Popsworth Racing

Thank God the season finally started. 21st /22nd March at Brands Hatch with Derby Phoenix Motorcycle Club.

We were meant to be racing at Donington Park in the 1st round of the British F1 championship. Unfortunatley we did not get all the parts for the sidecar to enable us to go testing, so we decided to go to Brands Hatch as a shake down test.

We arrived at the circuit late on Thursday night. It was dark windy and bloody cold. So after a cup of tea we went to bed.(we know how to live it up). On waking up early Friday morning we unloaded the outfit ready for technical inspection, which it passed with no problem. So time for another cup of tea.

We got called for practice which was to be the first time we had tried the outfit in anger. Practice went smoothly so not alot to do except wait for the first race and have another cup of tea.(see there is a pattern starting).

For the first race we lined up on row 8 as our entry was late going in. Lights went out and away we went. Flying start into 6th by the first corner then 3rd and by the end of the first lap we were 1st. We held onto 1st for another 4laps before Tim Reeves(world Champion) and the Hegarty brothers(another world series racer) came past. For some reason we thought we would try and follow them. Which meant the next lap was a little wild with a few interesting lines being taken. The pair of them pulled clear of us and we held a comfortable 3rd. Or so we thought as we came round towards the chequered flag Tim Reeves pulled in, so as not to take points away from the championship regulars.(top bloke for that) That meant 2nd place to us, for the first time out on the new outfit. The new engine, suspension and chassis working brilliant. Another cup of tea to celebrate.

Race 2 we started from the front row of the grid as you start the next race in your finishing position. Lights out and we went straight into the lead. We managed to hold the lead for 7 of the 12laps when yep you guessed it Reeves and Hegarty came past and cleared off. Man are there outfits quick. It was not until the end of the race that we found out we were 2nd again as Reeves had pulled out again. Bonus. Only one thing to do have a cup of tea.

That was it for racing for that day so we chilled out and went made our way to the bar. There was a band playing in the club house which was a good idea by the bar manager as they were so bad you had to drink more to try and forget they were on.

On waking Saturday morning we were woken to more wind and this time rain. No time for a cup of tea as we had to remove the tyres from the rims to fit our wets.(we had left the spare wheels at home in our rush to get to the circuit Thursday night). With the tyres fitted we were ready in good time for the start of the race, well about 5 minutes to spare. We made our way back to front of the grid ready for the off. Lights out and we were into the lead. The track was greasey from the rain and we were unable to get the power down and about 5 laps in, Dean and Ian of magnam racing passed us in their F2 outfit. They were flying and finding grip. They looked like they were on rails. As we are in a different championship to them we followed them round to the finish. 2nd in race but 1st in class.

For the second race Saturday we changed our tyres for the intermediates, which was the right choice at the time. Unfortunatley by the time we got out for the last race the track had a dry line all the way round. We started from the front row and lead for 3laps. Next thing we knew was we had a frieght train behind us. We were sliding all over place as the tyres went off. Pieces of rubber were flying off the tyres. We got passed by 5 outfits which left us 6th overall but 4th in class.

Overall the weekend was a great succes as it was the first time out at a track we had only been to once before.

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