Maybe I should start this one with some pictures of Anglesey and Darley Moor?
OK, after Anglesey it was back to the drawing board. The engine was overheating and we needed to improve the cooling. I made up a mould so I could create some NACA duct air intakes to get air over the engine. Tony fitted a 13 row oil cooler in place of the ten row one.
I fitted them into the fairing and felt quite pleased with the result. The next thing was to replace the handhold. It had been good at Anglesey but was a bit ropey looking. It was also a little too far back and was stopping me getting right out on the left handers. I had a look at the chassis and saw a rail under the platform that I could use to anchor a new handhold to. However we were considering replacing the 18mm plywood platform floor with aluminium. We were also looking at fitting a starter motor which meant moving the oil tank back and replacing the ignition system with a different type. This all had to be done in one hit as each affected the other. We arranged a day and a weekend when I could get up to the garage and work on it. I stripped off the floor panel and used this to mark out a rough floor plan on a sheet of ally that I had bought. It would require extra bracing to make it stiff enough as there were some quite open spaces without chassis rails to support it.
Using pieces of wood as formers I created some bracing sections to rivet underneath and cut out the overall shape, leaving extra around the edge to create a turn down so it didn't leave sharp edges. Tony set about dealing with the ignition system and starter motor. I then set about making up the new handhold which had to be done as a two piece as it bolted down through the floor but was brazed to the engine top rail. The vertical part has a sliding section bolted together so it can be raised clear of the floor panel. This section is now about six inches further forward than previously and the oil tank is about that much further back.
We finally had it all together. Tony had taken the outfit to a dyno to test it a week previously and the new engine is putting out about 100hp at the back wheel - pretty damned good for a forty year old SOHC 750 Honda! It should go like a train at Cadwell.
On the Friday before the meeting we loaded it up along with all our gear and tools and set off for Lincolnshire. There was no practice day as there was a track day on the Friday so my first look at the circuit would be qualifying/practice on the Saturday morning. We spent the day setting up the marquee and checking over stuff. Then I had my first taste of an accident.
We hadn't even turned a wheel and were busy in the marquee when I went to step over the fairing that was laying on the floor. I misjudged my footing and caught my right foot on the fairing. Instinctively I tried to put my foot down to stop myself falling and came down on the edge of the fairing with my right shin hard enough to crack the fibreglass. My shin blew up like a balloon immediately and someone said I should go see the medics at the track. They looked at it and said I had a haematoma and needed to go to Louth A&E to get it drained. Tony drove me there and he sat and waited whilst I went through the process of getting checked out. I came out with a handful of spare dressings and some anti-biotics feeling rather sore, not to mention foolish.
We were scheduled for one race on the Saturday and three on the Sunday. That was going to be hard work. Cadwell is a physically hard circuit and very demanding on the passenger. I needed to know what I was doing, so qualifying was important for me. We were called to the holding area and as we rode down the outfit was not running well. As we had a starter motor we turned off the engine while we waited for the previous session to finish. Then we got the all clear to go out on track. The bloody engine would not start! Fuel was pouring out of the two right hand side carburettors. Damn it! We resigned ourselves to missing the qualifying and images of Anglesey flashed through my head as we pushed the outfit back up the hill to find out what was wrong. On inspection we found flecks of black rubber in the float bowls. It seemed that the fuel hose was breaking down and shedding its lining. This was jamming open the needle valves and causing the carbs to flood. We cleaned them out and installed an in-line filter just before the carbs and that cured the problem. It is the littlest things that sometimes destroy all the efforts made. With nothing to do now until the afternoon race we relaxed. My thoughts turned to what I was committing myself to and I began to have thoughts of quitting. My leg hurt, it seemed we spent so much time working hard for little or no time on the track. The idea that I might be hurt or even killed whilst racing scared me and I wondered if I should just pack it in. Then it was time to get ready for the race. My stomach tightened and the pre-race nerves bit down. As we rode down to the holding area I sat on the platform looking casual and smiling. Once there I spent the minutes stretching and making sure the muscles around my spine were flexed and warmed up. The whistle sounded and the engines started as the gate opened and out we went. An old ex-racer had been giving me advice about where to position myself and when. I concentrated on this as we went through Hall Bends and round the hairpin down to the start line. I practiced my movements trying to figure out where and when to move. We were at the back of the grid having posted no qualifying time. The green flag waved and we moved off for the sighting lap. Now I would get a look at the rest of the circuit and another look at the part we had just done. Down the straight into the left hander at Coppice. Up the hill moving back in to get ready for the right hander at the top and Charlies. Then it was a slight downhill straight and a left hand curve as it went back up before the right hander at Park, through Chris Curve and watch for the rumble strips on the last right hander to tell me to move left ready for the Gooseneck. Down the steep hill to the left hander at Mansfield. Along the straight and staying in for the right hander at the chicane ready to get out for the left handed exit. Stay in position ready for the left hander at the bottom of the mountain and wait for the loading to drop off and make a quick move over the right then back down for the crest. Stay there for the right and fast across to the left into Hall Bends. back in for the right and shoulder out for the left then hard over the right for the Hairpin down the short straight and hard over again at Barn and cruise down to the grid. That was my first sighting of the circuit and only practice. Now I had to do it for real as we waited for the starter to drop the flag.
