And so for the final round of 2007, we headed up to Lincolnshire. As per previous rounds, many of my competitors had attended some trackdays here recently. I didn’t. Instead, I packed myself up with lots of racing on the Saturday as a refresher course ready for Sunday’s point scoring Desmodue races.

Saturday, I was entered into the Hornet/SV/400 races, the (non points) Desmodue races, and the Moto60 race – a 30 minute 175-1300cc mixed class race! Sunday was going to be comparatively more laid back with just the Desmodue races.

Satturdays first qualifying session was a slippery affair. Cadwell is slippery enough when its cold, but with new unscrubbed tyres on, I had to pull over after 2 corners to check I didn’t have flat tyres! They were fine, just a bit slippery. Turns out that a few of the Desmo guys had the same issue.

SATURDAY
All my qualifying sessions ended up with me just trying to enjoy myself and trying to get both wheels off the deck over the mountain…
SV/Hornet/400 qualifying time 1’57 – P32 of 48
Desmodue qualifying time 1’53 – P8 of 31
Moto60 – no qualifying, P34

Race 1 – SV/Hornet/400. I managed to become the leading Desmo for the first few laps until I decided to inspect the tarmac at the foot of the mountain. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed/replaced but I had to miss the first Desmo race of the day whilst undergoing repairs…

Race 2 – Missed

Race 3 – SV/Hornet/400. Took things a little steadier and bought it home as the 2nd Desmo over the line.

Race 4 – Gridded 8th in the Desmo race, I managed to cling on to 2nd for a bit but eventually finished 7th.

Race 5 – Moto60. Interesting! I was gridded 34th and ahead of me on the grid was all manner of 600cc/1000cc sports bikes. Only a few Desmo bikes entered in this. There are no race stoppages in these races (except in a serious incident) but a pace car comes out to keep the flow of bikes under control in the event of an incident needing to be attended. And the pace car came out quite a few times! I was able to finish 14th overall after having a race long battle with an MCN journo.

My fast lap of the day was 1’51, with 1’53’s being my pace in the 30 minute race. I was expecting 1’49’s for Sundays proper races.


I was given some pep talk from my sponsors advising the best way across the mountain, but I think my way was far more fun!

SUNDAY

Qualified in 4th row, P15
As far as championship positions went, Hawk was way ahead, followed by Dom, Rattler and Stumpy. Stumpy and the retired Geoff Spencer, holding 4th and 5th, were too large a points gap for me in 6th to bridge. With (previous cadwell race winner) Ian Leah just a couple of points behind me, Crasher Woods on a charge, Paul Payne and Richard Cashmore also in the hunt, the race was really about who would be occupying the remaining positions of the top 10.

Race 1 – Stumpy had already said that if I was all over the back of him, he would let me pass without a fight as his 4th couldn’t be improved on and he couldn’t afford to risk a crash. So imagine my surprise on the first lap, when the Stumpster bailed off his bike in the Gooseneck, causing Chris Wood and myself to brake hard and tighten up to avoid him, and Richard Cashmore to take to the grass. I was able to circulate in 8th for the first 3 laps, then I got passed by Lily and Freak. This wasn’t too much of a problem, doing the maths in my head, they were no challenge as far as championship positions were concerned and I couldn’t risk crashing whilst battling. I decided to hold post and finish 10th.

Race 2 – this was a pretty short race, as I crashed on lap 2 on the exit of Charlies. I went down quite hard and the bike received quite a bit of damage, all round. Eric Howe took a bit of avoiding action as I bounced across Lincolnshire!

Fortunately, I’m indestructible. Took a bit of a knock to the knee and lost a bit of skin on the arm, but I was able to pack up and drive home. Strangely, the following night, the impact damage to the knee flared up and I ended up in accident + emergency, x-rays, etc. a couple of weeks off work and I'm now able to walk again, albeit a bit wobbly.

Finished 9th in the championship