New Era, Mallory Park, April 6

Contributor: Alan Holland, Coordinator, Phil Bevan Racing, Club: New Era MCC

Phil was back at a very cold Mallory Park yesterday for part two of a busy month with New Era. As the normal crew were AWOL we again received support from JHP and with Rick as Crew Chief, Phil was determined to put in a good performance (otherwise Rick was definitely going to give him a P45).

Up until now grid positions have been allocated by ballot, but Phil’s hard work at previous rounds has now borne fruit, and he was on the front row. In Race 1 Sound of Thunder (SOT), which held no championship points, he was determined get the right result and cruised to the race win. Race 2 proved a bit harder but still managed a No 1 place, putting him firmly in the lead of the SOT Championship.

The last race, The Clubman Challenge, saw Phil back on the rear of the grid and he battled in vain to finish 6th, his lowest position this year. Suffering massive rear end slides at Gerrards and with the extremely cold conditions the bike suffered over fuelling (as if it was on choke) so Phil was disappointed not being able to catch the leaders, having caught and beaten them before.

Rick was concerned with both the tyre wear and fuelling problem but it seems they are related. When the bike is on full throttle the fuel clears but kicks in with such force that it spins the rear wheel – not good at the 100mph + Gerrards Right Hander.

He’s going to have a look at it over the next week and play with some mapping, so Phil may use the 996R at Cadwell, as in theory it’s not a ‘Power’ Circuit.

JHP will soon have the bike running @ 110% as we all need to be on top form in 2 weeks for the Easter BSB round at Thruxton. We’re aiming for the podium.

Again many thanks Rick, Kevin, David and JHP for braving the cold, and helping out.

If you race and you’d like to see your race report on the MCN website, simply send a brief report to angus.farquhar@emap.com, including your name, your bike, the club you race for, and the date of the race.