Oulton Park, April 2023.
Some words following last weekend on the V2. It was always going to be a busy weekend for myself and the team. There were a few unknowns so I had to hedge my bets and run in two classes. My usual SSTK1000 class on the Suzuki was relatively simple. I knew my set-up from last year and the bike was all good following Silverstone so all I had to do was put tyres on and fuel it. The qualifying format for Oulton was changed but it didn't really affect me as I was never going to be top 18 in the stocks. Saturday was two sessions of 30 minutes in both classes. FP1 was dry for both. Stocks I was mediocre and way off PB pace but a good run out all the same.
V2 was a little more troublesome. I was out on fresh rubber and went for a middle of the road guess at suspension. As soon as I came out of Cascades on the outlap I knew the bike wasn't right. 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear all came as normal with the quick shifter but when I went for 5th it wouldn't change up with the throttle open. I tried a couple more times but it continued to not cut the ignition on numerous up-shifts. Now I will ride a three legged donkey as long as it keeps going forward at pace so that's exactly what I did. At the end of the day it's a motorcycle and I know how to ride one without any aids. A simple roll of the throttle meant I could continue to ride without the QS. The blipper for the downshifts was still working so I didn't have to worry about a manual blip. I managed just 7 laps and then at the start of lap 8 when I was just getting going I went for 5th gear down Lakeside and there was nothing there. Physically nothing! The QS had snapped half way along and the lever went limp. I managed to get back to pits in 4th gear but that was session over. Job on for the crew to sort it for FP2.
Conditions for FP2 for both classes were mixed so I didn't do many laps. I opted for intermediate tyres and spent most of both sessions dipping in and out of pit lane doing sighting laps to see if the circuit was drying. I left it until 15 minutes left to do a decent stint on the V2 and did my fastest lap of the session on the last lap. I did just the last 10 minutes on the stocker but decided discretion was the better part of valour and didn't really push. Most riders in both classes didn't even bother going out as they knew they would go no quicker than FP1.
Qualifying for both classes consisted of Q1 and Q2. The Superstock and Supersport were back to back so potentially I could've been out on track for best part of an hour on two different bikes. Fastest 18 riders from FP1/2 automatically went through to Q2 and the remaining 27 had to slog it out in Q1 to try and be in the fastest 9 to move into Q2. It was wet, really wet so I took no chances on the Superstock bike. I used my board and did the bare minimum to qualify. I really didn't want to be in Q2 and realistically I know my place on the grid (somewhere near the back) so there was no point risking the bike, or myself, when I knew I had to qualify the V2 as well. Getting hosed down to get mud and grass off prior to a qualifying session on the Ducati was not on my agenda. I qualified P39 for the Stock grid.
Once I'd had a drink and my mechanic ran to Parc ferme to get my transponder from the Suzuki I was ready to go. We put enough fuel in for the 15 minute session to keep weight down. That in itself was an indicator of my expectation levels. It turned out to be incorrect. I find new wet tyres a bit strange for the first couple of laps, probably psychological but I always go steady. I got faster as Q1 went on and dare I say it the V2 is a lot easier to ride in the wet than the Suzuki. I felt like I could run more corner speed and get on the gas harder and earlier. It just felt nice. I ended up pushing on and was blissfully un-aware my team mate had tucked in behind me. We both did our fastest lap on the last lap. I had seen P13 on my board as I crossed the line and was made up to do that considering it was my first time out at the BSB on the bike. Little did we both know we had made it through to Q2. We both had to go back to the awning in the paddock to re-fuel as teams are not allowed to re-fuel in pit lane.
Q2 started promptly and as we were already up to speed with conditions and tyres we both went for it straight away. I decided to pull the pin a bit as the track seemed to be drying slightly. I got quicker lap by lap and again did my fastest lap on the last lap. Almost a full 3 seconds quicker to qualify 24th from over 40 riders. I think I have a wet set-up now that's for sure and the quick shifter seemed to behave itself.
