Hold your horses Steve....
Well, in many respects Crashfest 2016 never happened, I was the only member of SD.net there as far as I could tell, but it was a fun couple of days in all. I'd never been made to feel so slow by other riders, but with a bunch of Stock 600 and 1000 riders and plenty from the No Limits Endurance series getting some practice in, this old bloke on a 990 twin was trying his hardest not to be a mobile chicane. I apologised to one of the 600 lads across from us in the paddock and he said "no worries mate, you aren't a problem, your lines are good and consistent so I know exactly where you're going to be, unlike that bloke over there on the #3 bike (my mate Chappers, incidentally), he's all over the place..." The only downer on day 1 was my mate Gerry, who's taken up racing this season, getting past me along Park Straight on his Gixxer 750 in the final session and I could not get him back - kind of made his day, a milestone for him in getting the better of me for the first time. Git .
The 2nd day went fine, a bit of a change of faces in the paddock with a bunch of guys rocking up next to us, one of whom had a recently bought 990 SDR. I asked him if he was here for the Crashfest and he said "you what?" so I explained it to him and he laughed, saying "you're not selling it to me mate". It was his first TD on his SDR and he was in Novices though could have been at least one group higher. Gerry and I sat out a session and went to watch the action and SDR lad was pulling monster 2nd gear full throttle wheelies over the Mountain. He was a bit concerned as he was having to top up his oil and water after every session, bit of a pain in the ass having to remove the right-side tank panel each time, but that's part of the joys of SD ownership eh?
After Gerry getting the better of me at the end of day 1 I was determined that he wouldn't repeat his treachery on day 2, and I was noticeably quicker on the 2nd day - previously I hadn't needed top gear along the start straight, but on day 2 I was needing it by half way down the straight. There was a heavy rain shower in mid-afternoon so we sat out one more session but the track dried up and we had an excellent session to finish our 2 days there. As there were still a few damp patches around I decided to treat the first lap as a sighting lap to figure out where they were, but Gerry was a sneak and went haring off down the straight, following the foxy girl on the Mini-twin racer who promptly left him for dead when they got to the first corner (and she was really quick). I set about reeling in the sneak and made loads of ground along the twister sections (from the Gooseneck to Barn for those familiar with the circuit) and by the Mountain I was right on his rear wheel. "Right, I'll have the bugger by the clubhouse" I thought, but was undone by the torque of the SD as a big handful of throttle over the Mountain, even in 3rd gear, just produced a monster wheelie - entertaining for the expectant public who congregate just for that, but it meant I couldn't pass him and had to wait until nailing him on the brakes at the hairpin on the next lap.
All in all, a most excellent couple of days, though as a Crashfest it was a bit of a let-down. Next year maybe....