Peter Malloy Brands Hatch
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
After a patchy start to the 2010 campaign – thanks largely to a huge crash at the first round on the practice day (Friday) in which the bike was completely wrecked, this event saw the start to a return in form for rider and machine – hence my lack of updates as I’ve been flat out busy getting everything back together! The bike was completely destroyed save for the engine and exhaust pipe – not much left then!
This round was on the sweeping full length Grand Prix track at Brands Hatch which threads its way through a small part of the Kent countryside, the weather was perfect and the mood positive.
Qualifying saw 40 competitors take to the track to fight it out for the starting positions of the three races, two sessions with the fastest time from either being that taken for qualifying. My qualifying this year has been inconsistent as after the crash, I found I needed to be chasing someone in a race to be actually trying as hard as I dare – all subconsciously of course! Knowing this I went for a quick time early on which saw me get 8th in the first session – a big improvement from my usual 15th or so and only 0.7 secs off my previous best. In the second session I was just winding up the bike when some drizzle came from the skies which meant a bit of pace had to be knocked off as the dodgy conditions meant the dry tyres were starting to slip and slide a touch. A rider went down when throwing caution to the wind and the red flags were waved. With only 7 minutes of the session remaining, we went back out after the track was clear but I got stuck in some traffic and didn’t pick my way through aggressively enough. My cautious approach cost me dear again as I was bumped down to 13th. A little disappointing.
For race 1 I decided to use a soft compound sticky tyre to see if I could improve on my lap time set at the British Superbike event at this track last year. Sure enough I was able to take 0.4 secs off my PB and consistently so lap after lap. The race was quite hectic, I got a slack start and was demoted to about 18th. The first few laps I tore through the field passing two bikes at a time in places. On the second corner I went round the outside of three riders – the new tyre was definitely gripping! As I got nearer to the front the opponents got better and harder to pass. With only 7 laps available I managed to get up to 6th but several riders in front were Pro’s practising for their event at the track in August so of the championship regulars I got a 4th – my best result of the year.
Race 2 on Sunday morning saw some new tyres on the bike front and rear and a real determination by me to finish in the top 5. My lap times in the first race suggested I could mix it at the front, the challenge was getting there from 13th on the grid. I got a great start and was immediately up into 7th, picking another 2 off in the opening lap. This saw me 5th and within half a second of the leader. I had got into 4th when the red flags came out and halted proceedings in the 3rd lap with me being the fastest rider on track at the time – damn!! – a rider had fallen at the tail of the field and needed to be seen to during a stoppage. Lunch was called. I was spewing as I knew I could have picked off one or two more. After a brief lunch break the race got back underway reduced to 7 from the 9 laps. Again, I got a decent start from 13th and was up with the lead pack. The front two broke away leaving me in a dice for 3rd. The 3rd placed rider with 2 laps to go was slowing and the guy in 4th got through, I was in 5th at the time. I couldn’t quite pass and it was a drag to the line being beaten by 0.014 seconds or about a foot at 165mph. I wasn’t too despondent though as I was again one of the quickest riders on track and could see the leaders up close at the end of the race for only the second time this year.
The third and final race was a similar story to the second apart from I got a diabolical start initially to be saved by another red flag situation on the first lap so we reformed and away for another go. This time it was straight up to 7th then into 6th by which time the lead 3 had broken clear. With 3 laps to go I had 2 riders in front of me and I could see 4th place on the cards. I got a bit excitable and in the effort to push on for 4th made a few mistakes, one being my foot coming off the peg under heavy braking for one corner, nudging the bike into 3rd gear instead of 4th and another being taking a 3rd gear corner in 4th, both sound minor but each cost me about half a second which at these speeds is about 100 yards. So a steady ride home in the end for 6th.
I need to wait for the points to be published to be sure where I finished in the regular points scoring championship as some of the guys finished ahead where just out for practice but it looks like I got a 3rd and 2 4th’s. The weekend was also busy off track with Keith Flint from the Prodigy (who was racing at his first event) in the next door garage attracting some attention and hanging out with our usual crowd in the evenings and talking to us all in the day just like any normal bloke (as he turned out to be) would, that was a little surreal to start with. Also, Paul Martin, one of the Jordan Suzuki camp suffered a bad accident on Sunday and is in hospital with life threatening injuries – he runs Altamura, the company who paint the team bikes – our thoughts are with you bud.
Next round is at Silverstone on 12th-13th June, local to me and a great track with excellent facilities. Anyone who wants to come along and watch is most welcome.
