Round 9 Rockingham

ThundersportGB were to produce the first bike racing at Rockingham in five years. Most of the riders hadn't been there before, although some had managed a sneaky track day a week or two earlier. Erol hadn't, it was the first time he had set eyes on the place. He thought it was a bit Micky Mouse when he walked it in the morning of the Friday test. It was damp and very slippery. He went out in the first damp session to find his way round, it was very slick out there on dry tyres, but he had fun sliding around and now had some idea where the track went.


The weather dried up and although chilly there were sunny intervals, Erol was getting quicker all day and putting in respectable times, and was looking forward to being on the pace come race day.

In the penultimate session of the day Erol had a little tip of on a corner that had caught out 21 other riders that day, and was unfortunately hit by another rider at around 60mph as he slid down the track. The results was a holed left buttock, bruised leg and pelvis, damaged cartilage, muscle and nerves in the abdominal area, and a broken rib. He was taken to hospital and was unable to race at the meeting. He was gutted, as he was looking to gain second place in the championship.

As it is after a tough start to the year and an unfortunate end, Erol and the team managed to finish the season in 3rd place!

The Final points are as follows:

Round 8 Anglesey

After the 6 hour drive to the top of Wales and the isle of Anglesey we were pleased to be bathed in beautiful sunshine. Testing was the order of the day on the Friday. Erol went out in the first session to check gearing and to try and remember where the track went. But then decided to try a new trick Ben Spies style and get his elbow down. Which he did at will at the fast right hander after the banked hairpin! He then wandered around the paddock showing everyone the scuffed leathers, to many congratulations and much back patting!

He then decided to follow Phil Crowe around who just so happens to be on a 200bhp gsxr1000 and a very good rider. Erol lent the bike over a bit to much going into rocket and the foot peg lifted the wheels off the floor and Erol went down. Ooops! Oh well that’s what test days are for, not much damage done and he was out again in the next session putting in some good times. With a few suspension tweaks (Cheers Chris at MKW Suspension) the bike had settled down on the brakes and wasn’t backing in to much anymore. So with the day over and good times put in, it was time to rest and get ready for racing. Or be kept up by Jays gut rot!

Qualifying

Qualifying was pretty undramatic really, Erol was in 4th place for a long time but dropped to 5th as the session came to an end. Not a bad starting position behind pole sitter Dan Miles.

Race 1 (14 laps)

Erol got a flyer of a start and was into second place at the first corner, which is about 50 yards up the track from the start line! He dropped to 3rd for the second corner, and was sat up as he nearly ran into the back of wild card Marty Lennon, who seemed to stop mid corner. That allowed Chivers to dive up the inside and Miles followed him through as Erol lost momentum demoting him back to the 5th place he started in. A few laps later Jonathan Lodge another wild card got passed Erol dropping him to 6th. On lap 10 Miles crashed out of the lead handing the lead to Chivers. Erol was closing on his main rival in the championship Tom Gazzard who is ahead of him in 2nd place in the title chase. He was caught and passed on the penultimate lap. Erol crossed the line for another 4th place, earning a front row start in the rest of the weekends races.

Race 2 (12 laps)

From the inside of the front row Erol got another flying start but again got sat up as Chivers turned in on him at the first corner. Erol was in 5th place for the first two laps then got passed Gazzard and set off after Chivers, Lennon and Lodge. Erol got passed Chivers on the exit of peel and was hot on the heals of Lennon, who he passed on the exit of Church, but out braked himself at Rocket allowing Lennon back passed.. On the penultimate lap Miles passed Erol going into the Corkscrew. Erol got right behind Miles on the run up to Rocket, rode round the outside at the very tight left hander, that put him on the inside for rocket out, and Erol took the 3rd place back. He held Miles off to take the 3rd spot over the line.

Race 3 (Reduced to 10 laps)

Again Erol got a great start, but again it came to nothing, and he was 6th for the first few laps. He passed Lodge on lap 5, chased down Chivers and passed him on lap 8, and finished 4th again! Erol did well to stay upright though as he lost the front end numerous times during the race.


Thanks to Simon for a cracking job crew chiefing on his own for the first time. Bex for the grub and constant reminders to eat and drink! And for the lovely food! Daz, Jay and Anni for help in the paddock, driving and pics, respectively. Finally a special thanks to Lee for letting us use his Military tent as our garage for the weekend and for putting up with us!

Rockingham is the final round on the 10th and 11th of October, but don’t forget we will be at Cadwell on the 3rd October for the Dave Holland Festival meeting.

Round 7 Brands Hatch

As Erol is third in the championship, and wants to stay there if not move up, we thought he better get some testing in at his local track. The weather was great but the traffic very heavy in the testing sessions. The bike was pretty well set up, a few changes were made on the advice of Chris from MKW Suspension, and the gearing we chose was spot on. With old scrubberd tyres on, Erol was managing 50 second laps all day so was quite happy with how testing went.

Qualifying

We had one 20 minute qualifying session on the Sunday morning. The times were close with seven riders under the 49 second barrier. Erol put in a time of 49.7 for 6th spot on the grid. Pole man was MRO Front runner Simon Gardener with a very quick 48.8! 

