Hi there everyone.......back home now and recovering from the lengthy trip in the sky.......Such a trip of great highs and lows in one.......With the practice out of the way on Friday, we had some repairs to do.......the throttle cable got caught on the front fork pad bolt nuts and gave both riders a shake up........gave the clutch a bit of a hard time there, but an easy fix really........the big one was the rear exhaust bracket both the hanger and the actual pipe brackets had both cracked badly........mad panic trying to sort a good enough repair......Thank god Dave's best mate Merv had an oxy set in the back of his van.......so off back to the camping area we set off and after fabricating a steel strap, I brazed up the cracked original bracket and welded on the new steel strap.......back to the pits and assembled all.......everything looking good for the first race on Saturday.......All going well, we were 11th on the grid out of the 30 odd bikes. Our pro rider was Adam McLean a young rider from Ireland.......he had ran in the Classic Manx TT a couple of weeks beforehand and came 5th in that race........ We got a great start and after a lap or so, he was in about 7th place, then moving to 4th place after a few bikes had some issues........The amazing feat was over the speed trap, the fastest Manx or G50 was hitting 126 MPH and our bike was doing 125........we had a great change over at about the 9th lap was done by Adam.......of course with Dave being totally new to the track he ended up in 9th position.......The race finished and we all looked waiting anxiously for Dave to return back in from the track, but this did not happen.........After some time we heard that he had come off the bike and we did not see him again.......the bike was returned to the post pit area where all the bikes and riders are all together before finally returning to the actual pit area. We learnt that Dave had come off just before the chicane and been taken to hospital with some suspected broken bones........After a quick visual survey of the bike, I could see that the front right side brake plate lever was very sloppy and the obvious damage to the bike........The Goodwood officials confiscated the bike to do their own assessment and told me I could not touch the bike until they had looked it over themselves. Once we collected the bike and returned to the pits, i quickly removed the front wheel and it became very clear that the right side brake had suffered a return spring failure.......because this brake is a Seeley hub with custom made brake plates, basically very similar to a stock Vincent but 8 inch diameter and the cam boss actually moves in the brake plate allowing the shoes/cam to self center within the drum. this means that it is a servo type brake that can energize very well, but with the return spring broken, the servo action goes crazy thus pretty much locking up the front wheel.......from witness accounts from spectators who saw the crash from the grand stand, the bike stood on its nose, and then flipped over, Dave going over the bars.......the rear wheel coming down hit his left upper leg and breaking it, plus damaged his hip and pelvis.......and right collar bone as well........The bike .......near tore the seat off, smashed the exhaust rear mega pipe badly, right side peg and brake lever bent/grazed, slight grazing of the right fairing........amazingly the tank was saved......Dave put this down to his body saving more damage to the bike........i think it happened so quickly you would have little time to change anything in that sort of crash.......We started to repair the damage and find a replacement spring for the brake.......we were well on our way, but the organizers told us that the bike was not to be ridden on the Sunday.........This was a sad blow for all the hard work we had put in.......At the time I was very annoyed but also felt a bit of relief.......Their argument was, if by chance it happened again, with a pro rider in the mix, the outcome could be very bad........i respected their decision, but many of the riders in the pits were very annoyed at that........Any other race and it would have been ok, but because Goodwood is a spectator event, they took that view, and it was all over........Dave is out of hospital as of last Wednesday, and is staying with his sister in Colchester.......He is mending well, is mostly up and about and carrying out his physio to regain strength and movement........Being a long time racer, he has broken bones before and seems to mend rather quickly.......Looking back........if the brake hadn't failed, I felt we would have come about 6th or 7th in the race.......it is very possible we will come back...... with all the issues sorted and a very different front brake.......perhaps a bit of tweeking and tuning, the bike is very capable. Yes it was great to see Ben (actually in the same pit bay as us......) and his father Tim and family there.......A few other faces showed up that we knew......The following Friday, we called in to see Michelle and Bob at the VOC spares co........this was special to me as Michelle and I have been great friends since she first started with the company 14 odd years ago......It was great to see her beautiful smile face to face.......We caught up with Ben and some of the other shop boys across the road enjoying their lunch break.......Certainly a whirlwind tour.......crammed so much in the time we were over there........For those wondering, the other face of the Flash team was my good friend Mark Barnes who is actually my machinist.......he had never traveled before, and so he came along to help out........he just happens to be from Burt Munro territory ( Invercargill.......NZ....)......So he was handy to have there helping out..........Such a shame to have something like that happen to us after the massive effort we put in.......A poxing spring failure caused so much grief........It taught me that going to a place like Goodwood, you need loads of pre track time to iron out all the bugs as best you can, cause if you don't........I spoke to Dave the day after we got home, and we both agreed that we haven't finished what we started..........Thanks to all that helped us with this journey......both financially and with words of help and wisdom........The few naysayers out there.......there was not a snow flakes chance in Hell, that we were going to give up and not go......It cost a lot of money and a massive amount of time especially mine, but it was well worth it........Goodwood is an amazing event.......it's a motoring and aviation nut's best show ever.........what event can you go to and first thing in the morning and late arvo before the sun sets, you see 3 Spitfires flying around in formation every day for 4 days.........crazy good.........Cheers.........Greg.
