Torquil Paterson - #31: Blog

East Fortune, and some more lap records...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:36:32 GMT

Hi again,

I had another fantastic race meeting at East Fortune at the weekend on the YPE Powered / Saltire Suzuki / Rock Oil GSX-R1000. It was a trophy only weekend and not Scottish Championship so it was a chance to relax and try to enjoy the racing.

Saturday started with torrential rain but by the time the first race came round for us it was basically dry. I was the only rider to race on dry tyres and the gamble paid off as I took a straight forward win without too much hassle.

The second race on Saturday was bone dry and I got a good start and pushed as hard as I could. I quickly opened up a gap and set a new lap record in the process, 59.114s, but then I was a too optimistic about a passing opportunity on a back marker and ended up taking both of us out of the race, sorry!

Sunday was a much better day weather wise and in the first race I made a good start, took the lead and pushed from the beginning again. I set another new lap record, 59.020s, and took another win.

Race two on Sunday was even better as I made a perfect start, took the holeshot and again pushed from the start. My first flying lap was a 59.1s followed by a 58.8s, new lap record, followed by a 58.6, another new lap record! Then we ran into the back markers and the lap times suffered accordingly, but I took another convincing win.

Next meeting is back at East Fortune on 16/17 August for the next Scottish Championship round.

Knockhill, lap records and more lap records.

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:09:53 GMT

Hi again,

Quick report from the 60th Scottish Road Races from Knockhill. To say I had a good weekend would be an understatement, I had a brilliant weekend ;-)

Did my usual qualifying and only managed 5th on the grid, just to give myself plenty to do in the races. There were to be 2 races on the Saturday and 2 races on the Sunday, all counting towards the Scottish Championship, so no mistakes allowed!

Race one on Saturday and I made my customary slow start and ended the first lap in 6th place, only 5 to pass! I managed to pass a couple of riders in the early laps and then 2nd place fell at McIntyres which moved me to 3rd with about 5 laps to go. Chasing the leaders I managed to do 2 laps in the 50.5s bracket, lap record pace! I caught the front two and managed to squeeze my way past into the lead to win the race by a couple of seconds, woo hoo!

Race two on Saturday was cut short to 8 laps. I actually made a not bad start and ended the first lap in 3rd place. It was close between the 3 of us at the front and I managed to move to 2nd with a couple of laps to go. I took the lead very briefly on the last lap and immediately lost it again. It all came down to the hairpin and the drag up the hill to the finish line. I was side by side across the line but I was relegated to 2nd by 0.007s, gutted!!

Sunday races were even better!

Race one on Sunday and I made another rubbish start but managed to make my way up the field quicker. This time, in my hurry to catch the leaders, I broke the lap record again and managed to get down to a 50.289s lap, and in fact every lap I did apart from the first and last were under 51s! I managed to drag myself up to the lead and won again by a couple of seconds.

Race two on Sunday and it was pretty much the same story, rubbish start, make my way up to the front and take the win. If only it was as easy as it sounds!

Next meeting at East Fortune on 19/20 July, Tom Dickie Trophy meeting so a bit of fun, see you there.

The next generation

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:20:53 GMT

The next generation of Paterson's has now started racing.

Lewis has taken his first tentative steps into the world of motocross in the Automatic 50 class, and I think he's hooked already!

He's had a couple of meetings so far, one at Shiplaw and one at Leuchars and he's managed to bag his first trophy for a 6th overall at Leuchars.

Some pics:

Knockhill Scottish Championship - 21st & 22nd June 2008

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:32:00 GMT

Here we go again!!

It was off to Knockhill for the Melville Club's 75th Anniversary races for some more rounds of the Scottish Championship and Melville Club Championships.

We did Friday practice to try some more changes to the bike and despite the extremely windy conditions I was quite happy with the changes and confident for the weekend.

Saturday saw the qualifying for all the weekends races and I did OK managing to slot myself into 4th position on the grid.

The first race for us on Saturday was for the Scottish Championship and as is my way these days I made my customary rubbish start. I think I finished the first lap in about 6th. I started to try and work my way up the grid when I had a slight coming together with another rider and ended up going through the gravel trap at turn 1, Duffus Dip. Unfortunately the impact with the other bike broke my clutch lever off and that was race over for me.

The second race on Saturday was a kind of boring race for me. Made my usual rubbish start, ended the first lap 3rd and held that position for the race, not really able to do anything about the leaders.

