By Sam Matthewman.
Gurston is the only downhill start Hillclimb in the UK and despite times being around the mid minute mark it is a very challenging and blindingly fast track!
This championship round was a one day meet and took place on 21st April, which allowed for a 300 mile steady drive starting on the Saturday afternoon from sunny Yorkshire to the plains of Salisbury, with a nice view of Stonehenge on the way. I arrived about 5.30pm to much chaos, as there had been a mix up with the position of the bike paddock. I decided to go walk the track whilst everything sorted itself out.
Although the cars had run that day it was the first time this year the track had been used, and like many Hillclimb events they are used through the winter for farm/local access etc, and was subsequently quite dusty.
At the start of the track you plunge downhill with the front wheel still lifting in 3rd and 4th gear as the world drops away. You pass the first speed trap in excess of 100mph on the big bikes heading into what appears to be a sharp almost blind left hander, it’s one of the, if not the, most demanding corners I know and requires real mind over matter and commitment. After threading through the two bends it’s a long left to the hard braking and entry of Karousel. This is two 90 degree right hander’s on a very steep incline and you have to hit the first right very hard to try and carry the speed into the se second right. If you dont you either fall off the inside of the track because of the huge camber or have to accelerate up to it again. Once round there you briefly straighten up over Deer’s leap where the front wheel briefly paws the air, before laying the bike over into the blind left hander of Ashes trying to guess where the apex is. The exit of Ashes drops off camber and its very easy to get caught out losing the front if you’ve gone in too deep or highsiding if you’re a little too keen to get on the throttle for the long drive towards the finish.
For many of the bikes that’s the difficult bit done but on the big bikes you have to climb all over the front to keep the front wheel down whilst accelerating hard up the steep incline towards the finish. There is a tricky little left right and crest just before the finish which lifts the front wheel just when you’re trying to change direction requiring a whiff of throttle roll just enough to counter steer the two 100+mph gyroscopes beneath you.
If you get it wrong you get to join the elite speed ploughing hall of fame across the farmers field……..
Once back and pitched up we paid our camping fee and headed over to the clubhouse for a much needed hot meal, washed down with a few pints of cider whilst again talking over the tv to watch the MotoGP qualifying rounds.
By about 6.30am Sunday morning most of the paddock was up and about, many from near hyperthermia as the temperatures dropped well below freezing in the night. As the sun came up the mood improved and the usual banter and piss taking resumed.
My plan was to hit first practice pretty hard and try and get to within about a second of my personal best straight away as we didn’t have the luxury of a days practice before. Unfortunately there were two fallers before I even left the line so I clicked the commitment back a few notches as it was still very cold despite the misleading sunshine…..the result was a 35.17 with my pb having been 32.74.
I was a bit slow through the speed traps battling to keep the front wheel on the floor with a 102/98mph through the start/finish beams. Still enough to slot me into 3rd place behind the CR500 of Glyn and 637 KTM of Martin.
Second practice was a repeat but slightly faster, now down to 34.77 and 101/102mph and again 3rd place. A quick lunch of pasta in a pot and the sun disappeared leaving the air again very cold.
First timed run and a good warm tyre had me leave the line with a 64ft time of 2.05 seconds and 109mph through the first speed trap before throwing it into Hollow with eyes on stalks looking for any hint of a corner, jeez that’s a big balls corner! Braking a bit early as well as a bit ginger on the exit of Ashes left me with a less than hoped for improvement to a 34.03, still in 3rd place overall but hopefully good enough to qualify for the Top10 run off.
Second timed run and I had to try and do something about those pesky supermoto’s. The wind was getting up and despite another 2.05 start I was a fraction down through the first trap at 106mph, but with a better terminal speed of 106mph resulting in a time of 33.78, Glyn at 33.71 and Martin at 33.72, a whole 7/100ths between the 3 of us!
It was getting late and we were quickly grouped together for the Top10 run off to decide the championship points. As normal we go in reverse order so with me 3rd from last I went through the run in my head and gave myself a good talking to!
With the brace of the renthals gripped firmly in my teeth I built up the revs and firmly fed in the clutch. With a launch time of 2.03 the front wheel hovered a few inches off the track through second gear and into 3rd, as the track fell away it started to rise further, I left it as late as I dare before short shifting into 4th which saw it start to fall again before buzzing the speed trap at 110mph (I believe the fastest ever for a bike). No braking, a slight roll and holding my breath I threw it into Hollow Bend, a blink and I was through but right on the edge of the track on the exit which meant I couldn’t get back on the power for the short bit of extra drive to Karousel, so my usual braking point was a bit short. I released the brakes early to run in hotter, with everything bottoming out. Hitting the first right I bounced over to the outside curb before peeling in for the next right, hopefully not too much time lost. I held the power on longer over Dear’s leap and tried not to overload the front tyre as I tipped in as it was bloody cold by now. I ran wide and onto the curb on the exit and with the red mist filling my helmet I nailed it into 3rd and 4th keeping it pinned before wrestling it through the flick over on the line at a poor 103mph.
The fantastic marshalls came running over with our timing slips whilst I was waiting for Martin and Glyn to come up after me, so far I was 1st with a 33.37
Martin had also run wide somewhere and did a slower 33. 84, so it was getting tense waiting for Glyn. He made it up and we were all trying to glean from his eyes how his run had gone, I got the impression is was better but short of his hopes, the lady handed him his timing slip which confirmed a 33.65.
The TL1200’s first outright win of 2013 !!
Now normally we get bollocked for wheelying on the way back to the pits but to hell with it, I didn’t care and who doesn’t enjoy seeing a bit of monowheel action…….
It was nice back in the pits to see everybody happy for me and to see a dumper beat the strangle of the supermoto’s. They’re all a great bunch of guys and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.
Next round on the 4th and 5th of May is my local track at Olivers Mount, Scarborough where I hold the outright hill record, lets hope for sunshine as I hope to reduce it slightly with the new bike……
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