International North West 200 May 2010

Race 1 Superbike
After rain in the morning and a delayed start conditions were pretty good for the North West, the track was mostly dry.
Qualifying had not gone too well due to the changeable conditions and my having to remember the differences between the 4 cylinder Jap bikes and the Ducatis I had been running in NZ. We had managed to get clocked on the speed trap on Easty's Yamaha R1 at 300.8kph! As I looked around the grid it was obvious it wasn't just me who had had trouble.
I was in the 2nd wave to start in all the races and as the madness of the first couple of corners sorted itself out I managed to be in the midst of the front bunch and able to dice and pass. It was all coming back to me and the famous NW 200 slipstreaming was awesome. It’s a fast course with long straights and, unlike the TT, has a mass start so bikes are often travelling in groups instead of in ones and twos.
As the race went on and I tried to hold onto the more powerful superbikes, I started to get massive amounts of wheel-spin out of the slow corners. I would lose out on the straights and make up time on the brakes and into the corners but it was far too aggressive on the exits and the rear tyre was overheating. On the last lap at Juniper chicane I tried to pass Gary Mason and nearly high-sided and lost another place before the line finishing 23rd.

Race 2 Supersport
The Hallett Aviation GSXR600 was going very well and besides gearing and a few suspension changes and the lack of a quick-shifter there were no problems.
From the start I was too cautious and lost out at York hairpin but I managed to get back to the bunch ahead. There was a real difference in bike speed which made for some great slip-streaming and close racing. At one stage coming up to University, I got a double tow and the little bike saw 16,700rpm in top gear. The dicing went right down to the wire and I finished 29th.

Race 3 Superstock
This was our race as the Barnes Racing/Dave East Engineering R1 is a stock bike. The race start was much better and I held my own at York and the 1st roundabout. I was being much less aggressive on the throttle and getting the bike stood up before getting on the gas hard (a habit picked up racing the Ducatis). The bike was able to stay with most of the others in the bunch, even the 190hp BMWs and we were over the 300kph mark on a few laps. I finished 20th and put in my fastest lap of the meeting at 112.76mph. The set-up should suit the TT better so I think we have a good chance there.

Race 4 Supersport
I got a good start but was having a problem changing down. I also got tangled up with a really fast bike and lost the tow of the group ahead. So with nobody close behind I settled for a steady run to the flag and finished 29th again. The gear change problem is being worked on now and again the bike will be really good for the TT.