Round Seven. Park Life. Cadwell Park Lincolnshire.

Cadwell Park really is a challenge and in more ways than one. For starters, the logistics are a one-off. With half the circuit following a steep, wooded valley and with no permanent facilities, the leading teams are based in tented garages on the inside of the circuit, alongside the starting straight and grid at the bottom of the hill. Team vans ferry wheels to Pirelli for new tyres and crew members up and down between track sessions and the races.

The track itself is narrow with blind rises and two fast straights. It rewards rider experience – a bit like a mini-TT. Having said all that, Cadwell is situated in a beautiful part of the country and is a real favourite with the fans, especially as the event marks the run into the sharp end of the season. The Mountain section is the spot to watch the riders launch off the ground over the crest of the short, very steep hill before they disappear into the trees at Hall Bends.

Because of the extensive safety measures around the circuit which are set up specially for the BSB round, it’s become traditional to have a two-and-a-half-hour test session for superbikes only on the evening before the event. A real help for the riders who need a good few laps to get up to speed on such an unusual circuit. Max in particular needed all the running time available as he missed the round here two years ago after a big crash at the test and then struggled a bit last year.

Christian managed 46 laps and Max 41. Both a second back from Ray’s ultimate pace but a solid start to the weekend. Max was delighted to go 0.8 seconds a lap faster than he’d managed previously and finally felt more comfortable around Cadwell on a superbike.

Free practice

Cool, overcast conditions for the Saturday afternoon runs – two 50-minute sessions with just one set of tyres available for each. After 20 laps Max had managed to shave another 0.2 off his previous best time and end the session P10. Christian was just 0.1 behind in P11. More solid progress but it was clearly going to be a very competitive weekend with the times as tight as ever. FP2 – couple of spots of rain but not enough to really affect speeds. Christian was comfortably into the top 12 with a P9 time and he would go straight through to the ‘one at a time’ Superpole qualifying format. On his final flying lap, Max was well up on the clock and in line for a top ten time until Rogers sat up in Hall Bends and took Max’s line. Turns out the protective air bag in Rogers’ leathers went off because of the landing impact when he left the ground jumping over the Mountain crest! Unable to improve, Max ended the session P14 but at least he’d have a bit of an advantage by having to go through the Q1 session ahead of Superpole – provided he was one of the three fastest riders to go forward and join the 12 faster riders from free practice.

Qualifying

10 minutes FP3 first which acts as a short warm up ahead of qualifying. Everyone running used tyres, but Max and Christian gave it a good go to prepare for their single lap runs. By missing out on going straight through to Superpole, Max had the 15-minute Q1 session to navigate with the aim of being one of the three fastest riders seeded through to Superpole. In the event he posted a very strong time on his second lap and had a sufficient gap back to the others that he had the luxury of sitting out the rest of the session.  His lap of 1.26.3 was his fastest so far at Cadwell and meant he retained his P1 position by a margin of 0.25.

15 Superpole runners, Max to go third. Another personal best, this time a 1.26.2. Christian went seventh and bettered Max’s time by 0.1. The times continued to drop as the final few runners completed their laps, pushing Christian and Max down the order. Ray set the pole time of 1.25.3, 0.5 inside the lap record. Christian and Max would line up alongside each other on the third row – P8 and 9. Okay, but not ideal as the times are so close in the mid-field and it’s so difficult to overtake around the narrow and twisty circuit.

Race one

18 lap feature race in ideal conditions. Dry, warm, overcast with little or no wind. All eyes on turn one, Coppice, the fast and sweeping uphill lefthander which starts the lap and funnels the pack together.

Very strong start by Christian who slotted into P5, making up three places and hard on the tail of Kent’s Yamaha. Kent crashed out on lap two promoting Christian to P4 but already some way back from Ray, Ryde and Bridwell who were setting a very strong pace at the front. Bridewell crashed out on lap nine allowing Christian to settle into P3, just ahead of Nesbitt and Andrew Irwin. Nesbitt then crashed out on lap 13 leaving Irwin to pile on the pressure to get past Christian for the final podium place. After closing on Christian and battling for four laps, Irwin managed to get through with two lap stop go – another P4 for Christian but a very strong showing.

