bike was fine, but I still didn't feel up for it…… Got back to the paddock, Rob and Carolyn had blagged a pass each and went out, but the weekend was over for Phil, both he and his bike were too bent to continue.

The weather was still well sunny by the time my race was called, so told myself to just finish the race, I was on the 7th row, and I wasn't in the mood to get bumped off again……… All the races were 6 laps, and the lights went green……… first couple of corners there were that many bikes, I may as well have been pushing it round, by the time I rounded Charlie's 2 onto the back straight, the leaders were already at Park Corner, so sat where I was not bothered about what position I was going to finish in……… sat behind a couple of geezers for a lap, The Wad swung out my pit board and it said P13……… oops……… had a look at the lap timer and it indicated 6 seconds slower than yesterday……… wasn't bothered, it was really nice and steady, had a small problem on the third lap going down the hill to 'Mansfield', when I pulled the lever my sore finger made me yelp and the reflex was to let go, which put me into the corner too fast for my liking, thought about taking the corner fast, and had it been in the first race yesterday, would have done…… but I took the safe option of using the slip road, turned round, and used the grass to get back on the track, by this time I had lost a few places, so rejoined the back of a group and wobbled round behind them……… watched the midpack mayhem, as those in front of me were diving up each other all over the place, thought about passing them, but it was more interesting watching, so stayed where I was……… on the 5th lap the red flags came out and a whole load of us where stopped at the Gooseneck, as the ambulance was at 'Mansfield'…… one of the other lads shouted over and asked if I was a motocrosser……… must have seen me on the grass…… The race was called a result after 4 laps and so that was that……… started to get a little paranoid, cos technically, I still hadn't completed a full race, offs in the first three, and this one was stopped short……… mmmmmmm. Went and got the results sheet and I had finished 19th……… mmmmmmmm, again.

The weather started to go overcast, and it looked like it could rain, was hoping that it would hold off long enough for my last race and so that we could get packed up. Had another yarn with Glyn, he had so far won all the races and his best lap was half a second quicker than I had done, so he was on it, he was asked was he going to complete a full house of wins and he said he might if I'd let him…… told him he had nothing to worry about, I was just going for the finish……… he said he wasn't falling for those tactics!……… told me he had a huge scare, when he went on the grass at the top of the Gooseneck and was still on both the bike and the green stuff by the time he got down the hill to Mansfield……… Lucky Boy.

Fettled the bike ready, and was called for my race, Race 10, took my place in 10th spot, could see Ormy on the front row, decided there and then if I was behind him I'd chase him all the way round, but if he got away, I'd let him go…… was determined to get a steady race under my belt……… the lights went to green and I seemed to get the same start as everybody else, made up a few places on the brakes at Park and again into Chris Curve and after a steady lap crossed the line in 4th place, glanced at my lap timer and it indicated a 1'36.3, still way off the pace from the start of yesterday, but I was holding a comfortable 4th……… Every lap The Wad swung out my pit board and it said P4 +1……… that meant I was only a second ahead of the fifth place man……… could see that Ormy had pulled a 3 or 4 second lead, and the two that were only a few yards in front of me were all over each other, so stayed where I was hoping for a gap to open up, and if one didn't materialise…… I was going to stay put…… every lap round on the exit of Charlie's 2 the guy in third place had a big look round and cos he saw that I was that close behind him, he was out of shape every time on the brakes into Park Corner…… looked to me he might not stay on it till the end, another reason I didn't want to get tangled up in passing him……… if only he could have heard what I was thinking…… ' it's alright mate I'm quite happy to stay in 4th'……… on the last lap, we were all still in the same position and I still had a +1 on the bloke behind, and into Hall Bends for the last time we were all together, and the bloke in 3rd tried to go second, managed it……… but also managed to go on the grass, I sat up ready to take avoiding action, because he came back on to the track, then on to the grass again in front of me, and in doing so, the guy behind me squeezed past and put me back in 4th after being in 3rd for about a second, oh, well…… doesn't matter, never lost owt. Stayed behind them rounding the last corner and the three of crossed the line within half a second of each other……… so, relief…… at last I had finished one, it was just what I needed…… wasn't really bothered about the result, but the two that finished in 2nd and 3rd looked really pleased with themselves, punching the air and all sorts…… had a bit of a chuckle about that one…… was surprised to find that the top 4 had all averaged over 80mph, which was the only time it had happened all weekend…… Checked my lap timer and had a best of 1'35.62 which was still way off my original pace, but at least I stayed on the bastard this time……… although, it seems that every time I've been off its because someone else has been involved……

Got back to the awning…… left The Wad to start stripping the bike down, while I went for a shower, had all the farings off and the bike cleaned before putting it in the van, as its going back to V&M for a strip down, Its gone past its recommended 750 miles with approx 802 on board, so it's due for new large end shells, clutch, valves, springs etc………… ouch! That bill will hurt more than jumping off the bugger……

Got the van all loaded up, watched a couple of races and then set off for Sammo's in Chesterfield to drop the bike off (Arranged for him to drop it off at V&M, so that I could catch the boat home at 0215)…… Arrived in Heysham at around 0100hrs……… Got our heads down on the boat and woke up at 0530hrs just as the boat was docking………handy that……… Straight back to Peel, dropped the Wad off and then unloaded most of the van, noticed we had clocked another 471 miles on her…… then went straight to work……… treats. Got a lot of filling and painting to do this week…… won't be easy with feeling like I've been run over by a steamroller……

So, tune in for another very exciting, hopefully not jumping off for fun twice in a day, episode of………… Tommy Clucas Racing