Well As I promised, more sporadic writing.
I have just got back from the final motorcycle race of the year in Jerez. As I write I am still slacking out on my day off, lie in thoroughly enjoyed! So what happened in Jerez? Well it was fairly normal although with the bike and all the parts etc still in Britain after we did the Silverstone race of the BSB calendar I had the dubious pleasure of driving the whole shebang down to the south of Spain. I always love a road trip, don't get me wrong but getting to southern Spain in 2 and a half days is not fun. Especially when you have to do all the driving. We luckily missed the snow storms up north and passed through ahead of them.
We arrived on Wednesday at 4pm and called the other guys from the team to meet them, but they were off in the truck somewhere, I asked the mechanic I had traveled with what the score was as he told me we had to be there for 3-4pm, turns out that was not the time we had to be there it was just one he had picked out of the air. We couldn't get into the track till morning anyway. I could have smacked him in the mouth right then. The day before I had bust my guts doing a 13 hour drive to get as far as we did. Wanker.
Anyway arrival and set up was the usual affair as was the practice, though I was surprised at how fecking cold the south of Spain gets, not impressed. Sadly the race ended with our rider having an engine failure, a real shame as he had been taking a break from racing while he did his exams and was pretty rusty. This meant he qualified way down the grid in 36th but during the race had moved up to 20th and was continuing to build his pace. Shit, as they say, happens.
Anyway the future is good, Julz has got a permanent ride next year with a new team which he is very happy about, everyone is looking forward to their winter holiday before the circus goes on the road again in march. For me it is a time of uncertainty, as the rider is off to a new team net year and ours is not having two riders in the future I am looking for a job, as so many of us in the industry are at this time of year. I have quite a few irons in the fire and a fistful of maybe. Still that's the life we lead in racing circles.
Also as it was our last race together, Julz gave me one of his race helmets as a thank you along with a pair of his gloves, this was a really nice gesture, made even better by the fact his stuff fits me perfectly so I have a sweet new Shoei helmet with a custom paint job! :D
So whats next? Well tomorrow I am heading back to Portugal to to the last car race of the season there, I can't wait to see all my Portuguese friends again and have a great weekend with them all at Estoril, then it's back home to chill out. Hard. I have recently moved into a new place in the country, which coincidentally is next door to my brother and his family so I get plenty of quality family time, popping round for dinner or beer, playing lego and Mario kart with the kids, its great. We also have a big workshop in the garden where we work on the classic bikes so I'll get some pics up of what goes on in there too!
Keep tuned in as I have some time on my hands finally.
Henchy.