Race 1 (15 laps)

The lights went out and everyone shot off the grid, Erol held his sixth place off the line as the bikes barreled down Paddock Hill bend. He dived up the inside of Ricky Simmonds at Driuds to take fifth spot. The following lap he did the same to Alex Barkshire for fourth. He the set about chasing down Gazzard in third place. Around lap nine or ten Erol got great drive out of Clearways and was right on the tail of Gazzrd down the start finish straight, he popped out the slipstream and dove under Gazzard at Paddock to take third place, the tighter line had compromised his exit speed though and Gazzard managed to carry more corner speed and passed Erol back going into Druids corner. That’s how the race finished Gazzard third and Erol fourth. This meant that Erol had another front row start for the two races on the Bank Holiday Monday and another brolly dolly!

Race 2 (15 laps)

Erol got his first and hopefully last bad start of the year! From the front row he ended up about eighth place at the first corner. Not very happy with this he dived under two people at Driuds the second corner as he knew he had to make up ground quick before the leaders made a break for it. There was a coming together of about six bikes further down the field at Driuds bringing out the yellow flags at Druids and Paddock. This held Erol up a bit as these are the two main passing places, but he had to hold back from passing Simmonds for a few laps, but finally got past Simmonds on lap five. Unfortunately the leading 4 had pulled a fair gap on Erol by this time so he had to dig deep to make up the lost time. He did! And in doing so posted his fastest lap of the weekend a 49s flat! That was faster than the BSB Superstock 600 race winners time! He closed down and passed Stuart Wickens to take fourth and only had two laps to close down and pass Gardener. He closed the gap very quickly but just ran out of time to pull the pass and finished in fourth just 100^th of a second behind Gardener!

Race 3 (15 laps)

This time Erol got a better start but got boxed in at the first corner and was demoted to six place. So with more hard work to do Erol set to with Barkshire, the two having a ding dong battle for half the race, not helped when Erol overtook him under a yellow flag by mistake and had to let him through again. Erol did get the better of him though by mid distance and gapped him by just over a second, but it was to late to catch Gardener in fourth place who ended up finishing four seconds in front.

Thanks as always to Simon and Lucy for their hard work, and to Anni (little devil studios) for the photos and brolly dolling. And also to everyone who turned up to support us at our local round!

This time Erol got a better start but got boxed in at the first corner and was demoted to six place. So with more hard work to do Erol set to with Barkshire, the two having a ding dong battle for half the race, not helped when Erol overtook him under a yellow flag by mistake and had to let him through again. Erol did get the better of him though by mid distance and gapped him by just over a second, but it was to late to catch Gardener in fourth place who ended up finishing four seconds in front.

Thanks as always to Simon and Lucy for their hard work, and to Anni (little devil studios) for the photos and brolly dollying. And also to everyone who turned up to support us at our local round, especially Mick and Darren for the sponsorship, and our secret sponsor, you know who you are! Thank you.

The next round is the furthest away for us at Anglesey in Wales, roughly a seven hour drive. It’s a great track however and if the weather is as good as it was last year it’ll be another cracking meeting, watch this space!!!

Round 6 Snetterton

We turned up at Snetterton, on the Thursday night, in what can only be described as a tropical storm! Luckily we had a garage and we got set up for the test day the Following day. We woke to glorious sunshine Friday morning. Pleased to see this Erol went out for his first session, to try some changes the team had made to the bike. He managed a total of 1 ¾ laps before throwing the bike down the road, admittedly in some style, and ended up in the one and only and very deep puddle on the whole circuit. Bum.

Still hardly any damage done to the bike, and Erol should have known better about the cold left hand side of the tyre as he has seen many people do exactly the same thing in many races. Anyway after this little misdemeanor, and with the bike fixed Erol set about the days testing. By the end of the day the team were happy with the times Erol was doing and Erol was very happy with the setup of the bike.

Qualifying

There were two 20 minute qualifying sessions Saturday morning. By the end of the first session Erol had put in a time of 1.12.4 and was in a provisional 4th place. Unfortunately in the second session Erol didn’t go any quicker and ended up 8th on the grid. After being a little disappointed he realized that it was the inside of the second row, and if he got off the line well, he could get away with the top guys.

Race 1 (18 Laps)

Well the start could have been better but Erol held his 8th place round the first lap. He made up a couple of places in a the next couple of laps, but on lap 4 he was passed by Brown and Gazzard into the esses pushing him a little wide and loosing him a bit of time. The following lap it started to rain at varying degrees around the circuit. Erol was determined to gain back his lost time despite the rain. He got past Simpson into Russels chicane the next lap, then Gazzard the following lap into Riches. He chased down Brown and was looking for a way past at Riches. Erol was a matter of inches from Browns rear tyre when Brown launched himself over the highside. Erol avoided collecting Brown and passed circuit specialist Barkshire two corners later. He was now in 3rd place and was closing in fast on Danny Miles the championship leader who was in second place. Erol was a few bike lengths behind Miles when the red flags came out due to a crash at Corum. Unfortunately for Erol, this meant the results would go back a lap, and therefore he finished in 4th place.

Race 2 (12 laps)

Due to the fact Erol finished the Superpole race in 4th place, he would start both Sundays races from that grid position.

He pulled up on the grid to a nice young lady in hotpants with a brolly and had tv cameras and photographers pointing at him snapping and filming away. We think he enjoyed that bit!

The lights went out and he got a cracking start he and Danny were matched neck and neck off the line. As the tipped into Riches (the first corner) Erol had the inside line and Danny lent on him not realizing he was there, they rubbed elbows but Erol came out in front, and lead into Sears. He ran a little wide on the exit and over the rough concrete at the side of the track, this caused a big tank slapper slowing Erol down enough for Simpson and Miles to whiz past.

