Tortoise and Hare...MotoE Round 3, Cadwell Park...

Ok, so no camping stories, but I do have a overriding echo of a memory in my crash addled brain where after having set up an awning on the side of my old Mercedes bus in fine dry weather I was woken in the night by strong wind and rain as the awning lifted and whorled off down the Cadwell Park paddock at 3am in the morning replete with my under-pant clad form hanging form the frame..I'm starting to wonder why, after all these years I still enjoy camping. I almost never do it properly.,. :)

The echo of the memory persisted as we woke on Saturday morning before practice , lots of rain and a little wind, Cadwell Park is nothing if not consistent in it's meteorological offerings...We were to be hosted by the newly invigorated Derby Phoenix club which has lost nothing of its friendly welcoming atmosphere but also gained the ruthless efficiency of Dave and Bernadette Stewart who I'm always glad to see at the helm...

The wet conditions got me all excited as although I don't particularly like racing in wet conditions (who does?) I do seem to go well in the wet and wet conditions go a long way to level off any performance discrepancies with the faster bikes..and once you're mounted and on track riding in the wet really isn't so bad and more recently my wet riding confidence has had a massive boost from the remarkable Continental Race Attack tyres that I'm really getting on well with..so much so that I was the only MotoE bike that elected to go out for the morning warm up at 9am... there's nothing quite like having a racetrack to yourself.. :) I had a jolly nice ride round and re-familiarised my self with the Cadwell layout which I know quite well having ridden here so often..

Afternoon qualifying was dry and sunny and went very well, I was several seconds faster than my team mates and I think going out for the tentative wet warm up in the morning enabled me to go out with full confidence in the afternoon dry conditions..Unfortunately for my team mates one of the reasons I was so much faster is that the returning rider Ho Chi Fung took a bit of a risk early on in the session and wiped out his team mate Chun kay Kwok who crashed heavily along with one of the Ducatis we were out with and broke his collarbone putting him out of action for a couple of weeks at least... The bike wasn't too heavily damaged and the Zongshen team swarmed around the bike and it was repaired in no time flat..

For the first 'sprint' race for which conditions were perfect I was instructed to occupy grid position 4 despite qualifying in 2nd the previous day..which was slightly confusing.. however with only 5 bikes on the grid and my bike being by far the slowest away it didn't really matter where I started from the end result would be the same.. I would be the last into the first corner..I set about making up what I could in the corners.. I shadowed the Brammo for the first lap and narrowly missed running into Max Simmons as he accidentally 'chinned' the emergency stop and then looked ahead to see if I could gain any time on Ho Chi Fung as he rode the second factory Zonngshen that had recently been vacated by Chun Kay Kwok...that didn't look like it was likely as although I was running with the little satellite Zonngshen 'turned up' a little bit it still wasn't a match for the factory bike who was pulling a mighty lead early on...that didn't last long though, as I entered Coppice I saw the tell-tale scrape lines from the gel-coat fairing that indicated Ho Chi Fung had slid off as he tipped in for Charlie's 'in'. I accepted the place with good grace and got my head down to try and catch the Agni bike which was performing very well.. as the race developed and the gaps between us began to grow I noticed the Nottingham bike with Daley Matheson on board stationary at the side of the track on Park Straight. This elevated me to second place and the Agni which was now beyond reach to first place I started to gain on the Agni as he reduced his pace to improve his chances of finishing..a smart move from a very accomplished young rider who increased his pace again as he saw me gaining ground...

The second longer 'endurance' race was less eventful, we lost Daley with a bike issue on the warm up lap and Ho Chi Fung stayed mounted this time to chase down and pass the Agni bike for the well deserved win. I had to watch again as both the Agni and Zongshen factory bike gained over half a lap on me to battle for the lead leaving me to mop up the final place for third,.

With all the various crashes and machine issues this weekend my consistency and the reliability of the lower performance Zongshen remarkably sees me leave Cadwell this weekend leading the championship by 10 points.. an unexpected treat for sure but you do have to be 'in it to win it' as they say and without the commitment of Darvill Racing's Alex Aitchison and Insight 2 Value as sponsors we wouldn't be able to capitalise on these small victories..


