Rider: Paul Welch

Snetterton was always going to be tricky. My bike is a fair bit down on power compared to some of the field in Supersport and if anywhere was going to highlight it, it’s Snet.

The weekend got off to a disappointing start when some members of the club decided to barge into the queue for garages. Despite these cock ends doing their best to throw a spanner in the works, Team Ram It got a garage and we managed to sort out space for all the cazzas and vans within easy cable reach. No generators required. Beautiful.

The test day saw me having a play with my new front suspension for the sake of it, just to see if I could help myself get round any quicker by delving into the black art of boingy bit adjustment. I made some adjustments that made no difference, but some that did. I don’t know if it was the incentive of Mark Parbury coming past me testing on his Manx 600 that made me chop a second off my time or the suspension, either way I finished that day happy. The only concern I had was the difficulty in adjusting my rear shock. The rebound damping adjuster is so difficult to operate, it was hard to tell exactly the setting that was being used. With some tools borrowed from Pipey, I managed to get a rough idea of where it was set but trying to wind it in to count the clicks was extremely tricky.

After discussing with the Ram It committee, we’d agreed to invite SV Minitwin racers Mr. Andrew Pipe and Mr. Matthew Hinnells to join the team. This was kind of already decided in France when Dan and Craig had adorned both their bikes with Ram It stickers when pissed during the night (that would explain how crooked they were). Both of them were keen to be part of one the most “professional and dedicated” teams in the paddock. All the good ones were already full, so they decided they may as well settle for our shower of shite. Welcome to the team boys!

Saturday morning brought bad weather, again. The heavens opened early morning and the sky looked heavy leading up to my qualifying session.

I went out on full wets onto what was a drying track, but there were still some large areas of damp in several places. I kept an eye on my lap timer and made sure I was getting quicker each lap as I tried to carefully feel how quick I could go. At the end of the session I’d managed a 1:21 which felt OK considering the conditions. I was hopeful I wasn’t going to be as far back on the grid as at Cadwell, but mid to high to teens would have been OK. It was therefore with great surprise that I read the time sheet to find myself on 10th slot on the grid!!! Over the moon with my best qualifying of the year!

Race one came about and I was expecting to get absolutely murdered, because the track was now completely dry. It didn’t help matters that I got a terrible start and then had to take evasive action at turn two when the rider in front missed a gear and practically stopped. I finished in 16th place reasonably happy, but disappointed with my lap time which was slower than I’d managed in testing.

Race two was very similar. I got a thorough kicking in turn one and only just managed to get 16th again by pipping a rider to the line on the last lap. No improvement on my lap time.

We were nice and early in the program, so the rest of the afternoon was spent sipping beer while watching other people fret about the weather.

Sunday morning looked good. The forecast was for dry weather all day, which looked possible with blue sky all round.

I was determined to get my time down and I knew where I was in need of a bit more bottle to do it. Turn one needed a bit more bravery and going into the Esses needed later braking. Easier said than done, but I went into the first race with a plan anyway.

This was the most enjoyable race for me of the weekend, with a group of four of us swapping places. As I often seem to do, I got the bit between my teeth a bit more with the incentive of other riders. I finished the race in 14th place, pleased with the points and VERY pleased to get my time down by over a second to 1:15:1. I’d figured a couple of things out which I was keen to try again in race two and get into a 1:14.

Then, it pissed it down. Really pissed it down. The garage was getting flooded out and people were floating little paper boats down the river that was flowing behind it. We had to build a dam to stop the water invading any further and Dan had to lift all his electrics off the floor while his bike was temporarily marooned.

The rain continued all afternoon, so I found myself sat on the grid complete with yellow visor and waterproof gimp suit.

