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Race Report - Rowrah 2004
date added: -0-04-20We arrived at 1.30am on Saturday morning, and went through the hateful ritual of setting up a brand new tent in the dark on ground with no soil, tired and frozen. Thank the gods for massive steel rock-pegs and a sledgehammer....
Camping is quite a challenge at Rowrah circuit, as the track and camping area is in and around an old stone quarry on a hilltop, with the mountains of the Lake District on one side and the land levelling out towards Whitehaven and the sea just beyond the horizon in the other. A chill prevailing wind makes it damn cold at night, and uncomfortable too if you don't have lots of foldup, blowup, collapsable ect furniture and more thermal clothing than Ranulph Fynnes. Nothing got lost, broken or filthy this time, and we aquired a sheeps skull from the back of the quarry where noone goes and the primroses bloomed in thick yellow carpets.
The first race (6hrs) got off to a flying start, with no crashes of mechanical probs, and we came a glorious third in our class. The next days race (4hrs) was better as we came second, but poor old Smartin came off and puked in his helmet after skidding 20 meters on his head. He spent the next couple of hours with mild concussion, asking people the same questions over and over. He got off very lightly, considering, and so did the bike, which just suffered cosmetically. Unfortunatly, the same could not be said for those involved in a later crash. A couple of the faster bikes t-boned each other making a right mess and stopping the race for nearly an hour.
There is always a terrible tension during a red flag. The track falls silent, all that can be heard is- 'Who is it? What happened?', while the marshalls run around and the ambulance makes its progress around the track. The longer it lasts, the more worried people look, and this time the very worst thing happened, the bikes were ordered off the track, and an NHS ambulance arrived with a paramedic car in hot persuit. Eventually the news trickled through the pit-lanes that one rider had back injuries and another chest injuries. We passed our best wishes on to their team-mates, and were all quietly thankful it wasn't us.
It put a bit of a cloud over the day, but its an accepted risk with any motorsport that each time you participate, you take your life in your hands.
It was a good day for our team though, with Miguel doing a 1.09 and Ben managing a personal best of 1.01, despite the fact that after Smartin's mishap we were down a rider.
The weather in Cumbria was a bit better than forecast, as it only rained on Sunday night, putting our new tent to the test, which it thankfully passed.
You also take your life in your hands when travelling in G's van. On the way up those of us in the back could hear a definate metallic grinding noise, lo and behold, the next day, on inspection, it was discovered that there were no pads left on the breaks.