Down it went and we had a very slow start as Tony struggled to stop the engine bogging down. The close ratio gearbox was designed for a solo machine and has a very high first gear. Once he got it going we began to accelerate very fast but by then we were in last position and losing ground. My mind raced as I struggled to take in what was going on and think about what I had to do. At Coppice I got out to the left to find four black and white posts coming straight at me. I dodged them at the expense of the balance of the outfit. I could sense Tony having to correct for my movements - more time lost. Up the hill and the engine sounded like it was struggling. I found myself with an internal struggle as the advice I had been given conflicted with my instincts to get out over the rear for the right handers at Charlies. The it was down the hill on Park Straight. I stayed kneeling beside Tony as we began to go uphill and felt the sidecar wheel lifting as the slight left hand curve exerted its force. I needed to be further over to the left here. OK no time to correct now but remember it next time. I positioned myself for braking and the entry into the right hander at Park. Again conflict inside my head. This didn't feel right, the physics of the situation whirled around inside my mind as I tried to stick to the advice I was given. Vectors and force diagrams whirled. This was taking my concentration away from racing. Here come the rumble strips to mark my move for the Gooseneck. Out left and down the hill. Do I stay out or get in? I stayed out and wished I hadn't as we braked for the left hander at Mansfield. That was hard work, get in next lap there is plenty of time to get out again after the braking. I messed up through the chicane causing Tony to have to slow more as we lost traction. Then out again and we accelerated away towards the bottom of the mountain. Ok out . . . now! back in . . .now! and over the right. I had no time for inner mental conflict, my instincts took over and I braced my left leg and went out over the rear of the seat unit, That was fast and hard, I heard the wheel scrabbling for grip and the rear end slid out but we were round. Get back in now and get ready for the left after this next right. Now! back in and down. the sidecar wheel lifted a little as we rounded the slight left before the hairpin and I was up and out again for the hairpin. It seemed my inner conflict had resolved itself. Whilst mindful of the advice I knew now that many of these right handers required me to get over the back of the seat unit and not stay in beside Tony. If only for my own concentration's sake. I leant my body back in for the short straight to Barn and back out again for Barn itself. We flew round the bend and began the acceleration down the start finish straight as I crouched as low as I could. Tony had problems with the gear changes and the ride was very jerky but we had done our first lap! I was learning with each lap and although I was making mistakes I was getting better each time.
I never know how many laps we have completed, I just know that we have done a few and some time soon it will be the last lap flag. I looked for it as we crossed the finish line but didn't see anything. I knuckled down and concentrated on what I was doing but was seeing more of what was around me and I saw sidecars littering the side of the track as we went round. We would get a placing just by attrition by the look of it. I wasn't aware of anything behind us but as we hit the start straight again Brian and Vicky came thundering past us with Vicky punching the air as they went through the chequered flag. It was over, we had completed our first race but just been lapped at the line by the winners.
Afterwards I was talking to Vicky and she was saying that at one point they had been coming up behind us so close that she was mentally screaming at Brian to slow down before she stuck her head up my bum! I had been totally unaware of this. All thoughts of quitting and worrying about things were gone. I was elated. I wanted to go out again but that was it for Saturday. Tomorrow was going to be a hard day. We sat and had a beer and talked about the race and the problems we had each encountered. Especially the start. I suggested he give it more revs and I would position myself further forward to reduce the traction on the back wheel to enable it to spin up a little. We also discussed what we could do to reduce the gearing. It was apparent that the carbs were fuelling too much as well so I suggested we drop the needles a notch to reduce the mid-range fuelling. The dyno testing had all been at full power and I don't think they considered the rest of the range.
The first race on Sunday we lined up and the start was not good. Tony let the clutch out too quickly and we bogged down again. As we got going though we found ourselves hemmed in by another outfit trying to overtake a further outfit and we had to back off just as we were picking up. We did eventually get past that one and we began to fly. I was much more confident of my moves now and made far fewer mistakes. In fact a couple of times on the mountain I made the switch perfectly and the feeling was amazing. It was the razor's edge between control and losing it. The result was we flew up the last part and the front wheel came up over the crest allowing us to enter the Hall Bends much faster. This made it noticeably harder for me to get across in time. I managed it though but it felt like when you sit at a drum kit and lose concentration then find yourself doing the different beats perfectly with your hands and feet only to realise it and lose the co-ordination completely. We increased our average speed per lap by 7mph over the first race and knocked 6 seconds off our best lap time. Tony still had problems with the gear changes but I had suggested he snap the throttle as he changed and he had tried this with some success but was still not quite getting it every time.
The second race felt better but the times were about the same. I had also spoken to another passenger about the posts at Coppice. He had said they were collapsible and not to worry about them. I ignored them in this race and hit the last one on the first lap. I don't know if it was a result of that or someone else, but, on the next lap there was the post laying in the track right on our line. We hit it and it whacked me across the end of my little finger on my left hand and I found myself with it perched across my chest like a baby. I flicked it over my shoulder and concentrated on the upcoming bend. Otherwise it was much the same as the previous race. By the third race I was tired and we were packing everything away in preparation for a quick getaway. Out we went and I could feel that my changes were ragged. I could feel myself sliding around on the platform and unable to do anything about it. I was just happy to finish the race.
Four races completed, that was, of itself, an achievement. I was shattered and it was all I could do to get out of my leathers. As I write this I feel battered and bruised. I ache all over and can't wait to get to Snetterton next weekend to see my housemate Tricia Roberts racing and maybe get out with James Sirrell in his F1 sidecar for practice. My next race will be in Belgium at Chimay in July. This is a road race and will be a first for both myself and Tony. In the meantime he is going to get some other sprockets so we can reduce the gearing and maybe some slightly smaller main jets. But the outfit went well overall, it just needs some fine tuning now. I need to put something on the ally platform to give me grip and we need to fit a piece of angled ally along the edge where Tony's left leg is to stop me leaning on it and interfering with his ability to change gear. I will be riding out there on my road bike and meeting him there as he is visiting his family in Dresden. I am looking forward to this one and I know that I will have the same fears prior to the start, I will consider quitting and then it will all go as I get on the track. It is all part of the game it seems.
