FAST BERKS!
Charlie Oakman and Gary Hartshorne race their CB500 Hondas.
With only three race meetings completed over the past two years I decided it was time to race a full season. If you’ve been following my story, you’ll recall that I rode a rental Yamaha TZR250 with Yamaha Past Masters and got friends to help me build one for a Snetterton meeting. With my lack of ability on the spanners an issue, some ‘gentle’ persuasion from Gary Hartshorne from Bridgestone tyres now sees me with a Honda CB500 twin to go racing for a FULL season. Ulp!
My introduction to the East Midlands Racing Association took place at the end of 2018 in the form of two practice qualifiers and four races in an event that offered more than any track day ever could. You have to try it! Even sliding along the Tarmac in the first race and being a good five seconds a lap slower than Gary was not putting me off. I loved it immediately.
After this first EMRA meeting it was the end of the racing year, but I was soon setting my sights on doing a whole season. I had a near six-month wait to ride competitively again, and decided to use my time tidying up the CB500. It had a good engine for sure, though was looking a little tatty in places. The days of the battle-scarred ‘Pig’ were over; there is a lot of pride in the CB’S appearance nowadays.
Even budget racing isn’t cheap, but I found some cash to throw at the bike and the right people to help me with it. Benny Grayson (BGR Motorsport) had been at my first CB race and was doing some work on Gary’s bike. As the latter rolled out of Benny’s workshop, mine rolled in for some cosmetic therapy. My CB was stripped, scrubbed and the frame powder-coated white, all four wheels blue, the engine was rattle-canned black and a weeping fork seal was fixed.
Further additions came with lever protectors, an Armstrong front disc and tyre warmers from Bike it! New engine case covers from Shep’s were fitted and the tail prepped by Phoenix Yamaha in Trowbridge, with a white number board that merged seamlessly with the freshly powder-coated frame. To finish the job, Scorpion Exhausts took the bike off my hands for a fortnight to prep a new link pipe and end can that was stunning. A dyno-run at their facility gave me a solid 50bhp, well within the 52 brake limit set by EMRA. I was in business. A few sponsors’ logos later, including patches on my Fast Bikes emblazoned RST leathers, and I was ready for the season to begin.
Racing is undoubtedly an emotional roller coaster, but this first trip with just me and my race-prepped bike was something really special, even with a 4am start in the old van. I drove to Mallory Park, watched the sun come up and realised I was embarking on a real adventure. I started thinking about what I wanted to achieve in the season ahead. A top 10 finish would be nice, along with a proper battle with Gary (that would mean getting five seconds a lap quicker.) I also wanted to compete in every round, lose my novice bib and finish the last round in one piece and with a smile on my face.
With the bike away having a blown oil seal replaced before the first race, I finally laid my eyes on her the day before the race in the Bridgestone awning, up on paddock stands, already scrutineered and parked up next to Gary’s CB complete with Captain America decal dip. Flash…
Here I meet some very welcome and soon-to-be familiar faces for the season ahead: Jimmy SV Reynolds, Nick and James (fellow CB racers under the Lewis Bramwell Racing banner), Lezzo, Chris, Mick, Benny, Leaky and Ange, and the Bridgestone family was complete. Gaz and I were in the best of company. The Saturday night that followed was awesome, being easy on the beers, big on the banter. Gary and I had missed out on this at the last round of the previous season as we stayed ‘off site’, but (even with a bad night’s kip in a cold van reeking of petrol) I will always sleep at the track as the EMRA paddock life is brilliant!
Truth be told, when I awoke the next morning I was scared of going racing. But then it all comes together. Jimmy was frying up the bacon, Ange had supplied the coffee, the bikes were being prepped, so all I had to do was get my head right. I checked my gear a million times, faffed about in the back of my van – basically doing anything I could not to think about what was about to happen in the four races that I would be involved in.
Once my leg was over the bike though, the nerves went immediately. All the hard work to get to the grid, money spent, help from friends… First out was the Mini-twins practice/qualifier. This was the secondary series Gary and I had entered along with the now named Bridgestone 500s CB Race. For the sake of £50 you could enter the extra races so Gary and I chose the twins as opposed to the rookies; there were too many meaty machines in that for a CB500 to contend with on the straights.
This was always going to be the practice for me. So, I took it easy, building speed slowly and qualified 21st, near the back and out of the way. The Bridgestone 500s followed. I went a second quicker and up three places to 18th. Gary started as he left off last season, straight into the 1:02s and placing him on rows three and four.
First race, let’s get this on. It’s not a great start – but better than the last one, where I left it in neutral! I was soon up to (my) speed and I had regained my 18th position by the exit of Gerard’s. Going into Edwina’s Chicane, I was braking later and later, having every faith in my Bridgestone R11s to give me the grip I needed. My efforts at Edwina’s were balanced by the odd missed gear and bad lines everywhere else! But I stayed out of trouble, coming home in 15th place and in the points, while Gary held a strong 10th.
In the two Mini-twins races I posted 12th and
16th place finishes, which I was happy with. The big one for me was the final race of the day in the Bridgestone 500s. A split grid had bumped me up to 10th on the grid. If I could hold my position I would already have achieved one of my season’s objectives!
The warm-up lap complete, we lined the grid when Nigel (who was to become a bit of a sparring partner of mine) stalled on the grid. We were held while they wheeled him off: red lights on, red lights off and…. I was engulfed in steam! My hand went up immediately, hoping it would be enough to warn the 15 angry CB500S behind me. I was lucky, I mean really lucky that all managed to avoid me, despite one rider clipping my elbow as he hammered past me. This was my first near miss of the season: the expansion bottle had popped its cap as the bike overheated as it had not been properly ventilated. My fault completely, which earned me my first DNF for the season. Gary sailed home into 6th place, taking the first round spoils as I licked my wounds.