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Team MAG Sport Race Report
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Roger Ford's new TZ round Clearways.
Photo: Peter Wileman
| Bike | 1st Race | 2nd Race | 3rd Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| RGV | 2nd | Crashed (13th on restart) | Didn't start |
| TZ | 4th | 5th | 5th |
Friday practice was wet. I only got one dry session on the TZ, and couldn't really judge it. Didn't seem much different from the RGV. Was to feel very different at race speed!
On the final lap, the bike started misfiring. I nursed it over the line to take second, and waved at my tuner Graham File to come over to my van.
Graham was brilliant. Come to watch a days racing, he had just finished fixing a broken stud on Darren Mowat's KR-1S, but delved straight into my bike.
Some chance. Mark Jay got the lead, but I'd caught him by the hairpin and barrelled round the outside. Graham later said that I was sideways on the exit from Druids, but I didn't notice. It felt great. Down the hill in the lead, and my front end washed out from under me. Cold tyres! We'd fitted the warmers late due to the engine rebuild.
All I'd had to do was come 8th. Now, if Mark Jay took the win, he would take second place in the championship. No problem, there's Spencer Cook who will beat him ... there's ... Spencer Cook in the kitty litter. Shit! Mark pulled out a stunning 4 second lead, and I watched my championship placing evaporate. This can't be happening! Two weeks ago I was in with a chance of taking the outright win.
Red flags out. Race stopped. Was it more than 4 laps and a result? Didn't know.
Were they restarting? Bike's knackered. Another one in the pit - thank God. I sprinted up the hill, and grabbed a lift on the back of a rider who thought it was all over.
We finished prepping No. 2 - no time for scrutineering - and just made it out for the restart.
The bike felt slow (turned out later the powervalves weren't connected!), and my head just wasn't together. I just couldn't get past riders, and ended up in a crap 13th place.
Mark lost - phew - beaten by SuperNovice Lawrence Hopper. I felt sorry for him, robbed by that red flag, but mighty relieved for myself.
TZ's aren't easy to get off the line, and I fluffed it. Gave it far too many revs and it balked. But when it did run, it lifted the front wheel and hared off after the pack.
Big pack of bikes. It was getting a bit dangerous, and I touched with one round Druids, but once I got some space towards the front, it got much better. I was really getting into the TZ. It flew, and I loved it. You could push everything so much harder than the RGV.
I got 6th place overall, and 4th in class. Not bad for a first race! The bike was making loads of power. In spite of being standard, it didn't seem down on power compared to the others. When Graham's finished with it, it should be a rocket ship!
I love that bike. It weighes nothing, it handles and stops like nothing else, and maintenance is a doddle. Why on earth did I consider a 600?
In that first race, Stuart Shaw and another Singles rider had beaten me. But the next two races were to be all-TZ affairs.
I had some excellent tussles with the Johnson Brothers, just moved from TZR class onto open TZs, and Mark Marshall (who I know from long ago on a KR-1S). Got 5th place in both races.
Brilliant day.
That stupid RGV crash didn't cost me my championship position, but it did cost me £200 off the purchase price of the RGV, to the new owner Robin, who'd just watched me smash up his future pride and joy!
Now I'm really looking forward to next season. The bike is wonderful to ride, and I've proved I can cut it with the best in the TZ class. Moving up a class doesn't necessarily mean starting at the bottom.
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