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	Donnington august 07

RACING TEAM NEWS

PETROLHEAD RACING

THE CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING TEAM

JOHN SIMPSON WHO IS RIDING IN THE HONDA CBR500 SUPERCUP 2007

www.jmdsl.co.uk

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Simpsons Newsagents

30 Fountain Street

Antrim

Northern Ireland

BT41 4BB

Team Caravan

weekend of 17th &18th of march

First race of the season and we have a slight problem. During testing in Spain John came off the bike and has broken his collar bone in three places, but as in true grit style hes still racing this weekend.

Snetterton Saturday 17th qualified in 5th on the grid which is excellent considering this is the first time hes even been to this track.

First race was excellent placed 6th which gives us some valuable points to start the season off, second race was not quite as fortunate on the outset we were looking good for either a 5th or 6th again but unfortunatly for John a 125 competitor cut across his path on a corner causing him to come off, allthough hes scuffed his leathers on his right side hes sustained no further damage and will be able to race on sunday, the broken coller bone is on his left.

Snetterton Sunday 18th qualified 9th finished 7th in the first race and 8th in the second so as a result of the weekends racing hes come away with with a sore right side from the previous days racing and a handfull of points which is the most important part, and bearing in mind all the spanners that were thrown into his works over the weekend and prior to the race not to mention the fast deteriorating weather which capped the whole event off on the sunday hes done an excellent job and were all very proud of him.

Saturday 7th April Track Day at Mallory Park.

Excellent Day allthough he had a close moment on his first lap out when he got squeezed by another rider, it proved to be worth the effort as he improved his time as the day went on and gave him valuable experience of yet another track which hes never been on before.

Cadwell Park 8th of April

Entered a clubman race to gain experience at another track that he's never been to. Was rather daunted at the prospect of riding this track and wouldn't you be when you can hardly walk up the mountain section never mind race a bike up it. After timed practice he was 22nd on the grid and 4th in his class. The 1st race he stayed in fifth position right up to the second to last lap when 2 of his fellow competitors decided to crash out which brought him up the ranks to 3rd place by the chequered flag. I think the 3rd place gave him a huge confidence boost as when it came to the 2nd race he went off from the start like a man with a mission and went into 2nd place which he managed to keep to the end of the race despite the valiant efforts of Paul Russo who finished 3rd.

Oulton Park 28/04/07

Another track that John doesn't know but undaunted he tackled it with determination and enthusiasm

The first race gaining a respective 7^th place and the second race moving up into a 5^th place lap times were getting quicker all the time and Oulton Park being notoriously difficult to learn I think this is a huge achievement.

Some very exciting news for you he has now entered The Sound of Thunder class aboard a KTM660 (pictured below) and to say he had never even ridden the bike until he went out for timed practice by the end of the day the bike was going into the corners sideways in true Supermoto style, and also achieving a 19second improvement in his lap times over the day. Results put John in a very strange position, as he is not used to being at the back of the pack. I put this down to having a underpowered bike as it is bog standard, so when its brought up to race spec and he has it on a track that he knows we can fully expect a podium.

Watch this space

Snetterton 6^th & 7^th of May

Well quite an eventful weekend from Hot Sunshine to Gusty winds through to downpours of rain and that was just the weather we had to contend with.

As for the racing on Sunday the 6^th John came in an excellent 4^th on the CB500 in both races, although he struggled with gearchanges that was soon put right by moving the gearlever up a notch.

As for the Sound Of Thunder on the KTM he kept up his consistency (last place) we are expecting better things from this group once the bike gets up to speed but at least he’s consistent and the frustration is starting to show now John does not like being in this position one little bit.

Mondays Racing was completely different setting his best grid position in the Sound Of Thunder, although this was set on the CB500 in the wet as the tyres for the KTM had not arrived and we where not chancing going out on dry tyres.

Lap times were obviously slower, the first race of the CB500s was in full wet conditions but it did not stop him achieving a 4^th place.

Then he went into the Sound of Thunder and of course he managed to keep his consistency as he was on the 500.

Second race of the CB500s was very eventful started with a fast drying track and John was putting in his fastest lap times lying fourth for most of the race, as the final lap came he was fighting hard for third, and I am convinced he would have got the place, you could see it in his riding style it was far more aggressive yet still smooth, alas it was not to be as they came into the esses the rider in front lost control and left no exit for John and he crashed into the back of him, resulting in quite a lot of damage to the bike so much so he was unable to compete in the following round of the Sound Of Thunder as the plan was to do a splash and dash from one race into the next.

