Back On Track - After 18 months away I am back on a race bike
- Andy Marks
- Apr 1
- 11 min read
The third weekend in March was to be my first race meeting since October 2023. I’d been making some real progress throughout the 2023 season and in the very last race of the season, on a Sunday afternoon, I set my fastest ever lap of Brands Hatch! However, within a few days of that meeting my Mum got some test results that nobody wants to see, and within three weeks she had passed away.
Needless to say, priorities changed. By March 2024 I hadn’t even looked at the MZ. I was also very behind with work. My Dad and I discussed it, he is very much a part of my racing efforts, assisting with the bike and accompanying me to all my races, and we decided to give that meeting a miss. Before we knew it the next one had come and gone and before we knew it we had missed the entire season!
The two of us went to Brands in October 2024 to spectate for a day. Unsurprisingly in the MZ paddock, everyone made us very welcome and we thoroughly enjoyed being back in the group, but it wasn’t quite the same without taking part. By that Sunday evening, my bike was on the bench and there was no chance of us letting another season slip us by! I had never thought of giving up racing, I always knew I would be back but that Saturday served for a big hit of motivation to get back out there this year.
We did some work on the bike over the next few weeks, I’d fallen off at the end of 2023 and there was some damage that needed repairing. But inevitably the motivation and work rate tapered off as the evenings got darker and colder. March was ages away after all…
Fast forward to the beginning of March this year. I’d just got home from a ski trip and had three weeks (two weekends) to get the bike ready. The first weekend slipped by without much progress so with less than a week until Brands I got out in the workshop to get the bike ready. I’d already accepted that my spare engine wasn’t going back together, I’d have to hope for the best with my first one.
I finished the new alloy yokes I'd been working on, off and on, for about two years! I made a bracket to take the lap timer, a new rear brake setup and a few other smaller jobs were all done and the bike was back together on Monday evening. Tuesday morning I bolted the aforementioned lap timer on and found it to be dead. The technician at Aim was very helpful and eventually we decided it was a duff battery. I ordered a new one which turned up on Wednesday, big sigh of relief when that solved it! Wednesday also included an hour of chasing cracks around the exhaust with the TIG welder and our first go at forming a curved number board. It was all done by Wednesday evening and we even had time to touch up some of the paintwork.
Thursday morning I went to the gym, sat in the jacuzzi and relaxed a bit for the first time all week. It was all getting a bit hectic and stressful and I questioned several times if it was worth it. But I had friends coming to watch, I’d offered to do a write up for the club magazine, and I had a teammate. There were a couple of times I think I’d have pulled out if it wasn’t for all these reasons.
I called in for some fuel on the way home and my new £50 camera from Amazon turned up Thursday lunchtime. I bolted that on and wheeled the bike out to the van. I decided to pop some fuel in and hear it run before loading up… NOTHING! No sparks – it was cold and starting to get dark. We loaded up the van and decided to solve it at Brands. I wasn’t out until the afternoon anyway. I put a post on the Facebook page and got loads of offers of spares so I knew we would be able to sort it once we got there.
Friday
We arrive to a very cold Brands Hatch and before we even start unloading there are more offers of help. We've got plenty of time so get ourselves set up and put the bike on the bench. We decide to start by fitting a coil lent to us by a fellow racer, as we are swapping them over, we find a broken wire. Easy fix and, in truth, if we’d found it at the weekend we’d have turned up with a working bike. It was just too cold and too late last night.
Friday afternoon doesn't exactly go as I would have hoped. We get one session on track instead of the scheduled three after a sidecar spills oil all over Clearways (the last corner) and it takes half the afternoon to clear up!
I pull out of pit lane planning to ease in very carefully, but on my first run up to Druids another bike gets on the brakes way too early for my liking - I pass him up the inside and get cracking. This gets me back into the rhythm nicely, so much for taking it easy.
