Pembrey Round 1 CRMC

Easter weekend, Team Eddy’s travelled to Pembrey for the first round of the CRMC championship. After narrowly missing out on the championship last year, we were on a mission to clinch it this year.

We got there on Thursday night for the practice day on the Friday. After keeping an eye on the weather forecast all week I wasn’t very optimistic as we were expecting snow!

So friday morning we got up, thankfully it wasn’t to snow but to heavy rain. We debated weather or not to go out at all as it wouldn’t do us any good, so consequently missed the first session but luckily it started to brighten up. Things weren’t so lucky with the bike though as we had a terrible miss fire, so we came back in changed a few things and to our suprise still had this miss fire. We had this all day and couldn’t work out what was causing it. We didnt get one fast lap in all day which was a shame as thats what we were going to do.

So saturday we woke up again to rain, but there was nothing we could do. We’d changed yet more things to the bike in hope that it would work. We did practice on Saturday morning, and still it was miss firing. This was going to cause us serious problems in the race if it carried on. Race 1 then, normally we’d get a flyer off the line but instead it just bogged down which meant 6 or 7 people had passed us, so it was time to play a game of catch up. We nearly ran into the side of Damien Perilleux and Nancy Detournay when they spun at the hairpin but now we were on a mission. We passed one or two on the first lap but the others were now a long way in front and we were down in fourth. Ian Johnson came passed us on the 5th lap and I was now start to panic and get frustrated. Luckily for us though Ian and Kev broke down on the last lap putting us back into fourth which is where we finished. So Matt Kingsmill/Alan Bedford took then win, Simon Smith/Dave Gristwood came second (their highest finish yet), the Latherons 3rd and us in a lonely fourth.

We got back to the paddock and came to the conclusion that four 4ths wouldn’t be so bad, but we would have to make sure there were no more hiccups in the meetings to follow. We were sat outside contemplating on what to do next when John Simper (Mike Bellaby’s mechanic) came up with a good idea and something which made perfectly good sense. We’d had the chassis powder coated, which meant the engine couldn’t earth properly which was what was causing the miss fire. So it was all hands on deck to file away the powder coat in time for the next race.

The next race was even wetter than the first one, but me and Ed were both confident we could do well now after sorting out our miss fire problem. The flag dropped and the bike was back to its old ways, it was a missile off the line. By lap one we were already up Matt Kingsmill’s backside and followed him for a lap or two. I was having a difficult time trying to get some grip out of the back wheel, it felt like we were on ice it was sliding around that much. We passed Matt on lap 3 or 4 and pulled away from him a bit, still sliping and sliding as we went. At one point going through Honda curve we had that much of a slide on we were facing the paddock, not what you expect really. We finished the race with a comfortable lead of four seconds, which is really what our morale needed.

We were hoping for the same on Sunday, but by now our back tyre looked like a slick after all the sliding on Saturday. The rain had gone now, but the track was still damp in places and if you drifted off the dry line, it was leathal. We had a fantastic first race with Matt Kingsmill again, we’d close on him going into corners and he’d pull away again coming out, it was a game of cat and mouse really. We nearly passed him on the last lap at Honda curve but he just had that little bit more grip coming out and clinched the win, so well done Matt.

The next race was a bit more eventful on our part. Sat in 2nd place on the grid the flag went up to start the race, Ed must have got a bit carried away with himself as he went flying off the line before the flag had even begun to drop. Luckily I noticed and thumped him on the back about ten times to make him stop and turn round. So the race was re started and all we needed now was another start like what we’d just had and we’d be away. The way our luck was going though i should’ve known better that it wasn’t going to happen. We got bogged down again off the line and again six or seven people passed us. We managed to get passed 4 or 5 going into the hairpin and got into second just before the back straight. What I didnt realise was, we were now racing with no clutch which had just given up on us. So i screaming at Ed telling him to go faster and stop being a muppet when changing down, whilst he’s having a battle to change up and down anyway. 8 laps is a long way with no clutch and you’re on your own in a lonely 2nd, but 2nd is where we finished and picked up 20 points so cant complain really.

Overall it was a good weekend when the bike was running right, but we’ve got three weeks now before Mallory Park on the 2nd so its enough time to sort out all our little teething problems. Our thanks must go to John Simper, without him our weekend, and probably our championship would’ve been ruined. It wasnt the same racing without Brian Gray though who missed Pembrey due to his bike not been ready, so hurry up and get your bike sorted.

Im at Thruxton next on the F2 with Nige on the 17th/18th April with BSB for the first round of the FSRA Championship which im looking forward to.

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