Cadwell Park June TD

[Cav]

BONKERS. One word to describe Cadwell Park.

It was a relaxing day after the drama of my zips having become seized making me miss the sighting laps. Fortunately it meant I was able to follow James Ellison for my sighting laps instead! I think he jumped straight to a 1m50 pace which, for a first timer, is pretty brisk! I didn't get to complete 1 lap before a RED FLAG came out. Anyway, back out after they clear the Aprilia off the grass after lowsiding at the Gooseneck and I do my 2nd lap behind Ellison again. He jumped the Mountain in front of me on my first time up there!

The circuit.
Fast. It is such a flowing circuit you want to avoid over braking (something I was still doing too much of by the end of the day). You need to roll through the corner carrying as much speed as you can and then the lines become natural.

The bike.
MSS did a great job with my gearbox. It never missed a shift (any missed shifts you hear in my videos are from me not closing the throttle enough and therefore not engaging).

Ohlins.
I got to use my new suspension. Such a difference! It is definitely too soft in the front end, every session I added preload and compression damping, every session I braked later and harder and blew through the stroke again. The shock was also a little soft but I didn't touch that too much to keep the front and rear balanced.
My confidence in the bike has definitely improved. I was very happy sliding the bike here and there, and it was just so composed. Any oscillations were controlled and I could feel the effects of my throttle inputs when at full lean mid corner.

And here's a video....
I'm having some difficulty stitching the videos together and keeping metadata which is why I don't have any telemetry other than the GPS speed.
[video]https://youtu.be/KBZZSJ-aZYc[/video]

[Monty]

Nice!

[StMarks]

....... my first time there..............

Incredible pace & lines for your first time there imho Cav

[Cav]

Thank you mate! Definitely improvements in all areas of the circuit but I'm happy with what I achieved

You genuinely need to lose self preservation to go fast there but the lines do then become natural.

Can't wait to go back / do another day

[Cav]

I had a little fun... 2 minutes of overtakes.

[video]https://youtu.be/wDQvjBkWIAs[/video]

[StMarks]

But...: Social distancing.!!

[Cav]

It's okay.. I hold my breath and hope my way around the circuit!

I posted this up to the Trackday Addicts group for some popcorn munching fun and it didn't disappoint. The haters all ride 1000s and the ones who help stir the pot ride 600s or smaller bikes.

There's nothing quite like dividing people's opinions with some poorly edited 2 second snippets

[Cav]

One thing I didn't say was that one of the bikes that crashed was a gorgeous MV Agusta F3 (I don't know which engine). The guy highsided coming out of the slow chicane before the mountain and was badly winded, on all 4s. The bike looked immaculate on the one side so I think it just landed and stayed on its side. There were no scrapes on the tarmac so maybe a high one.

[StMarks]

.... highsided coming out of the slow chicane before the mountain and was badly winded, on all 4s....

Precisely what happened to a friend of mine on her D675 when we were playing there a couple of years ago.

[Cav]

Yikes. It's why I stayed in 2nd gear. I needed 1st but it's a trackday, it isn't worth the risk.

I'm yet to highside and I hope I die an old person having never known the fear of flying!

[Perkles]

awesome great track and riding looks like you had loads of fun