I'm looking forward to Pembrey and to seeing if there is any explanation to why my bike has such a performance deficit...

MotoE: Round 2, Anglesey circuit.

I watched bemused from the banking as rain was forced down the back of of my navy cagoule by a bracing wind... So this is, 'camping'...My Mum was sitting where the orange and floral blue frame tent used to be with blood pouring from and open wound on her finger and Dad was hanging in the air from the corner of the same frame tent as it whipped and thrashed him about in the wind like terrier with a rabbit...It sounded different when they explained it to me when the family holiday was explained. Before we set off in our Cortina Estate with the hot black vinyl seats Anglesey sounded to me, the seven year old me at least, like a paradise of sand and sea, rubber dingies and barnstormer kites....

Anglesey hasn't changed very much...not as much as I 'd expected it to in 35 years but its closer to that paradise now..Because now it has a race track...perched on a hill in that bracing wind watching the sea as it taunts it from the beaches below...It's not the wind blown desolation you'd expect in that location either, it nice, really nice ...a smooth tarmac paddock, pit garages, club and national layout's, 'facilities' and camping...but this time, anchored to that Welsh rock with sandbags and water weights, this time, its a ''team name adorned' race awning...not a '70s frame tent.. :)

It's time to go racing again;

Alex, 'the Boss' of Darvill racing had arrived during the day on Friday and set the team awning up next to our partners for this MotoE series, 'Zongshen racing' from China. We're using their 'number three' satellite bike and as such enjoy their extremely efficient services in prepping and making changes to the bike. (if not the performance of the factory bikes)...The weather was perfect and the North Glos' club welcomed us into their midst with enthusiasm...The format for this weekend was more familiar than the Nurburgring set-up; A morning warm-up had me as fastest Chinese bike followed by an afternoon qualifying session. which ended with me as second fastest Chinese bike, 4th overall as the Number 1 bike of Chun Kay Kwok (real name!) found 4 seconds after morning warm up to take 3rd spot, Chris Purdie on the Siaetta Agni with the inimitable Daley 'Daisy' Matheson taking top honours, as he would all weekend on the University of Nottingham's high powered monster.

I'd asked for changes before qualifying that improved my lap times, they were pretty conservative so for the first race on Sunday I asked for even lower gearing and another click of rebound damping to clam the slightly wallowy feel in the middle of the long corners. I didn't want to overdo the suspension changes as the soft rear Continental slick was starting to wear out and it may have been covering an issue I couldn't feel as the grip reduced..I had to make it last the weekend...Which unfortunately means we're at a disadvantage to those on an 'unlimited' tyre contract from Michelin. High corner speeds and worn out tyres can be a recipe for disaster but I was getting massive confidence from these tyres...the warnings were gradual and progressive giving me plenty of time to rescue any slides...

Race 1, the morning 'sprint race' was superb...Zongshen had made the changes I'd asked for and the bike felt good...Despite the gearing changes it was still a slow get away for me and I got balked behind the fast starting Graeme Smith on the Brammo street bike...with a six speed gearbox and sit-up handlebars it's a pretty wide old bus to get around and Graeme was holding the fast line, It wasn't until the fast back straight that I managed to slipstream Graeme and squeeze past into the up hill hairpin. A lap of extremely 'spirited riding' had me find the limit of the wearing Conti's and I hooked onto the back of a 3 bike battle for third, me and the other two Zongshen bikes..We diced heavily for 3 laps, I knocked nearly 4 seconds off my qualifying time, but as my lack of power began to over come the gains made by the magic adrenaline kick, the tyres joined in and although I was able to stay in front of the the number 6 Zongshen piloted by Nelson Choi I had to watch as Chun Kay Kwok seemed to find his groove and chase down the second place bike ridden by Chris Purdie..

                

I was over the moon that I was able to mix it with the other guys for a few laps if a little frustrated that I didn't have the performance to join the scrap for second...

