Cadwell Park, one of the most popular rounds of the British Superbike Championship. The ‘Party in the Park’ marks the end of the summer holidays. Despite the logistical challenges for the superbike teams down in the temporary pitlane at the center of the track it’s quite an event. Set in rolling parkland in the Lincolnshire Wolds, Cadwell certainly has its ups and downs, including the famous mountain section where the bikes clear the ground over the sharp rise. As usual, we had ups and downs of our own too, out on the racetrack.
A handful of riders are Cadwell specialists, some just close their eyes and go for it, and the less experienced riders have their eyes out on stalks and their hearts in their mouths!
Because of the confined nature on the woodland section of the track, extra safety measures are required. To take advantage of the set-up, it’s become traditional to have a superbike test on the evening before the event which at least gives the the riders a chance to get up to speed without pressure of going straight into free practice. This was particularly helpful for Max as he missed last year’s round due to a crash during the test evening which left him mildly concussed – effectively, he was a Cadwell rookie. Despite the high of his first podium finish last time out at Thruxton, Max knew the pressure would be on.
The test also gave Jason a chance to see how his damaged fingers were after his Thruxton crash. Such an unusual injury and it would be his brake and throttle hand! The bump on his leg was pretty much healed but the concern was his ability to brake effectively while wearing mini splints on the first and third fingertips of his right hand.
Testing
Cool dry evening. Max wanted laps, lots of them, and that’s what he got - 45 in total - more than anyone else. However, his best was 2.5 seconds slower than Vickers, one of the specialists, who was fastest by over half a second. Jason took it steady, feeling out his injuries. 31 laps, just over two seconds off the ultimate pace.
It’s very difficult to pass at Cadwell. Narrow, undulating track which twists and turns with only two relatively short straights into challenging corners. Not only does that mean qualifying on the first two rows is essential for a competitive race, but if you get stuck behind someone who is two seconds a lap slower you can easily get stuck at their pace. And if you’re two seconds off the pace, your bike feels awful, they only work properly on the limit….
It was shaping up to be a challenging weekend.
Free Practice
Two 40-minute sessions – in the wet. With all the challenges facing the riders trying to master such a challenging circuit, a wet track is the last thing you need – especially in Max’s case.
The lap record is 1.25.8. Fastest FP1 lap was a 1.39.7 by a brave Rogers – before he crashed! Jason four and Max five seconds slower, not attempting to do anything clever.
FP2, no more rain but still difficult conditions on wet weather tyres but with drying patches. Fastest lap, Vickers again 0.6 clear with a 1.37, so still 11 seconds off the pace. Jason P4, a second down but at least the slower conditions took the pressure off his hand. Max managed to get within two seconds of Vickers’ time but wasn’t feeling particularly comfortable. P16 and outside of top 12 who got straight through to final stage of qualifying.
With the forecast for dry weather, free practice had really been a waste of time and prevented those less experienced at Cadwell from getting in some more fast laps.
Qualifying
Originally planned as a ‘Superpole’ session, the one-by-one format where the fastest 15 riders get one flying lap to set a time. However, a few unexpected drops of rain meant the normal format would be adopted to ensure consistent conditions for all the competitors. So it would be the usual 15 minutes Q1 with the three fastest times enabling those riders to join the 12 who’d got straight through.
Qualifying starts with a 10-minute session to get everyone dialled in. Jason P10 and Max P18, still on the backfoot.
Typically, the Q1 runs usually start on worn tyres to get up to speed followed by a quick change to new tyres for a short run time-attack. It was going to be tough for Max to be in the top three as a number of the established fast boys had struggled in the wet: Glenn Irwin, Haslam and Hickman were in with him. With the threat of rain, Max went out on his new set straightaway and it seemed to have been the right move as he headed the times as the rain fell a bit harder. However, as the rain eased and others switched to new tyres the times fell and Max found himself in P6 meaning he’d be lining up for race one in P18. It was going to be a long weekend….
The final phase of qualifying got off to a dramatic start as Vickers crashed on his first lap, closely followed by Bridewell on his second! Jason set a time which put him in the middle of the remaining 13 riders and we were hoping he could improve by around 0.3 to get him onto the second row. Then on his last lap of seven his name popped up at the top of the timing screen – 0.1 off the lap record and 0.1 ahead of Ryde in P2. After a steady start to the weekend – pole position on his Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki ZX-10RR Ninja! Brave effort ignoring his dodgy hand.
Race One
Big thing for us and Jason was how would his hand hold up over an 18-lap feature race. Max would just have to do the best he could from so far back. In the event, Jason put up a real fight, holding P2 close behind Ryde for the first 11 laps. Still P4 with two laps to go, holding off Irwin’s Ducati, Bridewell arrived recovering from his lowly grid position due to his qualifying crash. Bridewell passed Jason in to turn one, Coppice, going onto the final lap which enabled Irwin to get out of the corner close enough to Jason to use the power of his Ducati to pass along Park Straight. Pity to lose the places but P6 was a top effort and certainly ahead of expectations, all things being considered.
Max soldiered on after a ready difficult first few corners in a pack of riders he’d usually be clear of. From P17on the grid Max came around P20 going on to lap two but managed to get back to P16 by the flag. All very frustrating for him especially as his pace in clear air was still a bit slower than he’d have hoped.
Race Two
No dramas in morning warm up. How was Jason’s hand after the stress of race one? Sore but as race two was a 12-lap sprint format, the hope was he could hang in there. P5 on the grid courtesy of his race one lap time. Max P16 with another tough race ahead of him.
This time Jason’s hand really troubled him. Hanging on to P6 until two-thirds distance but eventually caught by Brookes, Haslam and Iddon over the closing laps to finish P10. Another brave ride. Max did at least make up a couple of places on the first lap but caught up in a group running slower than his potential speed he was caught in a Cadwell stalemate, finishing a disappointed P16.
Race Three
Jason’s hand was really sore after race two. Discretion being the better part of valour, together we decided there was no point risking slowing his recovery by going through another long race with no real prospect of a representative result. While Jason withdrew, Max lined up P15. He made up a place but then got stuck behind Perie for most of the race, losing time on every lap. Max eventually got past with two laps to go and finished a distant P14.
Congratulations to Kyle Ryde for his performance over the three races which earned him the Rider of the Meeting and Cadwell 90 awards – celebrating the 90-year history of racing at the iconic circuit. Kyle is now Tommy Bridewell’s closest challenger for championship honours.
Championship Standings
Having lost points scoring opportunities at Thruxton and now Cadwell, Jason is stuck in P9 on 158 points having been pipped by 2 points by Jackson who had his usual strong Cadwell round. Max picked up only a couple of points over the weekend to move on to 96 points, P13.
Next Time
Jason now has two clear weekends to rest his hand before the next round at Oulton Park. Hopefully the best part of three weeks off the bike will see him close to full fitness. After his breakthrough podium finish at Thruxton, circumstance saw Max leave Cadwell feeling disappointed after a character-building weekend. He’s not forgotten how to do it and is a talented rider. He just wants to get back to running at the front so Oulton Park can’t come soon enough.
The competition for the championship is really hotting up. Let’s hope we have a nice sunny late summer weekend in Cheshire for round nine.
Hope to see you there.
Regards. Nigel. Team Principal.
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