Sunday was a very mixed affair weather wise. There were a lot of delays on Sunday so we didn't get out for our Scottish Championship race until 13:25. It was a wet track with slight dry patches on a couple of corners. I made my usual rubbish start but braked as late as possible into turn 1 to slot into 2nd place. I held 2nd for a couple of laps before taking the lead and pulling away from the rest of the field to win by just over 4 seconds. At last a race win at Knockhill in 2008, my first Knockhill win this season, woo hoo!!

By the time we got to the second race on Sunday the track was dry and it was sunny and warm. This time I made an average start and slotted into 2nd position which I held for a couple of laps before moving into the lead and and pushed as hard as I could and managed to hold on for my second win of the day.

Next races are back at Knockhill on 12th and 13th July for more Scottish Championship shennanigans, see you there.

New video of little Lewis at Dunblane Motocross Track

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:50:45 GMT

There are some new videos on my YouTube account of some motocross boys in action at Dunblane.

Knockhill 26th May - Race Report

Mon, 26 May 2008 08:50:53 GMT

Hello again,

Just a quick note about Knockhill at the weekend on my YPE Powered/Saltire Suzuki GSX-R1000.

It was a sunny, dry but cold day at Knockhill and I qualified 2nd on the grid, which is good for me because I'm always rubbish at qualifying.

I'll make my excuses now but I hurt myself playing five-a-side football during the week and was riding with bruised ribs which were fine as long as I didn't breath, cough, yawn or ride a 180bhp motorcycle round a tight and twisty race track. Excuses over.

In race one I made a terrible start and never really managed to get going. I ended up 4th by the end, not a total disaster.

In race two I made the perfect start and led the first lap, I'd finally managed to get the adrenaline pumping and I held the lead for a lap before slipping to 3rd. I managed to hold on to the front two for most of the race and then held my position over the last couple of laps. I crossed the line in 3rd, which I was happy about considering the way I was feeling. As I write this on the Monday morning after the racing I'm really feeling the pain but as long as I'm careful it should all heal in time for the next set of races.

Next up is a brand new event, the Melville Motor Club are running a 2 day meeting at Knockhill on June 21st and 22nd which should be good as they'll be running some different classes so it should be a chance to see some different bikes out on track.

See you later, Torquil #31.

East Fortune - 17th and 18th May 2008 - Race Report

Mon, 19 May 2008 19:50:34 GMT

Hi again everyone.

It was the North East club's turn to run some racing at East Fortune and it turned out to be a good weekend for me again. This meeting was a bit more relaxing because it wasn't Scottish championship so I got a chance to try and few things on the bike and try and make it a bit more rider friendly.

North East club run an Open class and for this weekend the Sound of Thunder bikes were lumped in as well which made for pretty interesting racing, 180bhp Suzuki GSX-R1000's against 56bhp Honda CB500's is frightening!!

Two 10 lap races on Saturday and Sunday saw the same results on both days for me, 2nd in the first race each day and won the second race each day. All the races were a two horse race between me and Michael Robertson and the results really came down to the luck/skill of getting through the slower riders. When you consider that we managed to lap a few of the riders twice in a 10 lap race it really was impressive that we both got down to times just 1/10th of a second off the outright lap record. And that was in less than ideal track temperatures and conditions.

Pictures below from Sylvia, thanks.

Bike Sport News - Rider of the Meeting

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:44:33 GMT

Thanks to Bike Sport News for my award, here's is how they reported it in the paper:

Knockhill Race Report - 4th May 2008

Sun, 04 May 2008 17:43:03 GMT

Hi there,

Just back from Knockhill and it was a disaster.

After qualifying 11th (wet tyres and a dry track don't mix) I made a good start in race one and managed to work my way up to the lead and held it all the way to the last corner where I was out smarted by my arch nemesis Bruce Birnie who pushed me back to second by the line. Not a total disaster but frustrating none the less.

Race two and I got another good start and pushed my way up to second behind Bob Grant. I tried to pass him into McIntyres but didn't quite make it and ended the race in the gravel trap! Nil points, boo hoo...

Next we're off to East Fortune for North East club meeting, see you there,

Torquil #31

East Fortune - 19/20 April 2008

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:59:55 GMT

Hi,

It's me again and this time I'm going to witter on about the Scottish Championship that finally got underway at East Fortune at the weekend and what a weekend it turned out for me!!

Pole position, 4 wins and 4 fastest laps from 4 races and to top it all off the Scottoiler (Senior) Rider of the Day award, amazing!

Big thanks to John Young and Uncle Dave for braving the weather to put up the awning.

Big thanks to Stuart of YPE for the awesome bike.

Big thanks to Calum for all his help over the weekend.

