|
This meeting couldn't have been more different from Anglesey with fine weather. Nice and warm even while queuing for scrutineering. For some it was nearly quite a bit warmer, unfortunately this is yet another tale regarding Mr Eley. Some of you might be a bit fed up about reading about his exploits, but unfortunately you just can't ignore him. Rob hadn't actually entered the meeting on his GS, having decided to do a meeting on his GSXR600 but had the GS with him just in case. Anyway he came down the night before and we all returned to the paddock, at about 11.20 of course. Just as Cass and I were about to get in the van, I noticed an orange glow from under Rob's caravan. At first I thought it was something burning on the other side of his van. This would have meant either Keith Chambers caravan or Nigel's van were on fire. It didn't take long to realize that it was Rob's caravan on fire with flames at least a foot long from a gas pipe right under the middle of the van. It seemed to take ages to get him to open the door and realize I wasn't winding him up. I went to get the fire extinguisher. I had always said that this was only for use on anything of ours. However, as he had almost parked under our awning I thought I'd better make an exception. As it turned out I couldn't find the A.C.U. handbook to find were I had fitted it, but this didn't matter too much as Cass decided to have a close look at what was actually on fire by crawling right under the van. It turned out the fire hadn't quite caught the insulation etc, it was just the gas burning and she managed to blow it out. With the destruction of most of the paddock and even Mallory Park narrowly avoided, can you imagine the headlines in the local rag "Leicestershire burnt to the ground in drunken rampage" it would be interesting to see if race day could compete with it. Glynn Williams had repaired his ZIOOOR after the accident at Donnington a few weeks ago, it is now fitted with an ultra short swing arm. Glynn spent most of pre practice and post practice telling everyone who would listen that it would be a handful. There are many things I'd trust Glynn with without any hesitation but when it comes to anything to do with how his bikes going, that's another matter. I've a feeling it was an effort to out phsych Nigel. When the race got underway, it was Nigel and Glynn who made the initial break from the pack. It always looked close and eventually Glynn just managed to get the better of Nigel. Clive Wadey did make it at the end of the day and took third overall. I was surprised he turned up at all as he didn't look all that well. Steve Cave took the next Place and was followed closely by Karl Scott. John "J.C." Corriea was the next finisher somehow putting in a very good first lap to get clear of initial traffic. Cass followed him home after a race long chase. She maintained she would have caught him given another lap. Richard Insall was the next finisher and he was followed home by Michael Hand. Michael just managed to take the 500 production class victory over Adrian Sanders by 0.3 second only getting ahead at the hairpin on the last lap. Tony Smith was a further 0.4 second back, the first 750 home, ahead of Mostyn Bullock and Paul Myler. Keith Chambers was the next to finish, ahead of Paul Paynter. Paul managed just to keep ahead of Phil Underwood who only seemed to lose out on the straights. Gordon Church was the next finisher, ahead of Andy Charlesworth. Only one failed to finish. This being Paul Mountain whose RD350 holed it's pistons yet again. Glenn Graham fared even worse though, not even managing to get through practice without his RD400 once again nipping up. Glenn is at a loss with it, having checked all the possible causes. All that can be left now are all the impossible causes. The second race was going to be interesting as it was clear that Nigel had something to prove after his defeat in the first. When the race got underway, it was clear that Glynn and Nigel had made the initial break. They were followed by a further three machines who had got clear of the following pack. Glynn and Nigel had a race long scrap that ended with Nigel evening the score taking first place by a margin of 0.2 second. In third was Steve Cave followed by Karl Scott and Clive Wadey. These were the five who had a comparatively clear run from the first time round Gerards. There was then a bit of a gap to a group who shall we say had a bit more of a hectic race. At one stage some were gaining three or even more places per corner only to lose them at the next. One who initially happened to be in the right place at the right time was Richard Insall who somehow managed to be the first to get clear of the pack. Richard was eventually chased down by J.C. and Cass, who on the last lap got the better of them both. Behind them came Adrian Sanders who told me that the group ahead of him looked rather fraught at times and that he wasn't too upset that he hadn't quite been quick enough to get involved in it. Tony Smith was the next to finish, once again just getting the better of Paul Myler. Behind Paul it was Mostyn Bullock on his GSIOOO, which I'm told sometimes seems to have a mind of its own. Michael Hand was the next to finish, being extremely fortunate as he finished with a holed piston. Keith Chambers followed him home and he was in turn followed home by Paul Paynter and Andy Charlesworth. Next was Phil Underwood who just managed to fend off Gordon Church at the hairpin on the last lap. Steve Bailey. |