Race 2, the second longer race was my chance to manage my available power and perhaps use the more frugal set-up to enable my race-long pace to be higher and perhaps out-fox the others if they got distracted in another battle...It's usual to turn the performance down for the longer race to prevent over-keen riders forgetting the need to conserve power for a longer race but I asked Zongsen to leave the performance the same and let me try to manage the output for the long game...This request was either ignored or lost in translation as it was immediately clear as we left the line that my performance was much reduced from race one. not only that but in an effort to ensure the Agni bike was pushed off the podium the performance of the tiny number 6 bike with half the weight and only one motor (to the other's two) was turned right up which had the unwanted effect of burning the motor out, gifting me a position but preventing me from fighting for that 2nd or 3rd podium spot..Frustrating to say the least!

The next race is Cadwell, familiar territory for me but no camping stories :) ... lets see if I can 'influence' some changes in my favour, a podium is possible with the right motor management but with the return from injury of last year's championship winner, Ho Chi Fung I'm not sure where I might stand in the overall Zongshen plan...Hopefully I'll have my boy Bobby with me again he's very motivating to have around and I always feel better when he's with me..

Huge thanks again to our friends at I2V and our sponsors every little helps...

Darvill Racing, Round one of the MotoE Championships at the Nurburgring.

The 'out of scope' excursion the Southern 100 last month was welcome prelude to the impending MotoE championships..Its been a long wait but it had finally arrived...

With the sad demise of Hotrax some of the MotoE championship rounds lost a host and the series promoter faced a massive task at the eleventh hour to replace the rounds that were originally to be run with with them. The first round originally scheduled to be run at Schleiz with the IDM championships was also lost due to issues again with the host. Happily the MotoE promoter was able to reschedule a round at the Nurburgring, split over the weekend with a GT car race on the historic Nordschleife and the Dortmunder Motorsport club using the GP circuit.. complicated but guess what? We still get to race motorbikes! :)

More than ever we have to manage an excruciatingly tight budget this year but with Insight 2 Value stepping up with a round by round package as our headline sponsor for the series we could just about manage a drive down to Germany with 2 team members (me and the indomitable Liz 'Half Pint' Warden) unfortunately leaving the the very twitchy boss Alex Aitchison back at home like a pacing, expectant father.. When we arrived at the historic Nurburgring it was clear that wasn't going to be anywhere we could pitch a tent so the contents of the car were squeezed over and that became the accomodation.. :)

Factory accommodation!

This year we're riding the Zongshen DC motor prototype (satellite bike) with support from Zongshen themselves..Unfortunately it's not the fire-breathing AC motor bike as that is staying in China this year on demo duty being the world championship winning machine from last year.

Zongshen satellite bike

After Sticker-ing up the bike with our own sponsor's decals we were ready to roll for the guided sighting laps. These were guided (marshal car in front and behind) as there had been GT cars racing all day on the circuit and it was very dirty and the circuit weren't comfortable letting us out at full speed without it being swept first so we had guided sighting laps due to the amount of time it takes to sweep the full circuit. the fact that the circuit we were using was only half of the circuit we'd be racing on tomorrow didn't seem to compute with the organisers but we were at least able to shake-down and test the bikes...Which just happened to be full speed for me.. ;)

Sunday's race day was a hot day and we were sharing the venue with The Dortmunder Motorsport Club who were running a 'tag' endurance race and a few lightweight club races..Which gave us plenty of time to recharge the bikes between the first 'sprint' race and the second longer race.

Qualifying sheet

Qualifying in the morning on the full 5.2km GP circuit was a short session and I put the little Zongshen number three bike on the front row in third place, fastest of the three Zongshen bikes racing this weekend..A suprise to me... (and the rest of the team I think..) I noticed that the pick-up of the motor was slow but had good 'top-end' speed so I asked for shorter gearing and 'Eddie' (not his real name I think) the Chinese team's crew chief suspected a 'reluctant' controller so he changed it for one from the spare bike. And I was confident of a good result in the first race.

