Race review - CRMC round 4 - Cadwell park 2022

 The first weekend of the month saw the 4th round of the CRMC heading to Cadwell park. Initial plans for a pretty substantial team presence were soon stopped by work and other commitments giving us an eventual line up of: Dave Williams and Symon Woodward. Paul Kirkby and John Walton were also very welcome in support and team tag-a-longs Joe Woodward and Ziv pitched with the team.

David Garrison Photography

The weekend started wet, with a damp qualifying which went soggily if not entirely without drama. Williams had decided to use the ACU Post Classic qualification and race as extra track time, knowing full well that the FZ would be uncompetitive. However, the poor weather slowed some of the quick lads down leaving Williams achieving not only a 9th place grid position, but also putting him ahead of Woodward Junior which made things fun in the paddock for the day.

PJM Photography

All of the racing and as such the Championship positions have been close between Woodward and arch rival Jerry Longland in the post classic 250 air cooled class. Woodward, who had been hindered by his DNF at Brands, believed Longland owed him a DNF, which Longland obliged when his crank oil seal “popped out” going into Park Corner on the first lap of practice. Although he didn't drop any points, this meant that, after a quick engine change, he would be starting from row 12 and Poleman Woodward was confident of getting out of reach.

Things were looking up weather wise as the sun came out and dried the track towards the end of practices which was promptly followed by the circuit suffering a complete power failure, resulting in a loss of the mornings racing. In true British weather form, as soon as the power came back on, it started to rain again, resulting in a single race for all on the Saturday, most of which were wet or damp.

PJM Photography

Woodward didn’t have long to wait till he could test his previous theory in the first race of the weekend where it would be fair to say that everybody, both on and off the track, were extremely surprised to see Longland leading the race after the first lap. A truly impressive first lap in the wet/damp conditions on his second choice engine. The two of them then continued to repeatedly trade places, often forcing the other into mistakes taking some unusual lines around the damp track. The last lap saw Longland going very wide out of Mansfield (again) enabling Woodward to have a relatively clear win.

Nobody wants to yield - PJM Photography

With things now dry, Williams found himself deep in the muck for the ACU post classic. After a flurry of faster machines past him without the worry of a soggy slide into the grass, Williams was left with the other little  FZ’s for a near-the-back finish. 

In the following Junior production class however Williams did a stellar job finding a 10th place from 18th on the grid start. Some guilt may have been felt for overtaking Jerry Longland on a mis-firing FZ on the last corner of the race however - “sorry again Jerry”.

Williams looking strong - PJM Photography

Sunday came and with it some tentative good weather. The team were also joined by Gavin Heggs who had previously hoped to be racing this event but instead had to settle for bump starting, paddock stand wrangling and dishing out tepid banter.

Woodward’s first Sunday race recommenced the usual lead interchange enjoyed throughout the season so far. After plenty of jostling, Longland had decided to settle in behind Woodward to let a mistake gift him a pass, when a Red Flag, due to a rider “blocking” the entrance to the Gooseneck prematurely ended the race in Woodward favour with a 0.05 Seconds lead.

Longland picking his moment - PJM Photography

Woodward

Woodward needed another win to keep in the running for the championship so kept his head down and went for it in his final race. Things were looking good with Woodward enjoying some piece out front till the  penultimate lap when the RD’s exhaust note changed considerably. Stealing a glance back, Woodward was surprised by his lead, so slowed down to take a comfortable win and to close Longland's Championship lead down to 15 points.  On the warm down lap Longland pulled alongside and highlighted which Marshall had half of Woodward’s exhaust. The left side end can and stinger had become completely detached from the bike and recovered by a Marshall.  These were retrieved ready for John Walton to stick back together with his R-Tech Welder.

 

PJM Photgraphy

The second Junior production race went very well for Williams. Finishing 9th having peddled the FZ around at a respectable pace and setting a better lap time than 3 of the riders who finished just ahead gave him hope for some even greater progress in the next race. 

A great grid position for the final race made a pleasant change. However, a brief shower prior to assembly and an oil slick left by the sidecars left the track conditions a bit vague - so discretion being the better part of valour, Williams ran in for a 13th place finish. There's always another race.

Despite the changeable weather and the missed race on Saturday; the Team enjoyed some excellent, fun racing. It would be unfair not to mention the Team’s tag-a-longs, Joe for some excellent riding and results and Ziv for her determination to master the ex-Dave Williams VFR400 NC30, even traveling half of the start finish straight on the grass without throttling off.
Williams is hanging up his helmet for the season due to other commitments (well he might nab it for a blast on the TRX), having thoroughly enjoyed the season so far. 

Thanks as ever to John Walton, for his continued support, Paul Kirkby and Gavin Heggs for taking the time to head out, lending a hand also and of course to all the spectators who popped over to say hello.

David Garrison Photography

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All serving RAF team members race under the banner of the Royal Air Force Motorsports Association (RAFMSA) alongside our veteran former members and associate members. If you are serving and wish to get involved with motorsports you can find all the contact details you will need on the RAFMSA website or get in contact directly with us.

 

 

Finally special thanks go to the companies who continue to support us:

Royal Air Force Motorsports Association, Royal Air Force Central Fund,  

EBC brakes UK, NGK spark plugs UK, Stahlwille UK, Classic Racing Green,

R-Tech Welding, Ragged edge racing, Talon Engineering, Forcefield body armour,

MCA Leicester, Spencer Racing, Tony Salt Tyres, Witham group Motul, PJMphotography, Speedsnap, Hel performance brakes and individual sponsors:

Symon Woodward: Mick Abbey tuning.

Andy Green: New Era Restorations

This blog post was written by the Royal Air Force Classic Racing Team members whose names are featured above then compiled and edited by Gavin Heggs.