Croft circuit 2017 race report
It’s July and time for Croft. When you ask people what their
favourite or least favourite tracks are, Croft is rarely mentioned. Thusly,
those who hadn’t been before were left somewhat unsure of what to expect from
“yet another airfield circuit”.
As normal the pre-race banter was plentiful with
expectations of a Squadron Leader Symon Woodward (motorcycle serviceability
dependent) clean up unless you were Flight Lieutenant Jim ‘Dicko’ Dickinson
with ideas of grandeur. Sergeant Tom Flynn had previous track knowledge which
could serve him well and Corporal Gavin Heggs had hopes that a fast flowing
track could work in his favour. Corporal Chris Bartlett and Flight Sergeant Ian
Ridley were characteristically quiet but clearly looking forward to trying out
this circuit for the first time. The weather was damp on the Friday but with a
forecast for a sunny weekend most were hopeful for a completely dry weekend.
Once team members had trickled in on the Friday afternoon
and set up; those who had arrived took the 2.1 mile walk round the circuit. Tom
was initially confused as to why everyone was walking around the track the
wrong way, leaving the rest of the team thinking it had maybe been a long year
since he had last paid Croft a visit, and it was probably best to stay well
clear of him in any case. As the team returned to camp the smell of gear oil
and singed tempers wafted in the summer breeze. Symon had arrived and bike
parts were everywhere, (fitting a brake calliper mount which John Walton, Sqn
Ldr ret’d, had modified earlier that week), situation normal as the sun set on
the Dalton-on-Tees circuit.
With Crofts noise limitation, the mornings were somewhat
more steady than some other tracks so by the time the bikes were rolled out for
practice some riders were somewhat lethargic. This soon dissipated once out on
the circuit, as the bulk of the team got their first feel for the track and
memories were refreshed for a few.
Dickinson had a close encounter with a rogue Honda RS125 which pulled in front of him just before
Heggs’ adventures were shorter, having previously had an off
at Cadwell Park, he was soon made very aware that all was not well with his
head race bearings, which got a lot worse very quickly on the track as his
headstock collapsed into the bottom yolk. A wobbly lap ended his practice
prematurely. Not wanting to leave him alone in the gazebo Ian also retired
early with a broken gear shift that he had been nursing round for half a lap
and Woodward who managed 2 laps on Little Al before the output shaft seal
failed, spraying oil all over his rear tyre which made the fast left right very
interesting.
Thus the rest of Saturday morning was spent “coaxing out”
Gavin’s head race bearings to shim them out a bit, Ian fixed his gear shift and
Symon buried himself in bike parts leaving the others watching and helping,
just glad it wasn’t them for a change.
Racing
On to the racing with the first coming shortly after the
lunch break on Saturday. As hoped for; the sun was out and track dry. All of
the bikes seemed serviceable and the riders were itching to get out. As in
previous race reports the following is in their own words and completely free
of bias or outright lies. Mostly.
Post classic 125 - Symon Woodward
I must be getting old, because I can’t even remember the
first race. After a good start in the second race I was slowly chased down by
the trailing pack of faster bikes/lighter and/or more talented riders and
started falling down the race order. The
little MT125 was unimpressed by my abysmal riding and split its exhaust down
the middle, forcing me to retire in shame.
The 3rd race was better and I had an excellent, typically MT125
last race with overtaking or being overtaken every corner.
Post classic 500 air cooled - Symon Woodward
After a previous analysis of some weird fueling
characteristics, some brand new carbs had arrived for Big Al. Unfortunately, a bit of dust/grit got sucked
into the fresh and tight (unworn) clearance carb and stuck the throttle at about 20% whilst
being just behind the leader on lap 2. This was soon tracked down and rectified
by a team of volunteers whilst I returned to sorting out little Al’s clutch. I
only returned to Big Al during the final call for his next race which meant I
did not have time to carry out my primary rule of racing. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN
BIKE OVER, PRIOR TO GOING OUT. As I went to push start the bike down the
paddock it was uncharacteristically hard to start, when it did start it revved
its nuts off. Kill switch, quick fiddle with the cable tops to ensure they were
seated and tried again, same result. By the time I pushed the bike back to the
tool box, the race was on track and I had missed it. On examination of the
slides, one had been routed incorrectly and was stuck at half throttle, lesson
learned. Starting from the back of the grid for the 3rd race I
managed to work my way upto second, despite the bike having some “horrible”
handling characteristics. The poor characteristics are due to the borrowed rear
shock which is sprung for a far lighter rider and on fast corners the shock
bottoms out, catching the frame and seat and chattering like hell. Hopefully I
will have my rear shock back for the next meeting, refurbished and correctly
sprung, but I have been saying that since Snetterton.
