The first round of the season went promisingly for Ali and the team.
Arriving to an almost underwater brand hatch on the Friday night we were a bit nervous it was the Ali’s first ever visit to the Kent track aswell as his first race on the new bike and what look like his first time on track in the wet.
Saturday proved rainy again but Ali went out in the first race after a nervous but promising practise session where the plan was just to learn the track as much as possible. After a steady start Ali got into his groove and got his way up to 4th in class. Feeling more confident in the wet and know feeling he had an idea for what the tyres could take Ali went out for the championship race Ali and was in 3rd for most of the race until a massive moment around clearways caused him to concede the place to Benedict Ireland and had to settle for another 4th place. A great start to the season but confident their was more to come
Ali also entered the novice 400 race which turned out to be up to 650cc and with the light starting to fail on Saturday afternoon the race began, Ali got a stonker of the start and was second into paddock hill but unfortunately it turned out to be a false start and a 10 second penalty was enforced. Ali got into a 5 rider train for 4th place but sadly came across the line at the back of this group after much chopping and changing. 8th an 5th 400 was the final result.
Sunday greeted us with much better weather despite tricky damp practise session the day stayed dry.
Race one went alright for Ali but it was much more clear in the dry the power difference between the front running bikes and our stock Honda machine, Ali came to take the flag 5th in class.
Race two didn’t go so well with a misfire becoming apparent after the first lap and Ali really struggled for pace being out powered by a lot of the 125cc bikes we share the grid with. Final position was another 5th in class.
A promising start to the season leaving Brands 6th in the Street Stock 400 class and 8th in the novice 400’s.
Id also like to thank Colin Reaside, Dave Eamer, Paul Martin Danny Couzens, Richard and Sam for all the help and support over the weekend, and Pictures and video's to come
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Double RR Motorsport 2010 Plans
For 2010 Double RR Motorsport will be planning a full season with the NGRRC club in the Street Stock 400 class as well as entering the novice open cup.
Our new bike will be more competitive than last year and were hoping for some good results with the ideal goal being to finish the championship in the top 5 and highest novice SS400. But being that this is our first full season this won’t be a simple achievement by any stretch
Our provisional calendar so far is looking like this:
27-28th Feb Pembrey Testing
13-14th March Brands Hatch Indy
20-21st April Cadwell Testing
24-25th April Cadwell Park Full
29-31th May Pembrey
17-18th July Pembrey
13-15th Anglesey
5th September Odiham Testing
18th September Oulton Park
2nd October Thruxton
23rd October Silverstone
It is going to be a busy year and we are always on the lookout for new sponsors. All our sponsors are well taken care of with their logo represented on our website, online blog, team merchandise, bike and team displays in the paddock. So if you want to join the team and support a young rider get in touch.
Our new bike will be more competitive than last year and were hoping for some good results with the ideal goal being to finish the championship in the top 5 and highest novice SS400. But being that this is our first full season this won’t be a simple achievement by any stretch
Our provisional calendar so far is looking like this:
27-28th Feb Pembrey Testing
13-14th March Brands Hatch Indy
20-21st April Cadwell Testing
24-25th April Cadwell Park Full
29-31th May Pembrey
17-18th July Pembrey
13-15th Anglesey
5th September Odiham Testing
18th September Oulton Park
2nd October Thruxton
23rd October Silverstone
It is going to be a busy year and we are always on the lookout for new sponsors. All our sponsors are well taken care of with their logo represented on our website, online blog, team merchandise, bike and team displays in the paddock. So if you want to join the team and support a young rider get in touch.
BMCRC Rd 17- Thruxton 17th October 2009
Race Report:
Due to university commitments we had been struggling to get our new bike ready in time for this meeting and we almost were unable to go with an ignition problem that we finally rectified the night before the race.
The meeting started badly for Double RR Motorsport with a ratchet strap failure in the back of the van which resulted in both bikes (road and race) falling off their stands but luckily no damage was caused. The new bike went through scrutineering no problem which was a relief and we got the warmers on and bike running to ready for qualifying.
Due to a lack of testing the new bike (new forks seals in the night before) I thought it would be best to ride the bike round the paddock a bit before going to the assemble area for qualifying, all felt fine although the brakes took a while to heat up due to their new race compound pads. While sitting in the assemble area I put the bike in neutral and had a little look around and a chat with other riders. I then found looked back to find all my lights weren’t working and the engine dead. OH DEAR.
