Firmly in the Paddock!

The Circuit

Our first ever visit to this track Mallory Park Circuit & our first ever time being amongst the hustle and bustle of the paddock also! It did not dissapoint! A really friendly circuit with great vantage points all over the track whether you are inside the circuit or on the outer perimeter. We took phots from the pit straight wall, the run into Gerards, Edwina's chicane and the John Cooper esses. Apart from Edwina's you are no more than 15 foot away from the action! Set the cameras up at entries, apexes or exits and just smile! That close that I'm sure I could see some eye bogies during the first warm up laps. 

The Championship

Thundersport GB is (apparently) the next level down from BSB, but the talent on show is phenominal. I only wish I could have half as much talent as those I saw over the weekend. There are as you can imagine quite a few championships up for grabs within this Club and I will not list all of them here but have a look for yourselves ThundersportGB. We were here predominantly to witness the racing within the Thundersport GP3 Superteens & GP2 Cup as this is what Lissy was taking part in. (lissy normally races in the NG series, more later). However, we enjoyed all of the racing and also it was great to see the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Road Racing Team racing against Army and RAF teams in the GB Racing British Military Championship.

Lissy Whitmore

Mature, charming, funny, hard working and infectiously bonkers! This is the #purpleprincess Lissy Whitmore. There seems to be no limits to this girls enthusiasm for not only motorcycle racing, but school, Army Cadets, Duke of Edinburgh's plus much more. Boundless energy it seems! A competitive and extremely talented young woman but tempered with the willingness to aid and share with others within the paddock. Lissy normally races in the NG Road Racing club, but was treating the Thundersport GB this weekend as a test for some minor upgrades to her Yamaha R3, plus it was great track time on the bike. Thankfully this also meant we could meet up finally! Yaay!

Steve Whitmore

What an absolute diamond! Steve is very knowledgeable in every aspect of this sport, from logistics through to mechanics but more important than all of this is his constant support and dedication to his daughter and her love of racing! An extremely competant rider by all accounts and a lover of the Isle of Man, ridden the course on more than one occasion although not in competition. Manager, Mechanic, Promoter, Driver, Fitter, Chef, Cleaner, Wheel man, Fairing polisher, Strategist, plus many more skills and an all round Top Bloke!

Preparations

Even though I had prayed to the sun gods, me and Claire decided that we wouldn't be camping, so we hired a van for the weekend to use as transport and sleeping quarters. Picked it up Friday morning, loaded in the necessaries (beer being high on the agenda) and set off from the south coast. We reached Mallory park around 7 ish on the Friday evening and were met by Steve and Lissy who bounded up to us like Tigger! Entered the paddock driving the wrong way down the circuit (awesome) and then set about setting up. Vans parked, marquee put up, bike out and then time to relax with a beer. Steve and myself kicking the hoop out of it until 01:00 bells on the Saturday morning.

First day

Woke up with a stinking cold (that'll teach me for staying up late in minimal clothing). The format for the day was 3 lots of track time (for all categories) first was practice/qualifying, then x 2 races. P&Q was our first time to see Lissy ragging the R3 around! we went down to the entrance of Gerards's and were happy as the proverbial pig in mud. No more than 15 foot away from the action and the noise, oh the noise! Christ this is one cool chica with bags of talent! Race 1 - First race went well for Lissy although not as quick as she usually is around here, but admittedly she was just getting used to the minor changes to her bike. We went and watched her for this race down at the chicane (Edwina's) a flick left then right and on up the hill into the John Cooper esses. Race 2 - The second race and we opted to view from the entrance to Gerard's again. Oh my good god her perserverance and a little play with the suspension set-up saw her improve her time back to her best, a sight to behold watching the smoothness of approach and sheer momentum around this long sweeping right hander. Lissy was taking chunks of track out of those in front in this corner alone. Visibly making up 15-20 foot from entry to exit on the other talented riders. The days racing came to an end with the British Military Championship race, won by an Army rank (booo) ;-). The hotplate was flashed up at Lissy #34 HQ for sausages and burgers, some beers were drunk and Steve introduced me and Claire to alcoholic Dandelion & Burdock! (we liked it a lot).

Final Day

We were more sensible last night and got our nappers down at 11:30 ish. A good nights kip and feeling human again this morning. Sunday would follow the same format as Saturday but without the need for Qualifying. For the warm up we went back to Edwina's to watch Lissy throwing it around, flick and flack, left and right. 8 minutes to crack as many laps as you can to get back in the groove. For the R3 this means around 7 laps to get Lissy and the bike in the zone. Race 3 - Steve said go and watch up at the John Cooper esses for this one. We did! we didn't regret this! Wow, 10-12 foot away from the action again as the riders are pulling away up hill on this right hander, then snappng your neck to see the rear tyre working hard as they flick left onto the straight before the ensuing hairpin. Awesome! Lissy was full on it and consistently making her expected lap times. Race 4 - The final race of the weekend for Lissy, as she left the paddock dad Steve said 'full send' oh yeah! Full send was engaged and Lissy had a great race although on finish she was handed a time penalty for an alledged 'jump start' when there was an issue with the start lights. Anyway coming back somewhat subdued and just a tad miffed all was quickly forgotten when on closer inspection of the R3 the right hand footpeg had been ground down. We looked, we looked again, me and Steve exchanged glances and then looked again in awe. Crikey that is some lean angle and I'm very surprised it wasn't an elbow down moment! We packed everything up and got ready to go our seperate ways but I think all of us were sad to leave this weekend behind. Me & Claire enjoyed Lissy and Steve's company immensely, being part of the paddock was an amazing experience for us both and we will do this again, soonest! Lissy if you ever need a brolly dolly, if I'm here in country then I'm in! as long as I can wear a flowery dress!