Tim Hastings Racing #50

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Tim's Report - Oulton Park - 18th, 19th & 20th July

I went to Oulton with a lot of confidence after my 2nd place at Mallory and although I messed up my first lap last time out at Oulton I had set the fastest lap. (Cup Rider).

In both free practices I was in 4th but my times were well down on what I had done previously. I knew I could have gone faster but was struggling to find my pace and the track didn’t seem to have much grip. I was still happy that even though I wasn't up to speed, I was in the top 4.

In first qualifying it was wet and I started off slowly, checking for grip and set up. I started to move up through the field and was in the top ten when I made a silly mistake, (I was watching another rider ahead of me and missed my brake marker), and went straight on at Druids and hit the tyre wall. Thankfully, there was no damage and I was able to rejoin, annoyed with myself, I pushed hard and went 5 seconds a lap faster than I had been and realised the track was drying quicker than I thought. I went 2nd, only 0.1 seconds off the pole and 2 seconds clear of third. Result!

In qualifying two, it was dry, so Q1 times counted for nothing and it was all down to this session for the grid. In the first half of the session I made sure I got a good time in but again I was struggling and down in 8th place. I came in with 6 minutes to go and told Mark what was wrong. Mark changed a few things on the front suspension and on my out lap, the changes we made felt better. I would only have time for two quick laps so I pushed hard right away. On my first fast lap I went to P2 and got across the line just in time to start another lap. This time I did enough to set the pole time which was a good result.

Sunday morning warm up wasn't that good as we all went out on slicks and it started raining before the end of the first lap! At first the rain wasn't that hard, so I completed one flying lap and then came in.

The race was like another 2 hours away but by then it was dry and the sun had come out. I knew I had the pace to run at the front and I got a really good start and took the hole-shot. From then on and for the whole race it was hard work. Me, Matty and Martin eventually managed to make a gap and we all had a turn at the front. It was a real good race, at one point I even thought I had it won as I made a little gap. But they closed me back in and on the last lap I had a plan of where to pass for the win but Matty defended at the corner and held me off, I finished 2nd by only by 0.058.

Thanks to Mark and all the guys at KRP for such a strong bike all weekend and also to my sponsors for making this season happen.

I'm off to Albacete next weekend, 27th July, with Team KRP to compete at the next round of the Spanish CEV championship with my team mate, Martin Glossop. I know it’s going to be hard, but we will be doing our best.

Timmy #50

Tim's Report - Mallory - 27th, 28th & 29th June

In FP1 I was fast straight away as I had been to a track day with the team 10 days earlier. About mid-session I was in P1 then came into the pits and tried a slightly harder rear tyre, it didn't work as well as I thought it might have, even though I went faster than before we fitted it. I still ended the session in 6th with a faster lap time than I did during the 2007 meeting.

FP2 was wet and was a bit of a nonsense session, as the rest of the weekend, (for us), was forecast dry. I just went round to get a feel for the wet and because I enjoy riding, no matter what the weather. I ended the session in 13th but I knew if we had a wet qualifying, I could go faster. It was still an overall good session and I was happy with it.

Qualifying 1 was dry and I improved my lap time again but was in 6th place only 0.6 off of pole. I struggled to go fast as there was a lot of traffic but the bike felt good and I was confident I could go faster in Qualifying 2. I went out at the front and pushed hard right away, before long my pit board was showing P2, I was struggling to find clear track and with only six minutes of our session remaining, I drove through pit lane, hoping to re-join the circuit with some clear track. I was P8 with time for only one last lap and decided to do what Dan Cooper told me and "just hang it out". I felt like I was right on my limit but kept the lap going and was really happy to finish P4 and on the front row, just 0.3 seconds off pole!

Sunday was going to be busy, with a warm-up plus two 22 lap races! In the warm-up session I glazed a set of new front brake pads and couldn't brake as I needed to and as a result I was only 9th fastest. The guys changed my front disc and pads, ready for the race.

For race 1, I was sixth on the grid, but it was the race that got cancelled at Donington. I got a good start and was up into 2nd in turn one. I was able to hold my own in 2nd but by mid distance, I started to get a dead leg and was struggling with my gear changes. I was getting a dead leg as my suit was too tight around my knee. I then started to drop down the order. I was holding 6th ok, but first Jay Lewis and then Luke Hinton crashed and I gained two places and finished in 4th, (2nd Cup).

