A warm welcome to you all, the season is fast approaching and Team Aztec chose Cartagena in Southern Spain to carry out testing on their revised 2010 specification machine.
Just when we thought that we had escaped Britain’s weather, the team “Truckies” found themselves in “stormy water”, more on that a little later. Dave and Kevin’s journey began with an early start on Saturday 27th Feb travelling to the workshop to pack the van and newly acquired trailer, once loaded, the pair set off. Now normally at this point the author describes the glorious sunrise over the bay, none of it. This is Plymouth, home of a proud seafaring nation or as it is now the centre for drunk boxing, wailing sirens and Mr Mustapha’s kebab shop, selling everything except tea, the pilgrim fathers apparently took their own.
Having arrived at 5.30am with just over 7 hours to kill, before sailing, we were at least ahead of schedule. Needless to say our early arrival paid off as we were loaded on the ship in pole position, a sign of things to come perhaps. Looking forward to meeting up with other teams who were attending the test, Kevin set off to see who was around. Short answer, nobody. Panic was now setting in, had he got the wrong ship, was the test cancelled, was he the only one not to know, even worse was this the right weekend?
“So, are you off two Cartagena then” was the question posed to anyone showing any sign of a link to two wheels. As time passed and the worry mounted, everyone and anyone was treated with similar scrutiny. The last straw for Dave, was witnessing Kevin interrogating a group of Lithuanian crop pickers, in some vague hope that they may know of the whereabouts of the BSB paddock. Things had become “edgy”. “If you don’t pack in this in, you’ll be straight up that bar for a large JD and coke”, barked Dave, needless to say this set the tone at only 2.00pm.
As the ship rolled its way along, the level of some spirits rose. One of the highlights being an impromptu series of golf lessons held in the bar area from the “Turweston Pro”. 7.00pm passed in a blur, time for bed said Zebedee and the night passed peacefully. The dynamic duo appeared for breakfast at about 9.00am surrounded by some very green looking travellers. The talk of the ship was the storm encountered in the Bay of Biscay. One elderly lady asked how we had got on through the hurricane. Hurricane, when was that then?
The 12 hour drive from Santander to Cartagena was great with Dave and Kevin sharing the duties. By now the fuel light was almost melting the dash as the Aztec truck pulled into a fuel station somewhere in the town. It was now 1.30 in the morning and Kevin did his very best Moto GP bike impression, to a bemused elderly attendant. Ahh came the response, duly drawing a map to the circuit. Mission accomplished, we had arrived safely. The next day was spent sorting out the hotels and other stuff ready for the arrival of the rest of the team.
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Bryan, Nick, Stuart, Tom & Alan all arrived on the Wednesday afternoon and we set about getting set up in our garage. We were joined by Andy & Danny along with their family’s for a brief rundown of the test schedule. Nick & Bryan had put together the plan that would see the team work for the first time with our new suspension partners PAIOLI and Maxton along with a whole host of improvements over the 2009 spec bike. The four day test would be split between Andy and Danny. Andy Reid would be riding on Thursday and Friday with Danny taking over for the Saturday and Sunday sessions.
The teams’ new rider, Andy Reid climbed aboard on a windy but dry Thursday morning. With four sessions per day for Thursday and Friday, this would see what he was made of. As Stuart pushed the 15 year old off for the first time heads turned down pit lane as the all black machine made its way on the Spanish circuit. Andy’s brief was to execute a solid session and become acquainted with the new bike.
The machine was set up to a very similar spec to the one that Danny had secured 5th place on at Oulton Park in 2009. The 25 minute session passed without incident, Andy followed the brief and put in a very solid performance. This first day would be all about settling in. Session 2 saw Andy up the pace with his growing confidence, all was going well. Session 3, Nick had some test work to be done on part of the electronics package, this involved some calibration work, again the youngster showed great maturity and executed the test plan in a professional and timely manner.
The last session of the day was a chance for Andy to be let off the leash, he was free to do what he wanted, excluding crash. Again, the “Belfast Boy” took the Aztec machine past the chequered flag for a very satisfying end to the first day of testing. Bryan Nortje commented, “This has been a very mature display from Andy, we were all wondering how he would react in his new environment, now we know. The team is very happy with his performance today and we can now move on and make changes to the bike ready for tomorrow”
Day two saw some significant changes to the bike, unlike the overcast weather. The 2010 spec cylinder was on and a new rear damper from MAXTON had been fitted. Again another 1/2 hour under the belt for Andy and some good feedback for the pit crew. Some small adjustments and he was off again for session 2 of the day, more good feedback followed and everyone was growing in confidence. Tom Brown was acting crew chief for the day and it was great experience for him to make decisions regarding set up etc, all under the watchful eye of Mr Nortje.