A rider crashed in front of me going into Russels on the warm up lap. I got a shit start and the bike felt absolutely terrible. Two riders went down in front of me coming out of the Esses, who I had to stop to avoid running over. Then Sarah Jordan had a nasty crash coming out of the Bomb Hole. Her bike managed to carry on by itself, so I had to roll off while I watched where it was going to end up. It looked like it was coming back into the track at one point!!
I got passed by someone I had been faster than all weekend, who I passed back, then I saw nobody for the rest of the miserable race. I was glad to get it over and done with and wasn’t too bothered where I’d finished. I found out I’d got 9th soon after I parked in the garage, which is my best finish so far this year! Consolation for a seriously minging race.
We got home, dropped the caravan off and unloaded the van before gorging on Chinese food. The taxi came first thing in the morning for me to go offshore, so any bike prep for the next round would have to wait.





Rider: Dan Wright


Due to work commitments I could not do the Friday test day, but in all fairness if I don’t know my way around there by now I never will!!!

Luckily for me I managed to get away from work in good time and arrived at the circuit about 4. The short angry 1 had managed to get us a garage (which is a whole other story that’s makes the short fellow all cross!!!!!), I managed to get the bike and my gear scrutted that evening as well as getting my fresh tyres fitted.

So I had time to relax, have a few beers and talk rubbish for the rest of the evening……Also in our garage were Pipey and Matt who are now members of the Ram it team with there shiny SV650’s. It is a good laugh having a garage but I really must try and make my bike a bit nicer, at any place in the garage it ended up next to a bike that looked a 1000 times nicer.

Saturday………

Practice when well although I did think it was a bit short as I’d only started to push it a bit when the chequered flag can out. One thing that was now starting to show is that I’m getting a bit quicker than the suspension at the moment, however Snett is quite forgiving compared to say Cadwell. (the bike is now at MC technics getting sorted).

Race 1……..I’m 7th on the grid the lights go out and for once I make a reasonable start (by that I mean I only lose 2 places instead of the normal 10). I take a real wide line around the first corner and it seams to work, this buys me some time to set up sears to make sure I get the best drive I can onto the back straight. This works and I end up about 5th at the end of the straight. The race turned out to be real good fun and I end up racing with Garry B (he’s 2nd in the championship) most of the time, but I can’t quite beat him. I end up 3rd!!!!!! my first ever trophy in thunderbikes, in all fairness I was lucky to get it as I did not feel I rode a very good race towards the end as I kept making silly little mistakes.

Race 2…….is all a bit of a blur with loads of action and I manage to get my times down to 1.16’s which I’m quite happy about. I rode loads better in the second race and my total race time dropped loads but I only managed 4th.

After we finished racing it was off to the prize giving and I picked up a pot for once and had some lovely cold beer. Then back to Rachel who had cooked us a lovely warm meal of loveliness….a couple more beers and a bit of a walk around the paddock and then of to bed feeling full and happy.

Sunday……..

Our garage is packed ever man and he’s dog has arrived. It’s mega to have so much support and it’s always appreciated. My Mum, dad and my daughter Molly have also arrived so I’m dead keen to get another pot for Mol’s

Race 1…….I’m starting 4th on the grid and that is how I end the race……..I rode like a true plum!!!!!! I lost the tow off the leaders on lap 1 after a really really bad start and I end up just bringing it home. Still 4th is not to bad as at least I will be on the front row for the next race.

Race 2……It’s wet but unfortunately seems to be drying then it rains again and so on…..I’m out on full wets but I’m thinking I should have put the slick rear in…..this turns out to be very true as a dry line forms in the race and my bike is snapping sideways on a closed throttle, this is all very entertaining but real slow. My fastest lap was lap 2 when it was wet!!!!! Sure enough looking at the tyre at the end of the race it is well and truly shot!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t have been to bad though as I get a 3rd again…….At the end of the race I stop and put Mol’s on the back of the bike and we make loads of noise heading to the pits!!!!!!!!

All in all a great weekend with Ram it racing getting some good results….Sqwelch got a top 10, which is no mean feet at Snett when your giving away 10 – 15 bhp. Pipey had some mega racing and got into the top 10 from the back of the grid and also had a top 6 position (he will be getting a pot soon). Matt’s riding was looking good and he only just missed out on a pot in the rookie championship. Also must say I big up to Rachel for feeding me all weekend, top work our lass.