Erol caught and past simpson going into the chicane on lap 4, but Simpson later retired with clutch problems. He set about chasing Down Miles, but couldn’t quite close the gap. He had a healthy lead over third place man Gazard of 3 seconds, so decided to pull a celebratory wheelie out of the chicane! He also managed to put in his best lap of the weekend, a 1.11.9.

Race 3 (12 laps)

Erols tyre wasn’t looking to good going into this race but it was the only one he had so it would have to do! He got a good start , but it quickly became clear that the rear tyre was done, he couldn’t get drive out of the corners because it was spinning up , and it was even coming round on him mid corner. He lost a couple of places and was running 5th when he missed a gear going into the chicane, the bike stalled and he had to restart it, the allowed Brown who was way back to pass. Erol chased Brown and was always on his tail into the corners but Brown had the grip coming out and pulled a gap down the straights, it was a game of cat and mouse. Mike Russell had been catching all the while. A couple of times he pulled ahead down the Revitt straight, making the most of Erols lack of drive, but each time Erol would out brake hime into the esses and retake the position. The race was red flagged with one lap to go as Simpson and Gazzard had a coming together. Erol ended up in a disappointing 6th place. But considering the tyre, he did very well, most said he did well just to finish after seeing the state of it. Erol asked Russell if he could see the back spinning up when he was following. “Spin up!?” he said “You were f***ing sideways everywhere!”

Erol is now lying 3rd in the championship and is looking forward to his “home” round at Brands Hatch on the bank holiday weekend at the end of August.

As always Erol would like to thank his team who did another fantastic job throughout the weekend. Also thanks to those that turned up to support him, good to see some old faces back in the paddock! Also to Maria and Anni for the photos throughout the wekend. Finally cheers to Danny Miles who leant Erol a front sprocket for the weekend, Cheers mate!

Round 5 Donington Park (World Superbikes)

Qualifying

We stuck a new set of rubber on the bike and Erol pushed his way to the front of the group the first lap out. He put in some fast laps from the off and help pole position until the final three minutes where he was piped by 200th of a second, and ended up in 3rd spot on the grid. The two guys who qualified in front of him were both British superstock riders, so not a bad showing at all for Erol, despite him being grumpy having held pole for so long! And not forgetting this was a 44 bike grid!

Race 1 (10 Laps)

Erol got a good start and tipped into the first corner in 3rd place, but as he headed to the apex he was inches from hitting Danny Miles in the ankle with his bar end and brake leaver, so had to sit up and run wide. This allowed Tom Gazzard and Rob Brown through as well, dropping Erol down to 6th place. 

Erol chased down Brown and made a move up the inside at the Foggy Esses on the 2nd lap, but ran wide and Brown took the place back, Erol tried the move again and made it stick the following lap, then set off after the lead four.

Unfortunately Erol started to get arm pump halfway through the race, and a five second gap he had built up over Dean Brown was diminishing fast as Erol could hardly hold on to the bike or twist the throttle. Erol ran a bit wide on lap 8 going into the Melbourne Hairpin and Brown dived up the inside running wide himself and again sitting Erol up forcing him wide. Erol stayed with Brown, and was much faster through the fast flowing sections of the first half of Donington Park, but because of the arm pump couldn’t brake as hard as earlier in the race and couldn’t make a pass stick. Erol finished just behind Brown for 5th place.

Race 2 (10 laps)

Again Erol got a good start and this time wasn’t going to be pushed out wide. Miles got a cracking start and pulled just in front of Erol so he altered his line and dived up the inside to take 4th place at Redgate, the first corner. The freight train thundered down Craner curves the top four separated by a split second. On lap 4 Gazzard made a move up the inside of Erol going into the Melbourne loop, Erol shut the door, but Gazzard got good drive out and the two went up the track into Goddards elbow to elbow. Gazzard got in front as they came onto the start finish straight. Erol dived up the inside into Redgate but the tight line pushed him wide and slowed his exit speed allowing Gazzard back in front.

Erol kept Gazzard in sight but the dreaded arm pump had returned and it was again becoming hard for Erol to push much more with his right forearm locking up.

Going into the final corner Erol saw two bikes on the grass and assumed the riders had had a coming together, what he didn’t realize was it was second and third place men, Irwin and Miles. Erol crossed the line in 3rd place much to the delight of his team jumping up and down on the pit wall. 

 

Erol joined John Simpson and Tom Gazzard on the World Superbike Podium for the trophy presentations!

 

Erol would just like to thank Lucy, Jez and Simon for their help and support as always, and to Chris from MKW Suspension for the slight tweaks here and there we needed.

Snetterton in two weeks time, hopefully we can do something to stop the arm pump situation and get a couple of steps higher on the podium.

Round 4 Oulton Park

Erol hadn't been to Oulton for two years let alone raced there, so he got himself booked in to the test day on the friday, as it was only a one day meeting for double points. We had some new tyres to test from Dunlop and with the help of Chris from MKW Suspension We go a superb set up. Erol was putting in some great lap times and felt the most comfortable on the bike that he has ever been. The whole teams spirits were raised and they were looking forward to some close exciting racing and a good result.

Qualifying

Unfortunately all the good work the team and Chris did during the test day, pretty much went out the window, as qaulifying was very, very wet. Erol went out and took a couple of laps to asses the conditions, then got the hammer down trying to put in some fast laps. He kept getting position 5 on the pit board, and tried to push a little harder to get on the front row. Unfortunately though, he got cought in a lot of traffic and was unable to get a clear lap in. Others though did manage a clear few laps and Erol was bumped down to 9th place on the grid. Gutted!