Big thanks to my dad, my wife Erin and the boys Lewis and Owen for making it all happen.

And finally a big thanks to the marshals who voted for the rider of the day award.

Next round at Knockhill on May 4th.

See ya there :-)

Knockhill 6th April 2008

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:05:44 GMT

Hi again,

Well the Scottish weather wreaked havoc on the opening round of the Scottish Championship at the weekend, snowed out!

Race are going to be re-scheduled for later in the season.

Saltire Suzuki - GSX-R1000 Launch

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:46:37 GMT

Hi,

Well this coming Saturday 29th March Saltire Suzuki launch the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8 and hopefully I'll be down there, and so will the YPE Powered/Saltire Suzuki/Rock Oil Suzuki GSX-R1000 that I'll be racing this season in the Scottish Championship.

See you there

Torquil

First test of 2008 - East Fortune - 15th/16th of March

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:23:14 GMT

Welcome back!! It's 2008 and we've finally managed to get out and do a wee bit of testing. East Fortune had their annual novice day and test day and so it was a good opportunity to get out and try the bike.

Stuart Young has refreshed the motor over the winter and K-Tech did the same with the suspension so at least we're starting this year with a package that we know after having struggled the whole of last season so get it to click for me.

The bike felt just like it had at the end of last year which was nice and I was straight back into the groove despite not having ridden a bike since last October. It was windy and cold at East Fortune but it stayed dry and I managed to do a few good sessions on the bike and it felt sweet. Just a gearing and wheelbase change to make it a little sharper and turn a little better and it was just like the end of last year.

Next up is first race meeting at Knockhill on 6th April so next outing probably the Saturday before unless I can sneak in some practice somewhere in the meantime.

Later

Torquil

2008 Racing Dates

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:05:47 GMT

Month	Start Date	End Date	Circuit	Club	Status
March	16th	16th	East Fortune	Melville MCC	Practice Day
April	6th	6th	Knockhill	KDMC	Scot. Champ.
	19th	20th	East Fortune	Melville MCC	Scot. Champ.
May	4th	4th	Knockhill	KDMC	Scot. Champ.
	17th	18th	East Fortune	N.E.M.C.R.C	Scot. Nat.
	25th	25th	Knockhill	KDMC	Scot. Champ.
June	21st	22nd	Knockhill	KDMC	Scot. Nat.
July	12th	13th	Knockhill	KDMC	Scot. Champ.
	19th	20th	East Fortune	KDMC	Scot. Nat.
August	8th	10th	Knockhill	MCRCB	BSB Champ.
	16th	17th	East Fortune	MCRCB	Scot. Champ.
September	7th	7th	Knockhill	KDMC a	Scot. Champ.
	20th	21st	East Fortune	Melville MCC	Scot. Champ.
October	4th	5th	Knockhill	KDMC	Scot. Champ.
	11th	12th	East Fortune	N.E.M.C.R.C	Scot. Nat.

YouTube

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:39:27 GMT

I've got a YouTube account and have put a couple of videos of wee Lewis riding his bike.

Check them out here.

Endurance Racing

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:28:49 GMT

Just a quick note to say congratulations to Team GBMoto for winning the HMRC National Endurance Championship on their Yamaha R1. I had a little part to play in helping the team win the first ever endurance race at Knockhill earlier in the year.

Congratulations again to Barry Watt, Mark H-Smith and the rest of the team on a well deserved championship.

More here Team GBMoto website

Knockhill 30th September

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:24:58 GMT

Hi Folks,

Sorry I've been a bit slack updating the blog, but that's life.

Well we arrived at the final round of the Scottish Championship with a mathmatical chance of winning the championship, which after the season I've had I was quite impressed with.

Stuart and the gang at YPE Power had been doing a lot of work behind the scenes on the engine. We've been running a setup with lots of top end but Stuart decided it was time to try and improve the midrange performance of the bike, and with some cam timing, fuelling and exhaust changes the bike
bike arrived at Knockhill fresh and ready to go. The gearing and chassis setup were also new from the previous Knockhill round so I was looking forward to it.

I took the bike out for a quick run on Saturday practice and it was noticeably better than it had been previously. I was immediately into the high 51 second bracket relatively easily, the first time that has been the case all season. It was a pleasure to ride and I was confident that Sunday would be good.

Sunday was a good day weather wise. Sunny-ish and dry and not too hot. I qualified 2nd on the grid, the best at Knockhill this season.