We quickly diagnosed the problem was that the wiring loom was earthing out at some point and blowing the 30A starter relay fuse. Despite great efforts from friends and fellow racers we couldn’t rectify this fault and eventually decided If we could borrow a bike to qualify on then we would have enough time to prep my road bike that was in the back of the van to race on. (this was the bike I had previously been racing this season).
Thankfully Simon Bradley agreed to lend us his spare Kawasaki ZXR400 to go out in the Minitwins class and qualify on. This was my first time on a IL4 and compared to my v4’s power delivery the bike felt very strange but one thing I knew this bike was quick, a point confirmed on the first strait when I almost effortlessly powered past 3 650’s. Sadly I believe this may have annoyed one of the 650 riders as they decided to come up the outside and cut my nose off into the Club Chicane. As I result I had to brake and on cold tyres the front tucked and down we went.
The good new was no-one was injured and I got up and walked away fine, the bad was due to it being my first flying lap I did not qualify for the races and my weekend was over, and also that Simon’s bike was looking decidedly worse for wear.
Id just like to say thanks again to Simon for offering to lend me his bike, sorry again and a massive thanks to Colin, Peter and my Dad Rob for all the help over the meeting, again it wouldn’t have been possible without you. And thanks to my all sponsors, sorry I wasn’t able to represent you on track this time.
Ours eyes are now turning to 2010 and we will soon release our plans for the coming season so stay tuned.
First meeting NGRRC Thruxton round 10 20th June
Practise session:
Being my first race meeting on a track I had never ridden I was a bit nervous as I entered the track especially as we had been waiting for quite a while so the tyres had cooled and the track was still damp (many bikes went out with a wet front tyre). But in actual fact the track and tyres were very gripy and although there were some damp patches I didn’t have any problem and the bike was handling great. I passed a few bikes and but didn’t get behind one with similar pace that I could use to copy lines out the back of the circuit which was a bit annoying but even so I found I was on a good pace . On returning to the pit I found my best practise time was a 1.46 which I was told was quite good as a 1.45 is a good fastest time for a novice at Thruxton.
Race 1:
Well for race one I was very nervous, It was my first ever race and I was very worried about getting off the line and not stalling as this can be very dangerous and often result in an accident. I had qualified 20th out of a grid of 35. I used the warm up lap as a sort of practise race start which was good practise but as I leant the bike over for turn one a young racer on a 125cc Aprillia came flying up next to me and we clipped each others fairings, this was a bit much for the warm up lap in my opinion and so cooled it down a bit a made sure to steer clear of this rider in the race.
In the actual start I got a great start, although I almost jumped the start when the red lights came on I meant to drop the clutch and go then realised I was jumping the gun a bit. The lights went out and I got a great start passing 5 bikes on the power off the line. I then out broke a further 3 bikes into the complex section of the track. This made me 12th on track. The back part of the track was very fast and was almost flat out from the complex all the way to Club chicane. I held this position until I under broke myself into complex on lap two and lost three positions to a group of 125cc bikes, 2 were F125 bikes and one GP125 (one happen to include the lad I had had a collision with in the warm up lap). So I tucked in behind the bubble of the screen and slipstreamed past the last of these three from church corner to club only to have him out brake me into club chicane. I crossed the line right behind the three and past two before the complex, and attempted to block pass the last rider the on the GP 125 bike but again out broke myself and let all three bikes through. I followed the group of bikes for a lap really pushing the bike out the back of the circuit which I found out resulted in me leaning the bike over so much the fairing, foot peg and crash bung all connected with the ground and I had a bit of a moment with the back wheel being lifted at very high speed this lost me a little time but I kept in contention for the final lap where a final attempt to line up an overtake again into the complex was made but again I out broke myself and lost time. As a result I to accept a 15th position overall and 7th in class, not bad for my first ever race and a new fastest lap time of 1.43.31 a great improvement over practise.
Lots of lessons were learnt in this race, mainly don’t try to outbrake a lighter more nimble race bike and that following a group at race pace really helps show you were the correct lines are.
