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James East / Mackrory Racing
Knockhill Round 5 British Supersport 22-24^th June 2012

Round 5 see’s the British Superbike convoy pull up at the Knockhill Circuit just north of Edinburgh in the county of Fife.
Knockhill is known for its changeable weather conditions, often described as having its own climate.

British Supersport
Free Practice 1
A wet track with a drying line and the field are on wet tyres to start with. James runs 8^th throughout the session but doesn’t put in the dry tyres at the end of the session.
He ends the session in 16^th position P3 in Cup with a good wet setting confirmed.

Free Practice 2
Dry session, but James has issues with the stability of the bike on the brakes. The bike bounced from side to side going in to the hairpin on James’s 16^th lap and come round on him in to a small highside.
James finishes the session in 20^th on a time of 52:606. Suspension adjustments are made for Qualifying to prevent this issue.

Qualifying
Easty is very happy with his wet set up, the bike is poised and smooth and he puts the Kawasaki to 11^th place and 3^rd in cup.

Easty – “ I am very happy with the wet set up, we are struggling to find a consistent dry setting but getting closer, so unusually I’m hoping for a wet race for this round. “

Race 1
A good start see’s number 56 right in the mix. James overtakes Irwin early in the lap to be 2^nd in the cup but a mistake from Brown means James has to hesitate to miss him and loses some places.
James has a good battle with 3 Yamaha’s around him to finally finish 15^th and 3^rd in the cup, also gaining a 14^th place starting place for race 2 on a much faster time of 51.207.

Race 2
James gets blocked at the start and is deep in the pack. A few laps under the safety car brings the pack back together but James is struggling, a setting he had asked for to make the bike more stable in the hairpin was hindering him elsewhere on circuit but he struggles through in a high pace hard race to finish 13^th and 2^nd in the cup on a time of 51:314.

James “I’m very pleased with this result and the weekend as a whole. Knockhill has never been a favourite circuit of mine, I’ve collected injuries in the past, but to achieve two podiums and our best dry finishes so far feels great.
I’m excited for the next race. We figured out something in race 2 with the bikes front end set up which is going to help us everywhere from now on.  Thank you to everyone involved it was a great job “.

James would like to thank his personal sponsors:
Homechoice Carpets Leeds
Idaq.com
GHM Services
ToiletSpares.co.uk
R&G Racing
Cougar Leathers
Moto-Master Braking Systems
Racebikebitz By Samco Sport
Walters & Walters Ltd
Paul ‘Noddy’ Brown
Royston Fencing

Silverstone 200 – MotoGP Weekend -16/17^th June

James East / Mackrory Racing

A successful finish and numerous laps made the Silverstone 200 Valuable to Easty and Mackrory Racing

The Silverstone 200 was a one off race for the MotoGP weekend, letting any machinery at National level or above enter.
Such competitors as Shane Byrne on the Rapid Silicitors Kawasaki and PTR World Supersport riders Sam Lowes and Jules Cluzel were a couple of names on the entry list, along with James East on the Mackrory Racing Kawasaki ZX6R.

James qualified 22^nd in the mixed field to finish 11^th overall in race 1 in wet conditions, showing a strong pace in difficult conditions.

In race 2 James got a lightning start but unfortunately an undeterminable problem occurred with the chassis and James was forced to retire.

East – “ I’m very pleased with how the meeting went and It was great experience riding in a mixed field with such a wide variety of riders. It was fantastic to give the team a good result on Saturday as well.
We’ll store the data which will come in valuable later on in the year and look forward to Knockhill this coming weekend, I’m confident and I’m looking for 2 Podiums in the supersport cup. “

James would like to thank his personal sponsors:
Homechoice Carpets Leeds
Idaq.com
GHM Services
ToiletSpares.co.uk
R&G Racing
Cougar Leathers
Moto-Master Braking Systems
Racebikebitz By Samco Sport
Walters & Walters Ltd
Paul ‘Noddy’ Brown
Royston Fencing

Visiting the Grand Prix at Silverstone this year?, well come and say hello to Mackrory Racing to!.
James shall be racing in the Silverstone 200 event aboard his Kawasaki ZX6R in a one off class for the MotoGP weekend where any capacity machinery is legal.
Two full world championship length races will be run shortly after the prototype 1000cc GP Machines have commenced battle on track.

