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Alan hit the track in warm southern spain this weekend to do some much needed testing on his Gsxr 1000. As
usual with Alan, things didn't get off to a smooth start for Alan. Something to do with a van and a boat.
usual with Alan, things didn't get off to a smooth start for Alan. Something to do with a van and a boat.
Hi all,
As Anthony had said, I was in Cartagena in the south of Spain recently for a spot of winter testing. As work is
thin on the ground at the moment I got the job of driving the van to Spain. Sounds easy, just drive to Spain and
back. Well it was tough going but I had my route planned out and 2 stop-overs on the way. I got the boat to
Cherbourg which took 18 hours, but at least there was someone else driving! I think he was English. Then away
down the road down the west coast of France to a town called La Rochelle. It was the first time I ever drove a
van on the wrong side of the road, (well legally anyway). The woman in the sat-nav directed me out of
Cherbourg. More of that later. It took about 5 hours to get there, arriving at 12.30 at night. I was staying with
David McGowan from Sligo who's a professional rugby player with La Rochelle in the French league. Thanks
for the hospitality David. We went for coffee the next morning before I set off again. He seems to be well known
in the town so he must be good at the rugby anyway. I filled the van with diesel and away again. The tolls in
France are expensive, but the west coast doesn't seem to be as bad as the rest. Once you get on the toll road
your more or less guaranteed an empty road ahead. The opposite of Ireland really.
Day 2 was a long haul, 12 hours in total from La Rochelle to my stop-over in Valencia that night. I think it was
about 700 miles, just me and the woman in the sat-nav. The first half of the day was ok as it was bright and I
could look at the scenery. The climb from San Sebastian to Pamplona in the Pyrenees was pretty cool. I've
never seen a motorway going up the side of a mountain before. There were signs warning you not to run into
the arse of the artics. Strange, I thought, until I caught up with one! I was flat out at 45-50mph up the hill, but
the trucks with full loads were only doing 20mph. Arrrggghhh.... Not what you expect on a motorway.
Everything was ok until I got to Zaragosa, about 3/4 of the way to Valencia. Then that woman in the van with me
seemed to forget where we were going and I realised we were heading for Madrid! One u-turn later, I got back
on the right road, but she didn't recognise that one. Kept saying things like turn left in 50 metres... while I was
doing 80 in the fast lane on the motorway.. I had to shut her up. I got to John's house about 11pm and had
some dinner. Then we watched Eurosport repeats and emptied a few beer bottles before getting some sleep.
Next morning we hitched up another bike on a small trailer and away to Cartagena. John came with me in the
van as the plan was for him to help us with suspension settings, maintaining the bikes etc. John is a well
respected team manager having worked in the WSB paddock for a few years so he came with a plan, which is
always good. We had a good conversation about all the things you could do if you had the money.. Then reality
bit us on the arse again! There was a loud bang as we drove on the motorway about an hour from Cartagena. I
pulled in to the side of the road and we discovered that the suspension on the trailer had collapsed, bursting
one of the tyres and detroying the wheel. So we dragged it behind us with sparks flying everywhere for about
half a kilometre to a service station. John had to stay with the bike and trailer while I drove on to the track,
unloaded all the other bikes and came back for him. We loaded everything into the empty van and carried on.
Ther 3 hour drive down the road had turned into 6 hours. But we were there at last. All the others flew down
and were laughing and joking. Grrrr...
Day 1 on track was for learning, so we didnt mind a few locals joining in. It was a Sunday. There were about 80
bikes on track, 2 groups of 40 with a half hour on, half hour off. This was fine as it is quite a long lap with a lot
of corners and only a short straight. It suits the smaller bikes a lot better, so riding the 1000 was hard work. No
harm in that though as it is good practise. There were a few sore bodies that evening. No matter how fit you
are, there is only one way to get race-fit and thats on the bike. Somebody had a brainwave that evening. Lets
jump in the outdoor pool at our accomodation to ease the muscles. It was bloody FREEZING. 3 of us jumped in
and we were out again as fast as we could swim!
