This was one of the rounds hosted by the new Era club and Chris Martin’s return to competitive racing after ten year break.

Go Star racers who were competing:

• Chris Martin Honda CBR600 (steel frame)

Go Star members supporting:

• Ian P
• Sean O
• Clifford H
• Matt T

Other support crew:

• Alan Lansdell
• Dave Scantlebury and boys (no relation to Rod!)

FRIDAY:

After acquiring shore leave passes from our various dearly beloved other halves (it was Chris’s wife’s birthday on the 29th and he was still got out !!) the team hit the road Friday night, the team scouts in the form of Dave S and boys, were sent on ahead to find a suitable spot for the team “hospitality suite” (a tent and a borrowed van) the rest of the team in the form of Chris and the chief cook and bottle washer Alan L (big Al) arrived shortly afterwards and the tent went up with military precision, just in time to squeeze in a beer before closing.

SATURDAY:

The serious stuff started on Saturday, scrutineering was a mere formality. No great surprise as Chris’s bike was immaculately prepared (and painted courtesy of: www.united-colours.co.uk). The track opened for practice and the “classic” steel framed CBR600 roared off into the distance, ten minutes later it rolled back to bas with a less than happy Chris at the helm. Front-end patter through some of the corners, diagnosed as a shot front tyre at a previous test day had not fully disappeared with the fitment of a new Dunlop 208gp. Time was short as Chris was to appear in race two, so the front end set up was hastily adjusted.

Chris started from sixteenth on the grid and it soon became apparent that all was not well, he slowly slipped back down the field to 22nd, it was clear from the way he was attacking the corners that the handling problem was still there. As the chequers fell Chris was still 22nd.

Chris and the rest of the crew arrived back at the tent in time to bump into Ian P, just arriving, quickly followed by Sean O, Matt T and Clifford H
They arrived in time to see some of race 1. Niceties were exchanged and Sean O and Co set off in search of food leaving Ian P behind. A hasty consultation and counselling session with Ian P led to much measuring of the rear suspension sag, resetting of the compression and rebound settings, along with some tweaking at the front end, followed by a short trip up the service road which saw a much happier Chris waiting for his second race.

The second race saw Chris starting from 26th on the grid, he got away steadily with Ian P performing stopwatch duties from the pit wall. It was instantly apparent that Chris was happier this time with the first lap time of 1min 30 from a standing start. Slowly Chris ate away at some of those in front getting quicker every lap, lapping in the low 1min 22 (to bloody slow – Chris).

As fatigue set in (old, unfit and tired) towards the end, a tussle with a novice saw Chris lose a place only to slingshot past the less experienced rider coming out of the last corner before the flag. A finish of sixteenth and a big smile (and lots of cheering from Sean O and co at Russell’s) was just reward for the hard work between the races. The 29th was always planned as part of the learning curve for Chris’s return, and as such the exercise was a success leaving Chris satisfied that there was a great deal more to come from tuning the bikes suspension set-up as well as work on his fitness.

Chris extends his thanks to all who supported him on the day.

Report by Alan Lansdell - E-mail: bigalsplace@hotmail.com

Race Report