Round 3 - Oulton Park (03/05/10)

After much blood, sweat and random expletives Jeff managed to salvage one of the barrels damaged at Thruxton. A big thank you to Bruce at JT Engine Developments for bedding it in gently on the dyno. Jeff found the cause of the seizures so we were hoping for a smoother run at Oulton with the remaining barrel.

We’ve always found it tricky to decide on the right gearing for Oulton so we decided to try a completely different setup during the Saturday’s practice sessions. A damp first session teetering around on slicks wasn’t very productive other than to confirm that the barrel was holding up OK and a dry second session only proved that the new gearing wasn’t what we’d hoped for after all. It wasn’t all bad though - Tony and Bev had brought with them an unbelievably good home-baked cake which can only be described as a tardis of chocolate so after the first bite Saturday’s non-events were soon forgotten!

Though Sunday morning brought on more fun and games when halfway around the first qualifying lap the engine lost power. Fearing an imminent seizure I cruised gently back into pit lane. A few checks showed nothing untoward. The wind had picked up so Jeff threw on a different sprocket just in case and I went out for a couple of laps. By the time I got back into pitlane and we determined the powervalve wasn’t working but we’d run out of time. Back in the awning the problem was quick to fix and after a slice of chocolatey goodness we were all set for Q2 and ended up sneaking into the 1.49s to secure 13th place on the grid. I knew I’d been faster around here before so felt quietly confident for the race.

Race day brought a a mix of weather which thankfully produced a nice little window of sunshine for the 125 race. Following Thruxton’s form I shot of the line and started to edge up in between the two riders in front... but that’s where the similarities stop! They both closed the gap and with my front wheel tucked in between them I had nowhere to go so anchored up to watch everyone else fly by on the outside. Having lost the drive through the exit of old hall and into Cascades I continued to get mugged and was pushed wide into the Shell hair pin. I’d fallen back to about 24th before I regrouped and started to claw my way back through the pack. It was all too late though. My neighbours on the grid were long gone and once I got to the front of my group I ended up having a lonely ride to finish 16th.