BSB Round 7 Snetterton - 16-18th July 2010
A fantastic weekend, by far the best BSB results this year a 13th main championship and 6th in the cup, but was not without drama.
Practise Friday was very windy and in the second session at lunch time on the first lap an advertising board blew towards the circuit we believe and the red flag went up going into russels chicane. Brad was on full chat into the corner and hadn’t seen the flag whilst cranked over and unfortunately ran into the back of the cup championship leader at around 100mph.
Brad some how managed to head for the grass still on the bike, trying to pull it up in a straight line, we could only see from the pit wall, Brad was slumped over the bike and couldn’t see the extent of the damage. The bikes fairings, screen, bar, data, mudguard, pretty much all the front right hand side was damaged and Brad was off to the medical centre holding his hand and was winded.
His index finger had a suspected hairline fracture and soon went very black and was strapped to his other finger for support, so to come back from there on Friday to qualify 19th on the grid Saturday, then 15th in Warm up Sunday morning showed true determination.
Brad has been desperately wanting a top 20 finish and nerves were really setting in before the start, he fluffed his start a little and lost 7 places at the end of the first lap down to 26th after a crash also at the first corner which he managed to avoid. Then pressed on lap after lap running a full 1 second quicker than his qualifying times making his way through the field finishing 13th. Setting his fastest lap 1:16.2 and 7th fastest in the speed trap on the finish line. Rider and machine was weight checked, which was another nervous time and we were just over 137kg with a minimum required 136kg.
A massive achievement, on fairly standard equipment compared to other race teams, his first 3 points in the Main Championship and 10 points in the Cup, also Brad’s first BSB prize money.
Thank you to all who helped the weekend
BSB Round 4 Cadwell Park - 21-23rd May 2010
What a weekend, after the bitter disappointment at the previous meeting at Oulton Park and not getting to the grid after a very good qualifying, due to mechanical failure, Bradley was very determined to say the least.
The weather was perfect, you could have been on any circuit in Spain, this would be the first time Bradley had been to Cadwell on a GP Bike and we were all a little apprehensive and worried, Cadwell is the most demanding and dangerous of all the circuits in the UK and probably only really compared to the Isle of Man TT coarse, a proper riders circuit the GP125's set the same lap times as the 600's and only 6 seconds down on a World Class Superbike.
 
Practise on Friday went very well and Bradley was running easily within the top 20-30 times with a field of 40 riders, qualifying on Saturday was even better setting 10th quickest speed within the two speed traps and putting it on the 10th row of the grid, with only 3 per row as so narrow, at last we are in the race among some of the top teams in the UK. Bradley set a time of 1:39.000 flat, which makes him the fastest 13 year old in the Country, and would have easily put him on the podium of any Club Meeting and on a standard bike. Bradley also had an excursion across the grass at over120mph, which took him right across to the other side of the circuit, how he held onto it we will never know, hopefully somebody got some pictures.
Sunday Race - Warm-up went well and Brad set the 7th fastest speds through the speed traps and was certainly set for the race. After pulling up on the grid eventually after sorting his grid slot out, it was all a little bit frantic, they set of for the warm up lap, Brad struggled to get the bike of the line and he was shaking his head, we had no idea what the problem was. They all gridded up and the lights went out, in a scream of 125's and two stroke Brad had moved about ten feet with the bike bogging, every rider passed him, luckily just missing him, before the start finish line as he tried frantically to clear the bogging bike, then the bike cleared and shot off into the first corner. Brad was now a full corner behind as he disappeared into the distance, when he came back into view at the mountain he was at the back of the pack and trying to make a move into Hall bends and into the woods, on the exit back onto the start finish he had now took two riders and was flying. This continued all through the 14 laps as he was trying to get back with the top twenty riders, but difficult as he could only manage the same pace as them, he managed to finish 22nd overall and 9th in the Cup.
Bradley was disappointed not to get his top twenty finish, but showed he has true grit and determination to deal with the problems that are thrown at you, we on the other hand were over the moon with his performance, massive improvements at each meeting and we are all looking forward to Mallory Park on the 25th June.
