BASH69
So i had yesterday free, No Limits showing free places at Mallory Park and cheap at £59 Weather says its cold and wet but fook it, i have my trusty gazebo, a flask and a car with a heater
Wake up at 5.30 on the morning, b0ll0x i have a full on cold, snot everywhere, coffing up flem and a banging headache, oh well, nothing some fresh Leicester air cant clear (if there is such a thing).
I arive at Mallory at 7.55, MMMmmmmm, nice new tarmac on the circuit and 90% of the paddock area Ive got there kinda late so all garages are taken (all 10 of them - this as i see it is the biggest downfall at Mallory Park, some nice new garages along with the re-surfacing and Mallory would be a nice place again). So find some good fence posts and 2 mins later i have my gazebo up right! bike off trailer and lets get my spare wheels with wets fitted. 8.15am and job done, check cold tyre pressures now head off to sign in and half listen to the safety briefing
8.50am and every1 rushes from the cafe after the briefing to find pi$$ing down rain and the wind has picked up, todays going to be fun if this carries on Anyway, i get back to the car to find my gazebo in this state -
Well its a good start to the day ut can only really get better So, kit on quickly as fast group are 1st out, wont bother with the GoPro yet as first couple of sessions are me testing my rebuilt bike and rebuilt right wrist and also theres never much action as every settles in (he thinks to himself).
So 2 sighting laps out of the way and its everyman for himself, the racers are in full force today obviously getting some pre season test time in! 4th lap and 2 said racers come past me out of Edwins sideways, through the fast right/left flick and head up to the tight hairpin and then i watch these 2 guys wipe each other out braking for the hairpin, bits of bike scrape along the tarmac followed by 2 flailing riders ending up in the (very) wet muddy grass run off area - YUCK. both guys un hurt but bikes look smashed (and i watched these guys work on the bikes for nearly the whole day trying to get them back in 1 peice). Well that set the presidence of the day for all groups!!!
So i find a new dry (ish) spot to hide the bike from the weather under Mallorys UFO (its actually the press office but resembles a UFO shaped object on stilts, tucked the bike under 1 of the corners and rigged up the generator and tyre warmers and chat away to the other 8 people hiding away from the rain.So im im now dry, the bike is dry, wrist seems ok so far so happy days Fook the weather!!!
Intermediate group totter out and within 4 laps theres the 2nd red flag of the day, the crazy Geordy that had spent 3 hours driving from Newcastle had lost the front end going into the hairpin (he was parked up next to me under the UFO so id already said good morning to him). Inters come to and end and I watch the novice group follow each other round like the usual wet day prosession that you only get in the novice group
Just then i am aware that the mad Geordy has reclaimed his broken TL1000s and is riding it back across the pits (at some great speed i may add) but up to this point had obviously not checked to see if his front brake was in any kind of working order after his crash, so to my slight amusement i see the look of panic on this guys face as he approaches the back end of somebody elses van with no way of stopping other than a back brake! So on goes the rear brake, the bike goes into a huge slide and once again Geordy lad goes down on the right hand side again (OK could have been worse, he could have wrecked both sides of his bike) missing the back end of the van by about 3 inches At this point i dont no wether to piss myself laughing or rush to his aid but luckly for me a dont have to as 2 other people pick him and his bike up (i should mention at this point he has no helmet or gloves on and whilst rolling around on the floor manages to skin both hands and gash his head but the shock wasnt enough to stop him swaering his head off like only a Geordy can ) He then precedes to rebuilt his bike in record time ready for his next session.
Another wet session for me in fast and another red flag and inters are back out along with geordy boy whos now feeling confident he not due anymore bad luck anyway, 2 laps and hes back in with a misfire, hes now swearing some more and wondering why he drove 3 hours to come to a wet mallory park! Again the bike comes to bits, WD40ing every single connector in site but misfire still persists, i did offer help at this point but unfortunatly couldnt understand his response so left him to it
So out for my 3rd session and stick the GopRo on this time out (il put the whole 2 lapp video up at the end of this write up) and again 1 of the racers boys bins it in spectalcular fasion at the end of the start/finish entering Gerards (a very long and fast right hander), bike completly wrecked and the lucky git only got 2 bent fingers No Limits at this point call it a morning and call an early lunch, fast group 1st back out at 1.30pm.
