Mountbatten

tandrews8664

Hello,

Plucking up the courage to enter my first race this weekend, at Mountbatten. I have never been to the circuit and as i am up North and am only down in Portsmouth for the weekend, i don't know anyone who has raced there, and i will be racing solo

Anyone give me any tips or advice? I'm guessing it is probably strongest man wins due to the flat course with no real corners, so should i just try to stay with the pack and hope that i have enough energy left to try and sprint at the end? I also reckon wind will be a massive factor due to it being so close to the sea

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

oldhairylegs

Mountabtten is roughly oval shaped and around a third of a mile long. The finishing straight has a slight banking at each end, the surface is super smooth and super fast - great in the dry but can be a bit slippy when it's damp.

It isn't that wide and there do tend to be crashes in 3rd and 4th cat races as these are often rather negative affairs resulting in erratic bunching of the field - especially in the last few laps. There are metal railings at the top of the banked sections and you would do well to avoid taking the high line at these points as there is no escape if somebody swings across your line.

You are quite right about wind often being a factor, but this can sometimes help stronger riders get away from the bunch if there are a few like minded guys to come with you. If it does come down to a bunch sprint, then you need to be in the first 4 or 5 wheels going into the last lap, otherwise you will almost certainly find no (safe) way through the bunch at the end.

Take the first few laps to suss out who you need to steer clear of and who you can trust to follow safely and you will have a good race.

Hope I haven't put you off - good luck and post up to let us know how it went!

DavidJB

There's always a head wind down the back straight. Breakaways work more (in 3/4) at MB than anywhere else due to the fact you only have to gain 1km to lap the field. I'll be there this weekend as well.

banana pilot

No advice to add, but i'll be there to watch!

tandrews8664

Thanks for the advice

Might have to just watch for the breaks then and see if I can help out, and if not just try to stick with the bunch to watch and learn

How big is the field for a cat 4 race normally?

danlikesbikes

tandrews8664 wrote:

Hello,

Plucking up the courage to enter my first race this weekend, at Mountbatten. I have never been to the circuit and as i am up North and am only down in Portsmouth for the weekend, i don't know anyone who has raced there, and i will be racing solo

Anyone give me any tips or advice? I'm guessing it is probably strongest man wins due to the flat course with no real corners, so should i just try to stay with the pack and hope that i have enough energy left to try and sprint at the end? I also reckon wind will be a massive factor due to it being so close to the sea

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

Never been there myself but found a good link to course/venue guides on BR as was looking at a few different courses - viewtopic.php?f=40041&t=12842398

oldhairylegs

tandrews8664 wrote:

Thanks for the advice

How big is the field for a cat 4 race normally?

They have a maximum field size of 45 for safety reasons, but I shouldn't think there will be a full field this early in the season. Probably 30 odd riders - weather dependent too.

oldhairylegs

I see you were 16th Tom.

How was your race?

banana pilot

I was there supporting a friend and took a shed load of photos. Pop me a PM if you want to have a look and you're welcome to download any you find of yourself.

tandrews8664

Yeh the race was good thanks, not as nerve wracking or as dangerous as I thought it might be

Was let down a lot by my track positioning tho, pretty much freewheeled over the line because I had no space to sprint, definitely a learning experience. And also learned a few times if you take your foot off the gas for more than 5 seconds you quickly end up at the back of the pack

Photos would be great!

waterford123

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =1&theater

These are from the one and only Portsmouth Northend CC facebook page from Saturday's race. Or if you can't access them there's this site

http://www.grahamrobins.net/photos/Moun ... %201_2013/

Hope this helps.

rjsmith

Does anyone know if it's possible to race on a provisional licence at Mountbatten or does it have to be a full licence?

maddmatt

I raced there twice with a day licence, not sure if that's any help to you. Can't see why it'd be a problem.