Assen was the first round of the new UEM Supermono Cup. We had been testing the Mali Jawa at Most a few weeks before and were looking forward to a good event. There was not testing on the Friday but we had some setting we could use from the last meeting there. We arrived late Friday night and met with the team in the paddock, Libor Jn & Sn were there but Martin had yet to arrive, he was bringing my machine so there was nothing to do but have an early night.
Saturday morning was very bright and sunny, the forecast was for more sun with a temp of approximately 20! It was a bit of a scramble to get the bikes through technical inspection as the meeting is so popular now with so many races and competitors the queue was huge. After 10 mins in the queue we realised that we would run out of time before our first practice session, so I had a word with the Head Technical guy and he allowed us to put our machines to the front. Noise tested, weighed and inspected we were at last ready for our first session.
All the bikes were now in their new colours of Orange, White and Black and looked very smart, lets hope we could keep them that way!
Even though it was dry there was a wind blowing right down the back straight, this would have an effect over the top speed and being such a strong head wind, in turn this would effect our lap times. The lap record was 1:49.9 set by Mark Lawes last year so that was our bench mark to aim for, however the wind would hamper any attempt to better this time.
Very quickly I found a rhythm and put in some reasonable time but the bike felt so slow along the straights, but the time was good enough to put me on provisional pole position with a 1:52.7. The bike felt great so there were no adjustments to be made before the second session. We had gone to Assen with Steve and Harry from home and they were both behaving like school boys and keeping us entertained as a result. The weather was getting hotter and was now over 20 degrees, I was starting to wonder were the tyres going to be ok or to switch to a harder compound but decided to leave the on for the second session to see if they would hold up to the conditions.
Unfortunately my team mate Martin fell in the chicane at the end of the back straight, luckily with no injury or much mechanical damage.
I knew it would be hard to hold on to pole position as everyone was going to turn up the wick in the next session, so I was prepared to push myself to better my first session time but on the track I had many laps interrupted with slower riders and yellow flags so any clear laps I would have to make the most of them.
My lap timer was not working so I was having to guess my time by how the lap felt rather than relying on a timer, easier said than done, I was not using a pit board and now slightly regretted not doing so. But I thought I had done enough, Jennifer reported that I was pole again and after the time sheets came out this was confirmed with a 1:52.2. !
I was not sure if it was the wind or just going a little faster but the bike was running a little wide coming out of some of the corners. I would have liked to change the fork springs for some softer ones or take out some preload but I was unable to, there were no springs available and the preload adjusters were backed right off.
The bikes were prepared in the evening and the team relaxed with a few Czech beers and with very little of each others languages, and no interpreter we chatted - well pointed a lot, gesticulated - and laughed a lot.
On Sunday it was obvious we were looking at a different day, the clouds had moved in and the temperature had dropped dramatically. I was now thinking should I run a soft tyre but decided to see what the hard tyre felt like, morning warm up gave me that chance.
By chance I had an almost trouble free session and about 5 laps with next to no backmarkers making the session a great opportunity to test the tyre at race pace, it felt good and with no slides I decided to run with it for the race. However, it was all to change.
As our race was called the rain drops started to fall, not hard and with the wind it could dry up very quickly so almost everyone picked slicks for the start. Out of the pit lane for our sighting/warm up lap and it was clear the conditions were going to very difficult to say the least. The far side of the circuit was a lots worse than the start area but there was no time to make any changes, red lights out and off we went. I led into turn one with Stephan Meiners in hot pursuit. The bike was wheel spinning out of the corners and the front was constantly wanting to fold into the corners, I like riding in the rain but here it was very dodgy!
 
Stephan was pushing hard but we had already pulled a huge lead on the rest of the field so I tried to slow the pace from the front but Stephan had other ideas and slipped under me onto the home straight. As we crossed the line to start lap two the red flags came out as now the rain was coming down quite hard.
 
The organisers had said if the rain came we would have a 10 minute break to fit wets and make the restart, so I quickly made my way back to the awning to change wheels. It was something we had not anticipated and the wheels were put away in the van, and the front wheel had no disc fitted! Difficult also as the Kamenicky brothers are riders themselves, so they were still out on track making their way back to the paddock.
 
Fortunately having Steve and Harry along with me there were plenty of hands to help out, also an old friend Alistair Wager popped over to help out too. In these conditions the more hands the better.
 
But we ran out of time and missed the sighting lap so was held in the pit lane for the start, it was unclear if there was to be a warm up lap as well as the sighting lap but before I had time to find out the details the pack came flying by. Exiting the pit lane I thought everyone was going that slow it must be a warm up lap but people started to going faster and faster toward the end of the lap, I suddenly realised “God this must be the race”….
Head down and as I crossed the line for the first time, I  had charged up to 6th place, I was catching and passing people very quickly and so far had no slides, except when I ran over the kerb onto the back straight (memo to self – DON’T do that again).
By the 3rd I was upto 4th place and I could see the leading group in the distance!
 
Before I knew it I was on top of them, I didn’t know whether to pass immediately and pull a gap or follow the group to the end and not show my hand. But in the end I decided to crack on while my confidence was high and break the tow – by the 4th lap I had the lead.
Each time I passed the pit lane I could see Father Libor waving his arms telling me to slow down but I was now enjoying myself too much, plus the fact if I slowed down my rhythm would be broken and I could end up making mistakes, hell I could even fall off!
At the end I took the flag by over 6 second from Rob Hakvoort and Mark Lawes, what a weekend!
Next event this weekend Nurburgring, two rounds bring it on….