Race one and I made a rubbish start and ended the first lap 4th, but the bike was great and I quickly worked my way into the lead and was feeling pretty comfortable. I was only passed once at the hairpin and immediately re-took the lead into turn one. Then two laps later the race was red-flagged due to an accident. The race was taken back two laps, to the only time I didn't lead over the start finish line and the race was gifted to another rider. Gutted!!!!!!! The only consolation was that I'd set the fastest lap of the race, a 51.013 second lap time, and this time is the fastest all year in the Scottish Championship races so that's something I suppose.

Race two I led from start to finish only to be a bit wide into the hairpin on the last lap and lost again. 2nd again!

The best thing about the weekend for me was that we finally got the YPE Power/Saltire Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 working the way I need it and the lap times were excellent. Hopefully we can carry this on to the start of next season and hit the ground running.

One last outing at East Fortune for a bit of fun.

Knockhill 9th September and East Fortune 15/16 September

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:38:37 GMT

Hi there,

I'm going to kill two birds with one stone, Knockhill and East Fortune race reports in one blog entry! How exciting!

First up, Knockhill. Thought we had a good setup after Saturday but struggled a little in the two Sunday races. When I say struggled it was two 2nd places, not a total disaster but the bike was not quite as good as it could have been and the lap times were a little disappointing for me. There is definetly still more to come from the bike, we just can't seem to get it set right just yet.

East Fortune we fared a little better, two races, two wins! We did make a small change to the bike from Knockhill and it seemed better, but then I always seem to go well round East Fortune regardless of setup. We'll take the new setup to the last round of the Scottish championship at Knockhill on 29/30 September and see how we get on.

My mate Macky took a few photos over the Knockhill weekend and you can see his handy work in the gallery. Some of the boys and some of me and Lewis Farrow.

Later

Torquil

East Fortune Race Report - 18/19 August

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:47:12 GMT

Hello,

Well we finally seemed to have turned a corner with the bike and I finally managed to squeeze a couple of wins out of it over the weekend.

YPE Power have done a bit of work with a titanium Yoshimura exhaust from Crescent Suzuki and this gave a little more mid-range grunt, traditionally the area the K7 model is weak against the older K6 models. Now it's got very similar mid-range grunt and the better top end power of the new engine. It's still in a chassis that seems to be very difficult to setup. We've come up with a pretty extreme setting that seems to work for me through the corners, but makes the bike really unstable in a straight line and on the brakes.

The two races that I did over the weekend went quite well and I had a lot of confidence in the feeling of the bike, even in the wet which I struggled with before.

In Saturday's race I made a great start, got straight into the lead and then opened up a gap. The track was drying though and I ended up having quite a few slides so I backed off a little and got passed with a couple of laps to go but I managed to push my way back to the front again for the win.

In Sunday's race I made a bad start and almost crashed on the opening lap and ended it 5th. I managed to work my way back up into the lead and then had another big moment which dropped me to 2nd place. I quickly re-took the lead and held it to the chequered flag for my 5th win of the year.

Next outing at Knockhill on 9th September then the Steve Hislop trophy meeting a week later at East Fortune.

Knockhill - 15th July

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:40:25 GMT

Hello my friends,

Well it was back to sunny Knockhill for another couple of rounds of the Scottish Championships on the YPE Powered / Saltire Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7.

We made some progress with the bike at the BSB round at Knockhill a couple of weeks previous so we were confindent that we were a lot closer to the front than we had been. I qualified my best of the season with a 4th and at least in touch with the front runners at last.

In race one the lights went off and as I dropped the clutch it grabbed and the bike wheelied. I got terrible drive off the line and lost a load of places so was as late as I could be on the brakes into turn 1 and ended up back in to 5th place. I moved up to 4th after a couple of laps and managed to reel in the front 3 riders, but I could never get close enough to ever make a move and was losing loads of time through the hairpin alone. I tried my hardest but just couldn't make the jump to the front 3 and finished 4th, not brilliant but at least I was nearer to the front.

We decided to make a gearing change for the second race. I was convinced that I was losing so much time at the hairpin due to my gearing being too short so we dropped a tooth off the back sprocket to make it a little taller and hopefully get better drive off the hairpin.

In the second race I made a perfect start and led into turn one, but that was as good as it got! I realised that the gearing change was probably better but it had the side effect of lengthening the wheelbase and this made the bike lazy to turn. As a result I never managed to match the times I did in the first race and ended the race 4th. It was a disappointing end to what had started as a positive weekend and seemed to get worse as it went on.

