Snetterton: series launch

Snetterton: Well we went to Snetterton for the official test / launch / Pirelli test weekend. Sadly it was more like the Ducati GP7 Desmosedici launch of 2007 (you know the one at the ski resort), with the amount of snow that fell.

 

Fortunately there were no serious injuries, with most teams heading off to sunnier climes to continue testing before the series proper kicks off at Brands Hatch April 4th - 6th. It was good to meet the Medical team, and see them in action. At least we think we know what we're letting ourselves in for now !!

 Roll on Brands and the start of the season "proper"

  

Round 1: Brands Hatch

The opening round of the season:

Friday not too bad, unless you count the 1.5hours we spent parked on the M25 due to it being closed after an accident.

Saturday: chilly but Superbike qualifying going well until rain & hail with 10 mins to go. Shakey Byrne on the 1098 Ducati consistently quickest and gets pole.

Sunday: Was a bit chilly in the tent, as you'd expect when there's 3 inches of snow on the ground !! Meeting finally abandoned at 11.30am after efforts to clear the track failed. Racing rescheduled for May 11th/12th.

Fortunately the Medical team spent their time constructively !!

The "Back on Track" team, pictured with Toby Branfoot Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon otherwise know as the man who puts the riders back together (sadly Noel behind the lens)

 

A shot of us in action - It's not just the riders who need help. One of the marshals with a nasty ankle injury. We were pretty active thought the weekend, and our presence is being felt !

 

Round 2 : Thruxton

The first round proper after the blizzard conditions of Brands. There was definately no snow, but a bit of everything else ! At least race day was dry if not a tad blustery.

Obviously the weekend was dominated by the Tom sykes - Karl Harris bike in face crash, and almost simultaneously Adam Jenkinson's 140+mph highside.  Neither too badly hurt. Dennis Hobbs was also very unlucky to be the innocent victim of another incident, and suffered a fractured dislocated shoulder for his trouble !

James Edmeades of the KTM SuperDuke-R battle was lucky to get away with this near miss, and still get on the podium.

 A few star spots over the weekend, with Murray Walker out and about, and Yukio Kagayama popping over with a few words of advice for Atsushi Watanabe.

  

With regard to work we saw lots of armpump, which seems to have a myriad of causes and presentations across all classes.

 Finally the racing was dominated by Shane Byrne who won the 1st race, with Cal Crutchlow in close attendance. These positions being reversed in the second race with Crutchlow claiming his maiden BSB victory. Congrats also to Michael Rutter claimed a fine pair of 3rds.

 

Oulton Park: Round 3

Just sam and Noel in attendance this weekend. The weather was variable to say the least. We saw lots of arm pump as expected as there is very little rest during a lap of Oulton. Karl Harris did well to ride following his injuries at Thruxton, sadly he did have another off.

Marco Melandri popped in after his better showing at the GP of  China, here's hoping he finds his feet at Ducati and asserts himself on the championship as we all know he can. Yep he really is that small !!

Crutchlow put it on pole. race 1 was redflagged on lap1: it started as a dry race but by the time they got to the first corner there were multiple fallers due to the rain. Leon Haslem managed a huge highside in qualifying, but still managed to put it on the front row.

The racing was dominated by Shakey Byrne who did the double, and unfortunately Cal Crutchlow who managed to dislocate an ankle during his off in race 2. Congrats also to Sam Warren (Supermoto genius) who clocked up his maiden win in the R1 cup.

Sam stayed on for a few days and did a track day at Oulton (she's an instructor for focused events). The sun shone and she had a great day. The Tena for men team were so impressed with her pace that they had a late night rendevouz to discuss her running in a Tena for women team!

Finally a big thanks to David Laundon in the press office for his hospitality and kindness over the course of the weekend.

 

Brands Hatch: Round 1 (rescheduled)

Again just Sam and Noel present this weekend. A strange weekend at that as the grid positions stood from the cancelled round and the BSB boys were shoehorned into a Bemsee race meeting. As required a small select group of the medical team paid their respects at The Kentagon.

