Leigh's Mallory Race Report

Well...I wasn't quite as unlucky as Alex but I did have my share of bad luck. Having given the new bike a shakedown on the Thursday trackday I was happy it made it round the track with no sudden surprises. Friday practice, as Alex said, was a washout with rain all day, so i decided not to go out. I'd rather not tempt fate and drop it in the rain the day before racing.
Anyway Saturday morning came and I was well up for the qualifying session. Unfortunately I decided to take a diversion onto the grass leading up to the hairpin so that was my 5 minutes of qualifying over. Still, had a nice chat with Poppy who had also pitted at the hairpin with a fried bike. It was obvious that Team Hutch and friends weren't really doing too well in qualifying. Anyway I ended up 16th on the grid after grasstracking buit not to worry I'd get a good start and make up some ground. This was not to be! After a dreadful start birdwatching with my front wheel in the air I did actually make up some ground. I was up to 5th in front of an old friend Andy Bright when my left clip on (handlebar) came loose. Ooops! At first I went for the clutch lever and saw it was sitting above my hand so I pushed it back down. Hey presto, it came out altogether! After getting it back in again all I could do was coast home. Mind you it could have been worse.......a lot worse. The 2nd race was pretty much the same again but this time it was rider error that let 3 bikes past me after chattering into the hairpin on the brakes and running wide. Buggar!
Sunday I decided to my lovely new leathers on as supplied by Pete at Speedsport for the 1st race. Bad idea, I hadn't bedded them in enough and they were a little stiff to say the least. This hampered my riding and obviously the end result. Still, 1 more race to go, all is not lost. Yeh, right? Missed 2nd gear off the start. Double buggar!! Oh well, roll on Pembrey and let's hope for a bit better luck and weather. I'm bloody sick of being cold!