GL motorsports, PRISM engineering and Paul Smart Ltd have continued their support in 1997 and I have picked up some extra backing from EBC brakes and SIGN 2000. Here's a summary of my 1997 season:
I was lacking a main ingredient at the beginning of the season ,which was someone who could set up the caburation well enough to be up their with the top guys. So down on power I crashed in practice twice. So in the race I could only manage 21st.
Practice was wet all weekend so I manage 18 th quickest just ahead of my team mate who had a free weekend off from the european 125 series. For the race it dried up so all my speed settings were out of the window. In the race I had a gigantic battle with last year factory Aprillia rider Damean Carhill and my team mate Nick Sergent both who wre on quick machinery . In the end I manage to fend them off though the fast sweeping bends to finish 16 th just out side of the points.
In pratice I manage to go 3 seconds quicker than last year so I know that I am getting closer to the leaders.
Qualifying time of 1.18 secs. That put me on the 5th row for the race. In the second qualifying It began to spit with rain but I did not slow down as I needed a quicker time So I ended up heavily crashing into the bomb hole a flat out 3rd gear corner.
Race one was wet. I got of two a good start as I tipped it into the first turn I lost the front end and tee-boned someone off and some how I manage to stay aboard the GL motorsports Honda . I started to gain places rapidly and move into the points .Half way though the race I BLACK flaged because in the incident at the first turn my exhaust was pulled down and was dragging on the floor though the left hand bends . So race ones result was a DNF.
Race two I was struggling for speed and grip and finished a dissapointing 21st.
Brands is my local circuit and I love it , Moreover I had a mechanic for this race which took a lot of preasure of of me. His name was Ashly Sommerfield a good 125 rider himself. In qualifying it was dry and I manage 18th quickest with a 50.0 sec time.
On race day it poured down and whenit came to our race it carlmed down. On the first lap of the race I was up to 6th but began to hail stone so hard it was abandoned. On the re-start I manage a excelent start and after the 3rd or 4th lap I was up to 5th place . It was a 30 lap titanic battle and I was heading the pack tow retain 5th position. I had already caught and past the series leader Fanado Mendez ,ex-GP 125 ace Robin Appleyard and last year World factory 125 Aprillia GP srar Darren Barton .
After a great battle with Chris Burns he finally past me and broke clear. That put me back to 6th ,but on the last lap on the last corner I had an almighty slide where I nearly crashed . This slowed my drive to the finish line where ex-GP ace Steve Patrickson pipped me to the line, so I ended up a careers best 7th .
I qualified 21st next to my team mate Nick as he had another free weekend. He jumped the start so badly that he got a 10 second penalty.
On the first lap I ran onto the grass and lost a bunch of time . Over the next 10 laps I manage to catch up Nick and pass him to finish 18th
Unfortunatly my father was away on business so my old mate John Smith came to help me. Although he did not have any knowledge of racing bikes he was willing to learn fast .
I qualified 18th with a 1.46.0 lap time. In the race I got up to 12th place by the end of the first lap. Then on the second lap going past the start /finish line the bike cut out. I went back to last place - 35th .
For some reason it cut back in about 5 secs later , I slogged my guts out to saw though the field back up to 17th putting in a 1.45.0 lap . I caught up to TT winner Ian Lougher and past him in a last corner out breaking maneover to clinch 16th
Because Scott Smart didn't have a garage at Mallory Park we shared my awning to work on the bikes and we used his awning for cooking and chilling out. Bruce Maus a top crème de la crème mechanic was working on Scotts bike and I was slaving away on mine in the same tent. Through the weekend we got on really well and he ened up hepling me with my jetting and suspension settings.
In practice I manage to get down to 52.5 lap time which was good but to be competitive you need to be in the 51 's.
The first qualifying was wet and I got down to a 58.0 which was pretty scary. It put me in 18th position, which was all right because I knew that I could go a lot quicker if I needed to. In the second session it was damp but rapidly drying out. I went out on wets but within a few laps I'd torn them up. So I pulled in to the pits and changed onto some slicks. But I was worried about coming off and slipping down the grid
In the end I ended up 24th on the grid so I had a lot of work to do.
In the first 15-lap race I got a great start and swiftly moved up to 12th place. On the second lap I ran onto the grass of the exit of Gerards and slipped back to 17th. Through the race I caught back up to a small tussle that was going on. I ended up getting caught up in a three man crash where I was launch into the air at 110 mph, luckily I walked away unscathed.
