2007 Season Review

NGRRC Minitwins

This season actually started in late 2005. I'd just finished competing in MRO Minitwins on an old uncompetitive SV650 which had served me well through 2004/5, but which was past its best. It was suggested to me that I might wish to consider an 800ss to race instead when I said I was looking for a new bike.

I was a bit unsure about this as there was/is virtually no knowledge of racing a 2vlv air-cooled Duke in the country, but a bit of research soon showed that the 800ss was actually a very successful race bike in the USA. A few weeks later I'd got myself a bike on eBay which, soon turned out to be a wreck/piece of junk once I got to see the bike in the cold light of day...that in itself is a long story best left to another time, but suffice to say I should know better.

Anyway, after some heartache and worry I secured myself another bike - this time an immaculate 600 mile 04 800ss in full specification trim for a reasonable sum of money. This became the basis of my minitwin racer. Amid all the warnings of doom, jokes about reliability and scepticism that an air-cooled 2vlv bike which was 30 yrs old in its basic design could actually compete, I set off on a path of development. As I'd wasted too much time with the 1st one & it was well into March when the 2nd one came along, I decided to take a rest from racing for the whole of 2006 to develop this bike into a competitive racer. Some trackdays later in July 06, and a one-off race meeting with NEMCRC at Croft showed that the bike indeed had the potential to make a very fine racer. No-one, least of all me should be surprised really - the basic chassis is every bit as good as a 748/998/1098 with Showa USD forks, Brembo Goldline brakes, Marchesini wheels etc. All the right kit is there.

Developing a new bike from scratch with no experience of others to rely upon is a hard, lonely and expensive path. I made lots of mistakes, learnt some lessons the hard way and often wondered if I was doing the right thing. Some £12k later I had something that looked like a Ducati race bike sitting in the pit garages at Silverstone on a wet and cold trackday day in March 2007. Another 6 months later that same bike had won 17 races and a championship so, those questions and sceptics have now been answered.

In amongst all this, I met a guy called Olly Moore whom, I knew by name if not in person, via some biking-related websites. Olly had recently moved to the area in 2006 and we'd got to know one another, meeting on occasions for rideouts with some mutual biking acquaintances. Olly was soon enthused with the idea of racing an air-cooled duke and offered to help me in 2007. His infectious character soon became consumed with a passion for racing and he went from interested spectator, to helper, sponsor, team mate and then finally a racer himself in the matter of a few months. He's now very much a close and good friend of mine - one of those genuinely good guys you can trust and rely upon.

Back to January 2007: I was faced with the choice of racing with NEMCRC, NGRRC or Bemsee/MRO Minitwins. NEMCRC was far more local to me, but had a very limited calendar which, wasn't to my liking. Bemsee/MRO had apparently retreated to the confines of the southeast - again not to my liking with an apparent concentration on Lydden, Brands and Snetterton. By contrast, NGRRC, with whom I had raced in 2004 had by far the best selection of circuits. My only concern being that I knew the minitwin grid was not particularly large and, I had some issues with some club organisation/admin in the past. In the end I opted for NG again - because of the circuit selection and because it is/was a very friendly club.

March:

A very wet trackday at Silverstone was a useless exercise. The only thing I learnt was that my bike could withstand the rain - so much for unreliable Ducati electrics, eh? ;-)

Two weeks later at Silverstone I took two wins - albeit the final was done only after a protest I lodged due to being passed on a yellow. In hindsight, I think my protest didn’t go down too well and soured the relationship between myself and some factions of the club. However, it was the right thing to do as flag infringements are unforgivable - such infringements nearly killed my brother a few years ago.

April:

My new ARC exhaust turned up. I foolishly sold the old DP system and then wondered why when the dyno showed I was 10bhp down in the midrange and through most of the power curve until peak revs. Much worry and many hours on the dyno later the power was back with a huge spread of torque - ideal! All it wanted was a lot more fuel than conventional wisdom says.

Pembrey:    A highlight - 4 clean wins. Pembrey is a favourite of mine and the ideal circuit to display the 800's ace - its handling and brakes. I sought some advice from Andy Peck (05 S-o-T champion) – it helped. It was there that I first heard some rumblings in the paddock. Apparently, an 800cc 2vlv air-cooled bike competing against 650cc 4vlv water-cooled bikes is not acceptable. However, the bike fully conforms to the regs, so I had no worries on that score.

Met Tim Jones, one half of the minitwins originators...top bloke, possessing a wealth of knowledge and a indecent level of racing skill himself.