Session 3 saw Andy take to the circuit once again and deliver another solid performance much to the delight of everyone. He was really looking very comfortable on the bike. After the session debrief with Nick, Alan started doing some work with him on lines and braking points. Sadly session 4 never got underway for the team. As the machine was started for the last session, it appeared that the engine was not quite right and a decision was made not to risk any kind of major failure. The gremlin was traced to a faulty seal and was duly replaced ready for day 3. “It’s a shame the day had to end” said Andy. “I was very happy with the bike, in particular the way it handles, all very different to my Honda GP bike from last year. I now look forward to Brands”.
Day 3 saw the Tetbury teenager return to the seat. Danny had done some laps the previous day on a borrowed bike to acquaint himself with the Spanish circuit, which he had not seen before now. A small excursion had left Danny with a sore rib, so we all waited to see how he would cope. Session 1 for Danny saw new front suspension fitted along with the MAXTON rear damper. This component testing was critical as it was the set up that we would be starting the British championship with.
The sixteen year old Kent returned to the garage after a faultless session and was straight into the debrief with Nick. It looked like a thumbs up from Danny regarding the new forks and he was happy with the 2010 spec cylinder. Session 2 of the day was a repeat of the first, albeit with Danny now starting to wind the bike up and push it into the performance envelope. Another great performance from Danny saw the session end on a high. More feedback for Nick and Stuart, acting as race engineer for Danny in 2010. Further adjustments were made to the rear damper and final preparation was made for session 3.
Session 3 had been combined with session 4 to give a one hour opportunity to run race distance. We planned to let Danny run for 5 laps getting him and the bike up to speed and then bring him in and fit new rubber, then run race distance. In he came, stopped, wheels out, sadly not back in. A problem on the new forks stopped the proceedings. The machine was soon back on the workbench and a replacement fork leg was prepared. This was summarily fitted and Danny was returned to the circuit with about 17 minutes to go. Sadly not enough time to get back fully into the groove. “It’s a real shame we had this problem” said Danny, “I was really looking forward to the race simulation and pushing the bike harder than the last session”
Incredibly, we were now on day 4, the component testing had gone exceptionally well with any small niggles being rectified easily. The running order for the final day returned to the previous format. Session 1, saw Danny running in another new cylinder which passed without incident showing remarkable restraint. Next came some piston work, again the 16 year old showing remarkable restraint and maturity executing the test in a professional manner.
Session 3 was now upon us and Danny had some very simple tests to do regarding the electronics systems and some final suspension set up. Again the session was completed and all was well, although we suspected a little frustration on Danny’s part. So into the final 30 minutes of the day and now it was young Danny’s turn to have a free reign. He settled into a lovely rhythm and some consistent laps. Although there was no official timing the stopwatch was employed for this last session. The Aztec machine was consistently hitting the 1min 44sec mark. The young Gloucestershire runner would then show his maturity by dropping in and out of groups of riders looking at lines and brake points. Off he went again and was now head down into it, the lap times were now into the consistant 43’s. Again the "wick" was turned up, Danny and the Aztec machine were now lapping consistantly into the 1min 42's and recorded a best time of 1min 42.2sec. Upon his return to the garage, all that could be seen was a an “ear to ear” typical cheeky grin, enough said.
The chequered flag dropped on our first overseas test. It had been a great success with both of our riders, Andy Reid and Danny Kent being a credit to themselves and the team. Nick commented, “I think this is the best test I have been involved with, both Andy and Danny have provided fantastic feedback and the components tested have all worked well. We look forward to round 1 at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend with renewed confidence.” The team’s garage, home for the last four days was summarily packed back into the van and made ready for the long haul back to Santander.
A final word for our intrepid driving team who took the truck back through the mountains of Spain, but only just, tiredness and Blizzards almost getting the better of them. The return ferry journey passed without incident and before you could say JD & coke, Britannia beckoned. Once back on shore, within 2 minutes, the wail of a police sirens signalled the commencement of local hostilities, welcome back to Plymouth.
The team makes its way to Brands Hatch for round one of the British championship over the Easter weekend. We hope to see you there or at some point during the season. Finally a special thanks to all of our Sponsors & Partners, without whom this test would not have been possible. A special mention to John Miller at Base Chemicals, everyone at Doodson Broking Group, Russell at Panther Composites, Tony Holton at ARH Electrical and Ian Kidson at Masco UK. Without your support Aztec GP would not be where it is today, as always many thanks, see you all soon.