I then help geordy boy out for a while trying to figure out the misfire and grab some lunch but still no luck with the misfire (lunch was nice though )
So its 1.25 and nearly time to get back out there, its stopped raining but the track is still soaking, time for a quick toilet stop before hitting the track! I unlock the car and throw my key in the boot (as ive dome hundreds of times before) and close the boot (yer, you probly no exactly whats coming here) go for a quick pee and come back to the car to find the auto-fookin-locking has done its job (for once) and locked me out the damn car with no bike key, helmet, wallet, flask etc etc
So at this point do i look for a brick? call wifey? (whats the point) or call the AA to see what they say? Oh yer, just remembered the mobile phone is in the car, best ask to borrow 1 of those 1st then huh?
AA called and they should be there by 2.15, day saved and i should only miss 1 session
Offer more help to geordy boy who is now draining the fuel tank as hes realised hes put far too much injector cleaner in with the fuel so whilst i freeze i watch him drain fuel from his tank and fuel himself with a pasty and a can of orange pop (only a northerner). His bike is now running with new fuel and hes back out there happily lapping on his bald front Racetec (did i forget to tell you about that ) finishes his session and has another celebratory pasty and can of orange pop
AA finally turns up at 3.30pm, (this must be THE most miserable AA man i have ever come across, i get him a nice day out at a cold and wet Mallory Park with no thanks what so ever)takes him 10mins to get into my car - thank god for that!!! AA man then grumbles about having to wait 15mins before he can get back out of the circuit (at Mallory you have to drive across the circuit to get to the exit so you have to wait till the end of each session) but luckly for him some poor git has binned it again and the session is red flagged
The rest of the day went without a hitch, basically cuz i decided to cut my loses, pack up and get the hell outta there
An interesting day in all, met some right characters and had a good laugh (mostly at other expense, as im sure they did mine ) On the positives, my wrist, although stiff today held up OK for the time i was out on track, the bike ran and handled just fine and Mallory Parks new super smooth re-surface is FAB and worthy of a few visits this coming season (luckly for me as Mallory and Donnington are my local tracks )
So sit back and enjoy this whole 2 mins of video (you can see a damn site more than i could through my visor i tell you now )
Wake up at 5.30 on the morning, b0ll0x i have a full on cold, snot everywhere, coffing up flem and a banging headache, oh well, nothing some fresh Leicester air cant clear (if there is such a thing).
I arive at Mallory at 7.55, MMMmmmmm, nice new tarmac on the circuit and 90% of the paddock area Ive got there kinda late so all garages are taken (all 10 of them - this as i see it is the biggest downfall at Mallory Park, some nice new garages along with the re-surfacing and Mallory would be a nice place again). So find some good fence posts and 2 mins later i have my gazebo up right! bike off trailer and lets get my spare wheels with wets fitted. 8.15am and job done, check cold tyre pressures now head off to sign in and half listen to the safety briefing
8.50am and every1 rushes from the cafe after the briefing to find pi$$ing down rain and the wind has picked up, todays going to be fun if this carries on Anyway, i get back to the car to find my gazebo in this state -
Well its a good start to the day ut can only really get better So, kit on quickly as fast group are 1st out, wont bother with the GoPro yet as first couple of sessions are me testing my rebuilt bike and rebuilt right wrist and also theres never much action as every settles in (he thinks to himself).
So 2 sighting laps out of the way and its everyman for himself, the racers are in full force today obviously getting some pre season test time in! 4th lap and 2 said racers come past me out of Edwins sideways, through the fast right/left flick and head up to the tight hairpin and then i watch these 2 guys wipe each other out braking for the hairpin, bits of bike scrape along the tarmac followed by 2 flailing riders ending up in the (very) wet muddy grass run off area - YUCK. both guys un hurt but bikes look smashed (and i watched these guys work on the bikes for nearly the whole day trying to get them back in 1 peice). Well that set the presidence of the day for all groups!!!
So i find a new dry (ish) spot to hide the bike from the weather under Mallorys UFO (its actually the press office but resembles a UFO shaped object on stilts, tucked the bike under 1 of the corners and rigged up the generator and tyre warmers and chat away to the other 8 people hiding away from the rain.So im im now dry, the bike is dry, wrist seems ok so far so happy days Fook the weather!!!
