We are pleased to announce that we will be supporting a young racer just starting out in his racing career during 2009.

Alan Davis (21) is in his first season racing a Yamaha R1 in the Bemsee Open Rookie Championship, and has enjoyed encouraging results so far this season. We will be helping out with parts and will post Alan's race reports here as the season progresses.

Alan Davis (Yamaha R1)

After his first outing with the Powerbikes at Brands Hatch last month, Alan was back in the Rookie championship for Cadwell Park. Here is how he got on ;)  

Round 5 Cadwell Park

Well it was back to Cadwell Park for the second time this season, and having raced with the experienced powerbike riders last month I was looking forward to putting my new riding style to the test!

As usual I spent all day Friday testing and setting up the bike and to my surprise the sun was actually shining down on Cadwell Park for the first time ever! This is always a bonus as it makes the day so much easier. The test day went well and I was getting some respectable lap times for a rookie. Since racing with the powerbikes last month I really noticed how much more corner speed I was carrying, both in and out of corners.

Race 1 Saturday

My first race on Saturday was after lunch. It felt like a long and tiring wait after getting up at 7.30am to sign on. Never mind it was soon cured by a can of Relentless.  I started race one from the 5^th row on the grid. I got a good start and forced my way into tenth. I had a good first lap staying with the main pack. I got past another rider this put me into 9^th. I then spent the next seven laps trying to get past Ben Neeves. This proved to be a serious challenge. Ben also raced with the powerbikes last month and I was much quicker than him then. This all seem to have changed. I settled with ninth position overall and a 5^th in class. When I looked at the time sheet after the race I noticed I was seven seconds a lap faster than the last time I raced at Cadwell. That was quite satisfying.   

Race 2 Saturday

For race two I started from the third row, got a reasonable start but was unable to gain any positions off the line. I then spent the rest of the race again trying to catch Ben Neeves again. For the last two laps all I could here was a screaming 600 on my case. It was Simon Keen and he was trying everything to get past me. I just had to hold him off for two laps. He made a pass at me going up the inside at Hall bends but I slammed the door on him as I knew it was the last lap. I managed to finish 8^th overall and another 5^th in class. Towards the end of that race I kept feeling the front letting go so I invested in another set of tyres for Sunday’s races.

Race 3 Sunday

I went out first thing Sunday morning for free practice to scrub in my new tyres and to see if I wanted to make any more changes with the bike. The bike felt good so I ran the same set up as Saturday. Again I started from the third row but this time I got a great start and got into fifth. I made this stick for three laps. Unfortunately on lap four I lost two positions running wide on the exit off park corner to Byron Becket and Ben Neeves. I was not going to let Ben beat me again so I forced my way past him going into Hall bends. I made it stick and put a big lead on him. I finished the race in 7^th overall and 4^th in class. I was still losing the front end going into corners so when I returned to the paddock I put on two clicks of rebound onto the front forks.

Race 4 Sunday

This was to be the last race of the weekend so I wanted to get a good result. Yet again I started the race from the third row. I did not get a good start this time as I let the clutch out before the lights had gone out so I immediately grabbed the front brake to stop the bike, to prevent a jump start. Now I had lost all my engine revs. The lights went out so I had to give the bike everything off the line. I lost a few places, so to compensate I went into the first corner faster than anyone else, this allowed me to get my lost places back. I battled my way to fifth and made it stick for two laps. I was up with the front pack. I was trying to pass Ross Dunning and due to me trying so hard I ran wide exiting park corner again and lost a place to another rider. This now put me in 6^th. With two laps left I made it my aim to gain that position back. Unfortunately I was unable to and finished in 6^th overall and 4^th in class.

I had a great weekend at Cadwell and have now completed enough races to ditch the orange vest and apply for my clubman race licence.

Much to my surprise I checked the championship points after the weekend and I am now third in the championship. My next race will be at Brands Hatch in a few weeks time and I will be trying even harder to secure more points.    

Alan will be racing in the Bemsee (BRMC) Rookie championship (and selected other races) over the following dates:

Snetterton 6th-7th June

Brands Hatch GP 24-25th July (Powerbike class)

Cadwell Park 22nd-23rd August

Brands Hatch 26th-27th September

Thruxton 17th October

Lydden Hill 31st October 1st November