Day 2 on track was better. There were only 24 bikes there for the day. We had an open pit lane all day. I lost
count of how many laps I did but it was a lot. I was feeling fairly tired that evening, but I didnt care. I had tried a
few different things with the bike including a change of tyre manufacturer and I was happy enough with the
outcome. The speed was coming back and things were looking good for the last day when I planned to chase a
decent laptime. Away we went to get some much needed food.
Seven of us walked in the door of the local Chinese buffet restaurant. They were delighted to see us as the
place was empty. They were delighted to see us leave too, because there was no food left for anyone else! I
counted at least 3 main courses each plus wine, beer and desert. Yes, at the all-you-can-eat restaurant, we ate
all there was...
Day 3 dawned and the spirits were down a bit. We were in one of the driest parts of Europe and it was raining.
We went to the track and some of the guys didnt turn a wheel as they had no wet tyres. In fact none of us had
wets. I did my customary trip out onto a damp track on slicks. They thought I was mad but I didnt drive all the
way to Spain to sit in a pit box. There was just enough grip to keep the tyres warm. Sometimes you can learn
more on a wet track as your going slower so you can look around a bit. I did 2 sessions but towards the end of
the second session it was raining proper and the tyres went cold. I could see a huge black cloud approaching
so I pulled in. It rained again and didnt stop for about 3 hours so that was the end. When I came in there was
some smoke coming from strange places in the bike so I couldn't have done any more laps anyway. We packed
up the van and headed out the gate at about 4pm.
Overall the trip was a success as everybody seemed to get something out of it. Having a bit of backup was a
big help and cant be under-estimated when your so far from home. No matter how good your preparation there
can still be a few mishaps, both mechanical and self inflicted. Thanks to Stephen Harnett of NDM for the
organisation and to John Preston for the general pit lane skills he bought to the track. Even an old git like me
can still learn a few tricks.
The trip home was a bit odd. I was glad to be heading home, but its not the same when your heading away from
the sunshine and into the rain. Roll on the racing season. I just hope we have some money to run the bikes. Its
not looking good at the moment, so if there's any sponsors out there, please get in contact with us by email or
phone.
Alan.
As Anthony had said, I was in Cartagena in the south of Spain recently for a spot of winter testing. As work is
thin on the ground at the moment I got the job of driving the van to Spain. Sounds easy, just drive to Spain and
back. Well it was tough going but I had my route planned out and 2 stop-overs on the way. I got the boat to
Cherbourg which took 18 hours, but at least there was someone else driving! I think he was English. Then away
down the road down the west coast of France to a town called La Rochelle. It was the first time I ever drove a
van on the wrong side of the road, (well legally anyway). The woman in the sat-nav directed me out of
Cherbourg. More of that later. It took about 5 hours to get there, arriving at 12.30 at night. I was staying with
David McGowan from Sligo who's a professional rugby player with La Rochelle in the French league. Thanks
for the hospitality David. We went for coffee the next morning before I set off again. He seems to be well known
in the town so he must be good at the rugby anyway. I filled the van with diesel and away again. The tolls in
France are expensive, but the west coast doesn't seem to be as bad as the rest. Once you get on the toll road
your more or less guaranteed an empty road ahead. The opposite of Ireland really.
Day 2 was a long haul, 12 hours in total from La Rochelle to my stop-over in Valencia that night. I think it was
about 700 miles, just me and the woman in the sat-nav. The first half of the day was ok as it was bright and I
could look at the scenery. The climb from San Sebastian to Pamplona in the Pyrenees was pretty cool. I've
never seen a motorway going up the side of a mountain before. There were signs warning you not to run into
the arse of the artics. Strange, I thought, until I caught up with one! I was flat out at 45-50mph up the hill, but
the trucks with full loads were only doing 20mph. Arrrggghhh.... Not what you expect on a motorway.
