A meeting of firsts and lasts - the last round of the '04 season and the first visit for me, and indeed NGRRC, to the most famous circuit in the UK. 

A test day was being held the day before the race meeting so both Ian and I jumped at the chance to put some laps in. For me it would be my first time back on the bike since Thruxton (having missed Keevil and Pembrey due to financial reasons) so track time was invaluable – especially with never having ridden at the circuit before. For Ian it was an excellent opportunity to exorcise the demons he collected here whilst preseason testing back in February (Brooklands corner in the snow… ‘nuff said!).

As it was a bit of a trek from Bournemouth to Northampton we thought we’d get ourselves up there on the Thursday evening so that we would be all set up and ready to go well before roll call on Friday. Unfortunately Silverstone security had other ideas and directed everyone who turned up early to an external car park where we were instructed to stay the night. As we parked up we realised that to stay in the van we would have to unload two bikes and all of our kit, then get up very early the next morning to pack everything away again only to drive a few hundred yards into the paddock where once again we would have to unload. Bugger this… trusty Travelodge here we come!

After an excellent nights kip and a hot shower we drove all of five minutes back to Silverstone where we were held at the security gate until exactly 7am by the rather anal security guard. Still, it was worth it. I was extremely impressed by the facilities; pit garages the size of cathedrals, a toilet and a sink in every one and lots of electric hook-up points. We got everything off the van, signed in, kitted up and waited eagerly for the green light on our first session.

The circuit we would be using was the national, which is pretty short but does have a bit of everything. It was slightly damp at the start of the day but it didn’t give us any problems. We both got up to speed quite quickly and everything went pretty much without a hitch (I did manage to run out of fuel during one of my sessions but we won’t mention that!). Ian’s mum, dad and girlfriend Heather (Chief Pit Bitch) all turned up to help out and I’d managed to fool my mate Dave into coming along to act as my pit crew, so we were both well supported. There were very few incidents and the whole day ran very well.

After getting our kit and bikes through scrutineering on Friday evening Ian and his support team all headed off for a nice restaurant meal and a posh hotel (NB any hotel is classed as posh when compared to the back of the van). Me and Dave were left to our own devices. After making sure the bike was completely ready for race day we had the brilliant idea of grabbing some beers and walking the full GP track. A few beers and 4 miles later we arrived back at the van completely shattered. After a lacklustre attempt at microwaving some food we collapsed in our beds ready for a good alcohol induced sleep.

Race day started with a real jovial atmosphere, everyone was up for seeing the season out in style and having a good do in the process. Pretty much all of the championships had already been decided so the pressure was off for most and there was very little tension in the paddock. Though we were soon given a healthy reminder of the seriousness of motorsport at our riders’ briefing and everyone put their ‘professionalism’ hats (or should that be helmets?) on ready for the competition ahead.

Morning practice went smoothly. It was a little slippery but there wasn’t a twitch from my slicks. Silverstone was my first time out on slicks and despite the cold and the damp they gripped superbly all weekend. Ian had a bit of a moment coming through the very fast Copse corner early in the day but apart from that we both kept it rubber-side-down throughout.

We were both drawn in the same heat for the 600 class with Ian starting just behind me on the grid. Racing is when you really start to appreciate Silverstone as a track. It’s very wide with plenty of room to overtake, in fact every corner was a good overtaking opportunity which made for thrilling racing. We’re both quite slow starters and tend to give way a bit too much in the earlier laps. This showed through in our positions at the end of the heat finishing in 25^th and 26^th places with me marginally ahead, just as we had started.

We were in different heats for the Open class. Ian went first and picked up a reasonable result finishing in ???. The Open is generally much tougher for us as most of the bikes in the class are powerful 1000cc machines, but due to a good grid slot I managed to put myself amongst the leaders during my heat. After circulating in about 10^th for a few laps the red flags were shown and we had to restart. This time things didn’t work out so well and through the tight final chicane I was very nearly run off track by two other riders. I managed to keep it together though and crossed the line in 20^th – just enough to scrape into the Open A-final.

The 600 B-final soon came round and again we were both very close together on the grid. I got into a battle with two other riders for 6^th place whilst Ian was just behind battling it out for 9^th. After a lot of swapping places, really tight moves and a bit of elbow barging it came down to the last corner. I was sandwiched in between the other two guys in 7^th and was looking to go down the inside of the guy in front on the way into the last chicane. Unfortunately the man behind thought he’d do the same to me and we very nearly came together. I was forced to concede the line and all I could do was open the throttle as hard as I dared coming onto the finish straight in the hope of out-dragging my competitor to the line. He split the timing beam six hundredths of a second before me which left me in 8^th. Still pretty pleased but slightly disappointed that I’d been staring 6^th place in the face just a couple of corners earlier.

Ian also lost his battle in the last corner and ended up in 10^th with feelings very similar to mine. But overall it was a great race for Chirani racing – the first time we’ve had both bikes in the top ten.

Time soon came round to the Open A-final and I took my place near the back of the grid. With all the bike problems and missed races I’ve had this year I’m not too accustomed to A-finals but I was excited to have earned a place on the fastest grid in the club. The grid was pretty big and as I crossed the start line I’m sure the front-runners had already done half a lap! But I got into a good rhythm and soon got involved in another excellent battle. This time there were just two of us. Again there was plenty of overtaking and close fighting. He managed to edge just ahead of me towards the end and came onto the home straight in the lead. As in the previous race it was a case of point the bike, close the eyes and pin open the throttle. Unfortunately I lost out again, this time by five hundredths of a second… at least I’m getting closer! 

With his Open final still to come, Ian was the last rider in action for Chirani Racing in 2004 and did a great job at representing us finishing well up the order in 18^th.