As the BSSO circus heads off to Darley Moor this weekend for the third meeting of 2018 here’s a quick Cadwell Park catch up from a couple of riders. It looks like being another hot, dry weekend and Darley is fairly easy to get to (not far from Ashbourne in Derbyshire) so if you fancy a ride out it’s somewhere to head to. Racing is on Saturday and Sunday.
Thanks to Sticky for the images and Mikey Bonett for the on board footage.
Mikey Bonett #69 JB Tuning/Casa Performance
So, once again the pre-racing nerves kick in… Cadwell here we come. It’s all changed in the BSSO this year due to introducing the timed practices and qualification and I found myself still getting used to it.
Leathers on, helmet on and the third call for practice beckons. After what happened to me at the Mallory practice, I find my self-pottering around making sure everything is what it should be. Head cylinder temp ok and the EGT seems fine so I’m feeling good. A few laps and a good heat cycle also eases my nerves so now the dreaded wait for qualifying.
In all fairness, with Time Attack, I found that qualifying soon comes round quickly and I was on track in no time.
I did a few cautious laps, once again keeping an eye on my gauges. It all looked good so I put my head down and went for some fast laps. I came back into the pits and beat John Balcomb walking back from the grandstand – the awesome JB tuning group 6 scooter was quickly back on its stand and my helmet was off. To my surprise, JB told me I qualified in pole position! First pole in group 6 for this year and I was chuffed to bits with that.
Race 1
The first race come round. I got a great start and found myself in the mix with the group 6a boys. With Lee Bamber in front and Gary Peacock just behind me on the first lap I had a quick glance down the back straight where I decided to let Gary come past. We were quite far in front and I had pulled a healthy lead in front of the next group 6 behind me, so I decided it’s only fair to let Gary past (Gary is racing against Lee Bamber in the group 6a championship so not in my group – it was only fair to let them two battle it out for the top position in their group.
Even so, on lap three as I came out of Mansfield (a fast downhill left-handed corner) I just knew something wasn’t right. As I pulled in the clutch the engine quite quickly stopped. I was out of race 1 with a DNF. I got back to the pits and stripped the group 6, finding a smashed piston skirt was the cause.
Race 2
Race two was the first race of the day on Sunday, early doors. Bang on 9 o’clock we were already in the holding bay – our engines fired up just waiting for the signal to line up on the grid. The warm-up lap was literally a warm-up lap for me trying to bed in the new piston as quickly as possible.
The lights went out and I was off again. I got a great start which saw me right up the front of the field, in fact, first place in group 6. I put my head down and tried to put in a good few quick laps where I wanted to once again try and get a healthy lead from 2nd position. On lap three I had a look back and couldn’t believe the gap I had gained.
This time I backed off – all I could think about was the DNF in race 1 so I didn’t want to push the engine any more than I had to. I would rather finish the race and make it back to the pits than sit on the side of the track watching the racing – it’s always better to be racing than watching for me hahaha. As I came round on the last lap I could see the chequered flag. I sat up and tapped the old girl as a bit of a well done and a thank you for finishing. My first win in round 2 was now under my belt!
Race 3
Race three was pretty much the same. I got away really well again and sat behind Lee Bamber for a few laps. Lee’s pace really is fast so once again I didn’t want to risk doing any damage (just in case) so I had a good look back and backed off the pace. I was managing my lead, checking the gap from me to 2nd position and keeping an eye on it. I managed to get another win making it my 2nd in group 6 for the weekend.
Overall another great weekend for JB Tuning Casa Performance UK!
Check out my onboard footage from Cadwell Park On my JB Tuning Casa Performance group 6.
See you all at Darley, Mikey.
Zack Tingle #98 Scomadi Cup
Zack and the crew got to Cadwell on Friday morning, they dumped the caravan and headed off to Skegness for the scooter rally then came back for saturday night at Cadwell. Just in time to get the new gazebo up and polish the race scoot.
Sunday loomed dry and sunny and the bike was ready to go out for practice. Zack did well, getting the fastest lap out of all scomadis with a 1 min 14 secs. Qualifying he got caught up with a few Lammies and had a bad session, third out of the Scomadis. 7th row. Oh well just see how it goes…
Luckily the Scomadi Cup racing is very tight as all bikes are the same power. Racing was back ‘n forth. Gary Peacock had a good qualifying and was a few rows in front. Zack was battling with Shaun and JohnWoodss. It is very close racing. In the end Gary peacock was first, 2nd Shaun Fairhead, 3rd Zack Tingle, 4th John woods.
Monday morning and it’s a scorcher, the bike is all ready and they get called to the holding area. All is looking good. They go down to the start-finish line to start the warm-up lap. They’re off, as they go down the back straight three of the front runners collide, bikes are all over the track, another scooter runs over them and the rest of the pack are diving in and around to get out of the way. It’s red flagged until it all gets cleared up.
The riders are now back at start-finish line. After a while, the race gets started. This time all is ok. Gary Peacock is at the front after a good qualifying session Saturday. So he is a few rows in front. Zack, John and Shaun are all together. The racing is very tight. After a couple of laps John and Zack have a few yards on Shaun, John leads just ahead of Zack about by a bike length. from a spectator’s point of view, very good racing. On lap 2 or 3 coming up The Mountain Zack is four bike lengths in front of GaryPeacock. The red flag goes up as there is a crash at Woodlands, so they’re all going slow as the red flag is out. But they get back to the finish line and cancel the race under ACU rules, which gives Zack his first win. Which we accept. Get in.
Trev Tingle
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