Race (13 laps)

The race was shortened due to incidents in earlier races to 10 laps. It was still raining and the track very wet as the grid lined up for the off. The lights went out and Erol got away ok, but only made up a place or two. With a wall of spray in front of him he couldn't really see his braking marker and didn't want to take any chances.

As they tipped toed round the first half of the lap, coming out of Brittens chicane for the first time Simpson launched himself out of the lead, as everyone tried to avoid hitting him and his bike stranded in the middle of the track.


Erol was up to 6th place at the end of the first lap and was battling with Dean Brown. Brown got past on lap 3, pushing Erol down a spot. With handling issues, Erol was trying to keep with the guys in front but had a moment at Cascades on lap 5 when he lost the front and had to pick the bike up, go up the escape road, stop turn around and get back on track! This allowed Sam Parry to get past who was some 15 seconds further back! Erol got back past Parry at Hizzys chicane, but got bad drive out of Driuds a few corners later allowing Parry to draw along side into the braking zone for Lodge. Parry was about two inches in front of Erol when he pulled a little to hard on the front brake lever and went down right in front of him. Parry was lucky Erol didn't run him or his bike over as he slid down the road.


Erol finished the race in 7th place, which he was very disappointed with, but in a race with tricky conditions (there were 9 fallers) he did well just to stay on the bike! He is now 6th in the championship, and there are only a handfull of points between 2nd to 9th place, so things are still really close.

Thanks again to Chris at MKW Suspension, who helped us out a lot, and Maria from www.moto-photos.co.uk for the pictures.

The next round is at Donington World Superbikes on June the 26th - 27th. See you there!

Round 3 Pembrey

What a long drive it is for us to get to the fabulous circuit of Pembrey in south Wales, five and a half hours away! Anyway it turned out to be a cracking track, but one which Erol had to master quickly to be on the pace as it was the first time he had ever been there.

Qualifying

There was a mix of weather for qualifying. It started off dry but overcast, then rained for a while, but as the surface at Pembrey is made of some super special tarmac the grip levels didn't decrease to much so everyone stayed out on dry tyres. It did dry up towards the end of the session, and Erol was running in 5th place until a few minutes from the end when a few guys put in some cracking laps and Erol dropped down to 10 on the grid for the races.

Race 1 (18 laps)

Erol got a good start, and slotted into 6th place behind Rob Brown at the tight first corner. Jeacock got past lap 3 as Erol knocked it down 1 to many gears into Brooklands, and got far to sideways causing him to run wide. Again on  lap 4 Erol backed it into Brooklands to much and Charlie McCarten got past. Erol lay 8th all race until Gazzard fell off on lap 14 at the hairpin finished promoting Erol to 7th and that's where he finished.

Race 2 (12 laps)

Erol didn’t get a great start this time and held his 10th position into the first corner. He moved up to 9th on the second lap, and pretty much stayed there until the last lap where he made up another position to finish 8th.

Race 3 (12 laps)

Erol again got a mediocre start and ended the first lap in 9th place. By lap 2 hed had gotten past Ricky Simmonds and Ashley Chivers and was now fighting with Rob brown for 5th place. Unbeknown to Erol it was actually a 4 man dice as Simmonds and Chivers were right on their tail! Erol and Brown swapped places 3 or 4 times during the race and Erol finished just behind Brown by just 7/1000ths of a second for 6th place.

Round 2 Cadwell Park

We arrived at Cadwell on Good Friday night before the test day, to a very wet and dark scene! We hoped it would clear up for the test day, but alas it didn’t. Showers interrupted the day and as Erol hadn’t ridden the bike there before it made gearing selection difficult for race day. He also crashed at the hairpin on someones spilt fuel during one of his sessions, which didn’t help, but Jez and Simon did a great job of sorting the bike out for him.

Qualifying

The track wasn’t to bad round the back of the circuit but there was only a very narrow dry line around Barn, the last corner that leads onto the main start/finish straight. One lap through here Erol touched the wet part of the track with his front tyre and the bike started to slide away from him. He managed to pick the bike up on his knee and carry on. While the track was damp Erol was struggling and was down in 14^th to 17^th place. But at the end of the session he pushed hard and avoided the wet bits to post a time for 7^th on the grid.

Race 1 (14 laps)

The weather had turned dryer by the first shortened race (10) laps. It was still pretty cold but dry. Erol got an ok start and was 7^th into the first corner. He passed Parry on the next lap and pulled away at about a second a lap to take a comfortable 6^th place 9 seconds ahead of Parry.

Race 2 (12 laps)

The weather for Bank Holiday Monday was much nicer, dry and quite sunny, but still cold.

Erol got a bad start as the bike bogged down, he went round the outside at copse the fast left hand first corner, but was pushed wide and nearly onto the grass, where he lost a large number of places. Fighting his way back through the pack he dived up the inside of Jake Newstead into Mansfield and as Newstead turned in with Erol unsighted, Erol clipped the back of Jakes bike. Luckily the both stayed on and continued to race. The following lap two riders crashed on the exit of Mansfield and the race was stopped while they received medical attention.

At the restart Erol got a much better start and was away in 7^th place again. He got passed Rob Brown on lap 3 and was closing down Parry. They both passed Dean Brown with two laps to go. Erol was right on Parry tail for the final two laps, he was closing on the brakes and mid corner, but Sam would pull away on the straights. Erol had to settle for 5^th place just 7 10ths behind Parry.