Amazingly Cal Crutchlow was fit to ride 1 week after his dislocated ankle, Karl Harris sat this round out after consulting with Toby Branfoot, to allow his injuries to heal. The weather was good , yet there were still a great many fallers. Sadly Malcom Ashley fell heavily and broke his kneecap.

Shakey won race 1, with Crutchlow winning race 2. Tom Sykes had a good day initially with a podium in race 1 and a huge mechanical failure in race 2. Leon Camier had a fine pair of 3rds.

 

NorthWest200

A sad day indeed for motorcycling; with the untimely death of Robert Dunlop during the 250cc practice, it wasn't even his fault. At times this really is a very unfair sport. Obviously there was the Hollywood moment when Michael Dunlop won the 250cc race in fine style.

 On a more postive note congratulations to Michael Wilcox (below)who at last added a North West win to his illustrious triumphs. Even more amazing is that all 3 of us have been caught on film. Guy Martin was unlucky again on the roads with only a 2nd to his name, yet he was fortunate to get away with a crash in the 600cc race. A great ride also by Steve Plater to win 2 supersports and 1 superbike race.

 

Round 4: Donnington Park

We were all in attendance, the KTM boys were back in action and the 125 race got cancelled because it was so windy! Friday was dry, Saturday was dry then it rained, and Sunday was so windy it wasn't funny. There was also the Ducati weight issue which seemed to be resolved in time for all the usual protagonists to get it on.

Dave Wood winner of the KTM race did a huge stand up wheelie heading towards Goddards - the wind got him all crossed up on the landing, I still don't know how he saved it.

 There were numerous fallers on the Sat afternoon session in the wet, even the renowned wet riders were down. Michael Howarth (below) was unlucky enough to see his bike detonate itself against the pit wall.

On a more positive note Tommy Hill popped in for a check up, he's doing well and working hard to be back on a bike asap - good luck Tommy. We did see a lot of injuries carried over from other rounds and can only imagine that this will become worse as the season progresses.

Shane Byrne did the double with Leon Haslem on the podium twice as well.

 

2008 IOM TT

Fortunately no one lost their life whilst competing at the IOM this year. Congratulations to John McGuiness on his 14th TT win. Commiserations to Guy Martin who should have won the superbike race, and the Senior if it were not for his mechanical gremlins. Maybe he needs to be nicer to the fairies !!

James Mcbride on the other hand must have had all the Island fairies on his side after his high speed off at Gorse Lea. He managed to break four ribs, bruise a lung, suffer multiple arm fractures and a chip a vertebrae among other injuries. He is doing well following surgery for his arm injuries.

 

Round 5: Snetterton

Again just Noel and Sam at this round, once again with variable weather !

Leon Camier claimed his maiden BSB victory, Shakey Byrne won the 2nd after a steady start. Sadly Karl Harris managed to highside himself on 1st lap.

Stuart Easton suffered brake failure and had to bail out, suffering a nasty wrist fracture in the process. Aprilia Supermoto rider Christian Iddon also managed a rather nasty wrist fracture, which places him in doubt for the remainder of the season.

 

Round 6 : Mallory Park

 Mallory saw the return of the KTM boys, a few of them rolled up with arm pump. We came to the conclusion that because they are not present at all of the BSB rounds they a lose a bit of condition. Anyway it all worked out well with Dave Wood and Richard Cooper sharing the victories.

The weather played an important part, especially during race 2 (more later). All three of us were in attendance, which spreads the work out nicely. Pictured below is the deep sanctuary that is the med centre at Mallory Park, with Sam & Noel treating a couple of the usual suspects.

 

BSB oldies Sean Emmett, James Haydon and Gary Mason all had rides at Mallory; Emmett subbing for the still injured Adam Jenkinson, Haydon for the recently injured Stuart Easton and Mason has taking over the Quay Honda ride from James Buckingham.

Injury wise Leon Morris (below) broke his collarbone, when he highsided his Ducati at Stapleton's, ironically at the start of that session we had watched him exit the pits with his bike sporting a shiny new fairing ! 

