The rebuild wasn’t as straight forward as I thought it was going to be. The clutch was beyond repair and so was the crank shaft. The woodruff key that locks the two components together had disintegrated and ripped apart the clutch and the end of the crank shaft. My beloved machine needed a complete engine rebuild. New clutch, new crank shaft, complete engine seals, oil, labour, I was grounded, this was going to cost an arm and a leg.
Zolder has always been lucky for me, every time I’ve been the sun has been out and the crowd has always been great fun. It was the first race track Janette had ever been too and her introduction to the lads. Luckily for me she loved it and we’ve been to tracks all over Europe.
We arrived early at the track and set our tent up and went for a walk round the track. Peter and Ouly arrived a few hours later, it was good to see them again and over the next few hours all the lads turned up. The bar was open and it looked as though it was going to be a long night. Peter was doing his party trick, spiting fire. At some point during the night I gathered up enough courage to join in. One of the lads was pulling endows across the car park and a few lads were doing doughnuts on old tyres.
The track brief was done early and I missed it, that was Janette’s fault but we won’t go into that. I walked round to our paddock and Peter was busy changing tyres. We still had a few hours before the track was open. The first day was always a bit slow, the first to go out are the beginners in a number of groups with instructors. The second group for 20 minutes would be the intermediates and followed by the fast group. As long as the beginners aren’t to slow the beginner group is dropped after lunch and they go out with the intermediate riders. Day two is an open track, no groups and no time limits. Every now and then there’s a snarl up at one of the chicanes, a total of 3 on this track and each one different.
Zolder is a fantastic track and it has a bit of everything on it, long sweeping bends, double apex corners, a blind bend and it’s what I’d call a technical track but fast. If you don’t like chicanes, this is the place to be. My first visit to Oscherslebone was a shocker, I hated the chicane and I could never master it. When I found out that Zolder had 3 of them, I thought my weekend had been ruined. After sitting down with Peter and talking through the different ways to tackle the chicanes I was a lot happier. I followed Peter round for about 7 laps and he pointed out exactly where I should be on the track to take the chicane and at what speed. I’ve learnt to master the chicane thanks to Zolder and now I love chicanes and Zolder. That doesn’t mean I get them right every time but they are great fun.
Janette and I walked up to the roof to watch the beginners and the intermediates do their 20 minutes. From the roof it’s possible to see the whole of the bottom loop, from the last chicane coming onto the start finish line all the way round to the first chicane where the track disappears into the woods. I left Janette on the roof to catch some rays as I went to get ready for my first outing of the day.
The pit lane light went green and about 30 of us thundered out onto track. It was great to be back at Zolder, I could just see Peter. I wanted to catch up with him but my tyres weren’t up to race speed and I didn’t want to push to early on new tyres. The first bend is a left and can be taken very fast as you come of the start finish line, it all depends on how much bottle you have. A short straight up to the next right, two bends that you can take as one and again it’s a very fast bend, leading into a very short straight and the next right. A great place for overtaking as you come onto the back straight and into the first of the chicanes and up the hill. Just as you go under the banner the front wheel rises as you come down the other side of the hill. I love this part of the track, the front comes down just in time for the long left and into the second of the chicanes. The next two rights are very fast and lead into a left as you come over a slight rise. The bike goes very light and it’s tempting to back off but don’t or you’ll lose drive into the next straight. Late on the brakes and you can pass 2-3 riders coming into the next right. This is a fabulous corner but easy to get wrong, as long as you stay on the gas you’ll get great drive out of the corner for the next two bends that can be straight lined. The next straight is short but if you’re late on the brakes you can pass a few here. The start of the 3rd chicane is also the entrance to the pit lane, so be careful not to overtake on the outside or you could be forced down the pit lane at speed. Getting the power on early out of the chicane and you’re on the start finish line, head down behind the screen and into the first left as fast as you dare, I try not to touch the brakes, it depends on who is in front of me and what line they are using.
The laps build fast, it’s a very fast demanding track and possible to do lap after lap without realising just how many you have done. Before long the red flags are out and your 20 minutes are up. I pulled in and refuelled, put my tyre warmers on and went for something to eat. I hadn’t seen Peter or Ouly, they had been on a flyer and there was no way I was catching them. Maybe after lunch if I can get out on track at the same time as them and be on their heels. There was a bar set up at one end of the pit lane in one of the paddocks. The steak sandwiches were fantastic, not too sure about following that with a banana but needs must.
The temperature continued to rise as the day went on, I had no luck at all in getting passed Peter or Ouly. I can’t remember Ouly being that fast or that good on his brakes but one thing was certain. He was beating me and I was determined to get passed him. There was only one thing for it, Janette’s Whiskey would slow him down, works every time.
The bar was busy that night but as usual there wasn’t much drinking being done just war stories apart from the usual crowd. Peter, Stephan, Ouly & Mark, all being led astray by Janette and her Whiskey. I was up bright and early to give Peter a hand with the tyres as he was only going to be changing tyres in the morning and not throughout the day.
It was going to be a fast day, an open track with no time limits. The track opened at 09:00 hrs and closed at 17:00 hrs with a break for lunch at 13:00hrs for an hour. I wanted to get as much time on the track as possible, my plane was to do as many laps as possible without stopping. The sweat was pouring out of me and I hadn’t put my leathers on yet. All the tyres were done, including mine and we were ready to go.
I was flying, everything felt great and I was sure I was lapping around the 1:40 mark. There wasn’t a bike in front of me, I didn’t notice the red flags and in the end they just left me to it. It was lunch time and the only bike racing round was me. Eventually I pulled in to cheers from all as I rode past their paddocks. It was my lucky day as the track owner was in a good mood and found it funny.
The afternoon session was just as good and I had Peter and Ouly in my sights. I caught up with Ouly and out braked him into the last right coming of the rise. He passed me coming out of the last chicane onto the start finish straight. It must have fired him up because I never passed him again after that.
I was talking to Ouly after the track had closed, it had been decided between him and the rest of the lads that the only thing holding me back was my bike. There was no way I could make her go any faster, I needed a new bike.
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