I fluffed the start but managed to get away right on the tail of the other two Zongshen bikes. The University of Nottingham 'ground up' prototype shot off like a stabbed rat, piloted by Daley 'Daisy' Matheson, a newcomer to MotoE and probable legend-in-the-making..Followed closely by Mark Miller on the Vercarmoto Yamaha R6 based prototype..It was apparent immediately that the changes we made didn't have a positive effect and I watched helplessly as all the other bikes pulled away from me..Unfortunately the incredibly engineered prototypes from Vercarmoto and University of Nottingham had mechanical issues on the first lap and had to retire leaving the three Zongshen bikes to duke it out for he podium slots..I took some ridiculous risks to reel in the other two which worked initially and helped massively by the soft sticky Continental slicks but the performance of the number three bike was clearly 'going off' and I had to settle for the bottom step as I watched the battle for the lead develop and leave me behind..The race sheets from race one showed my lap times a rather chunky 4 seconds off my qualifying times but the number one Zongshen bike 4 seconds faster than it's qualifying time...curiouser and curiouser.. ;)

Sticky-icky Ooohwee!

I fed back the information on wattage and temperature for each motor during the race and suggested a few changes to mitigate for the apparent deficit...Eddie took the decision to check the carbon brushes on the right hand motor (from my feedback) and change some of them for new ones...Ready for race two! 

There was a vast improvement in the performance and I got away slightly ahead of the other two Zongshens but frustratingly watched as they both out accelerated me into the first turn.. The improved performance meant that I could stay with the other two Zongshen bikes as the much faster Nottingham prototype disappeared into the distance..We diced hard for the P2 for two laps with proper multi-line attacks from all three riders using as much of the fabulous Nururgring GP curves and inclines as we could and a little more...later I checked my times and those early laps were on a par with my qualifying times..however as the race developed my right hannd motor began to heat up and loose wattage and the upper battery pack began to overheat...I had to slow slightly to manage the temperature differential and hope that the longer race would give me chance to reel in the the others if they overdid their energy use... Unfortunately (for me!) both riders professionally managed the dice and energy consumption and were able to maintain their podium positions..

I'm spectacularly happy with how the bike handles (based on a GP 250) and only a little frustrated with my management of the challenges of electric racing but we did get on the podium and we did get to taste the champagne! And I'm head over heals in love with the Nurburgring... Bring on round 2 in Anglesey! (15th and 16th Aug 2015)

Gallery of the Nurburgring weekend...

Darvill Racing at the 2015 Southern 100

This is another one of those Blogs that start in an all too familiar way that seems so fashionable amongst my contemporary's at the moment: 'It's been quite some time since I last raced a motorbike'....

Well, it has...It's been over 9 months since I rode a motorbike at all in fact. If you don't count the 20 or so laps I did on the Agni bike in the final rounds of the MotoE last year then it;s more like a year...So there you go Racer's Excuse No1 out of the way early doors.. :)

Part of the reason for this late start to the season is that sponsorship is getting trickier to find and the attitude of the old guard is still reticent when it comes to including electric racing in a full race day programme, however we kept at  it and as well as our usual supporting partners (Darvill Racing partners and sponsors) Insight 2 Value (I2V)  came up with an enhanced package which allowed us to commit to the 2015 MotoE championship and squeeze in one of the major road events on the Isle of Man; The Southen 100. I wasn't supposed to be taking up any racing duties for Darvill until MotoE 2015 starts in the first weekend of August so I was very surprised when the The Boss, Alex, called me to say that one of our riders had had to cancell his Southern 100 entry at the last minute..(2 days prior) and, 'would you be able t.....'

"YES! Err, that is, yes of course, I'll see what I can can do" :)

So, in time-honoured tradition I juggled work and family commitments and handed over a chest full of doubloons to the Seam Pirates...

Good news: Going road (real) racing again! First closed roads race since 2009, that's 6 years!
Bad news: It's absolutely hammering down.

Strong winds and heavy rain mean that the Southern 100 club had a pretty challenging few days ahead trying to fit in a full schedule including, newcomers, and this is all the more challenging these days given the very limited road closure orders they're awarded, due to local pressures.