Off to East Fortune this weekend for a bit of fun, see you there ;-)

Torquil

Knockhill - 3rd June

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:02:14 GMT

Well what a disaster that turned out to be. After thinking that we'd cracked it with good results and times at East Fortune it was back to reality and back to earth with a bang!

I just could not get the times to come, in qualifying I struggled to get into the 52s laps, and ended the session in 10th place, 1.1s slower than pole and clueless as to where I was going wrong.

I hoped that maybe in race one something would click but it didn't and I only managed a disappointing 8th place, with the lap times not improving at all and now being 1.4s off the fastest lap, very depressing.

We made a slight change for the second race and I got a good start and managed to hold 5th for most of the race before sneaking 4th place just before the line. A better result but the times were still poor. Still almost a second off the fastest rider's lap times.

Not sure what is wrong at the moment but I'll need to get some track time and try some changes to see if I can improve the feeling.

East Fortune - 19th/20th May

Mon, 21 May 2007 19:22:19 GMT

Hi again,

We were out on the YPE Powered / Saltire Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 for the North East Motorcycle Racing Club meeing at East Fortune and it was a pretty mixed bag weather wise. Saturday ended up being cancelled due to very high winds making it too dangerous to race so we all had to wait until Sunday to get a run out.

Sunday was bright and sunny and only a little windy so it looked like we'd get a chance to try and set some decent times.

I qualified 5th, there was lots of traffic and I never really got into the groove and the session was red-flagged with a few minutes left, but it's not so bad at East Fortune because there are 5 on the front row.

In race one I made an OK start and ended the first lap in 2nd, then lost a place to 3rd, I had a few big slides in the first couple of laps which made me a little cautious, but as the race continued the grip seemed to come back so I'm not sure if it was just cold tyres. Anyway, I worked my way to the front and was leading the last lap when I out braked myself, ran wide and ended up 2nd at the line. The consolation was that I got the fastest lap of the race.

For race 2 I decided that I needed to try and make the break straight away so I got a perfect start and the grip was there right from the beginning and I managed to set some really fast laps for the first 5 laps and pulled out a healthy gap and finished the race almost 4 seconds ahead of 2nd place, and my fastest lap was close to my own record from last year so that was good as well.

All in all a productive weekend.

At last, light at the end of the tunnel...

Tue, 08 May 2007 19:22:20 GMT

Well we finally seemed to get the luck to go our way and we managed to scrape a couple of wins out of the bottom of the barrel, woo hoo!!

It was a very strange day on Sunday 6th May at Knockhill for the 3rd round of the Scottish Championships. The wind was strong all day and constant showers threw another bit of unpredictability into the mix.

On the YPE Powered / Satire Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 I qualified OK in 8th place, just on the 2nd row and in touch time wise with the riders in front so I knew a good start would at least see me in the mix.

Race one and I got the good start I needed and ended the first lap 4th, I managed to work my way up to 3rd and then 1st and 2nd both crashed at the same turn at exactly the same time. It was a strange crash because the two riders were side by side into the turn and both appeared to lock the front at the same moment. Anyway, that left me in the lead which I held until the last corner, when I was briefly passed but I managed to get better drive and crossed the finish line 0.019s in front, win!!!

Race two was a bit of a shamles with bad weather causing a restart which was a 5 lap dash. I managed to get to the front of the field and again held the lead until the last corner, when two riders dived under me into the turn, but then ran straight on, I got the bike turned and fired up the hill to score win number 2 of the day and the season!!

Power Images have got the usual selection of quality photos from the meeting, so go and check them out.

Endurance Racing at Knockhill, 28th April

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 19:58:47 GMT

This entry starts simply enough, on Monday I got a call from endurance racing team GBMoto , who get their engines tuned by YPE Power, asking if I would stand in for one of their regular riders at the 6 hour endurance race due to run at Knockhill on Saturday 28th April. Needless to say I was more than happy for the opportunity and looked forward to seeing what this endurance lark is all about. The meeting was organised by Hottrax, and Power Images have some great shots from the weekend.

The team arrived for the Friday afternoon practice and I got the chance to see and ride the bike for the first time. It was a Yamaha R1 riding on Dunlop slicks with a road style gear change, all total opposites to what I'm used to. It was pretty scary to start with but I slowly got used to it the more chances I got to go out on it. The other challenge for me was that the other 2 riders in the team, Roger Bennet and Mark Smith-Halvorsen, are both 6ft plus tall and in the region of 15 stone ready to race, and I'm only 5ft 7in at a push and considerably lighter so a compromise in setup was unavoidable. It wasn't too bad really. I was more worried about trying to race a bike around Knockhill for 1 hour solid at a time.