But as they say that’s racing.

Cadwell Park 27^th & 28^th May

We had high hopes for John this weekend as his confidence in getting a good result was very high, as I previously stated the last time we were at Cadwell Park.

True to form despite atrocious conditions weather wise he did not disappoint us.

Under full wet conditions he qualified 7^th in the CB500 class on the Sunday giving us a 4^th place in the first race and a very respective 2^nd place in the second race.

In the KTM class he qualified 11^th achieving 6^th in race one and 5^th in race two.

After spending all night trying to dry out leathers and gloves etc we awoke to another day of torrential rain for qualifying to which he achieved 3^rd on the grid in the CB500 class and in race 1 got another podium in 2^nd place from a very tense and nerve racking last two laps.

Race 2 was the highlight of the weekend started out wet with a fast drying track and all the competitors were out on wet tyres but towards the end of the race it was virtually dry, in the first few laps was dicing between 3^rd & 2^nd place but as the race was drawing to a close he managed to reel in the first place rider and took him to go on for the WIN.

And when we looked at the tyres once back in the paddock it’s a wonder that the bike made it back as they were shredded to bits.

To top the day after qualifying 5^th in the KTM class came home 6^th in the first race and a DNF in the second race after crashing out at the Hairpin or should I say washing out due to the weather.

He achieved 80 points over the weekend excellent result.

Kirkistown 3^rd of June

Keeping is hand in as the next race is the clubman meeting at Pembrey,

John was racing at Kirkistown clubman race to which he had two good races on a Yamaha R6 finishing 11^th in the first race and 9^th in the second.

Bishops Court Nationals 10^th of June

Qualified 29^th which wasn’t bad considering he was 20BHP down on the competitive bikes and was chasing 25^th position by lap three only to breakdown with an electrical fault which could not be fixed in time for the second race. (Sorry no pictures as his dad forgot to take his camera you just cant get the staff nowadays)

Pembrey Clubmans Meeting 16^th & 17^th of June

We thought this weekend was going to be another wet meeting as the trip down to South Wales was through 3 thunder storms and Saturday morning it did not look any better, but by the time John was due to go out on his first practice the Sun was cracking the flags and burning our backs off.

Sound of Thunder practice (timed) came back with a fastest lap of 1:20.59 putting him 13^th on the grid.

Timed practice for the CB500s saw him with a lap time of 1:14.32 putting him in Pole position in his class.

The first Race of the day saw him out on the KTM660 starting 13^th and finishing 11^th the two Aprillia 998s and the Ducati 996 that finished behind I can only imagine how they feel when a single cylinder KTM660 overtakes them and at the chequered flag they are nearly 2 seconds adrift from him.

Race 2 of the Sound of Thunder saw him finish 9^th with the same three bikes behind him but with a gap of nearly 3 seconds at the finish.

Race 1 in the CB500 class saw him finish in 1^st place in his class with the nearest rider 10.75 seconds behind him to which I said to him that he must try harder in the second race.

Second race with it being run with the early stocks saw him finish again in 1^st place but the first was even sweeter than before as he was first in the whole field with the nearest bike being a Suzuki 1000 over 14 seconds behind him and the nearest CB500 47 seconds behind him, also as a bonus he got the fastest lap of the race with a 1:09.64

John just loves to race entered the Clubman of Pembrey race to top the day off and finished in 20^th position which might not sound that good but he had lapped every other CB500 in the race!!

Last but not least He came away with the Man of the Meeting Award for the day

(If he carries on like this he wont be able to get his helmet on)

Second day Sunday.

First Race in the sound of thunder John finished a creditable 12^th after lap one it was declared a wet race.

And in race 2 Sound of Thunder he finished an even more credible 9^th.

CB500s races where slightly different to the previous day as they were immediately after the Sound of Thunder so we had to have the bike waiting for in the holding area so he could jump off the KTM and go straight out on the CB500.

Race 1 Wet race and John stormed into the lead and basically left everyone for dead and crossed the line in 1^st place over 20 seconds ahead of the nearest rider.