May:

Darley Moor:    There were problems with grid allocation at Darley Moor. I took the grid allocated to me in the program and promptly got penalised for it - in the end it turned out that the wrong grids had been issued to the collecting area marshals and the penalty was thankfully rescinded. There were some pretty scary accidents too. Seeing the medical staff lift blankets around riders lying still on the tarmac is enough to chill anyone to the bone - I feared the worst and felt utterly shaken by what was going on around me. Olly pushed me to go home – I resisted and continued to race. I've never liked the godforsaken place mainly due to the complete absence of safety there. I've covered these before in my race reports and diaries and, I fully intend to never race there again if I can at all avoid it.

Ray Bentley turned up and gave me a real hard race. I beat him. He beat me.

June:

Cadwell Park:    A meeting to forget - bad feeling between myself and a couple of officials came to a head. I got penalised for a jump start, but others disagreed with that and I had video footage to show that other bikes went way before me (and unpunished too). I appealed, but was unsuccessful. Unfortunately I got a severe case of the fuckems and I refused to accept my trophies.

Ray Bentley turned up again and beat me. We had some excellent dices with only 0.03 seconds separating us on one occasion, but I was not in the right frame of mind thanks to the friction between myself and said officials.

Tom Howe was riding like a man possessed - "I`m afraid he's gonna fall off and hurt himself badly", I said to Olly. Sadly I was right, I'd seen it so many times before. Tom is a fast man, and more than capable of giving me a race but he was riding beyond his racing experience - he fell off at Chris Curve (he'd already fallen at the Old Hairpin once) in spectacular fashion and put himself in hospital. That was the end of his season and his racing aspirations together with another good rider Mark Holder.

Time to dig deep.

Brands Hatch:  At this meeting my bike was dynoed with the other minitwins and it turned out to be bang on the power limits. Hopefully that would put paid to all those mutterers in the paddock. Tim Jones turned up again and we had the pleasure of sharing beers with him in the bar as well as doing some spannering on his Gixxer Thou.

Halfway through the season, with some wins, good results and a decent championship lead, the bike and I started to generate some interest from various quarters. People, racers and dealers were wanting to know more about the bike and how I made it work so well. The truth is that there's not much to it that isn't already known out there and applied to other bikes, but you'll have to forgive me for not divulging all.

July:

Ducati John's for a mid-season check - belts didn't need doing, but we changed them anyway. The valve clearances were bang on specification. These air-cooled motors are very strong.

Pembrey:    Another 3 wins with Olly bouncing off all 4 walls with joy. Brilliant! We were winning because we worked hard, I rode well and we were professional about everything we did. Unfortunately still being accused of jump-starting when I hadn't. When I know I'm in the wrong I will hold my hands up and take the punishment on the chin - when I know I am right I will defend myself. I decided to start filming the races from that point on.

August:

Snetterton:    And my first crash, whilst in the lead, on Corams along with 9 other S-o-T and minitwins. WTF is going on? Nige just doesn't crash. I still got the win though on countback! The bike looked a bit of a mess though. I had some tough opposition in the form of some MRO guys who beat me twice in the finals. Nonetheless, it was a turning point in the season and my lead was increased to the extent that I was now beginning to think I could seriously take the championship. Olly raced with NG for the first time and had a bit of a nightmare - more lecturing from me!! I felt for him. He was in danger of learning the hard way.

September:

Pembrey:    Another win left me with only 3 points needed on the Sunday to take the championship which, I duly did by pottering round on the Sunday final at the back of the field. Crossing that line in 4th to take it was indescribably good! More lecturing to Olly - this time he stayed on, enjoyed the circuit and got some good finishes.

To add balance to the success of the meeting, on the way home (after the truck had over-heated), the trailer with my bike in it fell off and ploughed into a house in Pembrey village!! Fortunately the bike was undamaged but the trailer was wrecked and only fit for scrap. . . . . . . 16hrs later we got home.

Thruxton:    Racing purely for fun...no pressure...no need to ride. Another win and the tally increased to 323 points with a lead of 60. The perfect end to a memorable season.

What a bike. What a season. What a team. Oh...and the bike never missed a beat or failed to finish. So much for Ducati unreliability, eh?

I'd like to thank a few folks for all the help given to me this year:

Olly and his wife Chrissie: Absolutely brilliant - both have gone well beyond the call of duty or friendship. Without a doubt they have been the biggest contributing factor to the success of my season.

The guys and gals at Ducati Sporting Club for their support and encouragement.

John Cellier (Ducati John) for his support and encouragement, his skill in fettling my 800ss, his good humour and letting me use his facilities on occasion.

George Miller at Miller motorcycles in Darlington for his advice and cheap/free dyno time so essential to setting up my bike.

NG's club officials for a well run club and championship. We've had our disagreements at times but it is a really good club to race with and the management of rider's safety has been second-to-none.

The marshals who are simply outstanding at all times.

Shaun Wynne for being a genuinely good bloke, full of fun, and downright decent.

Rich Llewellyn (Louigi Moto) for his advice and encouragement - being a Ducati man and wanting to see an old 2vlv air-cooled Ducati do its thing.