Hey Guys, last
time we spoke I was turning laps on my pushy getting ready
for the race at Brno, which was my best opportunity to learn
the track.
Practice and
qualifying went pretty well, and I was definitely in a great
position to finally get some really solid results. This once
again was not the case. Race one I somehow acquired a
strange front tyre which only lasted about 3 laps, the
second race I managed to get a pair of good ones but it was
my bike setting that eventually let me down. Shit .! I gotta
say there's nothing quite as bad as getting away at the
start of a race in a good position and then by the end of
the race you've been forced all the way back to who knows
where and not being able to respond. It's like dying a slow
death. So yet again I leave another race track with head in
hands.
The next day we
rolled off in the bus in direction of Lausitzring in Germany
for a two day test. It was a slow old journey with pretty
shity roads and average scenery. The only half amusing part
of the trip was when we were nearing the German boarder. Lit
was like walking through one of those streets in down town
Amsterdam in the red light district, only this time we just
had to look out the bus window. All shapes and sizes nasty
and nice! Mainly nasty!
The first day of
testing went really well, testing a whole lot more parts and
learning my way around the track again, its got a whole lot
more bumps now then it was before, but not your traditional
kind. They were a bit like woops you get on a MX track, just
another challenge for our suspension man Peter. Hundred laps
later and day one was over. Day two was a little less
productive particularly after the sky opened up just half an
hour in. We finally decided to brave the slick conditions
and it was only half a dozen laps and a several near misses
we decided to cal it a day. It was then a mad rush to pack
everything up in the pouring conditions hit the road and
head back to the team's work-shop in Holland.
We hung out at
the workshop for a couple of days then Isabelle and I were
off to Santorini Island in Greece for a week. This was our
fourth visit and like every other time it was all about sun,
sleep and of course Greek salads. In the next village there
is an outdoor cinema which is pretty cool; it has the latest
films, surround sound, but no roof. It's all really relaxed
with palm trees around and a little bar at the back, so you
basically pull up a chair grab some pop-corn and a beer, sit
back and enjoy the film. Nice!
We're both
pretty keen on cooking and particularly keen on fresh
basilicum, so we went to the local gardening centre and
bought ourselves a Greek basil tree, which is nearly
impossible to buy in Switzerland! Buying the tree wasn't the
hurdle, getting it home I thought was going to be the real
drama. Funny enough the flight attendants were really cool
and we had a spare seat next to us, so it was a matter of
strapping the seat belt around him and off we went.
We only arrived
back in Holland the days before heading over to England for
Brands Hatch and directly to our traditional stop at "Blue
Water" for a spot of shopping a bite to eat and catch a
flick. Then out to the track set up camp and get ready for
the race. That night Jo from Audio Visual came and picked us
up and took us across town to Biggin Hill to have a curry
with Pete her brother. Pete is Colin's (Edwards) driver,
chef and all round top bloke!
We also caught
up with Colin & Eva Seeley which was great , we haven't seen
them in years, so we broke out the smoked Salmon, fresh
bread and of course a drop of Chardonnay. That same night a
close friend of ours from Australia turned up straight from
the airport but it wasn't too long before he was starring at
the back of his eye lids, curled up on the lounge. Two days
later but this time at day break my brother in law Nigel
literally bombed in also directly from the airport, he's a
pilot for Qantas and he's overnighting at Brands Hatch (My
Bus!) So Saturday night we had a full house, there were
bodies everywhere, particularly with the boys get lag, they
were falling a sleep a the bat of an eye lid anywhere,
anytime.
By this stage of
the week-end I'd already finished al my free practice and
qualifying, and my final position was pretty good 2nd
by less then two tenths. But at lunch time Saturday it was
completely a different story, we'd worked our ways
completely into a corner. We'd literally pulled everything
off the shelves old and new and ran it through the bike, but
nothing bloody worked! From there it was back to basics,
which funnily enough actually worked! Surprise! Surprise!
What a huge relief but it only gave us the remaining I hour
session to really fine tune the bike for the race, which
brings me to my result in race one, 6th. However
the solution was not so difficult to achieve. The bike felt
awesome for race two even though I only managed to stay on
for two laps before pirouetting myself over the handlebars.
I was so gutted sitting on the track massaging the tarmac
with my fists I was completely oblivious to the bikes flying
past me, let alone the broken bone in my hand. Mmmm.! And
yet another week-end where I walk away with head in hands!
Well one hand at least!
The next days we
shot off back to Zurich for some rehab for Assen in 3 weeks.
Cya
