Bike Racing
Round 2 of the televised Thundersport GB was at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire on the 10-13th April 2009 which was Easter weekend. Cadwell Park is a rolling country park circuit that Peter enjoys and although the weather wasn’t at its best as first qualifying took place it having rained all the previous day the track was still damp and with hanging mist, Peter took a gamble going for cut slicks on the just damp track, this proved to be to risky and Peter qualified only 18th second qualifying although as the track improved saw Peter move up to seventh on the grid. For race one it was a case of grab the best result possible as this Superpole race can further improve your start position for the Monday bank holiday main races. Sure enough after twelve laps and a dash for the line Peter was able to grab second.
Monday bank holiday with motors TV cameras recording these races, Peter was determined to again get the better of his championship rivals, but could only manage second. In the second race of the day a bit of tactical thinking on Peters part meant sitting in third place until with a stunning last lap and by setting the fastest time of the weekend saw Peter shoot from third up to first with only half a lap to go thus taking the win and with it the championship lead. This event was shown on motors TV on Monday April 27th at seven pm in a two hr programme.
Peter then returned to Brands Hatch for round two of the “Morello Powerbike Championship” with the organising club Bemsee MCC celebrating 100yrs of running motorcycle racing events and it wasn’t long before Peter was celebrating pole position and with three straight wins extended his championship lead in this competition. Peter explained that the Morello Suzuki GSXR1000 superbike was developing nicely now, and expects the bike to improve further over the next few rounds. The rounds in May are at Pembrey Wales 9/10th May, and the following weekend at Cadwell Park.
Peter is also looking forward to racing at Donnington Park during MOTO GP weekend with Thundersport GB in a special invitation only race on 23/26 July, you rarely get the chance to do an event in front of crowds of this size, and I hope to put on a good show
Crunch Time for Baker
Peter Baker despite being now aged fifty is having the racing season of his life and has dominated both national championships he is contesting in this year, on the BSB spec Suzuki GSXR1000 in the televised Thundersport GB GP1 class and the MRO Morello Powerbike Championship. With wins from both rounds held in May at Pembrey, Wales and Cadwell Park Peter heads both championships by a good margin.
Unfortunately even though Peter leads both by a fair margin, having completed three rounds of each championship, he has finished on the podium at every race only once being third. However now comes crunch time June 6th – 7th is a date clash of both championships, with Peter opting for round 4 of MRO Morello Powerbikes at Snetterton it leaves the door wide open for Peters rivals to claw back the lead in the Thundersport GB Peter has a 43point lead but there is 50 points available in Peters absence so he could well loose all of the lead he had amassed.
Peter explained it is a shame to have to miss this round and drop so many points but he will be fighting to recover his position and put himself in line to win the championship by the end of the year, including one round at Donnington Park on Moto GP weekend, to race in front of the massive Grand Prix crowd that will be special.
June 2009
Peter Baker storms through June at lap record pace and what a month June this has been, the racing having been as hot as the weather. But on the Morello Suzuki GSXR1000 superbike in two championships, Peter was leading both championships quite convincingly until a date clash on 6th June put Peter in the position of having to choose Snetterton MRO or Oulton Park Thundersport. Peter chose Snetterton and made the most of it extending his advantage, pole position two second places and one win and a new personal best lap of 1.08.6. In his absence the Oulton round went the way of Peters main rival Gary May, May scored a full house 50 pts, Peter was 43 pts ahead so now he trails by just 7pts, Peter will be very keen to recover these at Snetterton on 12th July when Thundersport GB visits the Norfolk circuit.
A visit to Thruxton to test in preparation for later in the year on 13th June, was very productive as Peter further developed the full spec superbike he is campaigning after just a few sessions the big Suzuki was matching the pace of the regulars it was Peters first visit to the circuit in 8 years.
Oulton Park for round 5, last weekend 27th June, traditionally this is Peter’s jinks circuit having never won in fourteen years of trying at the challenging Cheshire circuit. That all changed this time with Peter being fastest in warm up and qualifying, taking pole by over a second, and winning both races by 14 and 9 second respectively Peter broke the MRO Powerbike lap record in race one and in race two was under the lap record for all but the last lap, finally breaking his own new lap record lap nine.
Peter looks forward to seeing plenty of local support at Snetterton next wk 11/12th July when he promises to give maximum effort to recover points lost and retake the championship lead.
Leading at half way point in 2009 double Superbike Championship bid
July marks the past half way point for the 2009 season, with the second visit of the year to local circuit Snetterton on the 11/12th July for round five of Thundersport GB, Peter was confident of a strong showing, as he has now got the “Morello” Suzuki Superbike working really well with some more input from electronics expert Tim, dialling in the Motec system on the bike.
Peter put himself on pole with a stunning 1.08.7 qualifying lap followed by a convincing Saturday race win. Peter returned for round five at the local and very fast circuit, Snetterton, determined to claw back the points lost. The Morello Suzuki Superbike was flying posting a 1.08.7 lap to take pole position after just three laps. Saturday race one was to plan lapping consistently in the 1.08s and Peter won comfortably at the chequered flag. Sunday should have been more of the same, but from pole position Peter pulled a good lead breaking the lap record on lap second now down to 1.08.55 only to crash at high speed the following lap at over 100mph the bike was extensively damaged, but the red flag came out for another incident seconds after Peters fall and quick thinking Peter ran back to the pits jumped on his spare bike and made the grid for the restart. Peter then won both Sunday’s races on the spare bike with very close photo finishes on the line. With Peter’s main opposition in this championship retiring from all three races it was a bonanza of points for Peter as he now leads by 68pts.
In an effort to keep both championships going Peter planned to qualify at Donnington on Friday which he did in the pouring rain and was 8th fastest. Then a three and half hour journey later Peter arrived at Brands ready for Saturday qualifying race, Peter on pole on the last flying lap, followed by a slightly disappointing third in the race.
The decision was then made not to return to Donnington as planned but to race at Brands to get as many points as possible, hoping that Peters nearest rival at Donnington didn’t do to well. Sunday saw two excellent races which were very close at the finish, Peter finishing second and third, but more importantly Peters nearest rival crashing out handing an extended lead in the championship. On top of this late on Sunday evening Peter heard that at Donnington, Gary May second in the Thundersport GB championship could only manage tenth leaving Peter with a 56pt lead intact. Peter now has a three week break until brands hatch on 29/30th august.
Baker racing Superbike at Moto GP Donnington Park
Baker is back on top in Thundersport GB superbike title chase, as he heads off to round six of the televised Thundersport GB GP1 class held as an invitation only race at Moto GP.
After a date clash last month, when Peter was unable to attend the Oulton Park round however he now leads both Championships by 133 and 54 points respectively.