Big thank you to all of our newly formed team and a massive thanks to Richard Glover for the pictures & Bethany Simms for the Brolly Work
BSB Round 3 Oulton Park - 1-3rd May 2010
Saturday – Two 20 minute practise sessions, first out on circuit today 9am, weather was still a little damp, so took no chances and put the wets on. Brads first time round Oulton Park on the GP bike, so he had a lot to learn.
The second session was dry and the bike ran well with hardly any detonation and Brad put an ok time in to end the day, getting faster each time out.
Sunday – First qualifying, was dry but cold, it went well and Brad was already a full second under the required time, the cold weather was certainly causing the jetting to be sporadic and we up jetted again for the second session.
The second qualifier went very well, Brad pushed on all on his own trying to get a tow of other riders, but he was never at the right place to pick up others on this 2.7 mile circuit, so he had a bit of a lonely ride. That said he managed to get under the qualifying time by over 4 seconds and we were over the moon, great result.
Back to Tec Inspection to be weighed and after the previous meeting we were all a little worried, as it turns out this time we were 3.6Kg over the required weight, it was best to be on the safe side this time not to loose his qualifying position. We thought he was going to be around 26th on the grid, however others had also pushed on the last couple of laps and there was only one second between eight riders, putting Brad 32nd, but not on the back row for the first time.
Sunday Race Day– Warm up went ok, had troubles with his leathers cutting circulation in his legs, so got his old suite ready for the race, dater looked good on the bike and it was left until the race.
Started the bike about 30 minutes before going out to the grid and straight away we realised the main bearings had gone in the crank, Brad said he never heard nothing when he came in from warm up, but he shuts the bike down quickly so we can get a reading on the plug.
Needless to say, this could not be fixed with now only twenty minutes to go and BSB one bike rule, so we were out of the race ! Gutted ! what was looking at being Bradleys best performance yet had now turned into nothing. We can only take home with us when he started the second dry practise session on Saturday his lap times came down 11 seconds in qualifying.
We would like to say thank you to all the people that came to watch Brad, we were all devastated he didn’t get to the grid, but better it happened in the paddock than out on circuit. Hope to see you all in a few weeks at Cadwell Park.
BSB Round 2 Thruxton - 16-18th April 2010
Thursday – Set off for Thruxton with a detour to Gloucester to collect the Honda’s refurbished barrel, got set up in the paddock and rebuilt the top half of the motor already for the two free practise sessions on Friday.
Friday – Two 20 minute practise sessions today, first session was spent running the engine in and learning the circuit again on the GP bike. Our Bridgestone tyres had been an issue at the last couple of meetings and Dunlop hooked us up with some new rubber and settings, thanks to Patrick Walsh again.
The bike was running well now in the second session and Brad was pushing on, until near the end of the session he didn’t come back round, we waited for the marshals van to come back down to the tec bay and sure enough the bike & Brad sitting on it in the back came back eventually, what a relief that was. The engine had nipped up and lost all power going in Church. The piston ring had snapped and picked up on the exhaust port and all of the top end was scrap again ! We managed to buy a new top end kit of the Jacksons and we again set to build it all back for qualifying in the morning, with no time even to run it up after curfew, we hoped it would work and perform in the first qualifier at 9am the next day. We were all very apprehensive to say the least.
Saturday – First qualifying, the first few laps Brad bedded the engine in, came in checked the map settings and all was good to go, so pushed on in the last 10 minutes and put a qualifying time in one second under the limit. The second qualifier we changed a couple of settings and it worked, Brad managed to bring his time down again by another 2.6 seconds and provisionally qualified 30th on the grid out of 39.
We were then pulled in to be weight checked and Brad & the bike was under by 4grms ! so his qualifying time was cancelled and then later was disqualified from qualifying altogether as we could have been under weight in the first session also. After having a very nice chat with the Race Director and accepting a warning Brad was allowed to race from the back of the grid at 39.
We couldn’t work out why this meeting we were under when the previous meeting we were over, then realised Friday was windy and we put a narrow fairing on, which is smaller and lighter than the A- Kit ones we use, so we needed to compensate for this and filled the bars now with lead also.
Sunday Race Day– Warm up went ok, we tried a couple of suggested changes, which Brad wasn’t comfortable with, so we reverted back to the original for the race.