As far as the racing was concerned, Tom Sykes stole pole off Michael Laverty, who was on the pace all weekend. Shakey Byrne won the first race, even after colliding with the wall at the hairpin. Race two was a more complicated affair with a shower preceding the start dictating a wet race status. A few brave folk started on full slicks and as the track dried they came good, with Michael Rutter claiming his first victory in three long years. Michael Laverty crashed while leading by the proverbial country mile. Steve Brogan Supersport title contender crashed and broke his foot.

The Chris Jones Riders Fund also provided us with an ice machine, so in addition to having ice cold drinks (joke!) we can now provide the riders with a plentiful supply of ice as dictated by their injuries.

It always comforting to know that the medical team are ready to spring into action at a moments notice!

 

 

The Southern 100 IOM 

 

Congratulations to Guy Martin who set the fastest time in practice and in Tuesday's opening race he finished ahead of Ryan Farquhar and Ian Lougher to take the Solo Founders Race, setting a new lap record in the process. Sadly his bad luck continued with a puncture in solo championship race.

 

 

Round 7: Oulton Park

Second visit of the year to Oulton.  Karl Harris was looking very strong in first practice and continued that with 4th on the grid. Leon Camier had a very fast off at Island bend, although no boney injuries he sat the rest of the weekend out. Cal Crutchlow claimed pole position.

Race one claimed Karl Harris, well Shane Byrne claimed Karl Harris at Shell Hairpin when Karl ran a tad wide and Shakey seized his opportunity. Tom Sykes claimed his maiden BSB victory and then just for good measure did the double. There was also a fine 2nd place for James Ellison. Cal Crutchlow was lucky to remount and finish 6th after an off

Shannon Etheridge riding the MAR Kawasaki ZX10 was fortunate to escape serious injury after a couple of offs.

Thanks to Pam Jones of the Chris Jones riders fund we now have some back-on-track team gear.  So if you see us in the paddock don't be afraid to say hello !

 

Suzuka 8hr & WSB at Brands Hatch:

After Oulton a few BSB riders were off to the Suzuka 8 hour race, and another handful had WSB wild card rides at Brands.

Atsushi Watanabe and Daisaku Sakai finished second at Suzuka, completing 214 laps, the same as race winners Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa. Cal Crutchlow was sixth for the Moriwaki Honda squad, whilst team-mate Leon Haslam finished ninth.

While so far at Brands Tom Sykes qualified 6th. Tena for men Honda rider Tristan Palmer was 28th on the grid riding the Jentin Yamaha, substituting for Simon Andrews who was a non starter after an off testing at Mallory mid week. 

Karl Harris claimed 5th on the World Supersport grid, Steve Plater put himself 11th, Hudson Kennaugh qualified 12th, with Chris Martin 21st and Billy McConnell 22nd.

Good luck everyone, especially to Karl who deserves a bit of good fortune

Next stop Knockhill...........................

 

Brands Hatch WSB

It was with great sadness that we learnt about the serious injuries and subsequent untimely death of Craig Jones. Although we never met or treated him, It was obvious he was held in high esteem by most, if not all of the BSB paddock.

On a positive note Tom Sykes did well to finish 7th in race 2 after an engine failure in race 1. Kiyo did his first double and showed people what a good rider he really is. Sadly Karl Harris bad luck continued with another off. Eugene Laverty has been offered Fabian Foret's ride for the Donnington Round of WSB - good luck.

 

Round 8: Knockhill

We all made the long trip to Knockhill, which was another weekend dominated by the on off nature of the weather, and Saturday evenings monsoon. It was enough to keep us safely tucked up in the medical centre most of the weekend.

It was a very sombre weekend coming so soon after the loss of Craig Jones. There was a fitting tribute, with Jim Moodie completing a lap aboard the No18 Valmoto Triumph that Craig campaigned in the 2004 British Supersport Championship. There was also big screen footage and commentary by Fred Clarke of Craig famously winning the Donnington Park round that same year, in typical backing it in fashion. Jim Moodie was followed by some of Craigs closest friends in the BSB : Tom Sykes, Cal Crutchlow, Tommy Hill, Shane Byrne, Karl Harris, Midge Smart, Scott Smart, Stuart Easton and Gary Mason.