Post classic 250 air cooled 2T
Race 1
Jim Dickinson #15
First race on the Saturday saw me 9th on the grid and making
another pretty poor start. Sargent Chris Bartlett came past down the straight.
His back end seemed a bit unsettled round Hawthorn and again through Tower. His
Maxton “GP frame” usually looks absolutely planted so I took advantage through
Tower and went through on the inside. Knowing that Bartlett would be pushing to
get back past I kept my head down for a lap or 2 before taking a glance behind.
I couldn't see him which I thought odd - unbeknown to me he'd overcooked a
corner and was getting the marshals to help him out of a ditch/corn field
(porridge on Bartlett). I did my best to try to reign in Graeme Acott and John
Hynes who were scrapping just ahead but ended up a few seconds adrift, crossing
the line in 5th.
Chris Bartlett #41
This was my first time racing at croft and after a Friday evening
walk around it looked like a quick track. Practice on Saturday morning
highlighted it would take a while for me to learn.
Starting 15th wasn’t the best place to be but I could see my
closest rival (Dickinson) about 8 places up the grid so he was my target.
The flag dropped and I had a reasonable start passing my
target before entering the first corner but still feeling that I was running
slower than I should, breaking earlier than needed and not carrying the speed
required. Half way round the first lap I was passed by Dickinson and I had to
settle in behind him to follow for a while. Things came to an end half way
through lap 3 whilst trying to carry more speed than I should into a 3rd gear
right hander and then having to stand
the bike up to avoid a fall. Over the grass I went, staying up right but
onwards I surged into the corn field by a meter or two where I found a ditch. I
needed two Marshall’s to help drag the bike out before watching the rest of the
race from the side of the track feeling somewhat frustrated.
Ian Ridley #51
The first race was fairly uneventful. A poor start and some
bad gear changes causing the bike to stall while braking into some of the
slower corners caused me some frustrations. I’m still learning how to ride this
bike; it has a very peaky power band and has no tick over. The lack of a full
practice session didn’t help much either. However I did finish the race (a lap
down) even after the slightly disturbing sight of seeing Bartlett in the
cornfield with two marshals on the outside of Tower Bend. The odd jerking
movements they were making were only the result of them trying to extract the
bike from a ditch and nothing more.
Tom Flynn #56
I had a great day on Saturday with two good races. I was
able to follow Heggs round for some of this race who helped pull me round and
increase my lap timings. After some laps I lost him so went back to pushing
myself round, finding little improvements here and there. Croft is a relatively
flat circuit when compared to the rolling scenery of Lincolnshire’s Cadwell
park but the sprawling fields and odd copse still provided some interesting
scenery round the track.
Gavin Heggs #74
Having most of a lap as previous experience, I entered the
first race without much of a clue what to expect or how my bike would behave.
Starting in 14th place I planned to latch onto a faster rider and
let them drag me round as I got a feel for the circuit. A mediocre start saw me
in a pack of four strokes not enjoying their crazy cornering antics one bit. As
the pack thinned out I was able to pick one or two of them off but the next
bike was well ahead of me by this point. A high point was watching Bartlett
take his Maxton for a run through the corn field on the exit of watch tower
corner. I settled to keep winding on the lap times, breaking later and powering
through corners faster for the rest of the race. This clearly paid off as I
gradually wound the white Ducati ridden by Nigel Collier in before I out-braked
him going into the complex on the last lap.
Lap times were slower than I would have liked but they were
being slowly chipped away. Another plus point was that the gear box work
carried out over the preceding weeks had clearly paid off with far less missed
gears than previous races, helping me along to finish in a comfortable 7th.