As a newcomer, (yes you read right, a newcomer) to the circuit I was scheduled to have two sighting laps behind travelling marshals followed by a practice sessions on day one (of four) followed by further newcomer sighting laps on day two prior to a qualifying session.. The conditions obliterated this schedule which meant I had the two rather sedate sighting laps in wet conditions then no other sessions until qualifying the next day. Even as a newcomer, qualifying cut-off was at 120% of the leading time, which  was already a big ask for us with a 30bhp deficit to the leading machines but with no practice and heavy rain I was a bit unsure if this was going to be a short meeting for me...and as if it wasn't a tall enough order we didn't have any wet tyres... Continental don't make a wet tyre in the MinTwin sizes so I was out on the Race Attack 2 a dry weather race tyre...


With nerves jangling I took my place on the dummy grid noticing that that the Supertwins and other (supposed) MiniTwins were all wearing full wet tyres...so that didn't help my nerves much! We were waved away (Video:Wet Qualifying front facing) As you can see the conditions were awful but I was pretty confident in the Continental race Attack 2s and got stuck in learning the circuit. I was pretty relieved to get round in one piece but felt a bit more confident in which way the track went and actually really enjoyed it...I cant say enough about how good those dry tyres are in the wet..they absolutely brilliant!

To my surprise we qualified! I think the wet conditions worked to our advantage in the end but according to some of the spectators Ivan Lintin and James Cowton's times weren't an awful lot slower than their dry times! With that in mind we looked forward to the next day's race..which was forecast to be dry and warm.... :)

Video:First race front facing As you'll see we were fighting an uphill battle against the more powerful Supertwins which was as we expected but we also seemed to be giving away quite a bit of speed to the other 'MiniTwins' too, which we weren't...I did manage to have a nice little battle on the last lap with another MiniTwin newcomer which was immense fun and dialled me back in to some proper racing...

Video:Second race front facing. Unfortunately at the end of the first lap the rose-joint on the gear linkage started to jam. As I rolled down towards pit lane ready to retire I gave the linkage a firm kick and it loosened again allowing me to rejoin..(post race investigation shows the joint has worn and was over rotating causing it to jam.) Unfortunately this meant I was out on my own with no-one to race with but at least that meant I could concentrate on lines and learning the course. I started to go faster into the turns and carry more speed through them as my braking points and turn in points improve.. another small issue we had to work round due to standing in for another rider we were working with a different set-up. My great pal Keef  McKay had been riding and setting the bike up around this course but he is 95kilos of Scottish cow pie and I'm a scrawny 72kilo drink of water..The bike was a little over sprung for me so I was finding it a bit of a bone shaker through the more bumpy sections...I was expecting to have much better lap times in this race particularly on the last lap after the leader passed me as it gave an (albeit brief) marker to chase...I was hoping to get clsoer to the 90mph lap on the MiniTwin which I would have been really happy with... However despite feeling faster my speeds were actually down on the first race's times...It's possible that the continuing issues with the linkage throughout the race may have contributed but we also noticed when cleaning the bike after racing that there was a weep from the base gasket so it's also possible that we may have been even a little bit more down on power than we thought...

All-in a really enjoyable few days racing and a welcome surprise to the start of my season..I'm really looking forward to the start of the MotoE season next month where we'll be campaigning one of the Zongshen DC motor'd bikes... :)

Darvill racing at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

This is a Blog I've really been looking forward to writing, and if for some reason known only to you, you are a returning reader, you'll know that's saying something!

As Darvill racing are intending to compete in the MotoE European Electric Motorcycle Racing Championships this year, the promoter (Rupal Patel @ MotoE) invited us to join them at the Festival of Speed at Goodwood. We happened to have the EmpulseR demo bike in our possession so happily accepted the invitation and with much logistical jiggery-poke-ery and team members throwing themselves onto the swords of 'The Steam Pirates and the gods of van lending' we set off to Goodwood and set up camp in a far off corner with the contractors. 'Glamping' (as Goodwood seems to becoming famous for) this was not.. The weather was lovely though and the company superb, we had our two-man tents, a fold up table and some coffee, what more could we need? :)