Everything was ok until I got to Zaragosa, about 3/4 of the way to Valencia. Then that woman in the van with me
seemed to forget where we were going and I realised we were heading for Madrid! One u-turn later, I got back
on the right road, but she didn't recognise that one. Kept saying things like turn left in 50 metres... while I was
doing 80 in the fast lane on the motorway.. I had to shut her up. I got to John's house about 11pm and had
some dinner. Then we watched Eurosport repeats and emptied a few beer bottles before getting some sleep.
Next morning we hitched up another bike on a small trailer and away to Cartagena. John came with me in the
van as the plan was for him to help us with suspension settings, maintaining the bikes etc. John is a well
respected team manager having worked in the WSB paddock for a few years so he came with a plan, which is
always good. We had a good conversation about all the things you could do if you had the money.. Then reality
bit us on the arse again! There was a loud bang as we drove on the motorway about an hour from Cartagena. I
pulled in to the side of the road and we discovered that the suspension on the trailer had collapsed, bursting
one of the tyres and detroying the wheel. So we dragged it behind us with sparks flying everywhere for about
half a kilometre to a service station. John had to stay with the bike and trailer while I drove on to the track,
unloaded all the other bikes and came back for him. We loaded everything into the empty van and carried on.
Ther 3 hour drive down the road had turned into 6 hours. But we were there at last. All the others flew down
and were laughing and joking. Grrrr...
Day 1 on track was for learning, so we didnt mind a few locals joining in. It was a Sunday. There were about 80
bikes on track, 2 groups of 40 with a half hour on, half hour off. This was fine as it is quite a long lap with a lot
of corners and only a short straight. It suits the smaller bikes a lot better, so riding the 1000 was hard work. No
harm in that though as it is good practise. There were a few sore bodies that evening. No matter how fit you
are, there is only one way to get race-fit and thats on the bike. Somebody had a brainwave that evening. Lets
jump in the outdoor pool at our accomodation to ease the muscles. It was bloody FREEZING. 3 of us jumped in
and we were out again as fast as we could swim!
Day 2 on track was better. There were only 24 bikes there for the day. We had an open pit lane all day. I lost
count of how many laps I did but it was a lot. I was feeling fairly tired that evening, but I didnt care. I had tried a
few different things with the bike including a change of tyre manufacturer and I was happy enough with the
outcome. The speed was coming back and things were looking good for the last day when I planned to chase a
decent laptime. Away we went to get some much needed food.
Seven of us walked in the door of the local Chinese buffet restaurant. They were delighted to see us as the
place was empty. They were delighted to see us leave too, because there was no food left for anyone else! I
counted at least 3 main courses each plus wine, beer and desert. Yes, at the all-you-can-eat restaurant, we ate
all there was...
Day 3 dawned and the spirits were down a bit. We were in one of the driest parts of Europe and it was raining.
We went to the track and some of the guys didnt turn a wheel as they had no wet tyres. In fact none of us had
wets. I did my customary trip out onto a damp track on slicks. They thought I was mad but I didnt drive all the
way to Spain to sit in a pit box. There was just enough grip to keep the tyres warm. Sometimes you can learn
more on a wet track as your going slower so you can look around a bit. I did 2 sessions but towards the end of
the second session it was raining proper and the tyres went cold. I could see a huge black cloud approaching
so I pulled in. It rained again and didnt stop for about 3 hours so that was the end. When I came in there was
some smoke coming from strange places in the bike so I couldn't have done any more laps anyway. We packed
up the van and headed out the gate at about 4pm.
Overall the trip was a success as everybody seemed to get something out of it. Having a bit of backup was a
big help and cant be under-estimated when your so far from home. No matter how good your preparation there
can still be a few mishaps, both mechanical and self inflicted. Thanks to Stephen Harnett of NDM for the
organisation and to John Preston for the general pit lane skills he bought to the track. Even an old git like me
can still learn a few tricks.
The trip home was a bit odd. I was glad to be heading home, but its not the same when your heading away from
the sunshine and into the rain. Roll on the racing season. I just hope we have some money to run the bikes. Its
not looking good at the moment, so if there's any sponsors out there, please get in contact with us by email or
phone.
Alan.