Symon Woodward #157
After the 2 laps of practice on an oily tyre I replaced the
output oil seal and tried to start Little Al to ensure all was right. It was at
this point that I realised that my clutch had given up the ghost, not
disengaging. The whole clutch assembly from lever to basket was removed but
nothing could be found which would cause this instant failure. Burrs were
cleaned up, clearances checked etc but still the same problem. The solution
came in the end from cannibalising the clutch assembly from Tom’s spare engine.
Unfortunately the pace at which the Club was getting through the races caught
me off guard and I missed the first race by a couple of minutes.
Race 2
Jim Dickinson #15
The second race on Saturday saw
me 6th on the grid with Symon Woodward making an appearance after getting his
bike sorted and gridded 23rd. The race started with another average start;
Bartlett came past. Again, I overtook him reasonably early on after dodging
debris flying off another Yamaha. I then dived past a Ducati hoping that
putting a bike between me and Barney might increase my chances of success.
Woodward came past early on - I've no idea how he made up 17 places so quickly!
Knowing Bartlett was close I chased down John Hynes on his immaculate red
Ducati and eventually squeezed past. My sights were now set on Graeme Acott and
Woodward scrapping for 3rd and 4th. I was gaining in some sections but losing
out in others. Unbeknown to me, Woodward had a panic on as he didn't know he
was ahead of me and thought I was still in front! I couldn’t catch them and
finished 6 seconds adrift in 5th.
Chris Bartlett #41
This race had to go better. Due to lap times I was now
starting 7th, one place behind Dickinson but also very aware that Woodward with
his suspiciously powerful bike was starting 20 meters behind me. Again I
managed another good start, passing Dickinson before hitting the first corner.
I was sat in a comfortable position before Woodward’s missile of a bike came
past. I tried to follow his pace but gradually I found myself losing ground
corner after corner. I thought I had seen the last of Dickinson until I made an
error on the very last corner, leaving the door wide open for him and a Ducati
to come past. The rest of the race saw me struggling to get past the Ducati
which sat between myself and Dickinson. The three of us crossed the finish line
within 1.2 seconds of each other collecting a 7th place for me.
Ian Ridley #51
Race two was very similar to the first, not a good start and
although managing the bike a little better I was still having to think a lot
about how to ride the bike. Flynn was just ahead of me on the grid but his
better start had him ahead of me and just out of reach due to several missed
gears etcetera on my part. However the chequered flag was soon in sight and I
had improved my lap time by 4 seconds from the first race so improvements were
being made.
Tom Flynn #56
This time round I managed to get a good start resulting in
me somehow finding myself in front of Heggs! A few laps later, whilst
distracted by the nice new infrastructure that Croft boasts, Heggs passed me on
the start finish straight. I followed for the rest of the lap before getting
passed by two four-strokes going into the complex. Regardless of this I knocked
6 seconds off last year's best time so was very chuffed!
Gavin Heggs #74
Race two saw me starting in 14th again. After
another uninspiring start and clearing myself of some four strokes I started to
reel in another RAF rider. After a while I realized said rider was Tom Flynn,
How had he got in front of me? I had the corner speed on him but lacked the
ability to get passed. What was worse, his bike was pretty quick in a straight
line so try as I might, I didn’t have the power to get passed on the straights
either. I let this hamper me for far too long before getting a good entry into
the hairpin and getting on the gas up the start finish straight. I tried to
catch his eye as I powered on passed but he was having none of it so I left
braking for as long as I dared and made the manoeuvre stick into Clervaux. The
following lap was spent lonely but quicker again as I crossed the line for
another 7th.
Symon Woodward #157
Starting towards the rear of the grid with a dodgy “one
shot” clutch which meant that I could only select first gear once the flag had
dropped; combined with the fact that I had yet to ride a fast lap round the
circuit on little Al whilst the others all had a race under their belts was not
an ideal situation, but after the morning’s antics, I was up for a fight. With
Bartlett riding his “GP chassis” well and Dickinson showing “good promise”, the
difference between our lap times were getting quite close, but they lacked
experience of getting through traffic quickly. After an aggressive start I
never realised that I had overtaken all of the RAF riders by half a lap. After
finishing third and returning to the paddock I was relieved to discover that
all of the RAF riders were in their correct place, (behind me).