Goodwood FOS has grown into an epic event, it's massive..We were there for the four days, an exhibitors day followed by 3 public days with the Saturday and Sunday being competetive days for the cars. Bikes aren't allowed timed runs on account that we can't be trusted not to embed ourselves into The Flint Wall...The signing on for the event is about as fancy as it gets. The whole estate becomes a town of temporary buildings, but they're enormous things, cathedral like modern structures of aluminium and fabric..the signing on was in one of these with a red carpet chaperoned by Maclarens (real ones!) winding up to a double staircase helical-ly transporting you to a doorway flanked by suitably demure security guards, exact likenesses of the slightly more conspicuous crew at the gateway to the carpet seemingly miles down the paddock, with a sturdy white picket fence holding back a sea of papparazzi. A gleaming and weighty silver medal was the prize needed to enter this fortress, emblazoned with the watch manufacturers logo who happened to be sponsoring the enclosure..These were handed to us at signing-on along with a book of tickets for meals in this Drvers Club which was far from the usual race circuit offerings we've become accustomed to. Later on over the weekend we would rub shoulders with some of the greatest names still living in motorsport history. On virtually my first visit to the lunch counter for some smoked salmon (fancy eh?) Emmerson Fitipaldi held the door for me... And while we're on the subject of name-dropping I should probably get as much over with now, it could likely get nausiating.. ;)

When going to the changing rooms (yes they had those too, think, 'gentlemans club with lockers') for one of my first runs I opened the door and met with some resistance, I'd opened the door, quite forcefully, into the underwear-sporting rear of Sir Sterling Moss, "Sorry, am I in the way?"
"Err no, not at all err Sir", I stuttered....
What else do you say to an octogenarian legend and darling of the people after nearly finishing him off? ...

I also witnessed Freddie Spencer and Wayne Gardener ribbing Leon Haslam about having pram races with him and his Dad Ron when Leon was a baby in the paddock at the Donnington GP ... I didn't think famous race-stars could get bashful enough to go 'that' red! :)

And it doesn't end there, oh no, not by a long shot...

The pictures below this paragraph were captured by my team mate Liz Warden whilst queuing up for a run up the Goodwood Hill. And yes, that is THE Giancomo Agostini and that is THE MVAgusta! And I think you can just make out the other number one plate of the Rotmans Honda ridden by Freddie Spencer who was just in front of Wayne Gardener on the other one...And I think Jim Redman was there too somewhere....:)

Me noticing my hero!

My hero noticing me! ;)

Sammy Miller, 'Gis a go kidda'.

Ross Noble having a natter

Alan Cathcart discussing the finer art..

Queuing for the Hill with Hillier

My Go! :)

I got to ride the Brammo up the hill with all the still living  heroes I've spent my whole life watching and trying to emulate, and I got to do it on this fantastic evolution of the motorbike, the little Brammo was phenomenally fast, the torque takes you by suprise as it pumps down through the Continental Sport Attack rubber that comes as standard on these. The Goodwood Hill is very slippery, its not exactly fresh tarmac and there are lots and lots of very exotic cars doing burnouts and doughnuts and leaving a nice slippery layer of oil and fuel from some very exotic concoctions that these things need to run properly, The Conti's were more than up to the job!

The interest in the bike over the course of the event was extraordinary. When we weren't on the hill we were inundated with questions and inquiries about the bike and it's impressive statistics.. People in the massive crowd (tens of thousands) were heard remarking (by Darvill stooges in the crowd) about the unusual sound it made and how fast it looked against the race bikes...

Not stictly anything to do with the bike or the racing but worth a mention was the Goodwood FOS Ball on the Saturady night, not everyone gets invited to this but most of the competitors do and it's held in one of those very very big super tents that are more cathedral than tent in the gardens of the main house..It's a black-tie do, and the evening begins with a garden party style reception with free Veuve Clicquot on loop, followed by a Michelin starred three-course meal followed by a spectacular dislpay of a live show. This consisted of the obligatory fireworks display (a bloody good one!) but originally also a visual display by Lords of Lightning, spectacular nutters from Canada who throw lightning bolts at each other from a Tesla Coil in a mock battle to loud rock music... And then as if it hadn't been surreal enough already the Beach Boy(s) came on stage and played for the rest of the evening while we danced and drank the exceptional wine...  