Race 3 (12 laps)

Erol again got a pretty good start, and was away with the leaders. Tom Gazzard was out in front, while Daniel Miles, Dean Brown, Parry and Erol all fought for 2^nd place. Sam was leading the group for a few laps but made a couple of mistakes allowing Miles and Brown through, Erol had also made a little mistake and had dropped a few bike lengths back. He was reeling in Parry though, and with a couple of laps to go and got right on his tail, but on the penultimate lap made a mistake going into the micky mouse chicane allowing Parry to pull away enough not to be caught. So Erol finished 5^th again.

Erol was disappointed not to have finished on the podium at Cadwell, but in dodgy conditions and with a relative lack of testing at the circuit he pulled together some solid results. He is now 6^th in the championship standings only 7 points off of 3^rd place.

We have managed to get quicker and quicker every time Erol has thrown a leg over the bike and with a few tweaks here and there hope to be fighting for those podium finishes soon!

2009 Season is GO!

Round 1 Mallory Park

So with the new season now upon us Erol and the team set off on their way to Mallory Park race circuit near Hinckley. It has to be said that no one in the team including Erol really likes the circuit, but that is where the championship starts, so tough!

Qualifying

The weather was cold but dry with a light breeze. Due to lack of funds Erol had to qualify on old used tyres that had been used for testing a few weeks earlier. The pace was very quick, but Erol was holding his own in 6^th place for most of the session until the rear tyre cried enough and he could go no quicker. So with no grip left he pulled in. Unfortunately in the last 5 minutes a few other riders upped their game a bit and Erol was demoted down to 12^th place on the grid, with a 57.43. 1.8 seconds off pole. Just so you get an idea of how close it was, there 9 riders in the 57 second bracket!

Race 1 (18 laps)

This is obviously Erols first race on the bike and he had never had a chance to practice his starts. As the lights went out he got an ok start, but was boxed in on the inside and lost a place into gerrards, the first corner. He then got by the rider in front and settled into 12th place.

He was closing in on Tom Young and as Young ran wide and onto the grass on the exit of Edwinas chicane Erol nipped up the inside to gain a place. As Erol was chasing down another rider into the hairpin, the rider in front ran wide and again Erol nipped through. He was now on a charge and rapidly closing in on Ashley Chivers and Sam Parry. Chivers passed Parry into the hairpin. Erol got a good run on Parry out of the Devils Elbow and down the start finish straight and dived under him into Gerrards on lap 13, and set off after Chivers.

Callum O’Shea fell off on lap 14 and moved everyone up a place, promoting Erol to 8^th place. On lap 15 Erol was on Chivers’ tail on the exit of Gerrards and out broke him into Edwinas Chicane for 7^th place. He then pulled away to finish comfortably in 7^th place, with a fastest lap time of 56.8 set on lap 15.

Race 2 (12 laps)

Erols rear tyre was looking a little worse for ware but again due to the lack of funds it was the only one he had to use for the whole days racing. With nearly everyone else on the grid in front of him on new tyres Erol knew he had his work cut out!

He got a cracking start and made up 6 places off the line as he slotted into 6^th place at the first corner. He settled into a rhythm behind Young, and was closing in until on about lap 7 the rear tyre really started to drop off, meaning he couldn’t get the power down coming out of the corners allowing Young to pull away a bit. With the lack of corner exit speed compromising Erols speed onto the main straight, Bruce Winfield managed to slipstream him down the straight and take the place off him going into Gerrards. On the final lap of the race Chivers managed to do the same thing and Erol ended the race in 8^th place. Despite a now very knackered tyre he had still managed to go faster with a lap time off 56.3. Now only .8 of a second off the fastest lap.

Race 3 (12 laps)

Erol had been on the phone to his suspension man (Colin form 100% Suspension) in between races to see if there was anything they could do to make the bike handle better with the worn rear tyre. A few adjustments were made, and Erol went out and lined up on the grip. Again he got a great start and was 6^th into the first corner. He settled down into this position and was chasing down Daniel Miles. The tyre was to badly gone and he could not keep up the pace, with the bike sliding and moving round every corner Erol had to back off otherwise he would have had a big crash. This allowed Winfield to again get past Erol. The race ended with Erol in 8^th place.

It was the teams’ first race meeting with the bike and they learnt some valuable lessons about set-up and tyre wear. The Dunlop tyres were great when new, but we had to ask too much of them because we can’t afford as many sets as most other teams out there. Erol rode his bum off in that last race and even with the tyres as they were managed to set his fastest lap of the weekend a 56.2. If he had new tyres for qualifying he would have at least been on the second row, and again for the races would have given him another half a second on his lap times putting him in the top 3!  

If anyone is able to help out please get in touch by emailing erol@teamhighsieracing.co.uk. Even if you help him to get a couple of sets of tyres it would really make a big difference.  

So after the first round Erol is lying 7th in the championship. With 30 riders competing, that isn't to bad for his first outing on the bike. He got quicker evrytime he rode the bike, and is now looking forward to the next round at Cadwell over the bank holiday weekend in April.

 

And so....Erol is the PI600 Champion 2008!

Erol wrapped the championship up with 3 rounds still to go. Along the way he collected 7 wins, 13 second places, 4 thirds, and 2 fourths. he set 5 fastest laps, race records at Snetterton, Croft, and Donington. And is the lap record holder and Snetterton. Not to shabby for his first season on the bike!

