‘Cat’                           

Born and bred a tom boy with my dad being a motorcyclist in his younger days and my mum a bit of a closet speed freak I became a fan of motorsport from a very early age but it wasn’t until I went to Uni that my boyfriend and eventual team mechanic, Jeff, let me loose on his MTX 125 on Dartmoor. Shortly after that I embarked on an intensive course to get my motorcycle license and was really chuffed to come home on the third day a fully fledged motorcycle rider. When I left Uni I promptly became the proud owner of a 5 year old NC29 thanks to a graduate loan! A handful of track days on the 400 ensued and the urge to race soon took its grasp. Jeff and I bought a race prepped CBR from a local club racer with the intention of us both competing in the odd club race in 2003 however our plans were scuppered when I blew the engine on a practice day requiring some major repairs. It was looking like it would be some time before it would be ready again so in the meantime I had a go on a 125cc Grand Prix bike.

It looked so tiny, even compared to the road going NSR I’d ridden. The 120  rear didn’t seem much fatter than a bicycle tyre and even the intoxicating smell of 2-stroke oil couldn’t detract from the fact that it sounded about as menacing as a mildy narked off bee! After a few laps however I was grinning from ear to ear and the fun I got from the 400 paled into insignificance as I was treated to the thrills of a proper race bike. Even the notoriously narrow powerband didn’t put me off. The extra work on the gear lever to avoid those sub 10000 rpm watching-paint-dry moments were well worth it and the cornering and braking was unbelievable. I’d not had that much fun since doing my first unstable freefall jump out of a Cessna back in my Uni days and eagerly grabbed the chance to race the RS at the East Midlands Racing Association’s Novices and Intermediates meeting.

I absolutely loved it and brought home two 2nd place trophies and a desire to sell the 400 and get a 125! After a few meetings riding a Rodger Stuart Racing Honda I bought a stock ‘96 Honda RS125 from TT rider Matt Jackson and luckily for me, Jeff became proficient in the maintenance of it.  At the end of 2003 I was awarded 3rd novice at EMRA and was already wishing the winter away for the new season.

In 2004 I raced all six EMRA rounds and two club events at Donington and Darley Moor, scoring consistant top ten finishes and finishing 4th overall in the EMRA championship.

2005 brought us a new 2004 RS125 and a personal goal of taking the 125GP EMRA Championship. After a rough start to the season with two seizures we started to get some reliable settings on the new unleaded fuel and come mid-season I was winning races and became the first woman in the club to be awarded Rider of the Day for a double win. More track successes followed and I ended up securing the championship title at the last round. With aspirations to pitch myself against the best in the country I decided to try the 125GP race at the Donington round of the British Superbikes just to see if I could qualify at that level. To my delight I made it onto the onto the grid and finished the race in 28th position.

In 2006 we decided to contest the full British 125cc championship. With new tracks to learn and a new kit fitted to the bike which required more precision to set up both Jeff and I had our work cut out but it was a great year. Having comfortably qualified for each round and gaining 5 top 20 finishes we were feeling encouraged. Jeff worked magic with the bike and we’d finally got the set up spot on by Silverstone where I qualified 15th on the grid and scored championship points, finishing the race in 13th place.

In contrast, our 2007 season was plagued by bad luck. A few early crashes, injuries, and several other events conspired to prevent us from reaching our potential. However despite that we still managed some top twenty positions in both qualifying and race finishes and although the finish positions alone were a little disappointing I was encouraged by some improvements in my lap times from last year. Between race meetings I also found some time to have some fun on other two wheeled machines when I was taken to Spain with Triumph to ride the Rocket III, Daytona 675, Bonneville and exciting new Street Triple for their 2008 catalogue which was excellent fun! My dad who used to be a Triumph rider in his younger days was exceedingly envious! :-)

A chassis check by Spondon highlighted that we’d been racing all year on a twisted frame which was beyond repair and with a new frame on the bike for the 2008 pre-season test I knocked 1.5 seconds off my best lap from the previous year. This was soon to be followed up with a great first qualifying session at Brands Hatch where I bagged myself a front row start! Apart from some bad luck during the year where contact with other riders prematurely ended my races I never finished out of the top 20. The highlight of the season was at Thruxton where despite a DNF when I got tangled with another rider, I’d qualified 22nd in the wet and fought through to 6th place by lap 7, setting the 3rd fastest lap of the race at the time. But the disappointment of a non-finish was soon forgotten with a 9th place result at Oulton and another 9th at Silverstone. The DNF’s mid season took their toll on my points tally though leaving me in 20th place overall in the championship.

2009 was even better with faster lap times and some more top tens. Over the year I finished 9 out of the 11 races in the top 15 and secured 14th place overall in the Relentless British 125GP championship.