www.shelveyracing.co.uk
Brands Hatch 23 – 25th September 2011
We were able to meet at the caravan and had a clear run up to Brands, arriving just after the gates to the inner paddock had cleared. We were right up the other end, garage 29. For a change we were the first to arrive out of our gang and the paddock was fairly empty so we were able to park up as we wanted to. Dave unloaded the van and parked it by the fence and I unpacked the caravan, in no time we were done. Stu turned up a bit later, having had to fix his van en route. With everyone soon settled and having had a nose in on our chums on our way to the toilets we were soon ready to escape out of the darkness and hit the pillows.
Friday
Friday dawned bright but chilly, we were glad to have had the heater on stand-by. Dave was soon signed on and with Martin’s help noise testing the bike. Dave had a busy day with riders to help in two of the three solo classes. Stu was also out today getting a bit of practice as he wanted to ensure he could gain his national licence – by finishing in the top 50% of the races.
After lunch, Dave spent a bit of time with Stu and then had a spin on his own, trying to get a couple of good laps in to prepare himself for the racing. The weather had been lovely all day and we hoped it would hold for the rest of the weekend. Neville arrived mid afternoon and having abandoned the caravan on the edge brought the van holding Charlie’s bike up to the garage to get it ready for the weekend. Charlie was working late so would drive down Saturday morning. Dave finished mid-afternoon and got his bike and himself scrutineered. We all then settled down to fish and chips in the garage and a good natter with our chums.
Saturday
Saturday was bright but chilly, Dave was up early – he had a busy day ahead. Having popped tickets for our guests on the gate Dave cycled down to the office to sign on. We had both hoped he would be able to run the number 1 plate, but unfortunately this was not possible which was a bit disappointing given the how much it meant to team Shelvey, Martin came up with a cunning plan to make sure the number one would be on the bike at some point over the weekend!
First qualifying was out with the Powerbikes, Dave went well and posted a 50.7 claiming 15th in class. With only a short gap between sessions Martin helped re-fuel and pop the tyre warmers on as Dave had a chance for a bit of refreshment himself. Dave was then out again with his normal crew and posted a time of 50.9 placing him second in SS600. Charlie and Stu both posted times in the 52 second bracket and were going well. The Powerbikes got out again just before lunch, Dave again posted a solid time 50.6, we had a chance for lunch before Dave was out again with all the 600’s. He came in early again, but still posted a positive time of 50.9, however he had hot competition from Ed Pead who piped him to eleventh on the grid by 0.01 of a second!
Dave went out in the Powerbike race but got caught out by fallers at Druids, he had to stop sharp to avoid a fallen rider and tumbled off over the handlebars. He managed to remount and limp back to the garage for running repairs. The scrutineers were on site and cleared Dave’s bike and he was able to make it out onto the grid for the re-run, unfortunately the rear set bracket had been bent inwards during the crash and Dave found this out as when the bikes suspension compressed the swingarm hit the rear brake and applied it, so he nearly came off at Paddock as his bike skipped round, he pulled in to fix it before the SS race. Dave was soon back on track with the bike fixed although he was not feeling too clever himself having fallen hard on his hip and bent back his thumb. He still went out to play and managed to hold position across the start/finish line before dropping two spots. He managed to get Sam Cox back on lap four and Mark Trowell on lap five to leave him fifth in class with a best time of 50.56.
With a short amount of time to prepare the boys were soon getting their costumes on for the charity cycle race. Dave had somehow managed to get into two teams, but with Rookie “superman” Adam on hand to join “hotdog” Charlie and “mummy” Martin. He was able to join an unrecognisable Mikey G who was dressed as a “hooker” and “town crier” Jeremy. There we loads of other great costumes, and spirits and supporters were overflowing as the race began in essence. The Clubman and Rookie 600’s began to have a water pistol and bomb fight which degraded into full buckets of water but that was to be expected really – at least it was warm enough for most to dry out! It was a bit confusing to work out who had won the race as cheating was everywhere – all the participants were winners as they raised a lot of money for the benevolent fund. We went to the prize giving, Dave in his monkey outfit (which appeared again a few more times over the weekend) then the lure of Dave’s toys and the smooth floor of the empty garage next door lead most of the six hundred riders to rain chaos and destruction is a very entertaining evening of trials and tribulations on the unicycle, razor board, Healy’s, scooters, jumping springs etc.... We finally got to bed just before midnight as the boys burnt themselves out!