Erol would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported him this year:

Dunlop
Mark from Holebeach tyres
Steve and Roy from Firstline Motorcycles
Colin and Diane from 100% Suspension
Bob and Dave form Bob Farnham Tuning
Maria from Moto-photos
Justin Rockett from IME
Paul and Sue Smith from their own pockets! And their friends, sorry never got your names!
Bob Martin from his own pocket too!
All the Black and white race team - Paul, Lynn, Simo, Richie, Jezz, Becki, Mick, Simon, Dazz and Little Brian. All of whom made this possible!
Jonty Dixon - an inspiration!
The Lapworth family
Everyone else who didn't want to be mentioned but helped a lot, you know who you are!
And last but by no means least the bestest and loveliest person in the whole world, my bride to be Lucy! Love ya!

I would also like to add what a great, friendly and very well run club Derby Phoenix is, and I hope to be back there next year.

Round 13 Cadwell Park 27/07/2008

Race 1

Erol knew he only needed 15 points in this race to become PI600 Champion 2008. A 3rd place would do it. Erol rode round following Colbrook (and showboating a little) for a very comfortable second place, and his second title in a row!

Race 2

The title was Erols' but he went out in the second race for a laugh. Showboating around again and claiming another 2nd place.

Round 12 Cadwell Park 26/07/2008

Erol only needed 55 points from the whole weekend to wrap up the Championship. He was under strict instructions from the team no to do anything daft!

Race 1

Erol started from pole, got an ok start and followed a determined Colbrook (fighting to get second in the championship) and Marston (returning after breaking his wrist, and chasing for 3rd) into the first corner. He decided to follow these two round and watch the sparks fly as a win wasn't needed. He was quite comfortable behind them in 3rd place, watching the two scrap up ahead, with Marston putting in a cracking overtake on the entrance to the mountain, only for Colbrook to barge his way back through at the hair pin. Then the inevitable happened and unfortunately Marston highsided out of Mansfield and knocked himself out bringing the race to a premature end. Colbrook taking the win, with Erol in 2nd place. Another 20 points in the bag, leaving 35 needed for the title.

Race 2

Erol started from second spot on the grid, and got a good start and was second into the first corner. He snuck up the inside of Colbrook under braking at park corner, but relinquished the lead going into mansfield. Flip flopping through Hall bends Erol pulled on th eleft hand clip-on just before the braking point for the hairpin only for in to spin round and wedge against the tank, sending Erol across the grass into the  hairpin. He managed to get round there and barn corner, but had to straighten the bar before the first corner (coppice) as it was a left hander and he had to steering lock! He backed off to 90% throttle down the start finish straight and bashed the bar straight again, but had been passed by 5 other riders and was now back to 6th place. He got his head down and started a charge back up through the field, finishing second and setting the fastest lap. Only 15 points needed now!

Round 11 Donington Park 12/07/2008

Donington as always is a one day meeting so only two races this weekend for the lads instead of the usual four. The boys hadn't been able to test before the weekend, but both went well there the year before so knew their way round. The weather on the way to the circuit had been a mix of sunshine and very wet rain! It rained Friday night untill about three in the morning. But the boys were glad to see a clear sky but still a damp track when they awoke race day morning.

Race 1

Erol was on pole and got a shocking start heading skywards in a rather uncharacteristic wheelie off the line. This meant he was third into the first corner, behind Gibbo and Colbrook. Erol got past Gibbo into the old hairpin and followed Colbrook. Having only had ten minutes practice in the morning, Erol was still learning his gear changes and braking points, and was unable to catch Colbrook. Colbrook is not a threat in the championship to Erol, so he decided to settle for the 20 points and take the second place.

Race 2

Erol started from second on the grid and got an ok start. Colbrook had the same poor start as Erol did in the first race and followed Erol into the first corner in second place. Erol lead for the first three quaters of the race untill Colbrook came past into McCleans. Erol followed him, but Colbrook was very aggressive through the backmarkers and got a bit of a lead on Erol. He had a fair bit of a lead going into the last lap, but Erol was determined to win at his favorite track, and really charged on that last lap. He got good drive out of the penultimate corner after closing on Colbrook all lap and got in his slipstream down the back straight. Going into the final corner Erol was four or four or five bike lengths back of Colbrook but was so late on the brakes that the marshals had their eyes shut, sure that he wouldn't make the corner, or would tuck the front end. As it would happen, it was a great move and Erol managed to get it turned for the second part of the esses and crossed the line a tenth of a second ahead of Colbrook to take the win!

Another thank you to Colin from 100% Suspension for his expert knowledge again this weekend, cheers fella!

Round 10 - Snetterton 22/06/2008

What a difference a day makes! Everyone woke to a bright and sunny, although very windy Snetterton on the Sunday. This was good news for Erol as he preferes racing in the dry, but it would be a lot harder on his foot as they would be going a lot quicker than yesturday.

Race 1

Erol was 3rd on the grid and again got the holeshot and never looked back! He had about a 10 second lead up to the lined but slowed to celebrate and crossed the line 6 seconds ahead of hope. He was so pleased to do so well with the injury but was now in a bit of pain so rested his foot for the second race of the day.

Race 2

Again Erol lined up on pole. The lights went out and Erol lead a pretty uneventful race (apart from a few slides here and there) from lights to flag. He also set a new lap record on the way!



