Silverstone - Sunday 29th February 2004

First time on the bike! A little bit nervous on the build up to this as the weather was forecast a bit dreary, & ideally the first ride would have been nice to be dry. Arrived about 7, set up, signed on, then it started to spit. Not too bad, but really cold.

Missed the first session because I was still warming the tyres & it was still nearly freezing. Eventually I went out at about 10, just as the heavens opened & it started to snow! Still, went out anyway for the fun of it. After about 7 laps I couldn’t feel my right little finger so came in, but generally happy with everything so far.

Next session was now dry with a bit of sunshine. Went out full of confidence having stayed upright in the snow, & crashed out after 6 laps on a left hander (I think called Brooklands) just before the final flip flop chicane crap. My fault. Bit too quick, bit late on the brakes, still very cold track etc. Anyway it was a good crash, my first where the front washed away, maybe at around 60 mph. Even managed to go up to race control & have a look at the crash on their monitors!! Shame I couldn’t send it to you’ve been framed.

Bike wasn’t too bad. Needed new fairing, left foot peg, left crash mushrooms. But that ended play for that day. The worst thing was, I scuffed up my leathers I was about to sell on Ebay!!