Sunday
Sunday was another lovely sunny day, Dave and Heidi came up with Martin – it was good to see my pitwall pals and the extra hands during racing was always so helpful. Dave was out early on in the day with his first Powerbike race, it was a pretty stagnant race with Dave dropping back every few laps from tenth back to thirteenth, he always struggled against the bigger bikes but still managed to post a time of 50.47 on lap twelve of fifteen. He did not have much time to refuel and relax until he was out again for another 15 lap race with the Supersport guys. He got going better this time moving up into twelfth, with a bit of dicing with Spencer on laps 7 and 8, he then got caught and passed my Mark Trowell and Reece Baldwin, eventually finishing thirteenth, but third in class with a best lap of 50.53. We were glad for a break before the afternoons racing, Dave was struggling a bit with his thumb and bruised hip. Dave made a great start in the Powerbike race crossing the start line in tenth, he was soon pushed back lap on lap to eleventh, twelfth thirteenth and finally into fourteenth, but he was forth in class and did a best lap of 50.71. Again we had a quick ten minute gap until Dave was back out again with the six hundreds. It was the boy’s last race of 2011, Dave proudly wore his T-shirt fashioned with a big yellow no1 on the back – he would wear the number somewhere, it was a matter of principle. Dave had a very busy race, with positions changing almost every lap, he was in a huge battle with a whole heap of top riders. As always he worked hard and eventually finished in eleventh, third in class with a best lap time of 50.98. Over the weekend Dave had been teetering on his PB of 49.7 and in each of his races was barely a second off of it at the most, even though the bike and rider get older they also perfect consistency. It has been a magical and extremely rewarding year, which saw Dave push himself to the limit and sometimes over it in order to satisfy his goals. Shelvey racing would like to thank all their brilliant sponsors and supporters for all their help and encouragement over the last eleven years of racing and hope they also enjoy the 2011 Championship title!
We were able to meet at the caravan and had a clear run up to Brands, arriving just after the gates to the inner paddock had cleared. We were right up the other end, garage 29. For a change we were the first to arrive out of our gang and the paddock was fairly empty so we were able to park up as we wanted to. Dave unloaded the van and parked it by the fence and I unpacked the caravan, in no time we were done. Stu turned up a bit later, having had to fix his van en route. With everyone soon settled and having had a nose in on our chums on our way to the toilets we were soon ready to escape out of the darkness and hit the pillows.
Friday
Friday dawned bright but chilly, we were glad to have had the heater on stand-by. Dave was soon signed on and with Martin’s help noise testing the bike. Dave had a busy day with riders to help in two of the three solo classes. Stu was also out today getting a bit of practice as he wanted to ensure he could gain his national licence – by finishing in the top 50% of the races.
After lunch, Dave spent a bit of time with Stu and then had a spin on his own, trying to get a couple of good laps in to prepare himself for the racing. The weather had been lovely all day and we hoped it would hold for the rest of the weekend. Neville arrived mid afternoon and having abandoned the caravan on the edge brought the van holding Charlie’s bike up to the garage to get it ready for the weekend. Charlie was working late so would drive down Saturday morning. Dave finished mid-afternoon and got his bike and himself scrutineered. We all then settled down to fish and chips in the garage and a good natter with our chums.
Saturday
Saturday was bright but chilly, Dave was up early – he had a busy day ahead. Having popped tickets for our guests on the gate Dave cycled down to the office to sign on. We had both hoped he would be able to run the number 1 plate, but unfortunately this was not possible which was a bit disappointing given the how much it meant to team Shelvey, Martin came up with a cunning plan to make sure the number one would be on the bike at some point over the weekend!
