15-year-old schoolboy racer, George Fielder is enjoying his first season in BSSO. His recent visit to Darley Moor saw him completing a full weekend without incident on the engine he built himself.
You can read George’s previous ‘Rookie’s reports’ here.
Here’s how our SLUK Rookie racer got on…
Sod school, let’s get the scoot on the dyno and go racing…
I got home after school on Thursday and went off to my dad’s scooter shop to pack stuff for racing. The van was already full, so I had an easy job. A few hours later I was settling down for bed as an early alarm was set for Friday.
I woke up at 4 am and was en route to Stuart Gentry’s dyno at SG Engineering in Diss. With a few breaks along the way and breakfast, we arrived at Stuart’s at 9 am just in time for the man himself. As I’ve been busy with exams the past few weeks I still had a few bits to mess with on the scooter but they were dead easy.
Glowing with pride
Once the bike was ready we grabbed lunch and threw it on the dyno. It was alright but a bit laggy at the bottom end so we changed the atomiser and got it back on there. This time it was like music to my ears, my MHR exhaust screamed through all eleven thousand rpms. My eyes were glowing with pride, as an engine I built all by myself was performing brilliantly. We packed the van up and headed back towards Darley. After a long journey we arrived at the track around 9 pm and got set up and went straight to sleep.
New kid, Adie Horrocks seems to be loving BSSO racing!
Saturday morning
I woke up feeling really nervous as there was a bit of rain. But the sun quickly appeared. The first practice went amazing. I qualified third from last on the grid. The bike also felt amazing and no problems at all. It was going round every corner well and absolutely buzzing down the straights.
Race one
I lined up behind Adie Horrocks for the sighting lap, although the grid was rather confusing as it had a massive gap in the middle. That aside, I flung out and started warming my tyres with a little bit of brake testing.
Back to the grid for the real race, everyone lined up properly for the real thing. After the lights went green I opened it up and realised I had a lot more power than normal, wheelieing about five metres before the front wheel dropped – then went straight back up again. Now getting up to speed I got going, passed a few people and was really feeling good about how the scooter is set up.
A few laps go by and me and Michael Leicester were going back and forth every corner. He eventually got me on the last corner and even though he locked the back wheel up I couldn’t catch him. The second race got cancelled due to a sidecar accident, however, me and my dad helped out Team Numpties with the clutch problems they were having. After that, just a quick watch of the Euros and off to sleep I was.
Sunday morning
I woke with greater nervousness as the rain poured down. Swapping tyres on the small frame is such a hassle but we needed to put the wets on. Hearing the call for scooters, I took my time and calmly made my way towards the holding area. Trying to avoid letting the rain get to me. Sighting lap like usual, just getting a feel for the conditions.
Race two
Then came the race start. I kept the revs high, lights on, first gear, and off we went, keeping the front wheel down. I was in with the pack, with everyone bundling into the first chicane, it was one of those hold-your-breath moments!
Laps were going by and I was noticing that I was still with the pack, slowly gaining on people. A couple of laps have gone by now and I overtook Brook Northey, and coming down the straight I saw Harry Smith having exhaust issues, that was another pass, the last lap flag was shown and I went for it with Gavin Gray in front. I was gaining on him but had low hopes of catching up, until in the distance, he locked the rear wheel on the final corner – my chance was here, I tucked in with my head below the headset and full bore I found myself beating him to the line. Getting back to the pits with cheers I felt great to further find out I placed 11th overall, the best result I’ve ever got.
Throughout the day, the sun came out and we swapped my tyres back to dry as the standing water disappeared. There were still a few puddles but it was dry conditions.
Race three
Then it was time for the third race. I got ready and there I was on the start line for the last time all weekend. Sighting lap goes by fast as per usual. On the grid, not being too aggressive as my goal was to finish a full weekend. I got a decent start and stuck with the grid, I was stuck behind John Balcomb pretty much the whole time which was great as I could follow and learn how others ride. It was the 6th lap where Jimmy McNally had a major brake failure and red flags were waved. All the scooters came to the line for a solid 10 minutes and the race was ended on six laps because it had started to rain heavily. And that was my weekend finished with a brilliant result and a whole new experience.
Next stop, Anglesey.
Words and paddock shots: George Fielder
Main images: Kevin Gunstone
Next meeting – Anglesey
If you want to catch the next BSSO meeting, get yourself to Anglesey on 10th-11th August. It’s one of the most dramatic tracks you’ll visit and the island is a lovely place to spend a few days.
Coming up
We’ll also be seeing how Ben Readings got on at Darley over the next few days…
