It was 18 years since I last raced at Lydden in the 1300cc British Production and 600 Super Sport Championships, so to all intents and purposes it was like going there for the very first time - again.
As I remembered it was set in the bottom of a small valley and was very short, in a way like a small Mallory park. My memory although rubbish at most things nowadays was right about the track, very short, the 500 classic lap record was 44.89 seconds!
 
The paddock had over the winter had tarmac and a new toilet facility and race control had been erected but the rest was exactly as it was all that time ago – except the club house was demolished and not replaced.
There was no practice day due to local noise issues and Sunday’s events could only start at 12:30, so the race schedule was going to be tight to say the least.
 
Andy Molnar had set up camp on the Friday morning so we had a good base in the paddock right next to the technical inspection area, Vanni was also there when we arrived late Friday afternoon. We had hired a caravan locally so we were on hand from the off on Saturday morning.
 
The weather forecast didn’t look so good, with rain on the Saturday morning expected to last most of the day, grip had been, and still was a major issue at Lydden with the poor surface and a tremendous amount of dust and dirt from the rally cross track.
During the night it rained so the track was very wet and with drizzle in the air and quite cold there was no chance of any dry practice.
Out on track I was amazed how little grip there was, even Betty (the 350) was slipping and sliding around, and when Buster had his go, he wheel spun out of the hair pin and at every other chance he could get!
 
The first race of the day was a 350 Championship event, still wet and starting from pole we all shot off to the first corner, Lea was ahead going down to the corner but I left the braking a little later and nipped under him to take the lead.

I put my head down for a few laps and managed to pull a lead over Lea with Vanni hassling Lea for the early part of the race.
Not wanting to slow down and break my rhythm I pressed on to take the win over Lea, with Vanni scoring a magnificent 3rd.
Our second race was a 500 event and saw drier conditions but I felt wary not being able to see where the track was still wet and the dry sections.
Lea and I battled until we caught the back markers. This was going to be a recurring feature of the whole weekend; Lea cut through the first few and managed to pull a small gap on me. I managed to close it down on the last lap and crossed the line just 0.21 of a second behind him.
The next few races were both 350 races, one was the National and both were carbon copies of the 500 race.
Lea and I left the field behind and battled hard until we hit back markers where we were split up. The front brake lever kept coming back to the bar in some corners and then would be OK for the next few, it was just enough to put me off pushing any harder.
 
I repeatedly managed to put in the fastest lap getting within one tenth of a second off the lap record but lost out with the back markers, I would have to come up with a cunning plan for Sunday’s races.
Overnight the team talked over how we could improve the machines and about on track strategy, in other words, we ate and had some beer!
However, in my mind I thought the only way to beat Lea round Lydden was to lead and control the race from the front - much easier said than done.
 
Sunday’s first race was a 350, and after fluffing the start and loosing out on the run to the first corner I followed Lea round again, I dogged him for the whole race swapping the lead several times but loosing out over the line.
We had changed the gearing on the 350 to get it out of the hairpin and although it helped I had to settle for second again.
The second race the 500 National was a cracker, I led off the line and Lea passed me on the run to turn two, we swapped and pushed each other right to the limit for the whole race, but as I crossed the line to start the last lap Buster’s motor slowed, rounding the first turn and coming on to the back straight all the power had gone.
I thought I might make it up the hill and be able to roll to the line for some points but at the end of the straight the motor seized solid!
My only consolation was I had broken the lap record with a 44.676 lap.
 
There was a panic on now as we only had one race between the next 500 race to find a solution. Andy had brought his personal 500 but there was not enough time to ready it so we decided to use Betty, just to make sure we were on the grid.
 
Only being a 350 it was obviously not going to beat Lea but I could still lap fast enough to get in the points. Off the line I was swamped into turn one by the other 500’s, however I wrung Betty’s neck and hung on to the back of the leading three.

Repeatedly I tried to pass Vernon Glaishier’s 500 but he would out drag me to the next turn. Over the line I closed him down but he pipped me to third place by 2 hundredths of a second.
Betty was fired up now for the last 350 of the day, and off the line I managed to lead into turn one. This time I pushed super hard and held Lea off for the whole race but I knew he would be desperate to pass on the last turn last lap, so when he dove under me into the last corner I knew he would run wide, so I dropped back under him and out dragged him to the line piping him by just 0.063 of a second.
The closest race of the day and probably one of the best to watch as well!
 
The last race was a 500, Andy had prepared his personal bike now so I rode it hoping I could improve on Betty’s 4th place in the previous 500 race.
Lea shot off like a rocket and on this unfamiliar machine I settled for second, but not before Luke Notton had done his best to hassle me for the majority of the race, I pulled a little gap just before the end to take the pressure off the last lap, to take that second place.
A good weekend all in all, managing to save some points by using Betty and Andy’s machines for the 500 races has kept the Championship alive.
 
UEM Supermono Cup Round 1
Preview – Assen 24th / 25th May

Off we go this weekend to The Netherlands for the opening round of the UEM Supermono Cup.
This is the inaugural year that the Championship makes the move to being under the umbrella of the UEM and hopefully it will bode well to increasing it’s status throughout Europe.
I am looking forward to riding the bike again and spending time with the team – last time here in, on the Jawa, I had to keep out of the way of Mark and Stephan as they were vying for the title – not so this time…