Race 2:
For race two I found myself alot less nervous and had an event free warm up lap which was nice. Due to my good performance in race one I was now lining up on 15th on the grid, again I had a good start but only managed to pass a single bike into the complex, who then passed me on the exit as I got a false neutral changing gear from 1st to 2nd gear this annoyed me as I felt I had earned the place and was let down by my bike so pulled out all the stops to chase this rider down, resulting in the fairing again touching the deck round goodwood and village corners. On the third lap I was still chasing this rider and in my attempts to catch him ran wide into the complex and lost more time to him so really dug deep and pushed the bike as hard as I could to catch him, sadly we were both riding the same pace and so I couldn’t close the gap between the two of us, not for lack of trying I can assure you, and finished 14th overall and again 7th in class which earned me 8 championship points as well as my fastest lap time of 1.40.91 which is a fantastic lap for novice and an improvement of 6 seconds over my best practise lap
Double RR Motorsport would like to thank Loz and Colin without them the day would never have happened for me and I hope they enjoyed them selves aswell
Being my first race meeting on a track I had never ridden I was a bit nervous as I entered the track especially as we had been waiting for quite a while so the tyres had cooled and the track was still damp (many bikes went out with a wet front tyre). But in actual fact the track and tyres were very gripy and although there were some damp patches I didn’t have any problem and the bike was handling great. I passed a few bikes and but didn’t get behind one with similar pace that I could use to copy lines out the back of the circuit which was a bit annoying but even so I found I was on a good pace . On returning to the pit I found my best practise time was a 1.46 which I was told was quite good as a 1.45 is a good fastest time for a novice at Thruxton.
Race 1:
Well for race one I was very nervous, It was my first ever race and I was very worried about getting off the line and not stalling as this can be very dangerous and often result in an accident. I had qualified 20th out of a grid of 35. I used the warm up lap as a sort of practise race start which was good practise but as I leant the bike over for turn one a young racer on a 125cc Aprillia came flying up next to me and we clipped each others fairings, this was a bit much for the warm up lap in my opinion and so cooled it down a bit a made sure to steer clear of this rider in the race.
In the actual start I got a great start, although I almost jumped the start when the red lights came on I meant to drop the clutch and go then realised I was jumping the gun a bit. The lights went out and I got a great start passing 5 bikes on the power off the line. I then out broke a further 3 bikes into the complex section of the track. This made me 12th on track. The back part of the track was very fast and was almost flat out from the complex all the way to Club chicane. I held this position until I under broke myself into complex on lap two and lost three positions to a group of 125cc bikes, 2 were F125 bikes and one GP125 (one happen to include the lad I had had a collision with in the warm up lap). So I tucked in behind the bubble of the screen and slipstreamed past the last of these three from church corner to club only to have him out brake me into club chicane. I crossed the line right behind the three and past two before the complex, and attempted to block pass the last rider the on the GP 125 bike but again out broke myself and let all three bikes through. I followed the group of bikes for a lap really pushing the bike out the back of the circuit which I found out resulted in me leaning the bike over so much the fairing, foot peg and crash bung all connected with the ground and I had a bit of a moment with the back wheel being lifted at very high speed this lost me a little time but I kept in contention for the final lap where a final attempt to line up an overtake again into the complex was made but again I out broke myself and lost time. As a result I to accept a 15th position overall and 7th in class, not bad for my first ever race and a new fastest lap time of 1.43.31 a great improvement over practise.
Lots of lessons were learnt in this race, mainly don’t try to outbrake a lighter more nimble race bike and that following a group at race pace really helps show you were the correct lines are.
Race 2:
For race two I found myself alot less nervous and had an event free warm up lap which was nice. Due to my good performance in race one I was now lining up on 15th on the grid, again I had a good start but only managed to pass a single bike into the complex, who then passed me on the exit as I got a false neutral changing gear from 1st to 2nd gear this annoyed me as I felt I had earned the place and was let down by my bike so pulled out all the stops to chase this rider down, resulting in the fairing again touching the deck round goodwood and village corners. On the third lap I was still chasing this rider and in my attempts to catch him ran wide into the complex and lost more time to him so really dug deep and pushed the bike as hard as I could to catch him, sadly we were both riding the same pace and so I couldn’t close the gap between the two of us, not for lack of trying I can assure you, and finished 14th overall and again 7th in class which earned me 8 championship points as well as my fastest lap time of 1.40.91 which is a fantastic lap for novice and an improvement of 6 seconds over my best practise lap
Double RR Motorsport would like to thank Loz and Colin without them the day would never have happened for me and I hope they enjoyed them selves aswell
Friday, 29 May 2009
Pictures from Castle Combe
Just a couple of shots taken of me from Castle Combe
Unfortunately due to overbooking I wasnt out at Donnington testing last month with Scott Smart and the Moto Rapido lot but iv got a testday booked a testday booked at RAF Odiham on the 8th of June so its not all bad.
