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It wasn't until August 1999 when I attended a Newera club event & came across a TZR event, with Justin Gorman, John Puk, Steve Wilkinson & a few others mixed in with Lc's & CB 500s. So I watched the race to see Justin come in 3rd place overall with the CB500s & they had a 10sec head start, I was impressed, I strolled over to the pits & talked to Justin, he told me the bike was basically standard, tuned engine & that was it (yeah what ever).
Practice day came, the sun was out, I couldn't have asked for better weather, we drove into the pits & unloaded the bike. I was very nervous & I hadn't got a clue what to do, so I spoke to a lad next to me Martin Tranter who was on a GSXR 600 he said it was his first time, and we are out after the sidecars. I filled up with fuel & checked the bike, then I heard our call I thought this is it! I started the bike up & away I went, I took it easy at first & settled in, what a thrill! At the end of the day I was on such a high & couldn't wait for Sunday.
It was time for the first race Dave had refuelled the bike & was warming it up, I sat on the bike, Dave said good luck & I rode up to the pits. In the pits was Pete he asked how I was, I said nervous,he said just enjoy it. Out of the pits onto the circuit we had to do a lap before we lined up on the grid, next they called us through row by row for warm up lap until we lined up on the grid for the start of the race.This is it my first ever season, as the flag dropped for the CB500s I could feel my pulse racing, there was a 10sec gap then the flag was raised the engines started revving, then the flag was dropped, I released the clutch, I had a blinding start into Gerards in second place behind Pete but as in practice he pulled away.By the end of the first lap I was 8th, by the end of the race I was 16th overall but scrapped 4th in the TZR class. I was over the moon, the rest of the day went the same finishing 4th in all my races & managing not to finish last. |
It all started back in 1998 when I used to look after a TZR 250 for a friend of mine. One day he turned up saying he was short of cash & asked if I wanted to buy the bike.
I owned a ZX7R at the time & I wasn't that interested, but I took a look at it. I found the body work & paint work very tatty, engine wise the power valves were seized, exhausts rotten but all in all it started first time & ran. So I made him an offer of £350, he accepted & the bike was mine & so the bike sat in the garage for another year.
I returned home & took one look at the bike & got to work, before I knew it there was a bare frame which I began to polish. December came & the bike was built P.J. Engineering had rebuilt the engine & I fitted race fairings from Race Products & a single seat from Replica Fairings & a pair of Avons. March came & I had recieved my licence from the ACU & my Membership from Newera. My first race was to be on the 26th March at Mallory Park. So I booked a practice at Mallory for the 22nd.
It was a long wait but finaly Sunday came Dave my mate drove. We pulled into Mallory Park, it was packed. We struggled to find a space but eventually we parked over the back & unloaded the bike to take to scrutineering. After scrutineering we signed in & I recieved my practice pass. Dave fuelled the bike & off I went out to practice.We had to queue up in pit lane that's where I met Pete Askew on a TZR. I followed Pete out to practice but by the time we had gone round Gerrards Pete had left me.This wasn't going to be easy.
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