National Endurance Silverstone

Sweatshop racing wins British Pro National Superbike Endurance Title 2008

After a long year of ups and downs Rod and the Sweatshop Moore�s racing team lift the Pro Superbike title at the final round at Silverstone on Saturday

With Balearic like weather unseen so far this year, the Silverstone weekend was a fantastic end to what has been an eventful and frustrating season(in all forms of bike racing) for Rod....

After spending all day Friday working with Phase One Phil we managed to get all the potential glitches and pitfalls out of the bike ready for the following days racing. The bike was in a bit of a state after a crash at Mallory (Best wishes Paul and speedy recovery) and it was the first time on track since being rebuilt so the Friday test came in very useful. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to work on a fast set up due to the essential stuff that we had been doing all day. So in the race potentially we could have run a fair bit faster but even so on the consistency side of things it went very well. Hugh and Nick rode fantastically well all day and the bike didn't miss a beat enabling us to take the Pro Superbike title, bad luck to GBMoto though who had an off witch put them out of contention for the day but what�s misfortune for some is fortune for others and after the season we have had at team Sweatshop we could do with some luck. I'd like to especially thank Hugh Brasher team owner of Sweatshop racing, for giving me the ride for the season. After losing my ride in BSB, being able to get on a bike and race has been a god send and to add a National title to my CV really tops it off. It's been a brilliant year and a lot of fun thanks Hugh, also Tony Jimenez (Moore racing) for all his kind words and last but not least Phase One Phil for all the hard work he's put into keeping the bike on the track this season. Hopefully next year will be more of the same but without the really s...t luck. My tip of the day...Get a few of your mates together, put together a simple uncomplicated reliable bike and go Endurance racing, you can take it as serious or as unserious as you like but either way it's addictive format and incredibly friendly atmosphere combined with the more track time in one day than an averaged week in the life of Max Biaggy and it'll have you coming back for more. If you want to know more see the Hottrax Motorsport link on this site...Regards Rod..

Well I think the Manx was won of those half empty glass, half full glass situations. Rocked up at five on a beautiful sunny Isle of Man morning and proceeded to set up next to Wurz and Cas's caravan. I was trying to make a discrete arrival but due to the fact the exhaust on the retro Miami vice, mac daddy motor home was blowing it's bollocks off, the five or six laps of the paddock I made until I found where to park sorta killed that a bit. After a few hours sleep Wurz invited me to do a lap of the circuit to see what it was like in real life. That in its self was cool as, actually riding past all the famous landmarks I recognised from the DVD's and the game was nuts. I made a point of playing the game in the motor home then getting all silly because Id just drove past where I was parked in the real world(Very childish I know).

 The first official lap of practice had to be completed behind a travelling marshal, just as well really because it was soaking wet and on the mountain it was so foggy I may as well have wore my lid backwards. With that out of the way I looked forward to the challenge ahead and getting a few laps in on my own. You can't describe the feeling of the whole experience without using the time honoured clich�s, which annoys the shit out of me, but then you start to take on board this place has been going a long time before I ever rocked up here and all those ancient clich�s and sayings are there for a reason they've have evolved over a long period of time. That said though Bray Hill straight out of pit lane, holy shit it did me every time. The thing is there's such a lot of waiting around, as in days, when you finally roll out your so used to being stood still that the sudden epic that is Bray hill really rearranges your senses, you go from nothing to 150mph odd in a built up area, down a ski slope steep hill in a matter of seconds, mad. We had a serious break problem for most of the 8 laps we managed to get in i.e. 6 and half of them, I don't know what the crack was but you go about a quarter of the way round and then the lever was back to the bar, bit off putting when you don't know where you�re going. You could see it was starting to really piss Wurz off. Being the true professional that he is he went through every possible scenario every time I got off the bike and eventually after countless stripping and bleeding and stripping and more bleeding, he cured it (Also thanks to Wal from PFM who went out of his way to help us out, thanks Wal).

Unfortunately though the end result of the whole three weeks was that I didn't get to race. In the newcomers we got caught out with tyres and thinking it would be called off didn't panic too much but then they decided to run it anyway gutted. Standing there watching the bikes roll out of parc ferme was so hard I very nearly went out anyway but Wars put pay to that idea (years of experience and sense-1, my idiotic brain-0) so we decided not to and I'm very glad he did, there were allot of crashes and a couple of the lads from the NG club hurt themselves quite bad. I'd qualified for the senior race anyway so I thought at least I could have a good crack at that, my aim being to get a 110mph or more lap, which all things considered was well on the cards. Only the Isle of Man weather had other ideas and after days of waiting and then many delays I had to leave. I was booked on the ferry on Friday night and with obligations to go straight to Cadwell for the National endurance meet that was that. I've got to say though Wurz and Cas looked after me so well it was wicked and being as their like adopted Isle of Manions all their friends adopted me too(HIYAA) although doing laps in the van with Mick pointing out his crash sites was a bit daunting.(joke)

The one thing I can definitely say for the positive is that even though with only a handful of laps under my belt I fell that the information I've gained from it will be invaluable when it comes to the TT next year. You may think I'm talking rubbish but honestly ride round it closed roads and you'll know where I'm coming from. Thanks again to everyone who made it a trip of a lifetime even with the weather. You really come away with a sense of achievement and pride just for completing a few laps, well I did anyway..