Intermediate group totter out and within 4 laps theres the 2nd red flag of the day, the crazy Geordy that had spent 3 hours driving from Newcastle had lost the front end going into the hairpin (he was parked up next to me under the UFO so id already said good morning to him). Inters come to and end and I watch the novice group follow each other round like the usual wet day prosession that you only get in the novice group
Just then i am aware that the mad Geordy has reclaimed his broken TL1000s and is riding it back across the pits (at some great speed i may add) but up to this point had obviously not checked to see if his front brake was in any kind of working order after his crash, so to my slight amusement i see the look of panic on this guys face as he approaches the back end of somebody elses van with no way of stopping other than a back brake! So on goes the rear brake, the bike goes into a huge slide and once again Geordy lad goes down on the right hand side again (OK could have been worse, he could have wrecked both sides of his bike) missing the back end of the van by about 3 inches At this point i dont no wether to piss myself laughing or rush to his aid but luckly for me a dont have to as 2 other people pick him and his bike up (i should mention at this point he has no helmet or gloves on and whilst rolling around on the floor manages to skin both hands and gash his head but the shock wasnt enough to stop him swaering his head off like only a Geordy can ) He then precedes to rebuilt his bike in record time ready for his next session.
Another wet session for me in fast and another red flag and inters are back out along with geordy boy whos now feeling confident he not due anymore bad luck anyway, 2 laps and hes back in with a misfire, hes now swearing some more and wondering why he drove 3 hours to come to a wet mallory park! Again the bike comes to bits, WD40ing every single connector in site but misfire still persists, i did offer help at this point but unfortunatly couldnt understand his response so left him to it
So out for my 3rd session and stick the GopRo on this time out (il put the whole 2 lapp video up at the end of this write up) and again 1 of the racers boys bins it in spectalcular fasion at the end of the start/finish entering Gerards (a very long and fast right hander), bike completly wrecked and the lucky git only got 2 bent fingers No Limits at this point call it a morning and call an early lunch, fast group 1st back out at 1.30pm.
I then help geordy boy out for a while trying to figure out the misfire and grab some lunch but still no luck with the misfire (lunch was nice though )
So its 1.25 and nearly time to get back out there, its stopped raining but the track is still soaking, time for a quick toilet stop before hitting the track! I unlock the car and throw my key in the boot (as ive dome hundreds of times before) and close the boot (yer, you probly no exactly whats coming here) go for a quick pee and come back to the car to find the auto-fookin-locking has done its job (for once) and locked me out the damn car with no bike key, helmet, wallet, flask etc etc
So at this point do i look for a brick? call wifey? (whats the point) or call the AA to see what they say? Oh yer, just remembered the mobile phone is in the car, best ask to borrow 1 of those 1st then huh?
AA called and they should be there by 2.15, day saved and i should only miss 1 session
Offer more help to geordy boy who is now draining the fuel tank as hes realised hes put far too much injector cleaner in with the fuel so whilst i freeze i watch him drain fuel from his tank and fuel himself with a pasty and a can of orange pop (only a northerner). His bike is now running with new fuel and hes back out there happily lapping on his bald front Racetec (did i forget to tell you about that ) finishes his session and has another celebratory pasty and can of orange pop
AA finally turns up at 3.30pm, (this must be THE most miserable AA man i have ever come across, i get him a nice day out at a cold and wet Mallory Park with no thanks what so ever)takes him 10mins to get into my car - thank god for that!!! AA man then grumbles about having to wait 15mins before he can get back out of the circuit (at Mallory you have to drive across the circuit to get to the exit so you have to wait till the end of each session) but luckly for him some poor git has binned it again and the session is red flagged
The rest of the day went without a hitch, basically cuz i decided to cut my loses, pack up and get the hell outta there
An interesting day in all, met some right characters and had a good laugh (mostly at other expense, as im sure they did mine ) On the positives, my wrist, although stiff today held up OK for the time i was out on track, the bike ran and handled just fine and Mallory Parks new super smooth re-surface is FAB and worthy of a few visits this coming season (luckly for me as Mallory and Donnington are my local tracks )
So sit back and enjoy this whole 2 mins of video (you can see a damn site more than i could through my visor i tell you now )