The season started of very well at my first race meeting with the new 172cc Italjet Dragster.
I established myself firmly in the 13.5 seconds bracket at the first meeting, which means to score points I have to complete the ¼ mile in a time no faster than 13.5 seconds.
Recording a 13.68 pass at 90mph at the world famous "Santa Pod Raceway" resulted in a 1st place and my first write up in the Twist & Go magazine.
My times and speeds continued to improve as the season continued and it became harder to stay in the 13.5 bracket. Eventually it had to happen, and sub 13.5 seconds passes were effortless.
At East Kirkby on the May 29th my first run was a 13.3 pass which immediately disqualified me from gaining points in the 13.5 bracket at that particular meeting, so I decided to see how quick we could go. To the amazement of the on looking 'Bikers' I ran a 12.9 seconds pass at 96mph, making me the third ever normally aspirated twist & go scooter to cover the ¼ mile in 12 seconds.
Throughout the season my worst finishing position (not including my "OFF" when attempting to set a new world record) was 3rd place.
The legendary Elvington Airfield near York is notorious for its high speed surface and is used for land speed record attempts, and this is where the final round of the 2005 X-Race series would be held.
With a few minor changes to the Dragster I was aiming for and actually expecting a 100mph pass.
Unfortunately there was a strong head wind and everyone experienced slower times and speeds.
To make things worse the Dragster was down on power for some reason and I was struggling to keep up with the other scooters never mind the bikes.
As the day drew to an end the wind increased. 3:00pm came and the track was closed whilst the time keepers worked out the semi-finalists and frustratingly I thought my season was over on a 'low' rather than the expected 'high'. Denise (the wife) had just brought me a coffee and a burger, the first all day, when my name was called out as a semi finalist.
The burger went in the bin, and with just enough time to visit the toilet, I presented my scooter in the arena ready for the final duel of 2005.
Bearing in mind I had already raced and been beaten by the other scooters in the eliminations I was not going to go down without a fight.
The semi-final went well and I managed to pull a 13.59 win over Kevin Jones's 14.01.
The final was even closer, finishing the season off nicely with a 1st place, 13.54 seconds beating a 2nd place Graeme Jones's 13.58.
My overall position for the 2005 series ended with a 3rd place in the 12.3 bracket and a 5th place in the 13.5 bracket which was celebrated in Blackpool on 04/02/2006 with a presentation evening.
Denise made the effort!
The 2006 season is almost on us and my Dragster has been off to PSN. It's been dyno tuned to 33.7bhp and tested to 119mph. With the modifications being made in the garage I am expecting 100mph somewhere this year.