With regard to the racing: Leon Haslem claimed pole, and was consistently fast all weekend. Congrats to Jack Kennedy who claimed pole in the Supersport event, having only recently moved up from the R1 cup.

Tom Sykes continued his winning ways from Oulton by winning race 1, with Shakey Byrne second and another podium for James Ellison. Race 2 saw Shakey have a huge off, with the subsequent red flag handing Leon Haslem his first win this year. Michael Rutter finished second, with Karl Harris finally claiming his first podium of the year as well.

Our time in the med centre was busy as usual, though we were inundated by recovering wrist fractures. Stuart Easton spent a lot of time with us, sadly after completing a few laps it was obvious that his wrist was not yet strong enough. We also saw quite a few people with the dreaded arm pump, down to nothing more than Knockhill being a very short track with very little opportunity to rest.

 

Round 9: Cadwell Park

Still a bit of a trek to Cadwell Park, a place that has a unique feel to it. The weather was fortunately reasonable for a change.

This is the track where Chris Jones was fatally injured, and hence the presence of the  Chris Jones Riders Fund and their staff has special meaning. Due to Cadwell's remote location the fund paid for an Air Ambulance for the entire weekend.

Sadly it had to be used 3 times : once for James Dye, once for Stu Wilson and finally for Yaron Salinger. All 3 casualties are doing well.

There was the annual Chris Jones Riders Fund charity bike race, held over 4 laps of the mountain circuit. It was won by a serious looking Cal Crutchlow, just ahead of former Olympian James Cracknell. For the rest of us it was chance to get dressed up (or down) and raise some money for the fund £8000 or so at the last count - so well done everyone.

It was our busiest weekend to date, with many riders carrying injuries including: recovering wrist fractures, recovering shoulder dislocations, recovering post surgery, sore necks, sore backs, twisted ankles, twisted knees. Our presence in the paddock is now pretty much general  knowledge, with riders from all classes rolling up with various tales of woe.

When we did manage to finally get out for a bit of fresh air, who should we bump into but no less than JT himself, it was too good a photo opportunity to miss.

As far as the racing was concerned Tom Sykes was on pole. Leon Haslem did the double in fine style, Tom Sykes a pair of 2nds and Shakey Byrne a pair of 3rds. Leon Camier did the business with a pair of 4ths right on Shakey's heels. He must have enjoyed the burnout that he did at the scene of his dreadful accident last year. Cal Crutchlow's weekend went from badly wrong with setup problems and then an off in race 2, he sank down the championship from 2nd to 4th. Thought the crowd did get to see him in his pants as he brazenly walked back from the med centre to the pits after his off.

Karl Harris' bad luck continued with an off in the 1st race which resulted in  mashed little finger. It was good to finally see Stuart Easton back out there after his wrist injury at Snetterton. 125 rider Ben Barrett who had a similar injury to Stuart was also back in action, more impressively he did complete the charity bike race on a unicycle dressed in a sumo suit !!

Finally the prize for the most spectacular effort over the mountain went to Supersport 600 cup rider Andy Weymouth - Yamaha Linxcel / Seton Tuning. Even more impressive when you realize this photo was taken about 40 mins after visiting us to sort out his painful shoulder. Sadly his race was cut short with a broken chain!

 

 

World Superbikes - Donnington Park

Another fine showing by the BSB boys on the world stage, with Tom Sykes leading the first race before it was stopped and then restarted. The result being decided on aggregate and Sykes coming 2nd to Bayliss.

Leon Haslem running in a podium position was unlucky to be t-boned by Robbie Rolfo at the Melbourne loop, and suffered another off in race 2 to complete a miserable weekend. 

