848 Challenge. Team Afterdark at Silverstone 29/30 Sept. Forum run, pics!

James White of Team Afterdark competing in the Ducati 848 challenge was back in action at Silverstone recently .The forum trip to watch him race back in May at Assen in Holland had been a brilliant run, so we were all looking forward to the action once more, especially as the weekend headline event was a round of British Superbikes.
Ses and I had an uneventful, if cold, run down on the Saturday morning. I rode my FZ down while Matt selected his CBF over his blade for this run, he had camping gear to carry and the heated grips were welcome on a crisp morning…he still whinged about being cold though…what a wus!
We met up with Kat and some lads from his newly formed P&G motorcycle club in our dedicated parking area inside the circuit (good work Kat). He had also managed get us some great deals on tickets and camping fees as part of the club discount. £14 for a weekend of Superbike racing at a top circuit is superb VFM!

The first gathering of the P&G motorcycle club!

WTF – the sensational new boy band…

Another perk of ‘club’ membership was the opportunity for the first 100 to sign up was a chance to complete 2 laps of the full circuit on your own bike behind the safety car. The six of us all signed up! While the balance was made up of people from the number of other clubs in attendance, notably the ‘friendly’ lot from the Honda OC (ask Kat…)

‘You meet the nicest people on on a Honda’

Makes a change from a ‘light-salad’…

Those who were camping went and got set up (ask Ses about his interesting method of parking his CBF), while I watched some of the BSB practice with Andy. We regrouped and then we lined up ready to head out to the circuit. We had been given a safety briefing which boiled down to enjoy yourself, and don’t be a t**t, and the two laps were completed at a steady pace behind the pace car and a bloke with a huge head on a R1. They was an amazing variety of bikes, from the usual sportsbikes suspects to Honda Goldwings and a disabled chap who was riding a fascinating twin front wheel Buell trike with some gusto. On a personal level I think that I set a new lap record for a short, fat bloke riding a bike fitted with a rack and an integrated luggage system…

Getting ready for the track action, forum members Ses310, Katana, WJ650, Swindon Andy and myself…

Even at the modest pace dictated by the pace car it was a great insight to riding on the track, and I was amazed at just how smooth the surface was. Now I REALLY want to do a track day! The rest of the lads enjoyed themselves too, especially Ses, who had been a bit take-it-or-leave it about the parade lap. Even a tosser from the HOC on a blue Blackbird who insisted on roaring up the inside of everybody did not spoil the fun.

We watched James in the 848 race and despite relatively few laps on the full circuit he performed well, coming 13th in a large field. The race winner seemed a little too quick to me, he was pulling 2 seconds a lap on the lad in 2nd place…in a category where all the bikes are supposed to be pretty even and carefully controlled by regulation. Team Afterdark will be providing James with a ZX10R to race in Superstock next year, so it will be interesting to see how he gets on riding that beast of bike. We wondered back to the pits where we enjoyed the hospitality of Team Afterdark and chatted with the lads in the team. It is good to be involved like this and get an insight into the running of team, and it is great to have somebody to cheer on.

In and around Team Afterdark

My usual dire action shots…

Later on I bumped into an old friend of mine, Gill, who I have not seen in years. She is deeply into racing and has worked with a variety of teams over the years and is currently part of the Gearlink Kawasaki set up. She was good enough to let us in to take a look at a team that races in one the premier classes and is based in the main pits garage complex. Gill also managed to get us into the Padgett Honda team garage where we got a look at the bikes that John McGuiness does he legendary work on. It was a fantastic opportunity so a big thank you to Gill
I had to head home so missed the excellent evening buffet that Team Afterdark laid on, and could not make day 2, but Kat had a sizable contingent cheering on Team Afterdark on, including some of the lads from the legendary Assen run. Our Champs also took a brief break from his newfound parenthood to enjoy the days racing too. James continued to improve and came in 11th after a battling performance and I was also pleased to see that Ben Wilson picked up a pot for Gearlink Kawasaki.

John Guisness had a cramped littlecamper van, note the reg

Inside the nerve centre of Gearlink Kawasaki

inside Padgett Honda, the bikes for John McGuisness

I couldn’t help spreading the word of the holy tuning forks…

So all in another cracking Forum outing with thanks to Katana for organising, P&G motorcycle club for the price deals, Gill for access to the big boys garages and Team Afterdark for the hospitality.
Welcome to new members Swindon Andy and WJ650 too, look forward to seeing you on future events…next one is the bike show on November 30th.