After a couple of laps I'm doing consistent 1:05’s. I've got more to give but I'm happy to be getting a feel for the bike again at this pace. I return to the paddock feeling very happy with my first time on the bike in 18 months, and no doubts whatsoever that it is worth all the hassle I’ve had this week. I couldn't have asked for much better for my first session, as for it being my last session before qualifying... I just wish I could have a couple more sessions.
By the time I get off the bike I'm tired and very cold, so Dad and I head up to the Kentagon for a meal before booking into our hotel for the night instead of doing the planned piston ring and tyre changes.
Saturday
MZ's are first on track at 9am on Saturday morning which means we have an early start. Not quiet as early, however, as it is for my partner, Leigh, and a couple of our friends, Ray and Debbie, who drive up to watch for the day.
My plan for qualifying is to treat it like another practice session. I settle straight in and immediately feel better on the bike. The head shake that I was getting in a couple of places yesterday (on the bike, not me) has gone as well – I haven’t changed anything on the bike so I guess I'm just riding more relaxed today. A couple of laps in Gary passes me and I am able to stay with him. This feels good and we are soon in the 1:03s, two seconds faster than yesterday and good enough for 9th on the grid out of 17 riders – I’ll definitely take that after the break!
Race 1
Between quali and race 1 we get the new slicks fitted and I'm ready to finally go racing again as I line up on the grid. Starts have never been my strong point and this is no different, I lose a couple of places before Paddock (turn 1) and another one on the way into Druids (turn 2). I get shuffled back quite a bit over the first couple of laps, it would appear that although I haven't lost all my speed I'm not as sharp when it comes to racing others.
After getting slightly flustered early, I settle as the race goes on and I start taking a few places back. After eight laps I cross the line in 12th, very close to a couple of my fellow competitors. Just 0.085s behind Graeme with Rich another 0.6 in front of him and another 0.5 to Caleb. Great fun, but definitely room for improvement.
There's plenty of time before race 2 – so the piston ring that we would have done last night if it wasn’t so cold gets changed. Dad and I leave Leigh, Ray and Debbie with the kettle and set to work. We've done this before and we're comfortable with the time we have. I'm latter told that our tea crew can’t believe how calm we are with an engine in bits and ‘only’ a couple of hours before our next race. Why aren’t we flapping more?
Race 2
I’d improved again in race 1 and my lap time of 1:01.2 moves me one place forward to 8th on the grid. A long delay this morning means this race has been reduced to 7 laps – my slow starts don’t lend themselves to shorter races! Despite getting off the line a lot better in this race, I'm once again shuffled backwards for a couple of laps before I get going.
I told myself after race 1 that I need to be more decisive in the races. I put this into practice on the last lap, but my lunge on Graeme into Graham Hill bend not only costs me the place to him but another one to Rich after I lose the drive down the straight.
I get a good run out of clearways but run out of straight and finish 0.085 behind Rich. This time 0.6 seconds cover me, Rich, Graeme and Caleb. I'm on the wrong end of it again but close racing has put a huge smile on my face. This is what we come racing for – and I can't wait for more of the same on tomorrow!
The advantage of being first in the rotation is that we are finished early. Leigh, Ray and Debbie set off for home whilst Dad and I walk up to the Kentagon for something to eat before heading back to the hotel again.
In the hotel I take a look at the data from my lap timer and watch the videos from my two races. Both of which confirm my feeling on the track, I've been slightly slower everywhere compared to 18 months ago. It's nothing drastic but it all adds up and I'm about two seconds per lap off. I'm not too worried about it, I've had a long gap, it's bloody cold, and all the time I'm getting good racing the lap times are secondary. Nevertheless, I identify a couple of key areas to work on tomorrow before getting an early night.
Sunday
If there was ever any doubt about how out of practice we are, it can be summed up by Sunday morning. Dad and I are up, out of the hotel and have the bike ready for the first race of the day at 9am. About 8:45 it starts to strike us as odd that nobody else is in any rush, we check the schedule and realise racing at Brands Hatch doesn't start until 10am on a Sunday! Still - better early than late...