Cal Crutchlow failed to finish the first race, yet bounced back to score a 2nd place in race 2. Congrats also to James Ellison on a fine 4th place in race 2, he certainly deserved a podium after scything past so many bikes.

 

Round 10 : Croft

Just Sam and Rich in attendance this weekend. Its official Croft has the soggiest campsite so far this year. Lost count of how many people got stuck.

After witnessing the portable hot-tub antics of a few well known BSB riders, Back-on-Track need one for next year, think of the therapeutic benefits!!

Croft was Tom Sykes home round, and his confidence was up after his WSB showing. Surprise all round when it was announced that he will be in WSB next year on the all new uneven firing Yamaha R1. Back-On-Track would like to take this opportunity to wish Tom all the best for his rookie year in WSB.

Shakey Byrne also had a mathematical chance of securing the title this weekend, sadly in 2nd practice he had a huge highside and not only hurt his shoulder, but managed to knock a crown off one of his front teeth. Imagine his surprise when one of the paramedics actually found said tooth in the gravel trap, delivered it back to the med centre where it was reattached in good time before the press interviews. Sadly it rattled loose in the next session.

So it was Crutchlow on pole, Rutter second on the grid and Shakey 3rd. Leon Camier won the first race from Haslem and Sykes, who only managed to get past Shakey at the final hairpin. Haslem won the second race from Sykes and Crutchlow. Sadly Byrne did not secure the title.

From a work perspective we had a fairly usual weekend of broken wrists, feet, collarbones. Aaron Zanotti was airlifted to Hospital after a nasty off, Back-on-Track wish him a speedy recovery.

 

Round 11 : Silverstone

At last, a weekend with decent weather (aside from the morning fog), all of us present. The facilities were particularly impressive, the med centre was vast, our room had enough space for 4 treatment couches, twas a shame we only had 2 !!

The walking wounded were well represented this weekend with Aaron Zanotti (not racing) after his big off at Croft, quite a serious spinal fracture, R1 cup rider Stu Wilson after having surgery to the  arm he broke badly at Cadwell, Michael Howarth and his Croft collarbone and James Mcbride with the arm he broke at the TT.

For those with long memories the evocative sound of a 500cc two stroke GP bike is magical, So when Michael Rutter had the opportunity to ride a Cagiva 500 Gp bike he didn't waste any time. Niall Mckenzie managed to squeeze into the leathers that matched his 500 V4 Yamaha from the eighties for a few laps as well.

Superbike rider Simon Andrews feeling the benefit of Noel's healing hands!

Rich with Julie the Radiographer, and the Dragon Digital xray machine (yes its that small )

A picture of "The Team" with 2008 BSB "Cup" Championship winner John Laverty. Picture courtesy of DoubleRed photography.

Anyway back to the racing, Crutchlow on pole from Haslem and Rutter. Camier wins race 1from Crutchlow, with Byrne in 3rd to secure the title. Haslem was the early leader until he was knocked off by a wild move from Sykes. James Ellison also lost the front and his bike collided with the unlucky Michael Laverty.

Race 2 saw Haslem win from Shakey and Sykes.

Back-On-Track would like to congratulate Shane Byrne on winning the 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, with further congratulations to Glen Richards who secured the Supersport title for Triumph, and Steve Brogan who clinched the Superstock 1000 championship.

More news regarding next season with Shakey Byrne signing for the WSB Sterilgarda Ducati satellite team and Cal Crutchlow off to World Supersport for Yamaha.

 

 Round 12 : Brands Hatch Indy

Would you believe it, the last round of the Championship in mid October and not a drop of rain ! It seems like such a long time ago that we were here for Round 1 in the snow!

Silly season is upon us with more rumours and announcements: Leon Haslem off to WSB with Stiggy Honda. Ian Lowry and Atsu Watanabe off to Relentless Suzuki. Sylvain Guintoli stepping down from the Alice Desmosedici in Motogp for Jack Valentines Rizla Suzuki.

Some positive news is that Dennis Hobbs has recovered well enough from his Thruxton injuries to be riding for Centurion in the Supersport championship in 2009.