Race 3
Jim Dickinson #15
Sunday saw more cracking
weather. My start was slightly better but still not great. Bartlett alongside
at the start was getting boring but there was not a lot I could do. Graeme
Acott and John Hynnes both ended up in front too so I had some work to do. On
top of this; John Warwick (1st place) was easily past into the first chicane
which was no surprise! Bartlett must have been on the brakes early as I gained
about 30 yards on him going into Tower. I came past him up the inside round
Barcroft but overcooked the next right and he was back past. Graeme Acott was
well in view now too on his Suzuki. Through the complex Bartlett left the door
open on the inside so through I went. I took the hairpin the sweetest yet and
got great drive into the straight. To my surprise I monstered Graeme Acott from
about 40 yards! He went up the inside through Hawthorn but I caught him again
down the straight (X7 down on power?!). John Hynes on his Mk 3 Ducati was next
and after trying for the inside through the hairpin we were within touching distance
down the straight, before I pulled away. I then sat for a few laps on my own in
4th, before Bartlett appeared into Tower again. Knowing we were
nearing race end we both went hell for leather through the Esses and round a
back-marker. Bartlett overcooked Sunny and I was back on his tail. We were
close through Complex before I took a tighter line through the hairpin and came
out ahead on the exit. My last lap was the quickest I went all weekend,
thinking Bartlett would pull something just before the line – gladly I didn’t
see him again and came in 4th.
Chris Bartlett #41
By now I was desperate to improve my results and felt that I
had the pace to go better. Several teammates thought my rear tyre was past its
best but they were just trying to unsettle me! My tyre was fine. The flag
dropped for race 3 and again I was able to squeeze past Dickinson before the
first corner but seemed to lose sight of Woodward again. I made yet another
error backing off to early on one of the corners and handed the place to Dickinson.
Following him we had good pace and caught another Suzuki 250 along with that
pesky Ducati again. Dickinson seemed to pull past both bikes with ease and at
that point I thought I’d have to settle. One lap later I had passed both bikes
and started reducing the large gap that Dickinson had on me. Tucked in behind
him and slowly getting closer, my chance came to slip past on the brakes and
try to pull away. The position was
swapped two more times between us but in the end Dickinson took the 4th place
and I had to settle for 5th.
Ian Ridley #51
There
was a long wait for the one race on Sunday, second last event of the day with
no racing until midday. This gave me
plenty of time to have a good word with myself and think about what I was doing
with the bike, how to control the gears, brakes, throttle and think about
applying some of the lesson a few of us were taught at the British Superbike
School (www.britishsuperbikeschool.co.uk) the
week before. I warned Flynn that he was in my sights for the final race and
that he should watch out as I was looking to beat him. My plan worked and after
an improved, but still not great start, I could instantly feel myself going
better, using the gear box more efficiently, cornering better and catching the
group of riders ahead of me which included some in a different class and more
importantly Flynn. I closed up on this group over the first three or four laps,
I forget exactly how many, and after taking Green’s advice to go flat out
through the Jim Clark Esses (well as flat out as I was brave enough to do) I
carried a lot more speed through Barcroft than Flynn and out-braked him into
Sunny with a great big smile on my face. This was my first proper racing pass
on one of the other team members and although I expected him to take the place
back before the end that didn’t happen. I even managed to avoid being lapped by
the leaders and was very happy to see that I had taken a further 6 seconds off
my first race lap time.
Tom Flynn #56
I had really looked forward to getting out on Sunday however
with no racing in the morning and our race being second from last of the day, I
wasn't really in the zone. A fuel leak and a broken coil bracket coupled with
the long wait for this race resulted in a poor result this time round.