First qualifying was out with the Powerbikes, Dave went well and posted a 50.7 claiming 15th in class. With only a short gap between sessions Martin helped re-fuel and pop the tyre warmers on as Dave had a chance for a bit of refreshment himself. Dave was then out again with his normal crew and posted a time of 50.9 placing him second in SS600. Charlie and Stu both posted times in the 52 second bracket and were going well. The Powerbikes got out again just before lunch, Dave again posted a solid time 50.6, we had a chance for lunch before Dave was out again with all the 600’s. He came in early again, but still posted a positive time of 50.9, however he had hot competition from Ed Pead who piped him to eleventh on the grid by 0.01 of a second!
Dave went out in the Powerbike race but got caught out by fallers at Druids, he had to stop sharp to avoid a fallen rider and tumbled off over the handlebars. He managed to remount and limp back to the garage for running repairs. The scrutineers were on site and cleared Dave’s bike and he was able to make it out onto the grid for the re-run, unfortunately the rear set bracket had been bent inwards during the crash and Dave found this out as when the bikes suspension compressed the swingarm hit the rear brake and applied it, so he nearly came off at Paddock as his bike skipped round, he pulled in to fix it before the SS race. Dave was soon back on track with the bike fixed although he was not feeling too clever himself having fallen hard on his hip and bent back his thumb. He still went out to play and managed to hold position across the start/finish line before dropping two spots. He managed to get Sam Cox back on lap four and Mark Trowell on lap five to leave him fifth in class with a best time of 50.56.
With a short amount of time to prepare the boys were soon getting their costumes on for the charity cycle race. Dave had somehow managed to get into two teams, but with Rookie “superman” Adam on hand to join “hotdog” Charlie and “mummy” Martin. He was able to join an unrecognisable Mikey G who was dressed as a “hooker” and “town crier” Jeremy. There we loads of other great costumes, and spirits and supporters were overflowing as the race began in essence. The Clubman and Rookie 600’s began to have a water pistol and bomb fight which degraded into full buckets of water but that was to be expected really – at least it was warm enough for most to dry out! It was a bit confusing to work out who had won the race as cheating was everywhere – all the participants were winners as they raised a lot of money for the benevolent fund. We went to the prize giving, Dave in his monkey outfit (which appeared again a few more times over the weekend) then the lure of Dave’s toys and the smooth floor of the empty garage next door lead most of the six hundred riders to rain chaos and destruction is a very entertaining evening of trials and tribulations on the unicycle, razor board, Healy’s, scooters, jumping springs etc.... We finally got to bed just before midnight as the boys burnt themselves out!
Sunday
Sunday was another lovely sunny day, Dave and Heidi came up with Martin – it was good to see my pitwall pals and the extra hands during racing was always so helpful. Dave was out early on in the day with his first Powerbike race, it was a pretty stagnant race with Dave dropping back every few laps from tenth back to thirteenth, he always struggled against the bigger bikes but still managed to post a time of 50.47 on lap twelve of fifteen. He did not have much time to refuel and relax until he was out again for another 15 lap race with the Supersport guys. He got going better this time moving up into twelfth, with a bit of dicing with Spencer on laps 7 and 8, he then got caught and passed my Mark Trowell and Reece Baldwin, eventually finishing thirteenth, but third in class with a best lap of 50.53. We were glad for a break before the afternoons racing, Dave was struggling a bit with his thumb and bruised hip. Dave made a great start in the Powerbike race crossing the start line in tenth, he was soon pushed back lap on lap to eleventh, twelfth thirteenth and finally into fourteenth, but he was forth in class and did a best lap of 50.71. Again we had a quick ten minute gap until Dave was back out again with the six hundreds. It was the boy’s last race of 2011, Dave proudly wore his T-shirt fashioned with a big yellow no1 on the back – he would wear the number somewhere, it was a matter of principle. Dave had a very busy race, with positions changing almost every lap, he was in a huge battle with a whole heap of top riders. As always he worked hard and eventually finished in eleventh, third in class with a best lap time of 50.98. Over the weekend Dave had been teetering on his PB of 49.7 and in each of his races was barely a second off of it at the most, even though the bike and rider get older they also perfect consistency. It has been a magical and extremely rewarding year, which saw Dave push himself to the limit and sometimes over it in order to satisfy his goals. Shelvey racing would like to thank all their brilliant sponsors and supporters for all their help and encouragement over the last eleven years of racing and hope they also enjoy the 2011 Championship title!