Aintree 21st september
The weekend started off not too well due to a bottom end not arriving
from Benny 2T on friday due to a postcode cockup that my sponsor put
the delivery address down as the bike shops but his home postcode
instead of the shops!

The main problem was the fact that the flywheel got battered when we
changed the engines at ty croes and had to have the magnets glued
back in but they were touching some of the coils causing the battery
to go flat.

When I took the flywheel off it fell apart again so we needed a new
one desperately but to no avail. I got the epoxy out and set about
glueing the magnets back into the flywheel. I then shaved the magnets
with a die grinder until there was no contact between them and the
coils.

Started the bike and bingo! 14VDC going into the battery which had
died and had to be replaced (again!!) with a £25 YTX jobbie...

We eventually set off about 9pm from my house on friday, car laden up
with Hazel, Robbie, Myself and all the assorted gear needed (duvet,
air bed, leathers, camcorder etc).

We got to aintree at about 11pm and it then took us another half an
hour to find the racetrack..

Once we got to the paddock and got set up we set off walking round
the 1.6 mile circuit. The first thing to hit me was how wide the
place was! It was also very flat.

As soon as we got to the back straight I discovered what I had
forgotten.. the bloody spare sprockets! Shit... I was still geared
for Ty Croes! Oh well.. just have to see what we can do...

Saturday AM, woken to the sound of generators and a damp duvet.. ugh.
Got up and the pit crew were frantically getting the bike ready so I
sat down for a cup of tea and a fag..

Scrutineering went okay, bit more thorough than usual but no real
problems.

Practise 1, the track felt nice and smooth, but I ran out of gears
coming down the back straight... well I was in the redline half way
down.. shit again! The track is a lot faster than what I'm used to
but it took a while to learn some of the places where you can just
gun it coming into the bend! The hairpin at the bottom straight I
only got right once during the day but cocked it up pleanty! Practise
was a mere 4 laps which was a bit dissapointing..

First race was race 12 so time for a wander and to take Andy (riding
a norton F1) his petrol..

Some nice bikes about, including a 74hp RGV250K with full kit parts..
mmmm

Out we went for the first race, got a bad start from no 38 on the
grid but soon caught up with the pack in the middle. Stuck with them
until the back straight where they all crept away. By the end of my
race I was neither first nor last but out on my own which bored me to
death! 8th place

Second race was race 25 so time for a sit down.. Toe turned up (easy
to spot someone wearing an LC Club tee shirt!) and we had a chat
about lc's!

SEcond race was much the same as the first one but I had a better
start, I managed to keep a tzr250 in my sights until the end where
his knowledge of the track and better gearing left me behind. Another
boring one until a GSXR11 lapped me and I decided to stick on his
arse through the bends! I finished with 7th place and a still running
bike!

After that, the beer came out and we set off home...

Next race is the 19th 20th October at the anglesey grand...

Cheers
Paul