On Saturday all three riders have to do qualifying sessions and the average of the three rider's best times determines the teams average time and thus the qualifying order. We managed to put together three good qualifying sessions and ended up on pole poisition for the first ever motorcycle endurance race to be held at Knockhill.

The race itself was fairly uneventful, Roger Bennet took the first hour, Mark Smith-Halvorsen the second and I took the third hour, and we repeated this sequence for the second three hours. GBMoto are a very experienced team and they took each of the rider changes in their stride with refuelling and any tyre changes necessary done very quickly. As a result the team ended the first half of the race with a 4 lap lead, which slowly stretched out to 7 laps by the finish.

From a personal point of view doing an endurance race is a very different prospect to the normal Scottish championship races that I do. Out and out speed is not the aim, but consistent, fast laps with no mistakes is. And riding for an hour solid is a pretty daunting thought, but is actually not too bad once you get going. The only thing I struggled with was sore hands from griping the bars too tightly.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Barry, Mark Smith-Halvorsen and all the team (and there are a LOT of them!) for this chance to ride their bike. They made my life very easy as all I had to worry about was the riding and everything else was taken care of by the team.

East Fortune 21st and 22nd April

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:12:16 GMT

After the first Knockhill we knew we were in trouble with basic bike setup so we managed to squeeze a couple of test sessions in at Knockhill between the first round of the Scottish Championship on 1st April and East Fortune on 21/22 April.

Weve discovered that the shock has come with the wrong weight spring, basically the spring is too strong and not letting the rear of the bike compress under acceleration resulting in either wheelies or wheel spin, not ideal for fast laps.

We made changes to the spring for East Fortune and it certainly seemed to make the bike easier to ride, but still not great. Over the weekend we tweaked gearing to shorten the wheel base, sag to try and get the best out of the shock and footrest position to try and make the bike more comfortable to ride.

Qualifying was in semi-wet conditions and I ended the session 5th, only half-a-second from pole sitter Adrian Clark on his Kawasaki ZX10R.

First Scottish championship race was on Saturday afternoon and it ended up a very scrappy afair. The fiirst race start was aborted after 3 riders crashed on the opening lap, and then on the second start we got 3 laps before another bad crash caused another red flag incident. So finally we eneded up with a 5 lap sprint race. I got a good start and led for a couple of laps before Bruce Birnie and Willie Monie both got past. I was in 3rd on the last lap when Monie lost the front and so I finished 2nd, not too bad really.

For Sunday we made more changes to gearing, footrest position and suspension settings to try and get some more grip. The first race on Sunday was a non-championship race and I led that before dropping to second and finishing in that position.

In the Scottish Championship race I got another good start and was 2nd at the end of the first lap, but I was soon struggling for rear grip and eventually slipped to 5th at the finish, but it was a 1st to 5th train across the line so we're a lot closer than we were, but there's a lot more to come from the bike when we get it set up properly.

It may be ready, but I'm not

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:00:18 GMT

Well the first race weekend of the season for us Scottish Championship guys is done and dusted and I made the worst possible defence of a Scottish title that it is possible to make. We always knew it was going to be a difficult weekend but not as difficult as it turned out to be.

Rode the YPE Powered Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 on Saturday and it hard work, but then I'd not sat on a bike for five and a half months so that was not a surprise. We tweaked a few things but as usual the incredibly short amount of tracktime that Knockhill fleece you for eventually ended our fun and we were way off the pace.

Sunday morning and in qualifying I was still struggling and ended up 14th on the grid, 1.2s off pole position!! Then we discovered that the rear tyre was way down in pressure so we hoped that was the problem.

Race one I made an alright start from 14th on the grid to end the first lap 10th. Managed to move up one more place but was too far back by this time to make any further progress so a 9th from the first race, rubbish.

Race two made a cracking start up into about 5th or 6th and then another rider crashed, his bike hit mine and managed to bend my front disk, race over for me before I even got started.

We're starting to make progress with the setup of the bike so we'll just need to keep the head down and try and get some more track time before the next outing at East Fortune on 21st and 22 April.

It's finally ready

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:17:48 GMT

Well the new GSX-R1000 K7 for the 2007 racing season is finally finished and you can see a picture of it in the 2007 Racing gallery over on the right somewhere.

It's only a couple of days until the first race and I still haven't seen it in the flesh and I still haven't ridden it so it should be an interesting weekend at Knockhill. At least I have an idea where the circuit goes, so fingers crossed the bike runs OK and we don't have any major problems.

If I'm in the mood I'll post something on here next week about how it all went.

