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Cup 2007: Snetterton, 18-20 May
METZELER NATIONAL
SUPERSTOCK CUP 2007:
SNETTERTON, 18-20 MAY
Power Struggles
I had to miss Friday's free practice session due to having to sit
an exam at University that unfortunately couldn't be rescheduled.
I wasn't too worried about this because I have raced at Snetterton
many times over the past few years and know my way around pretty
well, so was confident that I could put in a quick time in first
qualifying. What I wasn't prepared for was what actually happened
in first qualifying!
On the first lap out I knew we had a problem with the bike - it
just would rev. I tried to run it round for a couple of laps to
see if it would clear but nothing changed. This left me in last
place and out of the race. We got the bike onto the dyno after the
session and it was only making 120.8 bhp (about 45bhp down on what
it should be) and was being starved of fuel. The team stripped the
bike and checked everything but couldn't find any faults... rebuilding
the fuel pump gave a slight increase in the power but it was still
way off its best.
We managed to mask the problem by adding more fuel on the power
commander, which gave us around 155bhp but this was only a temporary
solution which would allow me to get back out on track. In second
qualifying I tried for a quick lap pretty early on as we knew that
the bike would end up losing power the longer it was out on track,
and I managed to put in a 1.10.768 seconds lap, which was only 0.1
seconds off of my fastest lap of the race last year, so I know I
could have gone well if the bike had been OK. We tried a different
gearing in warm-up and that didn't work.
In the race I got a good start and was up to about 12th on the
first lap, but spent the rest of the race trying to fend people
off as the bike just kept losing power. Every time someone got past
me on the straights I could attack them back - it was very frustrating.
For once the rider was in good form but the bike let him down! The
team now have a lot of work to do to make sure that the bike is
sorted and ready for Knockhill.
Also, why not take a look at Ben
Taylor's official website.
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