The mini-tt effect
Cadwell Park is like a road circuit shrunk in the wash. So is that why TT champ Hickman triumphed there in BSB?
After taking two BSB race wins recently at Cadwell
Park, Peter Hickman confirmed his place in an elite group of racers who won TTS and short circuit superbike races – Carl Fogarty, Steve Hislop, Joey
Dunlop and Steve Plater have achieved the feat in recent history. But were Hicky’s wins something to do with the nature of Cadwell, which is like a mini-tt?
‘There might be something in that,’ says Plater, who won the British Supersport championship, Senior
TT and North West 200 in 2009. ‘Cadwell is a daunting track and in my opinion none of the top riders try as hard as they normally would – it’s a subconscious thing when a track is that fast and with that little run-off. Hicky will be more relaxed in that environment than a lot of the other riders because of his TT experience.’ Hickman won his first BSB race at Cadwell in 2014. But there are other factors. ‘Peter’s riding better than ever and that’s perhaps partly because he hasn’t got the TT going on,’ Plater tells Bike. ‘He’s completely focused on BSB this year, which has to help. Also, he’s lost 15kg and he’s sharpened himself up.’
The man himself isn’t sure about the Cadwell effect. ‘It’s a circuit where you have to be very accurate and methodical. Like the TT, taking your brain out doesn’t work at Cadwell Park,’ he tells Bike. ‘But I’ve been fast everywhere this year, right from the first round at Oulton Park.
‘At Knockhill I had the pace to win but my engine blew in the first race and in the second I was leading and got knocked by another rider and dropped to seventh. At Donington I broke the lap record, had pole position and was leading, and then it rained…’
Hicky puts his Cadwell success down to things finally coming right, and a change in the tyre rules. ‘Last year we had to use really hard tyres – the softest option was too hard for our bike. That’s why all the BMWS were shite. This year I pushed and pushed to get them to allow a softer tyre and that’s the difference. Yes, the bike’s got better [he’s now on an M1000RR], and we’ve got wings and more power and all the rest of it, but with the new tyres all the problems I had last year have disappeared.’