[Zimbo]

Saturday – hot and sunny yet again!!! Yet more bikes are arriving, more tents going up. We prepare the bikes, chains lubed, tyre pressures checked, fueled, scrutineered, and out for first qualifying. Both bikes go well, Lin is learning the track and Doug’s times continue to fall. Lin wants a gearing change so I put a bigger rear sprocket on to improve drive out of corners. Second qualifying session late afternoon and all goes well again, Doug is happier with his suspension changes, Lin’s times are slower with the new gearing so we go back to the old 15/44 we had used in the morning. Ade cooks dinner, and we decide to walk the circuit. This takes time, it’s 2.9 miles of hard and very grippy tarmac, I am very impressed with the series of straights and very fast corners, what a fantastic circuit, I can’t wait to ride it!!! When we get back we consume lots more beer, a few hours with Tonio and his French camp drinking rum punch and red wine and more beer, fall into bed.
Sunday, race day. Hot and sunny again. We’re not racing till the afternoon so I wonder round the paddock and marvel at the bikes on show – I fall over three Paul Smart reps within ten yards, there’s sport classics and SSs all over the plave, some very nice Guzzis, loads of classic singles, all sorts of interesting stuff, must have been getting on for a thousand bikes in the paddock. We find that ticket sales for the day have reached approximately 12,000 – no pressure then!
The race comes round fairly quickly. The DD bikes run out on to the track, sounding like an F16 on taxi as they exit the pit lane. Round the track and form up, brolly dollies for the first three rows, lovely! No sighting lap, the lights go out and they’re away, a huge wheelie from one SS and they pour into turn 1 four abreast. A couple of laps in and the race is red flagged, we can see an incident in the far distance on a very fast section of the circuit but can’t see who it is, so it’s an anxious wait untill the bikes come round again and we can account for both our bikes. It turns out the faller is Dominic Clegg, a likeable and very enthusiastic lad, he’s lost the front of his SS on a very fast corner. Turns out he’s simply ridden off the edge of the tyre, he’s still on the standard 120/60 rather than the 120/70 the rest of the field run. Anyway, he’s OK and the bike’s not too bad but his race is over. They restart, and the rest of the race runs without incident, Doug does pretty well I thought and runs Dessie hard, Lin comes round last but still picks up valuable points. The winners are presented with trophies on the GP podium by Pierre Terreblanche, Ducati designer.
We watch a bit more racing and have a couple of cold beers in the circuit café bar, then pack up the van and head home, sad to leave. A stop for dinner in a small town after 150km, then on to the ferry with a stop for chocolates and fuel in Belguim, plus an unscheduled look at the centre of Antwerp due to a wrong turn, catch the 2 am ferry, drop Slob off at 5am, and home by 7, tired but very very happy. It’s been a fantastic weekend, and we’ll be back next year, oh yes!!!!