Cadwell Park 17th & 18th April - Bemsee
This was the BMCRC Nationwide Rounds 5 & 6.
Go star racers who were competing:
Thursday evening
Ade arrived to find Rug Rat and Terry had already setup camp, they also
helped secure some space for other racers. Shortly after that Steve T
and Gerrad F and Tony B turned up. Go Star racers shared awnings ...
setup camp.
Friday practice :
Weather and track temperature was good. All racers apart from Terry did
all sessions - mechanical breakdown with his race bike. He called one of
his mates who drove down overnight with a road Yamaha R6
Ben arrived Friday night with Matt. Ade, Gerrard,
Terry, Ben, Matt and girl friends had a few drinks in Steve's motor
home. Needless to say, the girls were all smashed.
 Saturday
:
Weather and track temperature very good.
Rookie 600 : 1st race - Terry missed this race due
to prep'ing the road R6 for scrutineering. Ben came 2nd ...
Mini-twins : 1st race - Not sure,,,,(???)
Powerbike : 1st race - Tony (16th), Gerard - not sure, Ade (15th.
Matt
got a 15th in the supersport 600 but he likes grass tracking over the
mountain.
 Go Star racer of the day was Terry. In the 2nd Rookie
600 race, he came from last position, on a road going R6 and finished
7th. Tony seemed to struggle in Friday practice but come race day was
like a man possessed think he's now 9th overall in Supertwins
Ade had some bike gremlins but after 2 flying starts got 11&10 in the
Power bikes. Gerrad was scared of the track at first but once he
conquered the mountain he loved it got his first ever points, 16
altogether, hopefully more to come.
Saturday night
Rug rat's tent/awning was blown away and woke up half the paddock, .... went with the wind. They
had to put it up at 2am in the pouring rain.
Sunday
shit weather .... it rained and rained. Ade couldn't be bothered to
put wets on, so didn't race. David Daws crashed in the 1st race of the
Mini Twins. Terry also crashed his mates road R6 on the warm-up lap of
race one. Ben won the 1st rookie 600 race.
Ade
Ben's race report for a local Wimbledon
newspaper
 With
no Rookie races at rounds 3 and 4, I was very keen to get out on track
and racing again. Cadwell Park is rider’s circuit known as the mini
‘Nurburgring’ for its fast blind sweeping bends in amongst the rolling
countryside. It is also has what is known as the woodland section which
includes the famous mountain where it is possible to get the motorcycle
completely airborne. This section of track is notorious for its lack of
run off so not a place to be making mistakes.
Race 1 on the Saturday and
the track was bathed in sunshine I lined up in second place on the grid
and one of the favourites fir the win as my team mate Terry Oliphant had
machine problems in practice and did not make the race. I managed to get
the hole shot and led the race for the first two laps, on lap three I
made a mistake going into Mansfield the step downhill left hander. This
allowed second place Andy Petts through, Andy is a local rider and
Caldwell is one of his favourite tracks. I managed to maintain a
constant gap of about a second or two, but on the last lap I had another
incident out braking myself and almost going straight on at Hall bends
in the woodland section after that I decided second place was good
enough which I got, 2 seconds behind the leader with 3rd place Shaun
Kell a further 8 seconds behind.
 Race
2 on Saturday and I made some suspension changes, I got second place
off the start but just couldn’t stay with eventual race winner Andy
Petts, and this showed with my fastest lap time being slower than the
first race. I was not happy with the front end but I managed to hold on
to second place 3 seconds behind Andy Petts with 3rd place Shaun Kell, 7
seconds behind. But a good 40 championship points gained which put me 9
points behind current leader Terry Oliphant who managed a 7th in the 2nd
race
On Sunday it was pouring with rain conditions were not
ideal but I don’t mind riding in the rain, its just not nice sitting
around all day in wet leathers!!
Race 1, started and I made a
slow start, I was in fifth place after the first corner, I followed the
guys in front for most of the first lap but could see I was faster than
them in a lot of places. On the start of lap 2 I made my move overtaking
for third into the first corner, Coppice then taking 1st place coming
out of Charlie’s. I then got my head down and rode. No one challenged
me, but I never look behind so I had no idea where anyone was. I was
willing them to put out the last lap flag and as I saw it I just thought
don’t change anything ride this lap as any other!! I made its to the
finish and claimed my first win and I was surprised to find myself with
a 12 second lead, with my fastest lap 2 seconds quick than anyone else.
Second and third places went to Wes Knipe and John Paul Scott, two names
to watch out for in the future.
Race 2 and I had another
slow start but this time was down in 6th place. The conditions had got
worse with many puddles on the track and visibility minimal. I started
to make my way through the field. On lap four I took Wes Knipe for
second place on the outside of Charlie’s, then down the main straight he
came by trying to dive underneath me at Park corner.
 Now
I was braking late for this corner and I thought ‘you are just not going
to make this’ so I backed off and as predicted he lost the back end, the
bike span round in front of me and lady luck must have been with me as
the bike missed taking me out by a cats whisker. By the end of the
fourth lap I had caught 1st place John Paul Scott and with better drive
out of Barn corner I took him crossing the line. But it was not to be as
the race was red flagged due to Wes’s crash and I ended up taking second
position from John Paul Scott with Shaun Kell in third again.
So my weekend point’s hall of 75 points and Terry
Oliphant’s crashes and machine problems means I now lead the Rookie 600
championship by 36 points. The next round is at Snetterton on the 1st
and 2nd May.
| Rookie 600 |
| Pos: |
Name |
Points |
Difference |
| 1 |
Ben Hallett |
145 |
|
| 2 |
Terry Oliphant |
109 |
-36 |
| 3 |
Andy Petts |
103 |
-6 |
| 4 |
Shaun Kell |
100 |
-3 |
| 5 |
Darryl Alexander |
91 |
-9 |
| 6 |
John Paul Scott |
56 |
-35 |
| 7 |
Phil Morley |
54 |
-2 |
| 8 |
Geoff Parvin |
41 |
-13 |
| 9 |
Mark Haire |
40 |
-1 |
See
www.bemsee.co.uk
for full results |