James – ‘ I am very excited to have been accepted to compete in this event, there are no real goals as we will be competing against un beatable machinery, let alone incredible talent, but the track time is fantastic and we shall be competing twice in front of the biggest audience of 2012!. ‘

James East / Mackrory Racing – Round 3 Oulton Park British Supersport

The picturesque Cheshire circuit of Oulton Park is the Venue for round 3 of the British Supersport Championship.

James really enjoys racing at the circuit, it’s perfect for bikes. With the circuit’s flowing nature, undulations and hill tops Oulton Park makes for spectacular racing for spectators and enjoyment from the riders.

Free Practice – James struggles with some arm pump first session, but collects some valuable data and puts in a time of 1:43.100 Good enough to put him 3^rd in the cup standings and 18^th overall.

Free Practice – Changes to the bikes ride height made the bike a huge amount better. James goes 1.3 seconds faster than he has ever been around Oulton Park on a time of 1:41.344 to Put him in 14^th place and 3^rd in the cup once more.

Qualifying – After a fast pace in Free Practice and temperatures up from the previous day, James’s goal was to drop some time and stay in the top 15 for a good start, his 2nd flying lap is a 1:41:655 just 3 tenths my a crash on lap 4 puts a stop to his efforts.
James – “The crash is still a mystery to me which is the worst situation for any crash. Upon putting the bike in the exit the engine note dropped and span around from the rear. It’s one of those things you have to deal with every now and move on from. “
James would drop to 22^nd on the grid from his lap time from lap 2.

Race 1. (Qualifying Race)

James gets a steady start, holding position to stay away from a crowded pack. Easty picked off a couple of people after the first corners were out of the way, but when he arrived at Hislops Chicane two riders touched and went wide and cut back on to the line, James touched the brake and went down, and with new rules stating riders cannot rejoin, was forced to retire.
East – “I am gutted, it was simply a split second decision to tap the brake and adjust the line to miss the other riders and the front tucked. I will start from the back row tomorrow but I’m determined to push through to battle for the cup podium. “

Warm Up

Everything goes smoothly in warm up, with the bike in full working performance. Easty’s start position would be a default 31^st position.

Race 2

James gets a great start with a 0-100KPH time of 3.4 seconds, James jumps a row in the first corners and with some elbow work and use of the curbs gets a good drive down the avenue to protect his line in to cascades.
Easty keeps out of trouble on lap 1 and starts his charge, by lap 4 has many places up and has caught a group of 5 riders with the leader being 3^rd place in the cup championship.
By lap 8 James has sifted through all the riders in front of him and is 3^rd place in the cup and P17 on the road. Lap 9 see’s a red flag stop the race and it’s 3^rd place for James.

East – “I kept my calm at the start, got off the line well and made as much progress as possible in the laps I had with no mistakes so I am happy with the way I rode.
This meeting has definitely not gone the way I had planned or wanted, but was good to get my 5^th podium of the season and spray the champagne for everyone again on Monday.
Snetterton will be different, we’ve done some good testing there, some revisions are being made to the bike, and I’m testing next week to try some new things also so I’m excited, Thank you to the team and all my wonderful sponsors for making it possible to race in supersport this year. “

 

Thanks go out to:
Homechoice Carpets Leeds
Idaq.com
GHM Services
ToiletSpares.co.uk
R&G Racing
Cougar Leathers
Moto-Master Braking Systems
Racebikebitz By Samco Sport
Walters & Walters Ltd
Paul ‘Noddy’ Brown