Gavin Heggs #74
Having a long wait for race 3 I was able to give the bike a
good look over, tie wrapping a broken fairing stay, mix fuel etc. This time I
was starting in 12th on the 4th row. I had a small chance
to get latched on to the fast boys now and had every intention of trying. My
start was good but in avoiding Dickinson at Clervaux on the brakes I was passed
by a few bikes both on and off the track who I, for the most part, breezed back
passed with the exception of Michael Titchmarsh. I had top end and mid corner
speed on him but he had the drive out of corners on me. A few frustrating
missed gears and a general unwillingness to pass mid corner (like a real racer)
stopped any earlier manoeuvres but on the start of the last lap I got the drive
on him up the start finish straight sealing the deal as I passed a back-marker
on the chicane. All was well as I gradually pulled away till I had a gear box
faf out of the hairpin which allowed Michael to catch up and come along side snatching
the overall place from me by 0.003 of a second. With a further 6 seconds
knocked off of my best lap time and another consistent 7th I came
away from my last race still happy if a little hungry for just one more go.
Symon Woodward #145
Starting on the front row alongside Jerry Longland, who I
knew I would be seeing a lot more of, along with John Warrick who was starting
further back, this was going to be a fun race. It did not disappoint with Jerry
and I swapping the lead several times giving John a chance to join the fray. On
the 3rd lap John edged past me on the start finish straight only to
sit up with his arm in the air. I throttled off thinking it was a red flag
until a quick scan revealed none in sight. So head back down and carry on. Not
seeing Jerry’s front wheel for a few corners I thought I might have gapped him
so I afforded myself a quick glance over my shoulder at the end of the 4th
lap, not only to see Jerry just behind, but John was alongside him. Jerry and
John are both good riders but I have to admit I have a slight power advantage
over Jerry’s Suzuki which gives me an edge, but John’s and my bike are very
similar and I need to ride better to compete with him at the moment. So in the
end I had to settle for second.
Some closing notes
Jim Dickinson #15
Croft was a cracking track (although pretty bumpy in
places). Racing Bartlett especially in the last race was fantastic and he
always forces my pace which is great. I don’t really mind winning or losing as
long as there’s a good battle on. That said, I’m looking forward to beating
Woodward and Green next round. I'll
hopefully have some more racing with Hynes and Acott soon too.
Roll on Donington.
Chris Bartlett #41
In summary, an average weekend for me and room for
improvement next time out on the track. I have a new engine for Donnington and
a new tactic which I’m hoping will pay off.
Ian Ridley #51
My
best results in terms of finishes so far this season and things seemed to click
into place during that last race making me feel much happier about my own
performance and how the bike is working. All I need to do now is carry that
momentum into Donnington and I’ll soon be catching up with some of the other
team members, I hope.
Tom Flynn #56
Overall I had a good time at Croft just a shame to finish on
a bit of a low note. Role on Donington.
Gavin Heggs #74
This was a slow progress weekend for me that still ended up
with some consistent results.
A little more aggression at the start and working on
overtaking should see me up with the front pack for Donington. I am however
leaving Croft with a fair bit of admiration for the track. It wasn’t one I
though anything of before but I am looking forward to returning next year.
Symon Woodward #157
This meeting I finally found a team member who can make a
tyre last longer than me. Chris Bartlett knows how to make the most of a tyre.
His constant moaning about being down on power will soon come to an end once he
gets his new barrels for Donnington, the combination of the most expensive,
fanciest and trickest chassis on the grid combined with a proven power output
will mean he will have no more excuses. He might learn then that a fast
straight line speed is as much to do with corner exit speed than just power.
Saying that, I am expecting great things from Bartlett at Donnington, beating
Green, Bond and Dickinson. I just hope he remembers to stay behind me.
As ever we extend out thanks to; John Walton and Roy Dale for their team support. Further thanks go to our friends and family both who attended and supported from home.
Finally special thanks go to the companies who continue to support us: EBC brakes UK, Forcefield body armour, MCA Leicester, NGK spark plugs UK, Royal Air Force Motorsports Association, Royal Air Force Central Fund, Tony Salt Tyres, Witham group - Motul,
Symon Woodward - Mick Abbey tuning,
Gavin Heggs - R-Tech Welding
Symon Woodward - Mick Abbey tuning,
Gavin Heggs - R-Tech Welding
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