Official GSX-R1000 K7 Launch - Saltire Suzuki

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:40:55 GMT

Well on Saturday 24th February it was the official launch of the 2007 Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 and I made it down to Saltire Suzuki just in time to be given the honour of unveiling the machine to the massed crowd. It's certainly a nice looking bike, though I'm not sure about the twin exhausts, they look pretty bulky, but I'm sure they do a good job of keeping the bike quiet and powerful at the same time, important in these ever greener times!

Don't forget to check out Saltire Suzuki's new website, it's looking pretty good.

My bike is currently sitting at Crescent Suzuki waiting for someone to go and pick it up, and being the lazy so-and-so that I am it's going to sit there for a long time until I can persuade someone else to drive all the way there to pick it up for me.

Fingers crossed we'll get the bike soon and we can start to get it ready for the new season, which kicks off at Knockhill on 1st April. As usual it will probably be a last minute thing.

Build up to the new season

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:41:50 GMT

Well it's early February and the crappy weather is making the build up to the new season difficult.

It seems so long since I last rode a bike that I'm worried I might have forgotten how, just hope I can get some pre-season laps in to try and refresh my memory.

Still trying to get a new bike for the new season, a 2007 GSX-R1000 (K7) for the Sports Production series (i wish they would call it Superstock like everybody else).

YPE are sitting primed and ready to go at the first sign of a new bike, and my championship winning bike is still sitting ready to go if necessary, so I've got options if the worst comes to the worst.

Saltire Suzuki are onboard again for the 2007 and are sorting me out with some new gear, so big thanks to Calum, Darren, Abe and all the other staff at Salty for their help.

Nothing much else happening really, just working away at Aviva. I was sent to Singapore on a piece of work and the CEO of Aviva Singapore is a former Malaysian Superbike Champion! Keith Perkins is his name and he's a Suzuki man as well, so we got on quite well. I need to presuade the work to send me back out in the summer and see if I can sneak some track time around Sepang

It's all too difficult...

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 10:58:18 GMT

Well hello again, another attempt to update my blog.

I don't do it very often because I'm too busy/lazy, can't decide which.

Anyway, since the last post I've managed to win the Scottish Sports Production Championship - woo hoo.

I'd like to thank the following, without whom none of it would be possible:

Dad - always there and always helping
YPE Power - Stuart Young, his dad John and uncle Dave, and Wee Dougie when he can be bothered!
Saltire Suzuki - All the guys are mega enthusiastic about it all
ERS Racing - Eddie doing his best
Strathearn Tyres - put black round things on my orange round things so I can go round and round in circles
Family - Erin, Lewis and Owen - help to keep my feet on the ground.

Well that's it for now really, just a long winter of trying to get to the gym or go running or lift weights or ride my mountain bike or watch telly, whatever takes my fancy, oh yeah, and keeping my boys amused so they don't beat each other up too much.

Long time no post...

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 11:25:32 GMT

Well it's been a while since I've updated my blog, and loads seems to have happened.

After last Knockhill meeting there was a month break until 25th June, again at Knockhill. The meeting went well, qualifying 2nd on the grid and then managing 2nd a 1st place finishes, to maintain my 20 point lead over Keith Amor in the Scottish Championship.

3 weeks after the Scottish championship meeting we were back at Knockhill for the British Superbike round. I decided to enter the main National Superstock Championship, which was to be quite an experience. Just before the meeting though we did a deal with Saltire Suzuki (www.saltiresuzuki.com) and they were mega and managed to sort out a nice shiny pair of Scott leathers for me in time for the BSB round. YPE (www.ype-power.co.uk) were also very busy and refreshed the motor and clutch in time for the meeting.

The BSB weekend at Knockhill was a scorcher for all 3 days, which was tough going in black leathers, thank god we had the use of the Legends Racing garage to keep us cool in the shade.

It was a fairytale qualifying for me when in the afternoon session I managed to put together a fantastic lap and pull out a 50.6 second lap! Over 7/10ths quicker than I had ever managed before, and pole position. It was a truly amazing feeling to qualify on pole ahead of all the quick British regulars, and the pressure was on for the 25 lap race on the Sunday.

I knew that the race would be really tough because it was going to be over twice the length of a normal Scottish championship race at Knockhill. I made a reasonable start from pole and ended the first lap in 4th. It took a few laps to settle down and find a rythmn, then I started to work my way up the field, moving into 3rd, before a brief period in 2nd. As the race progressed and the tyres went off it was getting harder and harder to ride, and my inexperience at this level started to show and I started to struggle. I slipped back to 4th, but was still fairly close to the leaders, so I decided to keep pushing on and try to not let them get too far away when I carried a little too much speed into Scotsman corner and lost the front and went down, do'h!

