SHERWOOD SUZUKI ENDURANCE TEAM
ROUND 1 SNETTERTON
The first round of the Hottrax Endurance championships took place at a windy but mainly dry Snetterton race circuit April 3/4 th.
Carl Dodwell ( NTO racing.co.uk ) having being associated with Sherwood Suzuki for most of his racing career was looking to move into the Endurance racing category & brought along former 2008 EMRA Roadstock champion Sean Everett to create a team that now runs under the Sherwood Suzuki banner. Peter Symes will also make an appearance or 2 as the season progresses as he prepares for an attack on the Isle of Man mountain course at the Manx GP later in the year.
Qualifying for the race event saw Carl out first in a 15 minute dash to set the grid slot but with changeable conditions the team selected the wrong tyres as the track quickly dried & Carl had to pit after only 4 laps hoping that Sean could set better times on his 15 minute session later in the day, however disaster was to strike. As Sean left the pit lane it was noticed by the mechanics that the drive chain was broken & after some swift work Sean was sent out to do 3 laps at a sedate pace & then come in for the team to assess the condition of the chain. When Sean returned to pit lane the chain was obviously more serious than the team first thought & the team worked fevorishly to fit a new chain but to no avail as the qualifying time ended before the bike was prepared to go out again.
This left the team with a mountain to climb as they were allocated 29 th on the grid of 35 riders.
It was decided that Sean would start the race hoping that his aggressive style would pull the team through the field in the early stages & then Carl would have clearer track to put in the fast times once the field spread out a little.
Race start
Sean made a superb get away immediately over taking 9 riders on the run into the first corner & then continued to pile on the coals pulling the team up to 14 th by the end of his stint.
Carl took to the track after a super swift pit change with Sean marshalled by Steve Harrison the teams Pit lane manager. Carl immediately took 2 secs a lap off his previous best & started to push further through the field & by the end of his first half an hour stint had pulled the team up to 5 th slot with 4 th place within spitting distance.
Sean once again took to the track but was unfortunately penalised for not stopping on the exit of pit lane to the track which is a mandatory rule. Sean was pulled in for a 1 minute stop go in pit lane & with a lap at Snetterton being in the 1min 15 bracket more than a lap was lost. Sean however really pulled out the stops on his return to the track & began to bring his lap times down significantly.
Carl once again took over the reigns of the race but was held for one lap in pit lane after an incidence on track caused the safety car to be deployed & once again the team were dropped down the field but once the rider had returned to the fray he once again started to take his lap times down & pulled the team back into 8 th place by the end of his 2 nd session.
Sean then put in his best session of the race pulling the team back to 6 th place posting consistent 1min 16 / 17 laps.
Carl took over the reigns once again & at the end of the race posted the 2 nd fastest lap of the race on lap 120 posting a 1min 14 lap on his way to securing 5 th place for the team.
Considering the stop go penalty & losing a lap to the safety car the team had finished 5 th & were only 1 lap 40 secs behind the 1 st place team. So without the hiccups the team could have been in the hunt for the win.
The riders would like to thank all the team especially Stuart Woodhall, Mick Green & Pete Symes ( mechanics ) Helen Dodwell ( team support & timing ) Steve Harrison ( Pit lane manager ) & Sally Woodhall ( team marshall ) for all their help & efforts on race day.
Special thanks also go to sponsors Sherwood Suzuki for all their assistance with consumables & Keith Brain Tyres.
Sherwood Suzuki move on to the 2 nd round at Cadwell Park on May the 8 th hoping for a good race & a little more luck.
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