4 Aug...A trip to Anglesey to finally try & compete!

First outing.....although it proved to be pretty unsuccessful, it was still good to get in among the paddock-folk & to at least get the bike to a track & run the thing for real. The event was to be short-lived though as a seizure after only a couple of practice laps put paid to the weekend's meet for us, but we'd learnt a lot, and overcome a few fears along the way.

1/2 Sept...the long trek south to Lydden Hill, Dover.

The weekend got off to a worrying start as the bike had to go to the south east coast unprepared & again, unreliable and untested. The boys were up & at it first thing Saturday though, and practice was completed without problem....race 1 though saw Martin break down inside the first couple of laps. However, the Feckers pulled together, and encouraged by a few visiting members, set about stripping the damaged flywheel, replacing & getting the bike sorted in time (just!) for race 2, where to our delight it completed the 8 mile race without a hitch. Martin asked for a better clutch for the Sunday's races & that's what he got....beating one or two other, more established bikes in the process & returning some good times, despite running only a mildly tuned 186cc Mugello. All in all, a fabulous weekend & very pleasing to come away having been reliable for 3 consecutive races.

29th/30th Sept...a trip to the picturesque Cadwell Park, Lincs.

A big group of Feckers arrived on the saturday to see progress maintained, after the high spirits at Lydden. Martin went well in the first race (on a tricky, drying track), but struggled to get to grips with the hairpin bend & kept losing any gains he'd made in the rest of the lap there. The track dried out in time for the second race but again, there seemed a bit of something lacking & though he finished, never really got to grips with the varied circuit. Sunday & 2 more races penned in, but the Feckspeed gave up & blew a hole straight through the piston crown on lap 2 of first practise, so it was "over & out" for the first competing visit to this circuit. Back to the workbench in time for Wigan in a fortnight, all being well !

14th Oct...Last meeting of the season, 3-Sisters, Wigan

The last meet of the season saw a drizzly day as we arrived at the Wigan circuit with high hopes of going out on a good note to end the first, frustrating season. It was to prove eventful, but for all the wrong reasons as Martin shed all the fins & flywheel cowl in practise, heat seize the motor in race one, and using a fellow competitor's spare motor in the last race fail to start due to a loose ignition wire. The camaraderie was excellent (as is the norm at these meetings), and but for the aforementioned troubles a good day was had. Plenty of food for thought over winter though, & lots of work to do.