Erol has many thank yous for this weekend, so here goes, Lucy for everything, Jezz, Daz, Oddy and whoever else helped fix the bike and move stuff around. Colin for the suspension work (www.100pcsuspension.co.uk). Kerrigan for tyres. Geoff, Jane and Alan for there hospitality and awning. Simon for the piss taking! Bex for the grub, Paul and Lynn for support and looking after me. Jonty, Justine, and Kenny for hospitality and hospital pick ups! Simo and gelder for there usual stirling work over the weekend. Mum, Suzan, Paul, Sue, Bob and his mate (sorry, forgot your name!) Robbie, Lydia and Olivia for coming along and showing their support, and last but not least Maria for excellent photos as always! (www.moto-photos.co.uk)

Round 9 - Snetterton 21/06/2008

Erol went to Snetterton on the friday before the race weekend to test and have his suspension set up. There were a few problems on that day. 1, it turns out that Erol had been running on stock forks all season apart from springs and preload adjusters. 2, it rained. 3, Erol highsided himself off the bike after only a few laps in dodgy wet/damp conditions and had a nicetrip to hospital in an ambulance. He had landed heavily on his right foot, and was in a lot of pain so was taken in for xrays. It turned out that nothing was broken, but there was tendon and soft tissue damage., Erol couldn't walk and was now on crutches! Great, and the weekend hadn't even started yet!

So a thank you to Lucy for looking after him, to everyone who helped move all his gear and fix the bike up, and to Colin at 100% Suspension for sorting out the forks so Erol now has a proper K-tech setup. Thank you please!

Race1

Erol had his foot in ice all friday evening, and had plenty of painkillers and managed to squeeze his foot in his boot for the race. He was still on crutches but was determined to race. Luckily for him (sort of) It was a wet rcae. This was good because it would be easier on his foot, but bad because he would have to get over his wet testing crash pretty quick if he wanted to do well.

Erol lined up on pole position and as the lights went out, he got the holeshot into the first corner and got his head down, and simply pulled away from everyone, taking a lights to flag win by 11.54 seconds.

Race 2

The weather had changed and the track was drying out. From the pit lane the track looked wet enough for wet tyres, but on the warm up lap it soon became clear that the rest of the track was a lot dryer, and that Erol had made the wrong tyre choice. Thankfully so had the rest of the grid! As the lights went out Erol was 3rd into the first corner, which is where he stayed all race, Hope and Colbrook were pushing each other hard, but Erol thinking of the championship wasn't willing to crash for an extra 5 points so settled for 3rd, as his tyres were trashed in the dry conditions.

Erol spent the evening with his foot up in ice again as it ballooned as soon as he removed his boot. And could do nothing about the relentless piss taking!

Round 8 - Anglesey 2/06/2008

Race 1

Sunday morning was a lot cooler than the day before and the boys lined up how they finished the race before, Erol on the inside line of the front row in 4th and Paul directly behind Hope in 5th place. But Paul suffered another poor start and allowed Dicken, Gibson and Tanton to go past while Erol went off with Hope, Marston and Colebrook in the leading group. Erol was battling hard with Colbrook but was having rear tyre problems that culminated in a huge slide on the fastest corner on the track, Church, which had him out of the seat at over 100mph! Paul was having similar troubles with a big slide onto the start/finish straight that allowed Tanton to close up on him after he had outbraked him into Rocket the lap before. Unfortunately the time taken to get past Tanton had cost Paul dearly and he had little chance to chase down Dicken in 5th. So the chequered flag came out with 2 grumpy looking Black & White Team mates despite both of them achieving personal best laptimes!

Race 2

Paul decided to struggle on with his worn rear tyre and replaced the front while Erol opted for a complete new set. It was still bright and dry but definitely not as warm as the day before as they went to the grid for the fourth and final time that weekend. Colbrook had had a big crash in an open race just before and was missing from the front row giving Paul a big gap to aim for from the second row. But still, agonisingly, his start was not as good as those next to him but definitely not as bad as his previous 3 starts. Marston, Hope and Erol went of together and Paul followed up at the back of the next pack. Marston was leading well, being chased hard, when he highsided out of the exit of Rocket. Despite a broken wrist, he made sure that his injuries did not stop the racing and Erol and Hope continued to battle to the end. On the final lap, Hope caught a backmarker and passed him easily with Erol just behind getting the raw deal and loosing a lot of time. He realized there was now no chance of catching Hope and had to settle for second place, still a fine ride after a very tricky weekend at a new track. Paul was a bit further back having taken a long time to get past Gibson which he finally managed when the Honda rider missed a gear coming out onto the start/finish straight and Paul very nearly ended up riding pillion on a Hondamaha CBR-R6 quad bike! By this time Tanton and Dicken had cleared off and Paul had little chance of catching them up. So a solid 5th place to round off his weekend.



It has to be said that the new circuit at Anglesey is a very special place, definitely one of the best tracks in the UK, just a very long way for just about everyone but still worth the trip. The Black & White Race Team boys were definitely suffering with tyre wear issues but they should be all sorted for Snetterton in 1 weeks time where both riders have an excellent history of success. In the meantime, Paul will be looking to borrow the runway at Coningsby to practise his race starts!

Round 7 - Anglesey 1/06/2008

Race 1

The Black & White Race Team boys lined up in the grid; Erol on pole and Paul in 7th. When the lights went out both riders had a bad start, although Paul’s could better be described as ‘dreadful’! Erol managed to come out of the first corner in 4th place whereas Paul was way back somewhere around 15th! However, one of those that had had a decent start was Shane Colebrook and it turned out that he had managed to get away a bit too well and jumped the lights. Erol fought bravely on despite very nearly crashing at the infamous Corkscrew – even managing to hear his own tyres screeching in agony!



