Appreciate your decision Steve always been a delight to watch you ride an R6 mate hope you enjoy the racing retirement
Trip Report
The team was sorted earlier than the last round at Pembrey. Much bike preparation had taken place following the crash at Pembrey in Round 3. The pro fiber bodywork has been repaired with a mixture of Fiberglass and Kevlar so the bike was now bullet proof!! The last bit for the manager to pickup was the new MHP exhaust can and modified headers on route to Snetterton on Friday.
A new team sponsor had also been secured, GB Racing provider of engine case covers had provided the tam with a complete set of covers recently released for the R6 along with paddock stand bobbins and a shark fin for the swing arm.
Riders for this round were to be Richard Greenland back to full fitness now after his first event for the team at Pembrey. Also riding would be Paul Smyth, a freelance journalist and Thunder sport rider also having competed in the MRO clubman series in his first racing season. He had been competing at Snetterton only a few weeks earlier setting quick lap times. The final team rider for this round was Alan Stevens, who had previously ridden for Max Scholl’s Uprite Racing team in UK Endurance.
The team manager set off at 5am on Friday a little later than expected due to a change in body-clock from nights to days. The exhaust was picked up from Stevenage and got to Snetterton mid morning.
The track day had unfortunately been stopped early in the morning due to an incident and this gave the team time to fit the exhaust and get the bike running following it's off at Pembrey. The track day recommenced at 14:00 following a briefing, unfortunately Alan was due home in Surrey was not able to ride the bike when the track day recommenced. Paul had arrived and was able to get out for a session or two to get some time aboard the race bike.
All signs were good, once the copper washers in the master cylinder had been replaced following damage at Pembrey. Gearing was almost there, but practice on Saturday morning was chosen to finalise this.
The bike was scruit'ed fine and riders with their kit also passed through with a sig on the card to get our bike entered for the race weekend.
Richard returned home as he had only landed in the UK in the early hours of Friday morning so needed a good nights sleep before practice and qualifying on Saturday. The manager went to the local town with Paul and his pit guru Dave to get some food for the weekend and a needed pint and meal at a local Pub.
Saturday
First session for the race bike allowed all the riders to verify the brake setup and get some time in on the machine following the shortened track day on Friday.
All riders lapped with consistent times on the bike. Paul was lapping in the 1:15’s Richard in the 1:18’s and Alan in the 1:20's.
During Practice Richard had an off on the bike at Corham, he was a bit shaken but returned to the pits at the end of the session. The bike had sustained a little damage, however the Alternator cover supplied by GB racing had shown it had done a superb job of protecting the standard metal case cover.
For qualifying it was decided that each rider should have an equal period of time on the bike to set a qualification time. If it was possible the fastest rider would go back out to try and improve upon the time to get the team as high up the grid as possible.
The fastest time set in qualification was 1:14.42 set by Paul, Richards fastest lap time was 1:15.473 & Alan was also lapping consistently in the 1:18’s during qualification 1. The team had set a time second in their class behind Ducks Cross racing who set a time of 1:13.657. The team had qualified 7th overall in a grid of 18 teams on both 600 and 1000cc bikes.
After qualification all team members were happy and a plan for the “Race Day” was established to make sure rider order and timing/signaling were set for the race which was starting at midday on Sunday.
SUNDAY
Race day started at 8am, there had been some rain over night and the outlook was for a damp morning and a dry afternoon. Given Snetterton’s location on a hill it sometimes has much different weather to surrounding places.
During the short “Moto-Grande” race where Richard was competing the wheel rims were taken to Jim from Bike-Tek Mobile to have the front & rear race tires. A set of wets would be kept as spares should the conditions change during the race.
The race order for the riders was confirmed between the riders and Manager. Paul would ride 1st , Richard 2nd , holding the bike for Paul during the Le mans start, followed by Alan.
Start procedure went well. Paul held his position well during the first lap there was action lower in the field which required the pace car to be deployed while bikes and riders were sorted. Paul was lapping consistently in the 1:13’s setting the teams fastest lap time of 1:13.061 in lap 11, and having a real battle with Ducks Cross rider Jon Railton. Jon set the fastest lap for the class just 0.02 seconds quicker than Paul.
The first pit stop was taken after about 50 minutes a fairly good stop ensured that Richard exited to start his 45 – 50 minute session.
The team was then informed that it had been given a penalty stop for passing under waved yellow flags. The team manager and rider, Paul went to see the Clarke of the course as Paul had overtaken so as not to cause an accident, before letting the rider back past on the straight. However the team had to take it 1 minute penalty as soon as possible to prevent the penalty being increased.
Richard stopped in the penalty box at the top of pit lane, where Alan explain why he was having to stop. Richard exited the pits to re-join the race the stop however had placed the team lower down the rankings.
The weather conditions had now changed leading to light rain/drizzle. Richard backed off the pace as both manager and pit crew had decided not to bring Richard in to change tires as track conditions didn’t warrant a wheel change to wets.
Richard was lapping slower in the 1:24’s and was starting to pick the pace up slightly as the drizzle stopped and the track started to dry. However Richard lost the front end of the bike again at Corham, quick thinking by Alan saw him cycle down to the corner to bring the bike back to the pits so any repair work could be completed.
Once Alan brought the bike back, the pit crew of Dave and Mick spent 10 minutes getting the bike ready to race again under the eyes of an HMRC scruit.
Alan left the garage after a quick re-fuel to get the bike back out into the race. Alan well in his 45 minute session and brought the bike in or Paul to go back out onto track.
The next session which Paul rode he managed to bring the difference in laps between ourselves and the next team down from 26 laps to just 2 laps. This was some achievement given an average lap time of around 1:15 for a 600 around Snetterton.
Alan went out on the bike following this as Richard had to go to the med center for a quick check-up and make sure his kit was fine with the scruits before he was allowed to go back out on track.
After 2 crashes over the weekend at Corham Richard did feel a little second hand but he was determined to ride the last session for the team and bring the bike back home to Parc Ferme.
Dave had calculated that lap times of 1:23’s would see the bike finish the race. Dave on pit wall would signal how much time was remaining in the race, and communicate to the team if any fuel issues occurred before the flag.
Richard did indeed bring the bike over the flag to finish the fourth round of the Endurance season. All members of the team were on pit wall to show their appreciation to Richard and the bike.
When Richard returned to Parc Ferme and a beer or soft drink was shared out Richard mentioned that he had coasted the bike back on the cool down lap as it was starting to hesitate as the fuel light had been on for the last 4 laps of the race.
A race finish was a good achievement given the work required during the race to get the bike fixed and back out on track. Without the pit crew this would not have been possible, Mick thanks Alan for his quick work in recovering the bike back to the pits for the work to start.
The manager would like to thank all team members Riders: Richard Greenland, Paul Smyth & Alan Stevens. Pit Crew: Mick & Dave Time Keepers: Max Greenland, Dave, Sally also to helpers who came along with Richard for his local round at Snetterton who provided help with anything required.
Also a big thanks to sponsors.