2^nd Race we had a bit of a panic on as they lined up on the grid prior to the race there was no John this was because they released the riders from the holding area early and by the time John had changed bikes they had released the grid out on the sighting lap so when the race was started John had to start at the back of the pack Twice this was because the second lap the race was Red flagged due to an accident and oil being spilled on the track. On the restart and a shortened race due to the delay on cleaning the track. John fought his way into second place in the race but 1^st place in his class it was an epic race and we have Four cups more on display.

sorry about the pics as I forgot to take the camera but I managed to draft in a sub from Lawrence one of the drivers from our sponsor J&M Distribution Systems Ltd.

Donnington Park 10/11&12^th august

We had a couple of days of track time before the racing on the Sunday.

Excellent result in the CB500 Supercup round qualifying in pole position.

The race which was over 12 laps was a slightly different matter, I think John had hyped himself up to much which in turn put a vast load of pressure on himself confident he would win.

Unfortunately he did not get the ideal start which put him into catch up and I feel that is where he started to make mistakes which in turn dropped him back in the field finishing a very credible 3^rd. (John was distraught when he got back to the pits he knew he could win, but to quote myself again that’s racing and part of the learning curve that hes going through).

Bracken KTM race was a different matter, qualified 9^th had a fantastic race and got himself into 6^th place at one point but was pipped on the last corner by a very desperate move and finished in a fine 7^th.

Pembrey Club Championship 18^th/19^th of August

What a weekend CB500 race on the Saturday was fantastic John lapped every rider except the second place, if had a few more laps he would of lapped himself?. This was a 16-lap race with only the same amount of points as an 8 lapper???.

John also had a ride on a KTM 990 to see if he liked the bike courtesy of KTM Motorsport, and I think he does like it as he qualified 6^th in the sound of thunder timed practice, not bad for first time on the bike, also qualifying 12 in the Bracken KTM660 and 11^th in the Moto Sixty race on the KTM990.

Results for Saturday

Sound of Thunder a very credible 6^th place excellent result bearing in mind it was his first race on the KTM990.

After jumping off the KTM and straight onto the CB500 he just wiped the floor and blasted to first place.

The Bracken KTM his result was not quite as good dropping a couple of places with the final result of 14^th.

Finally the half hour race The Moto Sixty finishing 9^th on the KTM990 excellent result (he definitely likes this bike).

Sunday

Sound of Thunder qualified 7^th

CB500 qualified on pole

Bracken KTM 660 qualified in 8^th

Moto Sixty qualified in 14^th

First race of the day was the Sound of Thunder and finished in 7^th same as his qualifying position good result.

CB500 was another excellent result finishing first in his class and also getting the fastest lap.

Bracken KTM 660 race was a really good race dicing for sixth place most of the race with John coming out on top and winning the 6^th spot.

Sound of Thunder race 2 of the day finished the same as race 1 finishing in 7^th.

CB500 second race first place in his class and again achieving fastest lap.

Bracken KTM 660 finished in 8^th, which I think, is an improvement not dropping any places in the race.

Moto Sixty picked up one place from his qualifying position and finishing in 13^th

And to top it all off which I forgot to mention on the Saturday results he also achieved the Man of the Meeting award

finally Logan (a future racing star?)

British Superbikes Cadwell Park 25th 26th & 27th August

John was invited to ride the KTM990 at this meeting, and in the free practice he achieved a lap time of 1:47.792 which put on a preliminary 19th position, In the qualifying he managed to improve his position to 17th with a lap time of 1:44.634 which equated to over 3 seconds a lap faster.

Race 1 for the KTMs saw him achieve 13th from 17th and that’s with him going backwards to almost last place after the first corner, which made his achievement greater than I think even he realises. His fastest lap was on lap 6 in 1:42.744, yet another improvement. Not bad for his first full on race in this support class of the BSB.

Next day in glorious sunshine he lined up on the grid in his 17th spot and I asked how he felt to which his answer was good but the look on his face told a different story. With a stern look he was totally transfixed on what he had to do, you could see the determination emanating out of him. It also did not start well for him with a bad start he was immediately on catch up. As the championship leaders started to pull away John was picking up slots improving his position virtually every lap, until he reached a point where he was stuck with a little group of four and they where all swapping places back and forth.
Virtually on the last lap John managed to get in front of them all and kept it to the finish line with the final result of 10th place and yet again improving his lap time with a 1:42.567 small but significant I know but the achievement was massive, What an excellent ride.