Brad made a fantastic start from 39 th and into sector 2 was up on the screens into around 26 th he settled in as there had been a few off’s already and made progress through the race taking another couple of places, managed another half second off his qualifying time and finished the 14 lap race 24 th overall and 9 th in the cup, taking 7 championship points.
This is truly a beast of a circuit for a GP125 flat out for 95% of the time, we are all really pleased with the way Bradley is improving with each outing on the bike, gaining more confidence, also the fact it looks like we have eventually found a base line setting which works on the bike.
Big thanks to the following for all your help this weekend:
Adam (the spanner)
Allen (paddock crew)
Patrick Walsh (Dunlop)
My Family
All my sponsors
Thank you all , see you in 2 weeks at Oulton Park – May Bank Holiday
BSB Round 1 Brands Hatch - 3-5th April 2010
Thursday – arrived on circuit around 10am, booked in sorted all our passes out for the season and proceeded to set up for the weekend, all ready for the start of practise on Friday.
Friday – Was split into two 25 minute practise sessions one just before lunch and the other at the end of the day, the weather was a little changeable with the odd shower now & then. Brad went out on a dry circuit, very confident and looking forward to the weekend, however disaster struck after only 2 laps in and he crashed at around 120mph going into Paddock Hill, the engine had nipped up and he was stretchered off to the medical centre.
I didn’t know what to expect when I eventually arrived there as others commented how bad he had gone down and the ride on the paddock scooter all around the outside of the circuit seemed to take forever. When I was allowed into the recovery room he was standing up thank god ! and the only real sustained injury was his wrist. His leathers and helmet were completely smashed, but did the job to protect him.
The bike could have also been a lot worse and we set to building it back up again, ready for the afternoon session, Brad was up for getting back out there, was signed off by the Doctor and allowed to go back out. It was a very apprehensive session but he gained some confidence back, his wrist was very painful and it was back to the medical centre.
Saturday – The staff at the medical centre had been treating his arm and strapped it so he was able to continue for the second days practise and qualifier, practise one went well on wets and Brad had more treatment in between for the first qualifier. The bike now was also causing some concerns as we were using our second race cylinder and was proving difficult to set up, but managed to complete the dry session putting a lap time in two places from the back of the grid, the bike now needed a rebuild and parts were getting thin on the ground, we installed a borrowed standard cylinder and set to build the bike back to standard for the second qualifier on Sunday.
Sunday – Only one qualifying session today and Brad had another couple of hours work on his arm at the medical centre prior to the final qualifier. It stayed dry and we decided to put a very soft set of worn rubber into the rear to try and give Brad some confidence and feel into the back end of the bike as we had been struggling for grip, this worked and Brads time came down again and he qualified with 1.3 seconds under the required time and made a couple of places up on the grid.
Monday Race Day – The sun was out for most of the day, although cold, again Brad had some work done on his arm at the medical centre, he was very nervous to say the least. He set off very apprehensive with a small roll forward on the grid line, we thought he would have a penalty for a jump start and over the first couple of laps he was looking out for a ride through penalty board, but it never came, so he pressed on holding his position. Many riders were falling in front of him and behind, either due to engine trouble or grip, Brad struggled with grip also with a new set of medium tyres which were letting go on most corners, but he pressed on. After the first 12 or so laps his arm was starting to hurt also and the front runners were now about to lap him on this short 1.2 mile circuit and he now had to face a new challenge getting himself out of the way. He was very glad to see the final flag.
 Brad & Dakota Mamola
Finished 25th overall and 15th in the cup, taking his first championship point, not the best result but a massive achievement in his first ever BSB race, he would like to thank the following people as without their help this weekend would not of been possible:
All of the Medical Staff & Marshalls at Brand Hatch, excellent work done.
Adam (the spanner)
My Family
Beth Sims (my brolly dolly)
All my sponsors
Gary & Karen, Mandy & Allen
Thank you all , see you at Thruxston
Brands Hatch - 19-21st March - Test / NG RRC
This was going to be our main practise and bike preparation before the first round of the BSB at Easter, with many of the top GP125 race teams also testing, the bike had been refreshed and a new mapping system, data logging and a few other bits installed and the first time we had been on race fuel, lots to learn and find some settings. Also we had to increase the weight of the bike to meet the regulations for the BSB, around 10 kg, a massive amount and we intended to add a little through the weekend.