After a couple of laps Paul was back up nearer the front and was right behind Mark Dicken and then, on lap 3, made a firm move up the inside into The Banking. Committed to the overtake Dicko had no choice but to pick his bike up at the apex of the long right hander and Paul was through, picked up the pace and chased down the front runners. When the flag dropped Erol came home in 3rd and, thanks to a 10 second penalty, Paul was ahead of Colebrook to take 4th. Danny Marston had led for a good many laps until Nick Hope got past and won by 3 seconds.

Race 2

In an attempt to gain some more traction from the back tyre, both riders played around with the tyre pressures for race 2. They were both on the front of the grid with Erol in 3rd and Paul in 4th and (this is getting boring now) Paul didn’t get off the line well. Erol dropped one place into the first corner but Paul needed to make up a couple of places to get up behind him. The first lap was interesting for Paul as he spent the whole time riding 2 abreast with Dicken until he final made it stick into The Corkscrew. Both Team mates had relatively quiet races from then on until a red was brought out on lap 7 and the result declared.



The experiment with tyre pressures was obviously not working and so Erol went out in an invitation race at the end of the day in order to try a different setting and regain some confidence. With some prize money for 4th place in his pocket (against bikes much newer than his 9 year old steed) this was obviously a good move and gave the Team valuable information for the next day.

Round 6 - Cadwell Park 05/05/2008

Race 1

The boys lined up on the grid where they finished in the previous race. This put Erol in 2nd, Marston 3rd and Colbrook on pole. Erol and Marston got great starts, Danny leading into the first corner with Erol right behind, then Hope who was 4th on the grid. Colbrook got a shocking start and was way down at the first corner.
Again Erol followed Marston only for the pair of them to get passed by Nick Hope at the Gooseneck. Hope was really trying hard and the next lap round was on the grass on the exit of the gooseneck. Then at the start of the following lap the red flags came out because of a faller at park. So Erol had to be content with 3rd place.
Erols team mate Paul Fryer had a cracking race and finished just behind in fourth.

Race 2

Erol and Paul were in 3rd and 4th spots on the grid, on the inside. They both got superb starts and Paul took the lead into the first corner. Erol got passed on the run up Park straight, as Paul was struggling with a bike that was loosing power.
On lap 3 or 4 Erol had a huge moment over the Mountain and had both feet of the pegs and the front all crossed up. This allowed Colbrook to get a run on him into hall bends and take the lead. Erol was happy to let Colbrook lead and followed him round, until the last lap where he had a momentary lapse of concentration and tipped into the bottom of the mountain to early jumping the bike over the curbs. This slowed him dramatically and let Marston through. He was so annoyed with himself he decided straight away he would retake Marston at the hairpin. He made sure he had a good run through hall bends and as Marston took his usual line through the hairpin (expecting Erol to be well back due to his moment) passed him on the brakes and held him off through the final corner and to the line to take 2nd place.



So another pretty good weekend. Erol has extended his lead in the championship, and is looking forward to the next round at Anglesey.

Round 5 - Cadwell Park 04/05/2008

Race 1

As the riders lined up in their championship positions, Erol was on Pole. He got a great start and shot off into the lead. After half race distance he was told to slow a bit as the weather had gotten a bit gloomy and a light drizzle had started to fall. He had enough of a lead to back off a bit. However, he backed of a bit to much and was getting caught by Danny Marston. Erol upped the pace a bit on the last lap and won by exactly a second.

Race 2

Erol got an ok start and followed Marston into the first corner. He followed Marston quite comfortably waiting to make a move. Backmarkers however came into play on the final few laps of the race. Erol kept getting caught behind them going into hall bends. This allowed Marston to pull away a bit and Shane Colbrook to catch up and pass Erol into the hairpin on the penultimate lap. This fired Erol up and both he and Colbrook chased Marston down on the final lap. As the three of them entered hall bends for the final time just inches apart Erol could see what was going to happen and linned himself up to square off the hairpin. Sure enough Colbrook dived up the inside of Marston sending them both a bit wide. Erol took his chance and dived up the inside of both passing Marston and pulling up to Colbrooks back wheel. He new Colbrook would turn in on him, so Erol, with the championship in mind conceded the corner and settled for second place. Colbrook is not a challenger to Erol in the championship, and would have been daft to crash out on the final corner for five more points.

Erol also set a new lap record with a 1:38.53

The Superstock 600s only got one 20 minute qualifying session on Sunday, and as the track was still very wet with a drying line, it made tyre selection and set up a bit awkward. Erol went out on dry tyres hoping that the track would dry up enough towards the end of the session to allow him to pop in a fast lap. There was a real mixture of tyre selections in the holding area before the riders went out.

Erol got a bad start as the bike bogged down at the start, he went round the outside at copse the fast left hand first corner, but was pushed wide and nearly onto the grass, where he lost a large number of places. Fighting his way back through the pack he dived up the inside of Jake Newstead into Mansfield and as Newstead turned in with Erol unsighted, Erol clipped the back of Jakes bike. Luckily the both stayed on and continued to race. The following lap two riders crashed on the exit of Mansfield and the race was stopped while they received medical attention.

At the restart Erol got a much better start and was away in 7^th place again. He got passed Rob Brown on lap 3 and was closing down Parry. They both passed Dean Brown with two laps to go. Erol was right on Parry tail for the final two laps, he was closing on the brakes and mid corner, but Sam would pull away on the straights. Erol had to settle for 5^th place just 7 10ths behind Parry.