Missed opportunity as weather closes in……
With passports duly packed, the team set off on what was their first venture north of the border. The 3 usual suspects established base camp at the foot of, what we assume is the “Knock” part of Knockhill. Upon seeing it for the first time we were reminded of a wise old local saying, “If you ca’ na see the hill, it’s raining, if ye can see it, then it’s abooot ta rain”. Now we know where “Noah” tested his Ark.
With set up carried out in record time, everyone began to arrive. Nice evening meal and off to sleep…., not. The torrent of rain was un-believable, the normally secure & dry surroundings were severely tested. A new day and a dry, we couldn’t believe it either, session saw Andy turn in an impressive FP1 finishing in P11. This was the Belfast lads’ first trip to the circuit and he adapted very well. FP2 passed in much the same manner, yet another strong performance had him in “knocking on the door” in P12.
Andy was smiling, the bike was strong and we were all looking forward to Q1. Even though we knew Sunday would bring a “wet race” Bryan and the boys set about finding some improvements for this first dry session. With the front runners now dropping into the 55’s, the pace was warming up nicely. However the wind was creating havoc with some of the times and a lot of the riders were starting to struggle to keep the bike on the circuit.
By the chequered flag the Aztec runner had popped into P9 and brought it home safe and sound. A few tweeks were made for the second session in the search for more performance. Sadly, this seemed to go the other way as Andy sadly dropped two places for his combined, however Bryan and the boys knew what needed to be done for race day.
Warm up or rain down came as predicted. The only positive thing was that Andy was circulating over half a second quicker that the rest of the field in the appalling conditions.
With the weather constantly changing, the organisers worst nightmare was becoming a reality. The program was chopped and changed to accommodate TV and before we knew it the 125cc race was last in the schedule. More storms, high wind a general mayhem bought about the cancellation of the meeting. A real shame as Andy was “Up for it” and convinced a win was possible. We now have a double header at Croft.
The team would like to thank everyone for their time, effort and financial support in keeping us going. It’s an 800 mile round trip to Knockhill and without your support we would have struggled. It is deeply appreciated by us all.