There was no Superstock race on the Sunday, just a 12 lap sprint race for the Supersport. The team got the bikes cleaned and prepped for a dry race as that's how it was looking but with about ten minutes to go the rainfall radar was showing wet stuff imminent. I made the call to change to wet set-up whilst the bike was still at the awning. It hammered down and we ended up getting held in pit lane for a considerable time whilst the circuit crew cleared standing water. We eventually got underway with an 8 lap dash. Again it was very wet but thankfully I'd had plenty of laps in the rain already so was up for a good old scrap. Turn 1 and 2 were bonkers in the middle of the pack, all I could see were a couple of rain lights. Just waiting for riders to go down in front of you is a challenge as decisions need to me made really quickly if it happens. Thankfully everyone got through Cascades and Island Bend and it all settled a little. I ended up getting passed by Tom Tunstall on his V2 and he gapped me initially. Now I've raced against Tom before and he is a good rider, I was consistently 5 or more places behind him in the Ducati Cup so I accepted the challenge and went after him. Riding behind someone for a few laps you soon get to see where they are weaker and I could see opportunity to pass. I got right up on his back wheel out of Shell Oils and tried to maintain that all the way through to Druids with a view to out braking him into Lodge. I didn't want to risk it at Hizzys on the brakes as the scope for going down and taking him with me was high.
It took me a few laps to come up with plan but he knew, he kept staying towards the centre of the track into Lodge on the brakes to stop me trying to go under him. On the third to last lap I swapped to the outside. He was compromising his entry which in turn compromised his exit. I could ride a more sweeping line and get on the gas earlier after carrying the better corner speed. I figured I could make it work. Penultimate lap I did what I had planned and got on the gas hard down into the dip before Deers Leap to ride around the outside and out drag him to the line. Being a bell end I thought I was on the last lap and had beat him so I looked across as we crossed the line. He just kept chin on tank and it took me a split second to realise we had just started the last lap. I was way off line for turn one at that point so had to brake, re-position and get after him again.
I managed to catch him and repeat exactly the same move even though he tried even harder to prevent me. 0.050 on the line is as close as it gets and P18 for a first result on the V2 was very welcome.
Monday was decision time. I'm old compared to most of the other riders and as much as I feel 20 there's no way I could've ridden a 14 lap Superstock race then jumped straight onto the V2 to do 16 laps in the Supersport. I made the call to go to race office and pull out of the stock race. There are always reserves so it meant someone was going to get a race, it just so happened that one of John McGuiness's crew was in there when I went in. He got a slot which meant he got a race and more importantly a signature for the Island. He did well too, finished P20 from P40 on the grid. Significantly better than I would've done.
I was starting P20 for what was to be a dry race and crucial dry track time with the right group of riders. I've not ridden in Supersport before but at the BSB you get to know the other riders in your class. I know a few in Supersport but most I don't so I was a little reserved the first few laps just in case there were any axe murderers out there. I just watched what was going on, took a few overtakes on the chin and got settled. I ended up having a lonely race. 4-5 second gap to the bikes in front and for most of the race a 20-30 second gap to the bikes behind. The exception was the last couple of laps where I caught and passed Harry Leigh. He was suffering arm-pump I think and he came back to me in the latter stages. I spent most of my race chasing lap times and working out how to get the best out of the bike. I tried different shift patterns, different braking and throttle techniques for various corners all to try and see what worked best for me and the bike. I finished P25 and bettered my lap time from Ducati Cup a few years ago.
Overall I had a very good weekend on what is generally a new bike to me. The Supersport V2 is not really anything like the old 959. It has less power and what power it has it delivers in a different way I think. The wet map is very good but without traction control there is still scope for turning it upside down so even though the bike is nowhere near as powerful as the Superstock bike I still have a healthy respect for it. I am confirmed as riding it again at Donington BSB so I will build on my Oulton Park outing and start chipping away at little set-up gains to try and move further up the field.
As always a huge thanks to True Heroes Racing for giving me the opportunity along with all the sponsors. Particularly Laguna Motorcycles, they have provided the team with FOC bikes since day one and I have had the pleasure of riding both 899 and 959 machines provided by them. It was good to be back on an Italian race bike again that they have provided.
Action shot Matt Hallam, paddock and grid shots Paul Hunt.
