#701 Simp
EMRA RND 1 - April 2025
Ah!! I remember this 👀🏁
Round one - is always a difficult round. Everyone is green, bike fitness is lacking and the grid is full of National riders getting seat time before their season begins- time to check if all the winter preparation has paid off. As if that wasn't enough pressure I also decided to kick into life my trusty old Aprilia RRV450 to contest the 450GP championships as well as the Sport twins. This turned out to be a mixed blessing as it meant Back to Back races which added an element of additional stress.
Qualifying 4 First session out is the 450, or so we thought, arrived at the holding area and waited to be flagged on track only to find that the running order had been changed which created chaos. I needed to be on the supertwin and I needed it now! Quick return to the pits screaming my head off like an only child, demanding his toys. Its times like this that are a true test of what it means to have the support of a solid pit crew - Thanks Dave!
Bike swapped and out for the final few minutes to bed in new tyres & get a time.
Holy shit! what is this - the grid is full of a lot of very fast riders 🙈 Nothing of note to report except I had thankfully shaken off the one minute lurgy that I had caught on test day.. 59.7 seconds and 9th overall.
Qualifying 5 straight out on the 450. Well this is very different.. not ridden this bike for 2 years and it feels so small and soooooo underpowered! Takes me some considerable time to get up to some semblance of speed but the bike just wont pull the gearing we have on.. Best lap 102.2 and p14 on grid. Time for a gearing change.
Sport twin race 1 - good start and away with the pack, slot in behind Jodie Fieldhouse and can just see my nemesis Paul Dewey in front of her. The usual suspects are at the front mixed in with 2 BMW 900rs, know instantly this is going to be a difficult race as the y have significantly more pace. All is well until Paul Dewey decides to throw his bike at the scenery in an epic fashion coming out of the elbow causing Jodie and myself to take avoiding action as bits of bike and breakdancing Paul are all over the track. ( checked in with him later and thankfully he was ok ish!! lucky as this was no slow off 🙈🙈)
With Jodie & I disrupted the front pack broke away and was never to be seen again.. I finished a mildly disappointed 6th place.
GP450 race 1 - Back to back with the previous race so it was a rush in and grab the RRV ... this will test the winters fitness regime!!
Arrive at the holding area to find I'm not listed to go out strangely due to a clerical error so I have to start from the back of grid!! Harrumph!! On the positive side this meant I was going to have fun as we were gridded with Minitwins, and they're way faster in the straights... Let battle commence.
As expected first couple of laps were carving through the field until I reached #14 Nathan Basford... on a Minitwin in a rookie vest and going very well. We trade places for a few laps but I use my experience to pick Nathan off where he cant use his power and adjust my lines to block him where he can. over the line in a disappointing 11th place but 4th in class.
Sport twins race2. - Starting from 2nd row we get away with the pack, as expected the 900s and Josh disappear into the distance leaving myself and Jack Andrews to argue over who leads the 2nd pack. Jack shows me a front wheel a few times into Edwinas and I know hes lining me up. Sure enough on lap 8 he puts in a firm but fair pass up the inside and holds this onto the straight. As we approach the line it seems like he misses a gear down and it opens the door for me to sale past.... I dont need a written invite, thanks Jack! Head down and produce the fastest lap of my race to lead him over the line for a solid 5th ... we are now back into 57s.
GP450 race 2- Starting in 11th place I know that I have a more realistic chance of keeping the front runners in sight whilst Nathan and i sorted out our own race.... or so I thought. There is some serious bikes running at the front, an RS250 and two ex moto3 250s.. Niiiiice.
As it happened the front runners are leaps ahead in lap times so we're never going to trouble them if they cross the line, hate hoping for DNFS but that's the only way that's going to happen. As predicted Nathan and I lock into our own race until he gets an absolute flyer down the start straight and tucks up the inside of me into Gerrards. I was just congratulating him in my head when I realised he had gone too deep and wasn't pulling the bike down, mid corner he's decided that cutting the grass was a worthwhile pastime.. and that's his race done.
Over the line in 7th, 3rd in class, first trophy of 2025 and low 1.00 laps what's not to like! 🏁🏁👀🏁🏁
Epilogue - a good first round, only 0.5 secs away from my PB and its only the first round, we are streets ahead of this time last year, and that turned out ok. PLOT TWIST - What I wasn't aware of at the time of racing is that the 900s and BSB tester were not taking part in the championship meaning whilst I actually finished 6th and 5th in Sport twins the championship points reflect 3rd & 2nd. Meaning I am currently equal 2nd in championship with Jack.
Let battle commence- we go again!
EMRA Test day - 16th March
Can somebody please turn the heating up.
Throughout the off season break both the RS660s have received some upgrades that require testing. The dry bike has had its engine refreshed so required a full shakedown & running in. Dave has been working on some pretty impressive upgrades to the paddock set up which needed validation too. Only one thing for it....., Time to go testing!
Saturday - arrived at Mallory park to set up the new trailer and canopy, it worked a treat ! We now have secure under cover pit area with advertising back drop, Dave made a couple of final tweaks to the set up and we were sorted.
Sunday - Test day The plan was quite simple, having not ridden since October we just wanted to put steady laps on the bike to get some mileage on the engine (rider?) prior to race days. 63 laps without a hiccup later and I think its fair to say objective met.
Decided last session to get my head down and push on for some lap times but for what ever reason I just couldn't push on past a minute. It seems as I had spent all morning at a steady 1 minute pace I had somehow dialled in to that speed... and just couldn't break it. It was cold, I was on different tyres, the track had zero feedback (but wasn't lacking in grip) and the bikes gearing was all to cock, were all the excuses I needed. In reality I just couldn't push the extra 2.5 seconds to my normal pace. Something to work at there, then.
Happy to say we finished the day without any mishap (other than onset hypothermia), we have the data to change gearing and be more prepared to hit Round 1 at pace in 3 weeks time.
Until then.........................