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EAST FORTUNE, 21st/ 22nd APRIL 2007

Off to East Fortune Friday night. That’s a long drive! Thankfully Colin Gibson and Ian Fraser (sidecar #99) had arrived early and their team put up a new awning (yes the awning story continues!). Good job they did as by 9.30 pm the paddock was bursting at the seams with a full grid of 22 sidecars plus 3 reserves on the programme as well as over 200 solo riders.

Got new Yokohama tyres for the rear and chair wheels after the performance at Knockhill and Ness City Tyres fitted them for us ready to go. Also changed the brake pads to try and get some better stopping power. Unfortunately, it was a drizzly first practice on Saturday and not the best conditions for scrubbing in the new rubber and bedding in the new brakes. The Melville Club have done a fantastic job of re-tarring the track at East Fortune and have finally done away with the last nasty bump on the top straight. The new tar was a little greasy and every one struggled to get grip as the first spots of rain settled. It rained properly for the qualifying session which slowed the pace down considerably. Jenny’s feet are officially too big for the sidecar and Scobby Killough (seen lurking in the background of the photo below) tried to trim them back to a size eight at the hairpin. Seems he just squashed them a bit flatter and we now fear they are size 10!!

(Image courtesy of Mark 'Wally' Walters) (Wallys Race Photos)

Only got one race after lunch as there were some fairly serious accidents in the solo races which held up proceedings. We held on to the back of a group of four sidecars and finished 15th. Jen’s butt skiffed the grass in the left hander before the hairpin as her right hand lost grip in the last lap. Determined neither to scuff her new leathers nor lose face in the closing seconds she swung herself back on board. Brakes didn’t feel too great and the handling needed some thought. Back to the drawing board.

(Image courtesy of Mark 'Wally' Walters) (Wallys Race Photos)

Sunday was wet again with the dilemma of what tyres to put on. While changing them over to wets (again) we discovered a brake problem. We had reverted to the old brake pads that morning and roughened up the discs only to discover that the rear and chair had locked on and the front wouldn’t work at all. First practice would have to be abandoned while this was rectified. After a little fettling by Alan Shand the problem was solved, all brakes worked perfectly with much less effort on the lever. This would hopefully resolve the hand fatigue that Kerr had experienced the day before. Kerr had also been busy gleaning advice from fellow drivers the previous evening and we put a little more air in the chair wheel and altered the ignition cut off time for the quickshifter to try and reduce the effect that gear changes had on the handling.

First race came and we were concerned that we hadn’t had any practice time to re-bed the brakes. We fell in behind Geoff Smale’s F2 and couldn’t get by as it darted around the track. Second race was a far better run. Things started to fall into place, the brakes were bedded in and much improved and the handling better. We roasted round on the tail of James Neil until the yellow flags came out, as an outfit had broken down on the outside of Railway corner. Yellows became reds as officials decided that this was too dangerous a place to leave the machine and that was the race cut short. It wasn’t a bad place to finish though, best result was 14th, and we new that the work on the outfit over the weekend had been a success. Roll on Knockhill – an engine change planned!

(Image courtesy of Mark 'Wally' Walters) (Wallys Race Photos)

So – thanks again to all who came down to support us, hope you all enjoyed the intermittent sunshine. It was nice to see Steve and Mags Rhoden again and also to meet Jill and Nicky, another man with a spinal injury, interested in taking up the mad sport of sidecar racing. Hope to catch up with him at Knockhill and let him try out the outfit. Thanks Bob and Colin for coming down with us to lift all the heavy things and thanks Carol (Kerr’s Mum) for catering for everyone and making some incredibly good burgers!

Best wishes to you all

Kerr and Jen

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