It's warmer today so I decide to drop a jet size, I went up one on Friday in the cold so it's time to take the chance and see if I can get a few more revs at the top end - I wont bore you with tech talk here, but there is a risk in doing this, albeit a calculated one. The bike should be faster, but go too far and it will seize.
Race 3
I'm back to 11th on the grid, I was consistent yesterday but others were obviously finding a bit more pace. We are still only talking 0.5 seconds between about half a dozen of us so it's tight margins and I'm sure there's plenty of good racing to be had.
After getting off the line well I miss third gear as I change up from second and I'm pretty sure I'm stone dead last by the time I tip into turn 1. No problem, that jet change has given me a bit more speed and I'm soon back onto the group I've been racing with.
More great racing with a real highlight being my pass on two riders into the same corner and making it stick! Once I'm past Gary and Carl I set about chasing Rich down, he pulled a bit of a gap as I worked my way back up through the pack. I catch him as we start the final lap and attempt a pass into Graham Hill. Just when I think I'm through he throws it across my nose and keeps the position - that was close! Rich is nothing if not aggressive and now he knows I'm behind him.
My only remaining chance is to get the run through the final corner and pass him before the line, unfortunately we catch a back marker at just the wrong moment - once again Rich demonstrates how to be decisive on track and squeezes through while I'm pushed out wide. On the throttle early I'm pulling him in all the way down the straight but, as yesterday, the finish line isn't quite far enough along the straight for me! Just look at the picture, that's what 0.088 seconds looks like at almost 100mph! That's less than the time it takes to blink!
As we ride back to the paddock I'm disappointed I didn't get past. Once I'm off the bike I take a moment to remind myself that I've had another great race and that is what I'm here for. This was also my best result of the weekend with an 8th place. The bike is flying now and I'm ready for our final race of the weekend.
Usual practice for us between the two races on Sunday is to pack all of our kit away so it's just the bike left to go in the van after the last race and we can get away quickly. Today is no different so by the time I head out for the final race of the weekend the bike is sitting on the floor with the tyre warmers on and not a lot else is out of the van.
Race 4
I start 11th on the grid again but this time I get my best start of the weekend. I'm right in the mix as we all pile into turn one and I spend the first couple of laps battling with Gary again, he's assertive but it's all clean and I'm confident he isn't going to do anything daft. I love this kind of racing!
Graeme, Simon and Rich are only just in front of us and by lap 4 we've closed up on them, this is shaping up for a five way scrap to finish the weekend off. Despite my focus on what I am doing, I allow myself the odd grin down the straights. To think I nearly pulled out of this weekend is crazy - this is what we come racing for!
Unfortunately our battle for the ages never happens - on lap 6 the red flags come out and the race is stopped. We've completed 5/12 laps, but because some of the front runners have completed their sixth lap it's called a result. What's really irritating is that Rich had pulled out with bike trouble and I was in front of Gary when the flag came out, but the result is taken from our last completed lap so I effectively got relegated two places from where I was on the track.
It's a disappointing way to end the weekend but my overriding emotions as I put the bike back in the van and head for home are all positive - I'm back racing and I can't wait to do a few jobs on the bike and get to the next meeting.
Unfortunately I can't make it to the next round at Oulton Park, or the following one at Snetterton. So my next race meeting will be at Donnington Park at the end of May. That is a very different circuit and I am already working towards it.
I'm back in the gym at 7am on Monday and when I unload the van on Tuesday the bike goes straight up onto the bench. Donnington is the type of circuit that will expose any lack in top speed, so the bike wants to be tip top and I need to be lighter again if I want to go well there.
Thanks for reading about my first race meeting in 18 months, this layoff makes this my first outing since I started this blog and, as such, this is my first time writing about racing. I hope you enjoyed it. Please subscribe to my blog so I can let you know about future posts as soon as they go live.
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