Three at Three Sisters
Added on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Three at Three Sisters
Round three of the Preston and District championship and the morning at the Three Sisters track started in typical British style with a touch of the wet stuff, but come 9am it had stopped. The clouds looked ominous but the track soon dried. We were running John Goode’s SV650 this meeting so we ran with his number (#98) and fitted some new rubber to scrub in during practice. The bike was like an old pair of slippers - I rode it last year - and we soon settled into some comfortable lap times.
Race 1 - 501-1300 Open Class. Trophy race
Thanks to a lucky peg draw I lined up in pole position with Andy Cowens and Simon Aspin on the front row with me. Both were on 600s, so a good fast start was the order! At this point it started to rain, not a lot, but rain none the less! The lights came on and quickly went out, I dumped the clutch and the SV fired off the line. Andy out accelerated me to the bottom of the hill, but I managed to out brake him and re-gain first place and with spots of rain continuing to fall I tentatively entered each turn. The pack was right on my tail for about a lap and a half until two incidents involving four riders brought the red flags out. Rubbish.
They ran the next race so we could all change tyres to wets, but as we got back to the paddock it stopped raining. With only a ten minute slot till the re-start I opted to leave the drys on as the had already dried and I didn’t want to ruin a brand new set of wets. We lined back up on the grid with a few riders missing as they couldn’t fix their bikes in time and, yep, it started to drizzle again!! They still let us go and I had another good start. The first lap was OK and the damp wasn’t really that bad, but going into the second race it really came down and as I tipped into Lunar on the second lap I heard the un-mistakable sound of bike hitting tarmac. Luckily whoever it was missed me and just collected themselves. I bimbled around for what felt like an eternity at a really steady pace, and took a deserved win.
Race 2 650 Twins. Trophy race
We drew a 4th place out of the hat which was not bad; the rain had gone and looked like it may hold off for at least the next 30mins! So for the first time today I was really looking forward to a race. The Josal Racing SV fired perfectly off the line again and dragged me into first place over Cowards summit. The laps flew by with me doing consistent 58s with Jake Povah right behind and Joe Ravenscroft in third, both lining up moves, but not making anything stick. The chequered flag came and with it the second win of the day.
Race 3 501-1300 Open Class. Points race.
With only five points separating the top three in this class, a good finish was a must. The down side was that BSB superstock rider Jamie Devine decided to do this round and was only a couple of rows behind me. I got the start I needed but so did he and on lap one going into the hairpin he slipped past. I knew he’d press hard and tried to tag on his back, but he broke the tow by a couple of seconds. His bike had the top speed on the Josal Racing SV650, but we could then pull it back round the twisty parts. I got my head down and pressed on as hard as I dare (remember I was on my mate’s bike!!) and pulled him back in. Going into the last lap I had got right on Jamie’s back wheel and tried as hard as possible to make a move going round Lunar for the last time, but it wasn’t to be, I just couldn’t get past.
We went over the line with 0.2secs covering us, with Dylan James breaking the magic one minute mark for the first time and posting a credible 58sec lap. This left the standings with me in 1st place with 45 points, Richard Murray in 2nd with 34 and Edward Hosker in 3rd with 30.
Race 4 650 Twins. Points race.
We lined up in first slot again with Jake and Joe right behind me. The lights went out and we all rallied for position, but luckily for me I won that part of the race. I pushed on, but not too hard, making sure we didn’t make any errors, with the two lads right behind waiting for a small opening to squeeze through. My pit signal didn’t change so I knew they were right there up until the flag with just one second covering the three of us. Nigel Rae finished a distant 4th with tyre problems meaning the gap in the championship had shrunk a tad. Nigel Rae - 57 points, myself - 53 and Jake Povah on 50. It’s really close, this one!
