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Alex Gault 2005 - British Championships Final Round - Brands Hatch October 2005..................Back To Index
As many of you may know the events over the past few months has led team moral to be at an all time low, it was very tough, to even prepare for the rounds at Oulton & Donington never mind race there.
Then just before the final round of the British Championship at Brands GP, we received news of the death of “The Father of Minimoto” Pier Franco Zanetti, owner and founder of ZPF Minibike, a man who commanded great respect & who had a huge influence in our world and the life of so many others.
Alex with the great man back in 2001
Our thoughts & prayers are with Donata, Steffano, Alessandro & Barbara.
I did take Alex to Brands Hatch for the last round of the championships, in a way I am glad and in another it was another disaster. I was not up to all that is involved in racing at this round so I ran Alex on Appleyards own bike a Kenny Roberts/Honda.
Why am I glad? It showed me despite every thing Alex is still riding well and that I am not the only one who can make mistakes (believe me I am not throwing stones) it just makes it a bit easier for me to realise I’m only human and even a supposedly professional team that I was paying for out of my own pocket can F#ck up! .
Why was it a disaster? On the Friday in first practice after only 4 laps the engine seized solid. Then 2 laps into second Practice the drive sprocket fell of the engine lodging itself between the trailing arm and the gear selector shaft, locking the back wheel then breaking the drive chain.
Now this is the first time Alex has seen the GP track at Brands, Alex having 6 laps compared to most other riders 22 laps of practice most of whom have been round it before was just what we didn’t need!
Saturday and Qualifying 1, went very well despite the setbacks suffered the previous day Alex qualified in 17th position with a 1.37.7 compared to Christian Elkins P2 time of 1.35.07; I didn’t compare it to provisional pole sitter “James Westmoreland” as “Westy” was in a class of his own; almost 2 seconds faster with a 1.33.1.
All looked good for an improvement in Q2, No such luck, Alex came into the pits with engine problems (Detonation) when they got that sorted out “handling” problems raised their head, so no improvement and Alex slipped back to 22nd on the grid for Sundays race.
Morning warm up and Alex set the 11th fastest time, could he keep that up in the race?
A good start from P22 seen him push hard getting down to 1.37seconds on lap 2 and by lap 5 of the 15 lapper he was up to ninth place but then he started to slow and retired to the pits on lap ten, the reason?
On the sixth lap the right hand side foot peg hanger, rear brake master cylinder and foot peg had fallen from his bike, he had kept going but on the tenth lap his foot went under the back wheel and Alex took that as a warning and retired.
We did find the foot peg assembly later and it was obviously the way it had been attached to the frame was what had caused the failure.
What was just as disappointing was the realisation that the rider Alex had caught and passed for ninth place on lap 5 eventually finished in 6th place, now there is no guarantee Alex would have finished in front of him but it does make you think what might have been.
Congratulations to Christian Elkin a true champion; on wining the title for the second year in succession and to Nick Carpenter & the E3 Motorsport team; what entertainment they have all provided us with, which carried right up to the very eventful last race of the season with “Elki” taking a very strong win, it has been a pleasure to watch him race all season..
Alex finished in 11th place from the 25 entries in the Academy Cup the championship that runs inside the British Championship for the 14 to 17 age group which is not bad when you consider the circumstances but not what is acceptable to Alex, he said, “This year has not been good, I know if things had been right I’d have done much better, I hope we can find a sponsor and the technical assistance we need for next year and I can challenge for the front positions”.
Thankfully now it is time to regroup and start planning next years campaign.
This year has been catastrophic, starting of on the back foot and never being able to recover.
Sure we had some highs, Alex riding better than he ever has, winning almost all regional races and breaking the outright lap record at The Three Sisters circuit I think proves his ability.
Racing at the National championships is a different story; there riding ability goes hand in hand with bike preparation and set-up and having the correct backing, that’s where I failed.
It is very difficult for a lad and dad team to cut it at this level.
The Malaguti bike would have been fantastic if I could have prepared it (I didn’t have a clue).
Thanks to every one who helped us throughout the season, to say we have learned loads, is an understatement, this will stand us in good stet for what lays ahead.
First a break from anything to do with motorbikes then in November it is planed to return the Malaguti to the factory for inspection and overhaul and will know then what direction we will be taking in 2006.
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