While all that was going on, Max had a frustrating race. Holding his grid position off the start he slotted in behind Stacey, Nesbitt and Andrew Irwin. Three tough racers. Promoted by Kent and Bridwell’s crashes to P7, Max was unable to follow Irwin past Stacey riding a very fast BMW but notably slower than Max on the twisty stuff. From lap 5 to the end of the race Max was never much more than 0.5 behind Stacey and often much closer than that. Eventually, he managed to get past at Park Corner at the end of the back straight only to run slightly wide allowing Stacey back through. Nesbitt’s crash promoted Max to P6 which is how it finished. Two top six places was a good afternoon’s work and so close to P3 and P5. Max has certainly put his Cadwell jitters behind him.

Race two

Nice steady warm up. No dramas. Race one lap times placed Christian P7 and Max P9 on the grid – third row, same as race one.

12 lap sprint race. Christian made a great getaway and used all his experience through the tricky opening section to make up two places and slot into P5. That became P4 a lap later as leader Ray crashed out at the Gooseneck just as the safety car was deployed to allow the marshals to clear up a couple of other incidents. Two laps behind the safety car before the race recommenced on lap four. With the pack closed up there were bound to be attacks for position at the restart. Christian held position but as the group closed up into Park corner at the end of the back straight, Stacey made a determined move on the brakes and managed to sneak past. After that, the second group was caught up behind Stacey who again was fast on the straights but not so quick in the corners. Haslam managed to get by at the same spot a few laps later and in a determined effort to repass him a lap later Christian ran slightly wide allowing two riders to pass, including Max, P8. Over the line, Christian had recovered to P7 but that certainly wasn’t a true reflection of his pace.

Max also got away well and made up a place on lap one and moved to P7 after Ray’s crash. Before and after the safety car, Max was on the heels of Haslam in the group following Stacey. That’s where he stayed for almost the entire race. Gaining a place through Christian’s small mistake, Max managed to follow Haslam through and pass Stacey with two laps to go and crossed the line 0.2 behind Haslam for an excellent P5. Another really good result for the team.

Race three

On the grid for the second 18 lap feature race, Max was on the second row courtesy of his sixth best lap time in race two. Christian right behind him in P9.

Christian got another flyer of a start and positioned himself so well through the first two corners that he emerged on to Park Straight having passed four riders, including Max – P5. Once again, stuck behind Stacey’s fast on the straights BMW, Christian found a way through on lap six, P4. After a number of attempts into Park Corner, Max had to wait until lap 14 to pass Stacey with a determined move down the steep hill into Mansfield. Now we were running P4 and P5 with Max closing on Christian who had eased his pace after a big moment at Park. And that’s how it finished with Christian just shy of the podium again – those fourth places.

What a weekend! Arriving at Cadwell and knowing that it wasn’t Christian’s favourite and that Max had to get ‘the Cadwell monkey’ off his back, we would definitely have settled for five top five finishes. Our AJN Steelstock Kawasaki ZX-10RR Ninjas may be one of the older models on the grid but they still make very competitive superbikes, as Christian and Max have been proving over the past three rounds.

Our performances are being reflected in the championship standings; team P5 one point behind Moto Rapido Ducati Racing, Christian P6, 20 points behind Haslam in P3, with Max P8, ahead of Brookes and not far behind Bridewell.

Next time

Roll on Donington Park. Four sprint races are scheduled – one replacing the cancelled race three at Oulton Park from earlier in the season. It’s going to be super competitive as all the riders know the circuit well and it’s more ‘normal’ than either Thruxton or Cadwell Park.

Let’s see how we go. Hope to see you there.

Regards. Nigel Team Principal.