It bloody tough sometimes riding motorbikes.... :)

A special mention has to go to Alex the boss in this blog because he's been trying to get an invite to this event for years, but due to some unpleasant physical effects from a recent operation he wasn't able to go and had to put up with us recounting this incredible weekend in glorious Technicolor for his enjoyment.. you'd have though we'd be a bit more sensitive would you? ... ;)

I think I may have died and gone to heaven! Sorry Alex! :)

Massive massive thanks to Rupal Patel @ MotoE for inviting us along...don't forget to follow the MotoE championship it's going to get really close! 

Next installment will be back to petrol bikes for a bit on the lovely Darvill SV at Jurby for the Andreas Club championships...

Top Gear Track test and press day.

With our recent dealings into electric bikes, we finally managed to get our hands on a demo Empulse R from Brammo.

The Brammo EmpulseR at Castletown

But before we could do anything with it we had to endure the UK Motorcycle press caning the living daylights out of it around the Top Gear Test Track at Dunsfold... It was a UK Pod Point event that got hijacked by some shady wannabe distributors who commandeered the facility to serve their own agenda with the UK m/c press. We were very nervous, all the major mags and rags were there and they bought their reputations with them.. I'm happy to say that despite the odd hamfisted attempt, the EmpulseR acquitted itself perfectly, with minimal top up charges it performed faultlessly all day, and more importantly nothing and no-one fell off! :)

We did get a' little go' but our team's hard work and efforts along with the sponsors of the event Charge UK were overshadowed by some pushy amatuers that were intent on showing everyone just how little they new about event etiquette.

Our friend Chris Northover (Storm the Embassy - YouTube) Was there with his Ossets entertaining the waiting parties and he managed to get a go on the Brammo too, luckily there are no Embassies, stairwells or skylights at Dunsfold so the Brammo survived his attentions too!

The best part of this event was getting the EmpulseR in the back of the van at the end of the day and over to the Isle of Man where it could be treated properly. We displayed it at a local event at Peel during the TT fortnight to great interest, and then brought it back to Darvill HQ to prep it for the Southern 100...

Return to racing: Andreas Club Championships round 4 Jurby Motodrome.

I need to race, it's just one of those things I need to do. It breaks me; Both financially and physically but mentally it re-charges me like nothing else can..Of late I've needed that kind of re-charging, I wouldn't say I've been feeling low exactly, I don't do low, never have. I've been told I've been thorough alot over the years, but it's never felt that way. Through everything I've been assured I should have felt low but never have, don't know why...don't want to, just lucky I guess, always lucky...I blame everyone.. ;)

I'm not going to lie, getting to the Isle of Man is a pain in the arse, the two available options, boat and plane, seem to conspire to make life difficult, one may get you there in time, but may not be available to get you home in time and all ways of vice versa. it's closer than more than half of the circuits in the UK but costs considerably more and takes far longer to get there... But it's blummin worth it I tell ya! :) And you know that the moment you walk into Keefs house greeted with a welcoming roar and a cold beer. On this occasion we were convening at the Traffalgar Hotel...the Traff...'The Office'..This is where the dreams are made and the banks balances raided...we've had so many, 'why don't we?' moments in the Traff ...

Since my little tumble the Darvill team have been keeping me lifted and included with all the goings on and now I'd decided I'd had more than long enough off the bike and felt (mostly) recovered..I was weak and sore but fixed to a fashion. So here I was, entered in the 4th round of the Andreas 650 Championship...The plan was to take it really easy; Go out on the I2V Darvill SV, pick up a signature, see how the injuries felt, not hurt myself, and not fall off the bike. Alex (the Boss!) has put a conservative million hours into polishing and putting everything 'just right'..He'd also treated me to some of the best riding gear I have ever dragged onto my wonky old frame...a shiny new set of Held leathers and gloves, TCX Iron-clad carpet slippers (boots!),  Force field armour and a Shark Pro racing lid..Proper factory! Thank you so much to Nevis for supporting us so generously!

Ebony and Ivory? Ying n Yang?

