A new adventure for 2024 thanks to the support of my sponsors is to contest the Yamaha R1 Cup in Spain. A championship within a championship itself with several categories making it a series with good fun competition throughout the entire grid.
Despite managing to offer a more relaxed schedule with one race per series each weekend in comparison with it’s UK based contemporaries, it somehow also manages to create a significantly higher sense of occasion due to the heavy support from various motorcycle manufacturers, tyre brands and other motorcycling related businesses.
Each race has a race start grid formation complete with bike stands, tyre warmers (unplugged), brolly person and photographers and finishing with full race podiums complete with podium finishers caps, prosecco and various prizes depending on class. A busy paddock made up of various merchandise stalls and a strong crowd make for an excellent atmosphere and sense of occasion.
Add to this the Spanish climate and being able to ride at places like Valencia and Jerez I’m sure you’ll understand the attraction to tick it off the bucket list.
There are of course many hurdles to clear before being able to line up on the grid for the first time and certain distance related ones that will be a constant mark on the ‘minus’ side of the plus/minus list of anyone considering giving it a go would draw up before taking the plunge, just as I did.
I hope to help guide you through the process over the course of my 2024 season.
Despite what I believed to be a decent amount of preparation time with the decision being made to enter the series early last year, the standard issue of long lead time on parts and other work commitments saw the usual mad rush, much like those of you who already race experience before each round despite your best efforts.
This unfortunately left me with a considerable amount of work to do on the bike once it had arrived in Spain, as and when the various items had arrived.
For the outward journey ahead of the season, I had managed to share the costs with another racer who was already driving to Spain and back for testing in February. This represented a considerable saving of both time and cost in having to carry the journey myself whilst also helping to reduce the costs for the other party.
An idea had been to book onto a euro trip with any of the UK based European track day organisers, however after investigation this proved to be a non-option due to insurance and carnet problems whereby the companies had to return with all items listed on the outbound journey.
Seemingly there are more people than you would think that carry out trips into and out of Spain who have space they would gladly sell for fund towards their travel costs. A few simple social media posts should yield similar success for others looking to do as I did.
I met the bike and belongings at Jerez where I’d also managed to book onto the 3 day event directly with the Italian organiser. This made good use of the costs incurred in getting the bike out to Spain and with the costs of flights and accommodation included it worked out to be less overall than had I been able to book an off the shelf euro event.
The 3 days on track were really beneficial in both developing the bike and knocking the riding rust I had developed over a year or so of virtually no seat time.
Once the final day had been completed it was time to conclude the trip with the most important part which was to meet up with the gentleman whom would be taking me under his wing for the season. Pav Steska who runs SRT, itself a race team with riders competing in various championships within Spain. A side of his business is to provide storage/transportation and support as required. Without this service it simply would not be possible for people like me (on a budget) to race in Spain.
Returning to England with a list of items to still sort on the bike as well additional spares/items that the Jerez test had shown I would need to bring back out with me for the first round immediately highlighted one of the larger issues to overcome with racing in another country. That of logistics. For the initial journey out there, as is always the case, there was a limit on space and weight. Also with the service SRT offer, it is unrealistic to believe they can bring the same amount of stuff as you do whilst racing in the UK. Which let’s face it, is everything but the kitchen sink!
Some items are purchasable whilst out in Spain, however most items are easier sourced and purchased in England. In short be prepared to purchase extra luggage allowance for each round.
Had I been racing in England this year I would currently be able to ‘tinker’ with the bike between each round as we all do (read every spare minute doing so) however not being able to do this does mean that I am able to compartmentalise the bike racing side of my life so that once the logistical side for the next round has been taken care I can focus on the things I should have been doing in the first place (work, cutting the grass, cleaning the car etc!)
The first round of the Yamaha R1 Cup was at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia and one of several I’ve yet to ride before on this seasons calendar. Luckily for this round there was an extra test day on the Thursday which would give me much needed time to continue sorting the remaining bike alterations and to try and learn the track.
Being an anti-clockwise circuit, left hand corner biased track in an amphitheatre setting I would say it’s nearest UK counterpart would have been the long since closed Rockingham race way. A mixture of seriously fast sections and slower hairpins it’s an incredibly physical lap offering little in the way of rest even along the start finish straight. The sensation of speed is increased at several points due to its enclosed geography.
A track where each part flows to the next making it all too easy to ruin your lap before its even begun. Despite knowing the route to a fast lap time is all about references, for braking, corner entry apex and exit, this mostly goes out the window for me whenever I ride a new track as I spend the first day trying to build up speed and confidence as you would on an unfamiliar road.
The relaxed nature of the days schedule (Thursday 5 x 25 minute sessions roughly 2 hours apart, Friday 4 x 25 minute sessions roughly 2.5 hours apart) seemingly meant I had plenty of time to continue working on the bike between each session although in reality it was still a mad rush to get changed and out for each session. Needless to say, it was a long day which had me looking forward to sleeping on the days events, a time when I often manage to dissect the days riding and begin to formulate the much needed track references I should have been using the day before.
Friday was a continuation of Thursday, working my way through the required bike alterations both chassis and electrically (i.e mapping, engine brake, wheelie control etc) as well as completing the necessary requirements to pass Spanish scrutineering. The main additions in comparison to the UK requirements being the fitment of the oe front sprocket cover (this must be fully enclosed) the drilling and fitting of a removable drain plug to the belly pan and the installation of fuel foam into the fuel tank.
