Ben Scranage
Cadwell Park 16-17-17/04/10 - New Era - Rounds 2 &
3
The weekend had highs and lows straight from the off. Thursday night I get the bike out of the
garage and it doesn't start. I striped it down to have a look couldn't find the problem! So I
had 2 options miss the test day on the Friday and try to get it to JT tuning to see if he could
fix the problem, or my sponsor (smallboy track bikes) would lend me one of his standard Suzuki
GSXR K7 hire bikes to race. So we decided on the Suzuki, not ideal but it would get me out
there and hopefully get me some points.
Friday Testing:
It was a gorgeous day at Cadwell Park. It took all morning to get use to the standard Suzuki,
so different to my race bike the triumph 675. The Suzuki had a lot less power, no race
suspension, and no quick shifter. After dinner I got my head round it and started gradually
getting a little bit faster each session. By the end of the day we managed to get a mediocre
lap time that I thought would put us mid pack for the race!
Saturday Round 1 Qualifying:
Another gorgeous day, put in nine laps for qualifying and managed to qualify 5th out of 21 riders,
really happy with that considering we were on standard machinery.
Formula Xtreme Race 1:
A 10 lap race from the second row, didn't get a great start down to 10th off the start line. Settled
down and made my way through to finish 4th really happy again with that!
Formula Xtreme Race 2:
Again from the second row bit of a better start, 8th into the first turn this time, made my way through to finish 5th!
Sunday Round 2 Qualifying:
A new set of rubber on for today, qualified 4th, 0.9 off pole!
Formula Xtreme Race 1:
10 lap race, getting a bit of a better feeling from the bike with the new rubber on, felt I could push that little
bit harder, best time of the weekend for me in this race, just less than a second down on the leading pace. 4th place finish for this race!
Formula Xtreme Race 2:
Last race of weekend, 4th off the grid, made a reasonable start 6th into the first corner; I felt that I was getting held up a little by the
rider in front. On lap 7 I finally managed to pass him into barn and then I got my head down. The leading pack were a second ahead, I caught
them up within one lap setting the fastest lap of the race and the fastest f600 lap time of the weekend. Then on lap 8 disaster struck…… I was
right behind the leading pack of four and the rider in front missed a gear going through coppice which is a very very fast left hander and I
ran right into the back of him. Some how he stayed on (thank god) but I wasn't so lucky I was rolling around in the grass at around 130mph, luckily
I was ok! A bit battered and bruised but otherwise ok no broken bones the bike wasn't so lucky though a lot of damage!
I want to say a big big thank you again to smallboy track bikes for everything they are doing for me and for the loan of the bike, it never
missed a beat all weekend! (AM SORRY ABOUT THE BIKE!)
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