The CJ fund held their annual auction. One highlight was Sam Corser (Mrs Troy Corser) paying £5k by phone for a Glen Richards helmet !! We were left in no doubt that our services have been well received by many riders across all classes, with many of them thanking us from the stage of the auction. We certainly have come a long way in what has essentially been 12 weekends.

Sam hit the jackpot with 3 pillion laps with James Ellison, only Guy Martin would have been better !!

 

  

 

After another busy day doing what we do dinner was served in the med centre (Thai green curry no less!)

Then we had to pay our respects in the Kentagon

The medical team felt they should pay their respects to the 2 people who kindly organize us, fortunately only one of them was present

On a serious note here are the team who attended Brands

 

The weekend saw Matthew Hoyle Crowned 125 champion, as his only challenger Tim Hutchings crashed out at Paddock hill bend whilst in the lead.

Lee Johnston claimed the Superstock 600 title.

Back to the racing Michael Rutter racked up his 300th BSB start ! Shakey Byrne claimed pole ahead of Leon Haslem and Cal Crutchlow. This result despite Haslems (below) best effort not get to the final stint of the roll for pole, with a highside at clearways. He did hurt his shoulder for which we treated him in his garage between qualifying stints

that meant that the HM Plant team had 2 bikes to repair following Crutchlows best effort to destroy one in practice

Race 1 was won by Byrne, from Crutchlow and Ellison with Haslem a battling 4th despite our best efforts,

however he was so unlucky not to win Race 2 when baulked by a back marker through clearways on the final lap allowing Shakey through to take an emphatic double. Leon Camier came third.

Big shout to R1 Cup champion Jon Kirkham who deputized at short notice for Karl Harris.

And that's that the end of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship 2008...............................................................

well not quite because there was obviously some socializing to be done, so here are a few pics of the pleasantries that followed

Early in the evening with Leon Haslem and Ollie

Lee Johnston Superstock 600 champion- a giant amongst men !!

Tom Sykes & Jack Valentine gettin on down !!

Good to see Tom Grant (right), recovered from his nasty arm injury sustained at Knockhill. Toby without his hat for once !!

WSB last Round Portimao

A new circuit for everyone concerned, 2 HM Plant Honda's Haslem & Crutchlow, Jonny Rea on the Ten Kate Honda, Chris Walker on a Honda and Tommy Bridwell on a GSX-R 1000.

Bayliss on pole and does the double for a fairy tale ending to his illustrious career. Rea 4th in Race , Haslem 7th, Walker 19th with Crutchlow and Bridwell failing to finish.

In Race 2 Fabrizio in second with Haslem 3rd, Crutchlow 9th, Rea 16th, Walker 19th and Bridwell 25th.

Overall a good showing for the Brits, but the best was yet to come with the post race tests. Shakey Byrne fastest of all and more importantly faster than either Biaggi or Xaus managed over the race weekend. Tom Sykes was 4th, with Leon Haslem a contented 0 .4seconds slower than on his HM Plant Honda.

In World Supersport Cal Crutchlow stunned everyone with a time faster than a good number of Superbikes, with Eugene Laverty on the Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR building his confidence after a year spent on an uncompetitive 250 Gp bike.

It looks as if WSB could be more enthralling than Motogp in 2009 !

 

Macau Grand Prix

Congratulations to Stuart Easton on winning the Macau Grand Prix ahead of Michael Rutter in second and John Mcguiness in third. A very good way to end the year for Stuart after breaking his wrist badly at Snetterton after having his brakes fail on the back straight.

Back-On-Track would like to wish Stuart all the best for 2009

 

And finally the Chris Jones Fund dinner / awards evening:

A fun evening had by all. Lots of money raised for such a good cause. Some lucky person won the Hannspree Honda CBR600rr in the raffle !

Roll on next year, it will be very different with the exodus of current riders to WSB and an influx of new (and old - Chris Walker <sorry Chris> ) talent.

Some of the esteemed medical personnel

 

And Finally with Marco Melandri