‘We were doing well until the bike caught fire’
Never one to have a boring race weekend, Boastie takes Team Classic Suzuki’s Katana for an explosive final outing
THE CLASSIC WEEKEND at Misano was a great opportunity to ride Team Classic Suzuki’s Katana on one of the world’s most famous tracks and I was really looking forward to it. For various reasons we got minimal practice but thankfully, one of my co-riders Neevesy (part time Bike tester Michael Neeves) has done loads of riding there so at least he was fast straight away.
The other rider Richard ‘Steady’ Steadman and I managed to get out in the afternoon before night qualifying, but we had a gearbox problem so had to change the engine. It only took us 90 minutes, which was pleasing – we had a plan and we all knew what we were doing so it wasn’t difficult. But that was the last of our practice time gone. Consequently, Steady and I were still learning the track in night qualifying – our times were coming down at almost a second a lap and Neevesy was on it. Overnight we made big changes to the suspension to try and make the front end less vague. Because the bike is so heavy you need a lot of compression damping, but that leads to the front rebounding too quickly, which Neevesy hated. We improved it – it wasn’t perfect, but it was a lot better and the next day all our times improved, especially in the fast sections. There are two fifth gear righthanders where you can just go quicker and quicker – they were properly exciting and you could make a lot of time in that section. We qualified 8th out of 46, which we were pleased with. Neevesy made a great start and got us up to third and we were leading when the fuel stops were going on. Steady went out next and kept us in third, staying ahead of our rivals at Phase One. Then, on the lap he was coming in, he slid off on the tightest corner. He kept underneath the bike as much as he could to protect it, but when it stopped in the gravel trap it caught fire. Steady thought he’d blown it but the marshals were mega and quickly put out the fire. Steady looked over the mangled Katana as best he could in the dark then tried to start it. Amazingly, it worked, and he rode it back to the pits. It was in a right mess – the carbs and fuel lines were scorched – but nothing looked bent so I went out for my stint, then in 25th place. I took it easy for a few laps just in case oil was leaking but everything seemed ok, so I speeded up and started creeping back up the ladder.
Neevesy was out next and got us to 15th, then Steady got us to 13th and in my last stint we crossed the finish line in 10th – not a bad result, considering the bike was on fire in a gravel trap half way through. Steady was obviously gutted. Fortunately we all spent a few days off together in Italy afterwards so were able to make sure he didn’t forget about it. That was the swansong for the Katana – Suzuki have decided not to race it next year. It’s a real shame because the team is working really well and we have got all the endurance kit now. I’ll be racing in 2020 doing stuff I can manage on my own – Scarborough, for example – but endurance racing needs a team and that’s expensive. We just need someone to step in with some money… Let me know if you’ve got any lying around and we’ll spend it or you…
‘Steady looked over the mangled Katana as best he could in the dark then tried to start it. Amazingly, it worked…’