 National Endurance Cadwell

What a night mare I drove the motor home through the night straight from the Isle of Man but ran into a major break problem (fcking breaks again) near Manchester and had to go about 30mph all the way. I didn't arrive until about six in the morn and then I was so on edge I couldn't drop off to sleep until seven gone, only to be woken at eight or eight thirty to scrutineer and complete a couple of laps of practice to be eligible to race, urrrrrgh. Needless to say I was hanging but team Owner Hugh let me have a couple hours kip before the race so that helped. The race went ok from what I remember but in all fairness I shouldn't have been on a bike, I was all over the place and felt proper rough luckily my team mate's James Hurrel and Hugh Basher were on the case and riding well. Going around Cadwell in that state was like a form of torture with the big tanked endurance beast but thanks to spotless pit work and top riding from James and Hugh we came away with a second. I can only apologise again because I rode shit and felt I let everyone down especially Phase one Phil who I know has put allot of work into the bike but to my defence my condition wasn't self inflicted which comforts me slightly. On to Mallory now lying two points off the lead in the championship. This time I'm going to earn my keep and do my upmost to get us a result but it won't be no picnic doing an endurance race there because it's possibly the most physically demanding track in the country and I'm carrying a few injuries (say no more) at the mo so it's going to be well hard. The race is this Sunday so if anyone's at a loose end come along it's good shit this endurance...

Kells Race Report July 2008

Arrived in Ireland not really knowing what to expect and after driving towards the paddock and then realizing the road I was on was actually the track I really didn't know what to think. Finally I found Billy and the lads of Mckinstry racing and set about checking out my bike for the weekend. Now I don't know whether it's the norm in the real road racing world but the only topic of discussion between Billy (the boss) Ivan (team mate) and Noel(rider and my mechanic for the weekend) was what seemed to be about crashing, injury's and operations, which normally I suppose wouldn't normally bother me that much  but considering I was about to get on a strange bike and ride flat out , on what could only be described as country lanes, with a bunch of mad Irish racers you could understand I was feeling a little apprehensive. Looking back the boys had obviously picked up on this and was milking it like a gang of farmer's wives.

         The next thing I know I've signed on and the bikes being fired up, oh well here goes nothing. I pulled out of the paddock and hit the road so to speak. Ironically two laps later it was nearly literally. Coming into a breaking zone from about what seemed like a million mph and I felt a slight brush against my left shoulder fuck me a guy behind had out braked himself and came past on the outside on the gravel, across the cross roads, straight towards a solid stone wall and up a gravel farm track at a serious rate of knots. Fair play whoever it was I owe him one he did so well to avoid me and not crash, it made Howie Manwairings riding antics look laid back.

        After a few more practice laps it started to make sense basically a right handed rectangle with five or six flat stick, fuck knows how fast jumps thrown in for shits and giggles a bit like Cadwell's mountain with treble the entry speed five times a lap. Oh and did I mention the stone walls, grass banks, telegraph poles and big hedges. No?  Well I have now. There was no more riding for me after the short practice was finished and because the bike was only a road bike with race panels there was nothing to do to that either so after riding the track with one of the racers (Darwyn Young) and taking in his advice, on a mountain bike borrowed off another racer it was time for bed. By the way the mad Irish racers� turned out to be some of the friendliest, helpful racers and paddock I've ever been in. These lads can�t do enough for you.

   So after a good night's kip it was race day. I was due to compete in two races so I wasn't nervous at all I thought use the first as a bit more track time and give it to it in the second. That soon changed after sitting for what seemed like three days with no warmers on new tyre's, new pads and it started spitting with rain. To cut a long storey short the race was awesome I plodded for the first lap to bed the pads in and to try and get some heat in  the tyres after that I got my head down and f..ing loved it, had a good battle all the way through, out braked myself at nearly every corner and got more air time than Bubba Stewart, proper mega. Got in and was told I finished eighth in the 750 championship race, nice one I thought then I realized I couldn't enter the non qualifiers race because of it. So, only one race for me.

Pembrey. hottrax endurance

Fantastic weekend, Max and the boys gave it 100% but it just wasn't to be . Despite working long into the night changing engines and gearboxes we were forced to retire just over an hour from the end. On the bright side though we got a lot of set up stuff done and made good progress with a base setting direction if were not for the mechanical problems we would have had more time for set up and I  definitely feel we could have been able to win.

Even so myself and the team got on really well and my two team mates were top lads as well Declan Swanson and Alex Cudlin. A big thanks thanks to Max and all the boys for a top weekend the effort and enthusiasm put in by Triff and the crew was incredible hopefully next time it can be rewarded with a top result.

Due to reasons outside Uprite Racings control they will not be participating in the full 2008 endurance series.