In the second race I was determined to not let it overshadow me .I went faster than I had ever been, on the first lap I got a great start and was away with the top pack of 10. When I reached the hairpin Alan Green had knocked off Robin Appleyard the reigning 125 champion, unavoidably I smashed into Robin and had to pull my bike off from him to get back into the race. I had lost so much time that it put me back into 21st place.
Bruce decided to come up with me because he had to work late and so did I. Scott had his good mate (PENDRAGON Simon ) to help him and as my father couldn't make it this weekend Bruce stayed the weekend helping me. This was a good opputunity to learn about carburation and setting the bikes suspension
I was 18th quickest in the dry on the practice day.
For qualifying it was wet and I really got into the swing of it, so I ended up 9th.
In the second qualifying it was damp and I wasn't as comfortable with that, so I ended up 17th on the grid.
For the 20-lap race it was dry all around the back of the circuit but though the woodland section it was completely wet. I went for an intermediate tyre set up.
I got off to a good start, the bike was flying and I was soon up in the points. I was battling with GP wildcard Chris Palmer for 5 laps until we had a coming together at a slow corner resulting in me sliding off. I managed to keep the clutch in and rejoin the race in 14th place only to heavily crash about three laps later, where 12 riders had already succumbed to their doom.
Result = DNF
Luckily Bruce was hepling me again so I was cofident I would do well as he has got the bike running so well, so well infact that I always keep one finger on the clutch . I have only been on the GP circuit once on the slow super teen bike so I don’t have any real knowledge of the back part of the course. The first practice was wet which favoured me, I was 11th quickest.
In the first qualifying I was 18th quickest in the dry. I was struggling with my gearbox set up because I needed a short second to get around Druids hairpin but I was already using second onto the back straight which was really critical. In the second qualifying I couldn't manage to go any faster so I slipped back to 24th .It was a 20-lap race which would be pretty trying. I got a lighting start and by the second lap I was up to 13th. Even better on the 2nd lap I went 2 seconds quicker than all weekend, because of that I was running out of speed down the straight and kept on getting passed. After a long race I ended up 16th just one place out of the points.
For the last round Bruce Maus Superteched my gearbox so we was able to run a thinner gear oil. This made my gear changes a lot smoother for a quicker lap time. After the first practice day I was 18 Th quickest with a 1.18.3 which was under the existing lap record.by 2 seconds.
In the 1st qualifying I got in gear straight away and got into the 1.17's.
In the dying seconds of the session I put in a 1.16.8, which was 0.8 sec's off of the front row. I was 14th.
Bruce is really good out working out gearbox settings but I didn't have some of the gears we needed to make up a perfect setting, so we had to compromise .
I was going to change my gearbox for the second qualifier because fourth was too short through Old hairpin, but I used 4th through two other corners that I didn't want to change. It was a good set up through the corners I wanted but the overall speed was to short and 2nd gear was too tall through the chicane only manage a 1.170 with it so I slipped back to 15th position for the race, the fourth row.
It was the last race of the year and to add pressure to get a good result it was on T.V.
I got the best start and into the first turn I was up to 8th, in front of the 1997 British champion Darren Barton. He got me down the back straight only to be out done by me into the next turn. I held him off for about 3 laps until his weight and speed advantage got the better of me. I was soon down into my qualifying times but riding a little bit erratic. About 5 laps into the race the factory Aprillia came past and began to pull away. I was slowly being reeled in by a pack behind me so I decided to speed up .On lap 10 I had a big slide through Old hairpin on the front. But saved it. I began to break clear of the pack and started to catch the Aprilla . A few laps later after a hard charge I came through Old hairpin flat out in fourth, as I got to the apex and the back began to break loose and it threw me into the air. I got a bit tangled up with the bike and didn't feel to good so I let the medics stretcher me off to safety.
The result was a chipped bone in my left hand and a bruised body.
I was a bit upset because I wanted to finish the season on a high, not as high as 8ft though.
I would like to say a very special thanks to my father who has helped me get through this very tough and sometimes diserpointing year,Moreover to my sponsor Gary Lingham for supplying the GL motorsports Honda 125, and to the man who turned the season around Bruce Maus for getting me on the pace.
Also a special thanks to :