Hopefully by then the fairings will have had a full respray by C J Paint Specialists and all stickered up thanks to Vinylmark Signs so watch this space.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
First time out
Ok well iv just got back from my first time out on the bike on track, had a great day at Castle Combe with The Motorcycle Folley which ran a great friendly day and some lovely weather which kept us all warm, but cooked my tyres
In total I did 75 miles on track and feel i learnt the track well for my race there in agaust, I had some good tussles with bigger bikes and some racers which i feel improved my riding especially carrying corner speed which is essential on a 400, especially when most of the other bikes on track were 1000cc sports bikes and they werent passing me
On the whole im happy with the bike although more power is needed in the mid range so plan to get the bike setup on a dyno before race one, suspension felt fine which is odd as its completely standard and almost 20 years old, brakes were very good thanks to my SP1 front brake setup, underbraking was not a problem into most corners. tyres felt great with lots of grip on offer very quickly even without tyre warmers, the bike was getting a bit hot but it was a very hot day.
Thanks to Moto Rapido for transporting the bike there and back aswell as help in the paddock and Motorcycle Folley for arranging such a good day.
next outing should be Donnington Park GP for some testing and a bit of rider coaching from Scott Smart, cant wait!
In total I did 75 miles on track and feel i learnt the track well for my race there in agaust, I had some good tussles with bigger bikes and some racers which i feel improved my riding especially carrying corner speed which is essential on a 400, especially when most of the other bikes on track were 1000cc sports bikes and they werent passing me
On the whole im happy with the bike although more power is needed in the mid range so plan to get the bike setup on a dyno before race one, suspension felt fine which is odd as its completely standard and almost 20 years old, brakes were very good thanks to my SP1 front brake setup, underbraking was not a problem into most corners. tyres felt great with lots of grip on offer very quickly even without tyre warmers, the bike was getting a bit hot but it was a very hot day.
Thanks to Moto Rapido for transporting the bike there and back aswell as help in the paddock and Motorcycle Folley for arranging such a good day.
next outing should be Donnington Park GP for some testing and a bit of rider coaching from Scott Smart, cant wait!
Friday, 27 February 2009
Welcome
Hi
This is my first post on here, My names Ali Rowland-Rouse but alot of people call me Spike (dont really no why but have done since i was born), im 17 and hopefully this year will be racing in the Bemsee and NGRRC F400 and Streetstocks championship on my Honda vfr 400 NC30 this site will hopefully be a record of my racing career
First a little about me:
Iv always loved racing, my godfather used to race historic sports racing cars (chevrons mostly) and dad used to sprint a morgan, so as i result i was virtually brought up with racing and in some racing paddock most weekends, and so iv always been obsesd with racing, mostly historic cars but when i was 15 I really got into bike racing and now keenly follow BSB WSBK and Moto GP, I also marshal at Thruxton circuit so get to watch all the racing there for free! :)
I am currently at Peter Symonds 6th Form college studying Maths, Physic's and Prodcut design A levels and as of next year will be going to wither Hertfordshire or Oxford Brookes university to study Motorsport Engineering and hope to work in a top international racing team after that (F1/Moto GP is the target)
This is my first post on here, My names Ali Rowland-Rouse but alot of people call me Spike (dont really no why but have done since i was born), im 17 and hopefully this year will be racing in the Bemsee and NGRRC F400 and Streetstocks championship on my Honda vfr 400 NC30 this site will hopefully be a record of my racing career
First a little about me:
Iv always loved racing, my godfather used to race historic sports racing cars (chevrons mostly) and dad used to sprint a morgan, so as i result i was virtually brought up with racing and in some racing paddock most weekends, and so iv always been obsesd with racing, mostly historic cars but when i was 15 I really got into bike racing and now keenly follow BSB WSBK and Moto GP, I also marshal at Thruxton circuit so get to watch all the racing there for free! :)
I am currently at Peter Symonds 6th Form college studying Maths, Physic's and Prodcut design A levels and as of next year will be going to wither Hertfordshire or Oxford Brookes university to study Motorsport Engineering and hope to work in a top international racing team after that (F1/Moto GP is the target)
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