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KNOCKHILL 3/4 MAY 2008

Following the electrical disasters of East Fortune we got in touch with Klicktronic, who make the quickshifter, to find out exactly how we should have it wired and they were very helpful, supplying us with a replacement Techtronic/ignition interrupt box which we think may have taken a knock. We took the wiring of the buttons back to first principles only to find that the gears operated the opposite way to what we expected. How this could have happened, given that we had a successful practice the way it was wired originally, we have no idea. But it’s electrics we’re talking about here and ours is not to reason why! So, do or die we did and changed the actuator to operate the opposite way round. We tested it and the green for go button went up through the box with ignition interrupt working too. We had got it to work. Honorary masters in electrical engineering all round!

It was with some apprehension that we waited to go out for Saturday practice. We changed the gearing while we waited, lowering it to try and hit top gear by the end of the straights. We got out for two practice sessions and thankfully the gears changed perfectly. We finished the evening by signing on and getting scrutineered ready for the morning.

New black anodised rims set the outfit off a treat!

During the night the heavens opened and everyone looked at the sky on Sunday morning wondering what it was going to do and what tyres to choose. We plumped for wets as the solo riders practicing before us reported standing water round the back of the track. There was a drying line when we got out but it was still very greasy and we were glad of our new wets courtesy of Ross-shire Engineering. We qualified 12th with a 64s lap which we thought was reasonable given the dubious track conditions.

During lunch we caught up with some of our supporters and sponsors including Brenda Mitchell from Digby Brown Solicitors who had come along to support their solo race team more details about them are available at www.digbybrownracing.co.uk. After the break we got out for our first race. Conditions had improved and the track was now dry. We got off to a slow start as the 2 outfits in front seemed to get bogged down on the line and the pack stuck close together through the first few corners. As the race progressed we had a good scrap with Colin Riddell and John McCartney. The scrap went a bit far when the nose of Colin’s sidecar squished Jen’s hand in a bid for the corner at the bottom of Duffus Dip. We finished 8th in the end and were quite pleased, although it felt like we had gone faster than a minute the lap times elude us and we were still turning out 60s /lap times.

Jen went in search of an ice pack as her hand started to swell up. The paramedics kindly provided one and it was supplemented by a big bag of ice from the Knockhill bar. This kept it at bay for the second race and once the adrenaline was up there was no pain at all. Another great scrap ensued with Colin and John and with Steve Charlton on his bright ‘Shrek’ outfit. We thought we had Steve in our sights at the last hairpin until Davie Wrinn sneaked underneath us and we missed out on our dash to the line. We had to concede to 9th in that race. Jen managed an ‘X’ with her fat hand to sign for the prize money at the end, just enough to get the team tea on the way home!

The drama was not quite over as we found that the lorry had decided to give up her power steering fluid. Thankfully Bob was to drive to Inverness and that was no easy task as she is quite a heavy girl without power steering. So the job list before Knockhill at the end of the month now centres on the lorry and getting her back in ship shape condition. A further lowering of the gearing for the sidecar is also planned.

Best wishes to you all
Kerr and Jen

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