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AltoVyrus - 6th Round - Snetterton - July 08
Pre Race
This fast and flat Norfolk circuit has been the scene of many of Alto performance’s finest moments. This time though we came knowing the task of staying in the top 3 would be difficult. Not expecting to be as competitive as we have been in the series, we built our engines to be more “reliable” than “cutting edge performance”. This oversight has caught up with us now as the chassis is capable (although still in development) but power at this circuits needs to be on the edge to be competitive.
We have plans to rectify this and work is in progress, but not in time for Snetterton. Phil would have to ride hard.
This meeting also saw the first use of the new Alto Performance hospitality marquee for Champion Spark plug customers.
We have had contact with many of the customers since the event and they are planning to come to other race meetings so I think we can say this was a success. Thanks goes to Champion also for helping us step up to this challenge and for their time spent with us to make the whole experience fun for all.
This facility is now available for any of our sponsors to book, please call Ben on 07958 472564 if you are interested.
Saturday 5th July 2008
Wet they said and windy...sunshine and showers. What they didn’t say was we would have all of that in 15 minute intervals. Yuk.
Everyone braved the weather (hot bacon sandwiches can keep a lot of water out!).
Practice was 15minutes with our Croix base settings. With the weather it was difficult to tell if anything was good or bad.
We had fitted a new gearbox freshly DLC coated (Oerlikon Balzers) but it was difficult to see any real benefit on the damp track.
Race 1: 3th position (Front row) as is our championship position. We normally leave Phil until the last minute before sending him out on track (keeps the tyre warm/hot) and tension to the minimum. Unfortunately being 2 team members down we had no one spare person for the pit wall, and we were just a little too late. The were other front runner caught by the same issue so whether BEMSEE clamped down or we were too slow is open to debate, but either way we and others started from the back row. As team manager I must take this type of failure squarely on my shoulders and try to ensure this does not happen again. Phil rode his heart out overtaking anything he could catch (and some he couldn’t) but it put both the bike and our championship on a backfoot, when it need not have been so. The are enough problems in racing with out creating your own. True to form Phil saved our skin and came 5th a brave and very hard ride.
Result 5th position.
Race 2: With everyone watching we took our position (on time) in row 2. The pack roared away and the next time we saw Phil he had pushed his way through to 4 . Past th th e start finish line into the first corner and we got the report over the tannoy he had pushed into 3rd spot going into corner number 2 (called Sears at Snetterton). Unfortunately that was all we would participate in the days proceedings as trying to get the power down for the main straight a little earlier, our rider and bike went for a trip to the tyre wall. Our spectators said he slid for a very long way indeed (a fairly high speed excursion) but it was done with style, both him and the bike chasing each other. Fortunately neither bike nor rider were badly hurt and with a few changes of parts, handle bar, brake lever and so on we were up and running again. The protective swinging arm covers made by Streamline carbon (carbon Kevlar) were fabulous and protected perfectly...no damage.
Result : DNF. (Did not finish)
Saturday night we repaired the bike, looked at the data and thought how we could make changes which might improve matters. No point in worrying about a tough day, tomorrow will be better.
Sunday 6th July 2008.
Dry weather, not great weather but dry.
We warm the bike and Phil goes out in the morning warm up for a test of the mods we thought would help.
Phil reports his findings and we decide to go with the settings.
Race 1: A DNF means last on the grid for the first race. Here we go again but this time everyone is calm and Phil knows what he needs to achieve.
Lap one and he has lost half the field already being in 12 , th lap 4 and he comes through in 7th, at no point is the bike or rider giving up he is relentless in his pursuit. Watching Phil catch riders and then pass is really fun, there are no prisoners....I am glad we can not see his thoughts I am sure they are dark.
By lap 6 he is in 5th with not much likely hood of catching the rest, we put out the pit board showing him he has room to breath, settle for 5th.
Result 5th.
Race 2: After a day of dry weather the heavens opened and down came the rain. Rain isn’t a problem but then the rain stopped and the wind started to dry the track. We kept a close eye out to see if a dry line was emerging...still some 20 minutes to go. The race before ours were on full wet tyres and we could see little spray. This is always the worst kind of weather. Although you can get intermediate tyres they really are a nothing choice, far better to choose wet or slick if you can.
I looked at the tyres from the race leaders in the race before ours, the wets had not shredded and it still had wet corners according to the riders...wets then and Phil will go off line to cool the tyres in any standing water. Tricky conditions play into our hands, Phil really is a great rider and takes everything and just uses it to his advantage.
Lined up on row 2 the lights went out and the spray was kicked up. Phil quickly settled into a top 4 position. He worked on 3rd but didn’t have to wait too long before the two leaders took each other out leaving him pushing him up to 2nd spot. Matching Garry on the CBR 600 lap after lap, he settled for a good solid 2nd, well that’s what we thought until he started chopping lumps out of the leaders safety zone. Nice try and right up to the end he kept the pressure on but just couldn’t get close enough.
Result 2nd.
Another weekend where we have really put a few point between us and 4th placed rider in the championship.
This means we are still in 3rd position overall in the Thunderbike UK national championship. Now we have 3 weeks to get some of the engine modifications ready and running. We have time to work on the suspension to try and solve a couple of handling characteristics we think some good suspension dyno time will cure.
We were at the festival of 1000 bikes with Phil Read M.B.E. and Agostini again this weekend just gone hence the lateness of this report. Expect a write up of this great event later this week.