Friday practise, the weather was difficult to start with very damp patches especially on the new sections of tarmac, very shiny black and looked worse than what it was, then later in the day it turned into rain and then heavy rain. So was on wets all day, Brad loved it and the wet weather practise we had in Spain paid of and he was certainly a front runner, to the extent we had to call him in the last session as we were getting concerned he was pushing to much, but in true Brad form he shook his head at the pit board and put a couple of blistering last couple of laps.
Saturday we awoke to much of the same as Friday, Brad went out in practise with the National Series GP250’s, for extra practise and made a respectable time mid field in the wet conditions.
Saturday Qualifying, Brad was 5th on the grid and not really where he wanted to be, with a field of very experienced riders behind him going into Paddock Hill in the rain and he made a very tentative start loosing out to about 10 other riders, but got round safely, he pressed on but couldn’t make many places back but kept pace with the other BSB riders and qualified in 14th and was happy to be a little further back on the grid for the first race.
Race 1, late in the afternoon and it was now raining very heavy, Brad made a good start and progressed through the field into 10th spot planning to take 9th on the last lap to the flag, but the race was shortened and he missed his opportunity, so finished a good 10th and we were all very pleased.
Sunday, we had put all the weight on the bike Saturday night, drilling and tapping holes all over the frame, bars, spindles and every nook and cranny trying to loose the lead diving shot and managed to get 10 kg installed. This soon showed a massive increase in Brads lap times and Brad really wasn’t very comfortable with it, but he got his head down and made the most of it.
Race 2, the sun was now out and the slicks were on and Brad had to ride for the first time at Brands on slicks with no settings or practise straight into a race, with loads of weight on also, he made a good start from 16th on the grid and battled his way up to 10th place again increasing his chase to 9th but with the extra weight couldn’t bring the gap down enough to make a move and finished the race 10th place.
 
We were all very pleased with the performance and Brad showed true grit and determination against a field of riders with vastly more experience and backing on Kit bikes, we will have to do some work to find some extra power now the weight has been added to the machine. I hope we have managed to find enough settings to give us a fighting chance for the first round of the BSB at Easter, if it rains we will certainly have a better run as the power of the bikes isn’t so important.
Mallory Park - 6&7 March - Thundersport Test/EMRA
Our first race meeting of the year and Brad's 13th Birthday also, his first time allowed to race his GP bike in the UK. What a challenging weekend all round, Saturday started damp, then wet and dried out by mid afternoon and Brad managed some good lap times in the last session of the day finally after we had struggled with set up.
Saturday night the temperatures plummeted down to below -6 and although we had seriously taken precautions against the bikes freezing they both had, so we got the number one bike ready for tec inspection at 7.30 and it was still -4, by the time we got back the bike again was frozen in the water pump and now also the clutch was sticking. So number 2 bike was got ready quickly and back to tec inspection. We missed the warm up qualifying session, which meant a start from the back of the grid race one around about 30th , but Brad was not on his own many others had the similar problems due to the cold.
Race 1, track temperature was still below freezing and in the sun it was only just above, Brad cut his way the field through the first couple of laps up to about 15th when the race was red flagged and they all had to start again with a 5 lap dash. Brad shot off making about 5 places into the hairpin on the first lap and had a massive moment through the bus stop putting him onto the grass, didn’t fall but the bike stalled and marshals wouldn’t push him to start again, so game over.
Race 2, number 1 bike was back after stripping & changing race fuels, oils, clutch and water pump etc, but had to start again from the back of the grid, temperature had dropped again and we were worried about tyre grip. Made a good start and after 5 laps in was up to 6th from the back of the grid with the back tyre spinning up on the left handers, again the red flag went out and they were all went back to the grid, 10 minutes later they started a warm up lap which Brad didn’t make as his bike was reluctant to start back up and when it did they said he had to start from the pit lane, with cold tyres, so Brad called it a day.
A very difficult weekend and freezing conditions, top marks to all the riders and those that managed to finish, Brad now wants to move to Spain permanently.
 
 
Pictures taken by: Richard Glover
 |