Managing to complete the weekends work just in time for the 3rd session of the day less than 5 minutes after the uttering of words to my ever patient wife ‘that’s the bike all done now so once the last session is finished we’ll get away early for a relaxing evening ’ I found myself losing the front at the awkward right hander of turn 12. An 80mphish (I’d know more if the datalogging system was working – one of the “still to sort” issues) which despite a relatively impressive roll through the gravel saw me emerge without injury, I’ve no doubt due to the performance and quality of the protective clothing I am very lucky to have access too.
Unfortunately, the bike wasn’t so lucky with the gravel trap causing it to roll over rather than just sliding to a stop. Apart from the usual gravel rash which managed to damage the entire bodywork set, it also damaged things like fairing mounts, footpegs & handlebars. This is of course meant a relaxing evening was most definitely not had! Finally finishing the repairs in the early hours of Saturday morning (largely owing to the help of a fellow garage member – Thank you!) it was a short sleep before an early return to the track in order to complete scrutineering before the first of the 2 x 30 minute qualifying sessions I had in front of me. Of course, for this event ‘sods law’ dictated that the first one had to be the first session of the still cool morning adding to the panic of being able to get signed off in time and to then get the bike on tyre warmers.
Luckily we made it and after a few sighting laps to check all was well with the repairs I had managed to set a relatively competitive time for my class despite in all honestly being reasonably gun shy through turn 12!
For the 2nd qualifying session of the day, I found myself really struggling with feeling from the front, it felt awful. No matter what I tried the lap times weren’t coming, with the tiredness I couldn’t be sure if it was my riding, the tyre or the bike. Luckily experience told me to just call it a day, so that’s what I did. Finally leaving the track early enough for a relaxing evening meal and some decent sleep.
Sunday morning saw me suitably refreshed and looking forward to taking advantage of the 10 minute warm up session. Unfortunately, this was again the first session of the day and there’d been some very light drizzle before dawn so it wasn’t an opportunity to improve on the day before. A pre-cursory check through the bike and it’s various settings and I immediately found zero preload in the front forks (I knew there was something not right in that second Q session).
I’d managed with my fatigue and the general rush the day before to not complete the job properly after carrying out a front spring change between the two Q sessions. That was a close one as the awful feeling I was having was the forks bottoming out, leaving the front tyre doing all the work. This was clear evidence the knock on effect of something like a crash can have over a whole event. From the incident itself to the lack of rest through to simple things such as not eating or drinking enough whilst you’re dealing with the issues that can then have a significant effect on both your cognitive and riding performance.
The warm up session served its purpose and with the correct preload added to the front suspension, confidence was restored.
With my race not until after lunch time I had plenty of time to finally take in the event, walking the paddock and watching several of the races from the stands above the pit garages as they filled up with a much larger crowd than I was expecting for club racing. With views of the entire track it was easy to see why it’s such a fan favourite track.
As previously mentioned, the process of the beginning of each race is for pack to form on the gird a la professional races. A 10 minute call is made to the start of the race where pit lane opens and an out lap is completed. Just before the grid the track is closed by safety Marshalls where by a small opening is left by which you must have killed your engine before crossing and (hopefully) rolling to your start position. Having qualified 23rd out of 35th starters this was not a problem for myself!. Imposter syndrome in full effect whilst sitting on the grid with the various media of the event taking photos and it was suddenly time for the sighting lap. It was at this point I realised I had yet to complete a racing start on the new bike nor any bike in over 18 months. Thankfully this line of thought manifested itself in an awful start, seeing me virtually last into the first corner.
I managed to make up the majority of these positions over the first few laps and found myself in P3 for my class with P2 only a few seconds in front, a gap I could see I was bridging. A lap or so later I had bridged the gap and ready to take advantage of my stronger pace on the second half of the lap (after turn 12!). However, an accident brought out the yellow flags which stayed out for a further 3 laps which was enough time for my racers brain to subside allowing thoughts of just bring it home and finishing the weekend on a positive note to take over. Which is what I did. In a cruel twist of fate it became apparent after the race P1 had unfortunately crashed out of the race, promoting us each a position just to add insult to my hindsight based ‘should of gone for it’….especially as there was a new tyre bonus for the eventual winner.
With the championship being only 6 rounds and 6 races I certainly appear to have developed a different mentality in comparison to when I’ve contested championships with 3 races per weekend. A DNF feels as though it can be made up for over a round, whereas with a single race the possibility of a non finish is far more punishing. I’m interested to see how I manage this during the season.
So in summary I experienced a standard club racing weekend. A mixture of both lows and highs. Dozens of ‘why do we do this’ moments and many more ‘how can I do more of this?.
I have learnt several new things both to do and not to do. I pushed myself to get back up and keep going and once again found that although you’re in competition with people on track that even in another country many of these people will go out of there way to help you off track with warmth and humour those outside of the paddock wouldn’t necessarily expect.
It was a weekend I’ll never forget, roll on Round 2 at Circuito de Jerez.
Thank you to all those who have and continue to help me on this journey:
Sycamore Yamaha Uppingham
Helmet City
EBC Brakes
FTR Suspension
JPB Signs
Hel Performance
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