Row Miller Ng Anglesey

[oldboyonrgv]

The three weeks between Donny and Anglesey were spent having a bit of R&R and repairing the truck which decided to break its exhaust manifold and ehaust on the journey to Donnington. A somewhat noisy journey home ensued, strangley it didn't seem to affect the old girl too much although hills became a bit more of an issue with no manifold pressure to charge the turbo!! Big thanks to Jim Archer at Cobra engineering for sorting out the maifold.

 

The bike had a bit of a birthday with a good clean and new piston so we were already to go.

 

Its a bit of a hike to get over to Anglesey, some 7hrs were spent enroute during Thursday but we got there fine with the truck back to its old self.

 

Then it was on to the test day on friday. Row completed 4 sessions during which time he got used to this new track and we worked on the front suspension which was adjusted to suite his weight more. Rowan had started to mention that he was experiencing front end chatter at Donny at the last meeting. Row loved the track and gradually brought his lap times down to whaty we thought would be competitive for the meeting.

 

By Friday evening it was getting very windy and rain was forcast so we wimped out and booked into a B&B for Fri/Sat night.

So back to the track on Saturday morning for a round of the NGRRC GP125 championship.

 

When we arrived at the track the weather was still somewhat inclement whith heavy rain and high winds and so the club postponed activities until about 11:00. Row managed to get on track at about 12 for his practice, he ran around on wets for 10 laps then brought it in as a dry line was appearing and he didn't want to destroy the wets.

Then it was the big wait for

RACE1

because of the earlier hold ups the club had restricted todays racing to one race so it was straight into the championship round. With Row now in 6th place in the championship he was not seeded to the front two row's and so had to start from 8th on the grid. GO! Row gets a run up the inside but has his nose chopped of in both the first and second corners ruining his drive onto the uphill back straight, he manages to fight through the crowed but is isolated in 7th place, Row gets his head down and manages to close up on the group in front then as he gets within striking distance a back marker causes Row to run wide out of the hairpin once again spoiling his drive onto the back straight with just two laps left Row has no chance of improving and runs out in 7th.

Its a not very happy boy who arrives back in the paddock "that was awful, I know I can run with them if I can get to them" I ask him if he feels that the bike needs anything "nope its me" well at least he's honest!

 

We sit down and have a little think and decide the only course is to fit some new rubber, change the gearing slightly and jet down a little as the bike is slightly rich.

 

So Sunday dawns and it looks like a better day! wind is still up though.

Row goes out and does his practice, thumbs up.

Race 1

Go - they zoom past Row in 7th place, he needs to get going quickly as this is a 5 lap sprint. It takes a couple of laps for Row to get through but by lap 3 he has manged to get to 5th place with a slight gap to 4th. Row gets his head down and tags onto the top 4 - good lad, its a major scrap as the leader is away (local lad done loads of laps reound here) positions changing every corner with Row poking his nose in where ist not wanted!, thsy come around for the final time into the last corner adn one of them has a huge wobble, Row and the guy next to him go for the gap but Row is just beaten to the line for 3rd place.

"He got me by this (holds up thumb and finger with an inch gap between) I just hesitated when Sam had her wobble - blast, took a second off of my lap time though," Row is much happier and has improved his lap times by over 1 second (wether due to our adjustments or his riding - who knows)

Race 2

So Row has managed to move himself up to 4th on the grid so He is in with a shout with this one. they belt off the line and Row is right in the mix with what turns out to be a titanic battle for 2nd place, four riders are disputing the postition with Row working his way through them, each lap the order is different. Last lap Row has managed to get 2nd place after taking two into the banked hairpin, as they go up the long right handed straight two manage to draw level with Row, they are spread across the track as they go into the left hand hairpin at the top of the hill then one goes down and skittle another we can't see who....

we watch the race finish --- No Row -- A frantic 5 minutes ensue until we get it confirmed that both riders are O.K, then we have to wait until Row and Sam get back to the pits.

"nothing I could do Dad, I was on the outside and knew had the right line for the following right hander, when Sam lost the front, she was too fast and too tight, I ended up surfing her bike across the track! she did apologise in the van on the way back"

Row managed to get another second off of his lap times during this race to a very competitive time.

So thats the end of the weekend, the bike hasn't suffered too much, fairing seat, footrest and handlebars all need replacing.

well no prizes for guessing where I have been since the weekend!

Big thanks to Turn1racing for the bike, I promise it will be better than new!!

Now its on to Brands Hatch for a two day meeting on Sunday and Monday - nice

Cheers

Gary and Row