Check out this link to see all the times and results for the KTM class
http://www.msttiming.com/meeting.asp?source=bsb2006&event=73404

Mallory Park 09 September 07

Disaster day at Mallory, First race was the Sound of Thunder to get him warmed up, it seemed to go all right after qualifying 14^th finished in 12^th, after coming back into pit lane I jestered to him to see if everything was ok to which he confirmed it was.

Start of race 2 the CB500 class John managed to lift the front wheel off the ground so he had to shut off losing him valuable time but managed to gain second spot by the first corner, after lap three he started to lose pace and by the end of the race had dropped to 3^rd.

Back in the paddock he complained that the bike kept jumping out of 5^th gear and as we did not have time to change the gearbox we decided to go out in the second Sound of Thunder race to test the bike to which he confirmed that it was faulty but he would compensate for it in the next CB500 race, in saying that he finished in 10^th place in the Sound of Thunder and now stands in 8^th in the sound of thunder championship not bad considering he’s only on a CB500 against 1000cc machines.

Anyway Race 2 for the CB500s was a much better start and was fighting for first place with Ryan Tyers unfortunately on lap 6 after coming out of Edwina’s John headed towards the Hairpin but when he grabbed the front brake there was nothing there, knowing he could not make it round the corner at the speed he was doing he slapped the rear brake on and just before the grass laid it down to which he proceeded across the grass and straight into the barrier, causing what seems like minor damage to the bike and fortunately minor damage to himself in the form of a bruised knee.

On examination of the bike it appears the brake fluid had boiled therefore losing its viscosity causing the front brake to fail, my theory is that with no fifth gear it was causing over usage of the brakes which did not give them enough time to cool down.

I’ve said it before That’s Racing

Cadwell Park 15/16 of September.

Bike all fixed from Mallory Park John set out to put the record straight.

Race 1 CB500s the three contenders set out with Ryan Tyers crashing out on lap three on the restart he had to retire as he had broke his footpeg, which left John and Andy Burbridge out in the lead but John pulled away towards the end and finished in first place with a four second gap excellent start to the day,

Race 2 CB500s was an excellent start and as the race went on John & Ryan left Andy in their wake and the next four or five laps saw them swapping places and in a nail biting finish John took first on the second to last corner and got the drive to the line giving him another first place. It was a race that had the whole crowd in the stand on their edge of their seats I personally was stood up shouting myself horse and when they crossed the line a wave of relief came over me.

Race 3 CB500s was a very similar race to 2 yet John tried his second to last corner move but Ryan had got it covered which meant he got the win and John came in 2^nd yet another excellent race.

Race 4 CB500s John was not having much luck with passing the back markers but managed to catch Ryan towards the end and then passed him on the way up the hill and left him in his wake giving him another excellent win.

Just a little mention as well to top the first day off John also gained the trophy for MAN OF THE MEETING

Bracken KTM660 Class

First race in the KTM was a fairly good race with John finishing a very creditable sixth.

In the second race not so good a result with a DNF after crashing out at Mansfield.

The third race he came in 9^th and I must say he was actually getting some decent air over the mountain you could see he was enjoying himself.

Race four saw a more determine effort and he achieved a very creditable 6^th again but you could tell he was playing towards the end with air and even bigger wheelies over the mountain Yeehaa

Cadwell Park 6^th &7^th of October

Final Round of the new era CB500 Clubman championship.

Mr John Simpson CB500 Club Champion 2007

Yes we went to Cadwell with the intention of winning the championship and John succeeded in fine style with 2 wins on the Saturday and 2 wins on the Sunday in short there was nobody in the race to even challenge him as he was chasing the Hornet 600s as they were running in the same race and on the Sunday he clinched not only a first in his class but a third overall in the race and to top it off on the Saturday beat the CB500 lap record riding his CB in the Sound of Thunder By .92 of a second.

His Sound Of Thunder Results were

Sat race 1 = 13^th

Sat race 2 = 11^th

Sun race 1 = 10^th

Sun race 2 = 13^th

We are looking forward to racing in the Supercup at Mallory on the 28^th to secure third place in the Supercup Championship and possibly upset the results for first and second as it not yet clear cut who will win the championship.