Unfortunately it rained in the night and for the early part of the morning so I couldn’t get an indication of what the shock would be like on a dry track. As for riding the bike in the wet, that was good. I was in the top 10 all session feeling pretty comfortable. Also, in only 8 laps I went over a second quicker than I did on the Aprilia last year. I always liked Hondas in the wet because they seem to give me more feel instantly whereas with the Aprilia you have to push the bike hard in the wet before it starts to respond. After warm-up I was hoping for a wet race but it didn’t look like it was going to happen.
We went with the softer Showa shock for the race as a complete gamble because I had nothing to lose. I made a good start from 23rd on the grid and went deeper than most, into the first corner, which put me into about 18th. I was trying to make up as much time as early as possible and see if I could get into a fight with somebody and hang onto a decent group. T
he first time we came onto the Dunlop straight I knew that something wasn’t quite right with the engine, I was getting romped. On the 2nd and 3rd lap I was with an Argentinean rider, Perren who was also riding a standard kitted Honda but I was still getting absolutely smoked every time we got onto the straight parts of the track. I thought "sod it, I’ll either crash or I’ll stay on the back of him"... At the end of the third lap, I crashed.
I went into the final corner, was slightly wide and the front let go pretty easily. I tried to get back on but the clutch lever was broke and that was the end of my race. I was obviously disappointed but felt that for the 3 laps that I did, I gave it a good go. It was difficult to tell how the different rear shock was after so few laps and with the engine the way it was I struggled to get a real indication.
I’m grateful to Molenaar for giving me the chance to try a Honda/Bakker bike and also thanks to the whole team, especially my mechanics Clinton, Roy, Hans and Tim, there were a real good bunch.
