Race Reports 2008
Round 6 Race Report
Mallory Park 14th September 2008
The team was prepared well before the sixth round of the UK Endurance championship having missed the fifth round at Cadwell Park due to other commitments. Riders for this round were to be Richard Greenland, Terje Joensen & Tony Perrin.
Terje Joensen who hails from the Faroe Islands has been located in the UK for the 2008 season to develop his Motorbike racing passion, competing in the BEMSEE rookie 600's aboard a 2005 R6 had completed a test day at Mallory on a few weeks earlier to get time on the Best Choice race bike. Tony Perrin hailing from Australia's Gold Coast was competing for the team in his first Endurance race, 2008 has seen him competing again in the Ducati Demo Cup and had raced at Mallory Park this year.
Saturday – Travel & Setup
Terje traveled from his base on the South Coast complete with caravan to pickup the race bike and equipment from the managers location. The bike and kit set off for the 5 hour journey up to mallory at Lunch time. The team arrived at Mallory for 8pm and after securing the caravan spot and electrical hook up the team could relax after a long drive. Some of the Moores racing pit crew arrived and joined us for a small beverage before both teams decided to get a good nights sleep.
Sunday - Race day
First session for the race bike was a combined practice/qualifying session of 55 minutes. All riders lapped with consistent times on the bike. Terje was lapping in the 1:01’s Richard in the 1:04’s and Tony in the 1:07's.
The fastest time set in qualification was 1:00.65 set by Terje. The team had set a time fifth in their class behind Team Viking but ahead of competitors Phoenix Endurance. The Team had qualified 25th overall in a grid of 38 teams on both 600 and 1000cc bikes as the race was a combination of both Junior and National Teams.
After qualification all team members were happy and a plan for the “Race Day” was established to make sure rider order and timing/signaling were set for the race which was starting at midday only 35 minutes away. The race order for the riders was confirmed between the riders and Manager. Tony would ride 1st , Richard 2nd , holding the bike for Tony during the Le mans start, followed by Terje.
Start procedure went not too bad, Tony had a brief problem getting the bike to start which dropped the bike a couple of places. The first pit stop was due to take place after 50-55 minutes, whilst the manager was collecting remaining bits needed for the stop Tony pitted as the right hand foot peg had worked loose. A quick fix by pit crew and a re-fuel and rider change ensured that Richard exited to start his session.
During Richard's session he lapped consistently in the 1:02's/1:03's and held the team in its position, now at the back of the class following the stop to repair the RHS rear-set. At the end of Richards session as he came in to Pit just as the safety car had gone out due to a serious incident at the exit of Edwina's.
The race was stopped with riders held on the start finish straight. The team took the opportunity to re-fuel the bike and check the bike over. One of the officials informed the pit crew that this was not allowed so all work ceased on the bike. Later during the hour and a half stoppage the team was given a penalty due to the rule infringement, this would be taken when the bike left pit lane upon the restart.
Terry left the garage after the stoppage and completed a session where he lapped in the low 1:00/1:01's and reduced the gap by a lap or two between ourselves and Phoenix Endurance. Terry stopped to hand over to Tony for his final session. Tony was out for only 5 laps before another serious accident brought another stoppage to the race for an hour and a half. This was due to the Phoenix Endurance bike crashing into the wall at the Esses.
This long stoppage lead to a run time of only 30 minutes before the 6 hours were completed. Richard decided not to get back on the bike so Tony could complete 15 minutes and Terje the last 15 minutes of the race.
Terje did indeed bring the bike over the flag to finish the sixth round of the Endurance season. All members of the team were on pit wall to show their appreciation to Terje and the bike.
When Terje returned to Parc Ferme and a beer or soft drink was shared out whilst Macca from GB Moto did a huge burn out. A race finish was relief given the difficulties raced by some riders and teams. The team wishes to pass out it's Best Wishes to both Paul Smyth (who rode for the team at Snetterton) & Pete Gibson who had suffered injuries during the race.
The manager would like to thank all team members Riders: Richard Greenland, Terje Joensen & Tony Perrin. Pit Crew: Mick Dundee and Leah, Tony's girlfriend who was the teams Marshal.
In the Championship table Best Choice is now trailing Phoenix Endurance by ½ a point, this is due to half points being awarded to all teams due to the shortened race distance. This can be overtaken at the next round Silverstone as Phoenix maybe not competing at this round given the damage to their bike. This would give the team a chance to move up the championship table to 5th overall. In total the team has 38.5 points from 6 of 7 rounds, including a DNF at Pembrey, and a no start at Cadwell Park. This is a great achievement for a new team in the championship.
The manager would like to thank each and every member of the team for the efforts put in over the event. Also the companies which have helped Best Choice Endurance complete it’s first six rounds in the 2008 HMRC National endurance season: GB Racing, Tullets Plant, Seton Tuning, HEL, Motorbike-Crazy.com, Jesters Trick Bits & Motorsport Marketing.
Photos can be found Here
