Sam Burman, a diary of a racer

Sam Burman, a diary of a racer - Oulton Park

Friday, 29 July 2011 13:30

After spending first practice bedding the new Brembo brake-caliper in and getting used to some new settings on the bike I could feel my confidence growing and went out to attack in the next session.

Unfortunately some one else was having brake issues and ran in to me. He crashed but I managed to stay on and after a couple of laps, checking everything was ok, I carried on tried to get my head down and set a good time.

Disappointingly the times didn’t come. The bike felt a bit flat. The reason was obvious once I got back to the paddock. Half the exhaust silencer was missing and on further inspection the front brake disc had warped badly from the heat generated by the new brake caliper. We we’re back to square one!

Budget limitations had always deterred us from going down the Brembo route because we thought you had to go the whole hog and get calipers and discs. We’d been led to believe otherwise at Snetterton but we now know [from experience] that you can’t use standard Honda discs with a Brembo caliper. Shows how good these Brembo ones are! Thankfully we got a thicker disc to try for the next session on track [phew] – people in the paddock really are great, so helpful and in general a really good bunch.
So in the heavy rain first qualifying got underway. A high-speed crash saw me and the bike covered in mud [from the gravel trap]. The team had to work flat-out to get the bike ready for the second of the thirty minute qualifying sessions. By this time in the sun was out and the track was dry but even in better conditions my lap times didn’t improve. Frustrated, I tried harder but as we all know the more your try and worse it gets and it was detrimental to my times.

I was struggling to stay positive. Frustration had set in and I was feeling low about my performance. A little ray of light shone through when after inspecting the bike we found brake fluid weeping from the banjo union on one of the brake lines.

Then right hand handle bar was also bent, from the crash. This is probably what had knocked and slightly loosened the banjo bolt, allowing fluid to leak out causing a loss of pressure in the system when braking. Guess what – we’re back to square one!

With race-day still to come we maintained high-spirits, despite the relentless rain, and morning warm up felt good. I guess it isn’t difficult to understand that my confidence in my machinery had been knocked and I was in need of some good solid track-time.

After a delayed start due to un-real standing water on the circuit [which the marshals and staff worked tirelessly to clear] the race got underway and I was smiling in my helmet. I’d made great progress on lap one. As the race progressed my confidence continued to grow and I really enjoyed myself right up until I took the chequered flag in 16th place. Yes 16th place. Now that was just what we needed after the weekend we’d had. I’d made up 12 places!!!

The conditions were so bad that the meeting was cancelled after our race had been run. Making me even more proud of my performance from a trying-weekend and racing in difficult conditions.

The next round is 5th – 7th August at Brand Hatch. I’m looking forward to it and with some luck we will have rid ourselves of those nasty brake gremlins.
See you there? Sam