Wirral 100 Anglesey Race Report

Anglesey Race Report

The weekend of July 24/25th saw the Wirral 100 club run another round of their championship on the Coastal Circuit at Anglesey. After a successful Isle of Man TT and Scarborough meeting, on my return, I decided to enter the meeting to gain experience on the bike and circuit in preparation for this years Anglesey Grand.

I was on my own Suzuki GSXR 1000, after splitting with the PRF suzuki team just before the TT, which I’d purpose built for my Isle of Man assault. This would be the bike’s first outing on a short circuit, having only raced at the Scarborough (Olivers Mount) road circuit since my return.

The weekend weather didn’t start very well and very patchy conditions graced the first race. The track was neither wet or dry and a short cloud burst cemented my decision to stay with full wet tyres for the race. This turned out not to be the best choice as the track dried very quickly. I had a battle on my hands hanging onto the shirt tails of Angelo Derosa, who had selected cut slick tyres. Eventually I finished second with a ruined set of wet tyres!!

The first race was a qualifing heat for the rest of the weekend so this put me second on the grid for the next race, in much better conditions, held on Sunday. I got a good start and shadowed Angelo once again and made a move around the outside into the corkscrew corner late in the first lap. I pushed hard and pulled a few seconds gap. Having raced for the whole of last season for PRF I had no idea on which gearing or set up to run on the bike. My best guess on sprocket selection was close but not quite right. I held onto the lead and took the race win, but knew that there was more to come from both myself and the bike.

The second race was a virtual carbon copy of the first. Angelo lead at the first corner from pole position. I made the same pass into the corkscrew and started to pull a gap. I pushed hard and was happy with changes I’d made to the gearing and front suspension. Winning the race with an 8 second advantage was great. On return to the paddock I was informed that I’d also broken the outright club lap record for the circuit, excellent news.

I was pleased with a great weekend, some race wins and progress with the bike set up. I hope this stands me in a good position for this season’s Anglesey Grand. Having missed the event last season due to injury, and not getting to defend my title, I feel that I owe it to myself to go for the win this year.

My next race of this season is scheduled for the Thundersport GB Championship at Anglesey in mid-september. This is the same meeting in which I badly injured myself last season. Although I have an entry for the Scarborough Gold Cup on the same weekend I feel that I need to return to Anglesey to finish what I started last year. Wish me luck!!

Posted: August 9, 2010