The only consolation from the race was that I set a new lap record for the Superstocks of a 50.810, which is pretty satisfying.

After the BSB round we had just a week off before we headed to East Fortune for a non-championship weekend of racing, which was hopefully going to be more relaxing than constant Scottish championship races.

I really wanted to go to East Fortune and try to be the first rider to break the 60 second barrier at the new look EF.

On Saturday I qualified pole and won the 14 lap race fairly easily after my main rival pulled in with technical problems, and again in Sunday's first 10 lap race I had another comfortable win after my main rival pulled in with technical problems! Still nowhere near my own lap racord, or the sub minute lap.

In the main 12 lap Sunday race I made an awful start and got bogged down with other riders, which let my main rival, Keith Amor, stretch out a lead straight away. Unfortunatley for me Amor managed to post a 59.956 second lap on lap 3, which I promply beat a lap later with a 59.865. Because Amor got the sub minute lap first he won the tyre warmer prize, but I got the consolation of a new outright lap record for East Fortune.

For the rest of the race I worked as hard as a I could to reel Keith in and slowly I caught him up, passed him and pulled away with about 3 laps to go, another win!!

Next meeting for me is Scottish Championships again at Knockhill, 6th August, see you there.

Knockhill Race Report - 28th May

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 20:18:00 GMT

Well it was a good weekend for me at the 3rd round of the Scottish Championships held at Knockhill on 28th May.

We were lucky with the weather, it was windy but pretty much dry, and when the sun came out it was warm as well.

I qualified in 2nd place for the two races, which I was quite pleased with because it was my best ever time round Knockhill and I did it on my own, without having to tow anyone else.

Race one was a close battle between me a Keith Amor. It was spitting a little bit in the middle of the race, which spooked me a little bit, but I just made sure to keep up with Keith. With about 3 laps to go I finally managed to get a perfect run out of the hairpin and draft past Keith up the start finish, and once I took the lead I managed to hold it all the way to the finish line.

Race two was similar, but this time John McDonald and Bruce Birnie joined in the fun and it was a four rider battle for the lead. It was very close, and we were side by side into, through and exiting some of the turns. As in race one I managed to sneak into the lead with a couple of laps to go and then managed to hold it all the way to the finish line, win number 2!!!!

Check out pictures of the meeting at www.bikepix.co.uk and www.power-images.co.uk

Knockhill Practice - 2nd May

Wed, 10 May 2006 10:00:58 GMT

Went to Knockhill for a few hours on Tuesday 2nd May for a bit of practice and setup. Weather wasn't too great but it was dry, very windy though. Messed about with the bike and managed to make it a bit better. There's still a lot more stuff to try in the future.

Gave Stuart Young of YPE Power a shot of the bike round Knockhill. It was his first time riding a racing bike round the circuit and he was pretty much blown away by how quick it was. Of course I sent him out on old tyres so he wouldn't be tempted to go too quick.

Got a shot of Wallace Mitchell's Ducati 996R Testastretta - it was great fun hooning about on that thing. It never feels quick until you come to try and slow down for the corners!! Deceptively fast and surprisingly easy to wheelie. Managed a minger from the hairpin right up the start finish straight and all the way down to the first turn, then the fuel light came on and ended my fun.

Racing season is underway

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 15:24:27 GMT

Well the season is finally starting to take shape, and so far things have gone OK. After a slow start at Knockhill with a 2nd and 3rd place finished at the 9th April meeting I finally managed to pull off a couple of wins at East Fortune on 22/23 April. The wins were enough to see me climb to the top of the Scottish Championship standings, so that's always nice.

I've found a site with some Knockhill pictures at www.power-images.co.uk which has some good shots of the first meeting at Knockhill on 9th April.

The new bike for this season is coming along nicely and Stuart at YPE Power has done his usual and given me a fantastic bike to race, very fast. This season is also the first for hooking up with Eddie at ERS Suspension and that is also starting to work well, with significant improvements in the bike at East Fortune, so hopefully with some more track time and more experimentation we will make the bike even better.

At home with the boo...

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 10:13:14 GMT

Well it's a day off work for me, at home with Owen because he's got conjunctevitis, but doctor says there's nothing to give him, just keep him clean and it'll all clear itself up eventually.

This is my first blog entry

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 20:32:06 GMT

This is my first blog entry because I have just created my space.msn.com web presence.