Gary Johnson
Gaz’s NW200 and TT prep take a bit of a blow, thanks to a crash at Oulton Park.
It’s been another busy month of NW200 and TT Prep, and it’s taken a slight turn for the worse. It started really good. We went to Cadwell Park with No Limits Racing, where we were still working really hard to get my Kawasaki ZX-10RR how I need it. It was really cold there, and it made it difficult to do what we needed to do, and I did end up getting caught out and having a little slip off at the Gooseneck, but by the end of the weekend we’d made some improvements.
We took the Triumph 765 too, which we have made some massive improvements with. We’ve had the Nolins forks re-valved by Maxton; it’s got a Pipe Werx can on it now so we have been able to ditch the cat; and we’ve put , which we have had set up on Frank Wrathall’s d no and it’s tons better now. The Power Commander and exhaust have unlocked so much more power, but i still mega smooth and easy to ride. There are still a fe improvements to be made (we are still running sta d pegs and ‘naked’ fairings), but I was pretty happ to come away from Cadwell with three wins o f four races.
Af er Cadwell we went to Snetterton with the Lee Hardy lot to get some miles on the ZX-10, wh ch we’ll be talking to the roads. That was a bit cold and damp too, but we came away with a eally good setting so it was looking like we d have a good run when we went to do the BSB round at Oulton Park.
Oulton didn’t go so well, though. I only made it to FP2 when it all went wrong. I was following Michael Rutter, lining him up for a pass when a slower rider slowed down to almost a stop on one of the fastest corners of the track. Michael went to pass on the inside, but the other lad cut back on to the racing line and they collided. I
couldn’t avoid them, so ploughed into Michael’s bike and got wedged between his back wheel and seat unit... which was still moving at high speed at the time. The result was some massive friction burns on my legs, which really, really, really hurt.
They took me to Stoke hospital where they had a real good look and cleaned it up nicely. They talked about skin grafts and stuff, but I didn’t like the idea of having an extra wound somewhere else, so we are going to just see how it goes.
By the time you read this the NW200 will have already happened and I’m hoping to have had a good run there. I’m not sure what state my leg will be in, but it’s getting better every day and I have already been on the phone to RST to see if there is any way we can alter my leathers to make the job a little bit easier.
After the North West, it’s the main event, the IoM TT, and I have done loads of riding this year so if everything goes to plan, I think we could be in for a good one. If you are coming over, make sure you give me a wave when I’m flat out on my ZX-10RR!