For race 2 I was 4th on the grid and got and average start, I stayed 4th into the first corner and managed to pass for 3rd after a few laps and then quickly caught and passed Lee Costello for 2nd. By then, my team mate, Martin Glossop, had cleared off into the distance!

I was pulling away from the chasing pack but then got caught behind a backmarker and that allowed 3rd to close up to me. This then put pressure on me for the rest of the race. I managed to hold onto 2nd until the last lap before I was passed into the new chicane, I got better drive out and was able to pass back, on the brakes into Edwina's. I left my braking so late, I thought I was going straight on, Jay was also late on the brakes but I managed to make the apex and got through. I held my line into the hairpin and was expecting Jay to try a pass but when I got through the Bus Stop still in 2nd, I knew I just had to keep it pinned to the line! My best finish overall and in the Cup, (1st).

Thanks to all at KRP for a fantastic bike and to my sponsors for helping me get this far. Thanks also to Candice and her friend for being my grid girls, I know Fred Clarke was well impressed with you both!

Timmy#50

Tim's Report - Snetterton - 13th, 14th & 15th June

I really struggled at Snetterton in 2007, so I was just hoping to improve and get into the top five for our first practise session. I went a full two seconds faster in FP1 than my best 2007 time and was fastest overall!

In FP2 I improved my time by a further 0.6 of a second and ended the session in 2nd overall. The track felt much faster in FP2 probably because it was later on in the afternoon and warmer. My plan was to go out first to get away ahead of everyone to get clear track but I stalled the engine and ended up leaving the pits last, I still got lots of clear track though! I felt confident for qualifying as I hadn't been out of the top two in the practise sessions so far and was improving every time I went out.

Our first qualifying session was right after our second practise session so it was a busy day; usually qualifying is left until the following day.

This time I left the pits first, and after about five laps I started to catch slower riders. Next I saw Matty Hoyle just ahead, (Matty & I were fastest all weekend), I couldn't catch him, but he couldn't pull away either, so we must have been lapping at more or less the same times. I was in P2 but only 0.03 off pole! Matty must have got a signal from his pit crew and I really should have known better because Matty slowed and went in behind me, improving his time by 0.4 seconds.

Saturday was a long day as we only had one session and it was after 1pm. Q2 was warm and dry, the track felt fast right away with much better grip than on Friday. I went out near the front and got my head down early. I knew the times would improve and I wanted to be putting in fast times right away so I could respond in time. Once I was lapping quickly, I was having problems at Coram's; I lost the front a few times, nothing sudden, just gently and quite slowly, weird! I was able to hold it up on my knee, but it was scary as Coram's is a fast corner. I came into the pits and explained to Mark what was happening and he made some changes to the front suspension. That made the bike handle much better and I was able to improve my times. Matty and I were P1 & P2 and were the only two riders to get times in the 1.13's I was happy with that and looking forward to the race.

Sunday morning warm up gave me a surprise, after two gentle opening laps I went for a fast time, I went fastest in the first sector, then just before the end of the Revett straight, flat out in 6th gear my bike seized, high siding me at 133mph! Thankfully there wasn't too much damage to the bike and I had only skinned my thumb after my glove wore through so I was able to race later that day.

At Snetterton we do two warm up laps, so I pushed hard in both of them so that when the lights went out I was already focussed and up to speed. I pulled up on my grid slot and just focussed on the lights. I got a real good start, and went second, right behind Matty. On that first lap me and Matty had already pulled a gap on third place by the end of the Revett straight. Then, just on exiting Russells chicane, the bike cut out and I dropped back into the pack before it got going again and also allowed the leader to pull away.

The next seven laps were a struggle and I fought hard to stay in contention for a podium. On lap 8, the leaders' bike broke down which now meant I was battling for the lead. I started the last lap in the lead and I knew I could win it. My team mate was right behind me but I felt I was stronger than him in the second part of the lap which is where it was going to matter for the win. I got a good run onto the Revett straight, but again the bike cut out, and although I managed to finish the race in 5th place, I was gutted not to have got my first win!

Thanks to all the guys at Team KRP for working so hard all weekend, next up is Mallory so I'm hoping for a good result there.

Timmy#50

You can read the older reports here.