It felt horrible, the bike didn't fit. I felt stiff and nervous and that really threw me I can't remember the last time I didn't feel completely at home on a motorbike, even after the three months I had off the bike for the transplant it felt like I'd pulled on a pair of old slippers the first time I got back on a strange bike. Last time out on the SV was in October last year at the endurance and it felt great, and we did rather well...and this just didn't feel right...I wasn't moving around on the bike like I know I should and I wasn't able to put those big inputs you need on the bars when you need to brake really deep and still get round the corner I felt weak as a kitten.... So I just gritted my teeth and got on with it, 'just here to get round'. On the final lap the pain from my pelvis and shoulders was close to unbearable and when greeted by Keef in the pits I couldn't get off the bike, I was shaking and I needed to sit down..

I was surprised to see that my times were similar to the Endurance before the accident and even more surprised to see that that was only good enough to qualify 13th in class..(Those times netted us a P2 podium in October!) So mixed feelings; Happy surprise that I wasn't as slow as I thought followed by trepidation that I needed to be much faster, but hang on, no I didn't, I just needed to bring it home..

Unfortunately my mate (and team-mate) Keef  had some problems with the Classic and he didn't get out to race he's still leading it but it's always very disappointing when you don't get to race..

The first race was the first time I'd done a mass start in nearly a year so I was very circumspect and tried to cause as little trouble and get in the way of as few people as I could..after a few corners it all settled down and I tried to get comfy and failed..Ali Foster (no relation) came past me and I knew she goes well around Jurby as she was kind enough to post some on-board footage earlier in the year..so I tried to stay in touch. ..The SV we use is a 'MiniTwin' spec bike so needs to stay limited to around 72 bhp. The 650 class in the Isle of Man runs Supertwin rules so most of the bikes out are running significantly more power than we are. I understand the front running bikes could be as much as 20bhp more...this makes it quite tricky staying in contact with some of the other 650s, the long straight at Jurby means I had to try and make up the deficit in the twisty bits which was proving a little more difficult than usual with not being able to get comfortable..As the 6 lap race wore on I was starting to loosen up, the pain was worse but I felt looser and more relaxed and as I relaxed I started to gain ground on Ali...On the last lap I summoned the confidence to duck underneath and just about managed to hold her behind me until the chequered flag..I hadn't set the world alight but there's nothing like a place gained on the last lap to build the confidence.. :) I still felt a bit sick and shaky when I got off the bike but that quickly dissipated when I found out I'd knocked 4 seconds off my lap-time and finished 9th in class... :)

By the time the second race came around I was getting pretty stiff and sore but was really keen to get back out on that lovely SV...I felt much more with it on the grid and resolved to 'have a go' at the start..I got a pretty good start shooting through at least two rows getting mixed up with the 400s and 125s while the faster 650's shot off the front...I lost a couple of places whilst I got into a rhythm and fixed my gaze on the back of the leading group..of the two bikes that passed me one was a 125 (Dan Sayle I think) so not a concern for me but the next was a 650 piloted by James Smith and a credible target so I had to at least try and get that place back...it took me the rest of the race to do it and I had to knock a further second from my best time so far, which was on the last lap when James over-shot the bus-stop chicane and allowed me to close up the gap giving me a sniff of the place...It took a concerted slipstream and late braking move to get it but I got under him at Castle Corner and held it to the flag..just..for a 6th in class... :)

I was totally exalted! Really really pleased and with the pain subdued under a fog of adrenaline I knew I'd not caused any further damage! Once again an early return vindicated by improving the injuries.. (But lets just keep how second hand I felt on the Monday morning on the down-low for now shall we?)

Thanks again to Alex, Keef, Rebbecca, Shaun Bostrom, Lizzie and Champ at Darvill racing for all the help, to Sharon and Phil Hagen at I2V and to our numerous sponsors that keep us going.

This edit required! Check out that finish from Westminter paint!

Continental tyres (Cambrian)

• PDQ
• Shark Helmets
• TCX Boots
• Held Gloves
• Wiz Racing
• I2V
• Small Red Gorilla Photography
• Forcefield Armour
• JHMC
• Dobbit IT
• APE Raceparts
• I Say Ding Dong
• Dogcam
• The Thundersprint

Massive thanks to Al at Pistonlife for the photos.. :)