Diary of a rider... Negative times negative, equals positive

Today we bring you the second chapter of the Diary of a rider… José Terré. Don’t miss the steps of the pilot’s effort at MotoDes 2012, and above all the feelings from the 12th last weekend at the Jerez Circuit.

It was not a very good day for Terré last Sunday on the Andalusian track, but as he himself says, “negative times negative, positive”. So don’t miss his adventures, his work, his training and his preparation for each race. Experience it from the rider’s side.

Diary of a rider…. Negative times negative, positive

You always draw more conclusions and learn more when things go wrong than when they go right, and this past weekend so many things went wrong (not all of them) that I learned an enormous amount. This time it was Jerez. At first you consider not doing the race: it’s far away, how do I get the bike there, how much will it cost to transport it, and so on. But if you make your living from racing you can always share costs and take part in a race at one of the legendary circuits of the World Championship.

We left on Thursday by plane. Don’t think I’m showing off, I’d much rather travel by plane, not least because if you book in advance there are real low-cost deals, so we took advantage. We arrived at midday and went to pick up the car. We spent that day sightseeing, because we also like getting to know cities and walking around, and honestly Cádiz is beautiful. Its streets and its people, we liked them very much, and I ate the best grilled sole I’ve ever had. A full day of relaxing while waiting for Friday.

Friday finally arrived. The alarm went off at 6:30, shower, and we met the rest of the team for breakfast before heading to the circuit. We found a sizeable queue of lorries, motorhomes and team vans at the circuit entrance, so we had to wait. At last we were on the Jerez track, and the circuit looks so different from inside. Apart from the “UFO” building, it doesn’t look the same as it does on TV.

We went to ask for the pit key. We were given almost the last one, right by the legendary corner where Rossi sent Gibernau off into the gravel. On the way to the pit we tested the handbrake of the hire car and the grip of the tyres. If the rental agency finds out we’re in trouble, so nobody say a word. Well, on with it. The garage is very big, you can tell it’s a circuit that has had a facelift, and the facilities are so up to date that there were no normal sockets, so if you ever go, bring an adapter or you’ll lose 15 euros. We unloaded the bikes, set up the garage and then it was just waiting for the first session. Before that I went to the offices to get a map of the circuit so I could memorise the corners and try to work out the gear ratio for each section.

The nerves grow stronger all the time. That is something I have to fix, but it’s not easy. I suppose experience helps you control them, or at least I hope so. From here on the festival really begins. As my team says, the challenges start to arrive.

Anscari Nadal, my crew chief, with Gaizka’s help, sets up the most suitable gearing for Jerez, but it’s not easy since we’re running the only Triumph on the whole grid, so we can’t “spy” on any other team’s settings. That means we have to bet on settings, and Anscari is doing a great job with the Triumph. It’s a very, very good bike, but very new in competition.

I go out on track and I’m more lost than a penguin in the Caribbean. Don’t bother asking for help: on the surface everyone has friendly faces, but almost nobody, not to say nobody, will help you, or they’ll conveniently give you the wrong answer, and in a way that’s completely understandable. After a few laps I realise we’re running a very long gearing. Jerez is a circuit where, if you don’t get the exact gearing, you lose a huge amount of time. It’s a very demanding circuit, very physical with heavy braking from sixth down to second, very fast sections. After a few laps came the first scare, just before the fast bends, when a rider crashed very badly and both bike and rider ended up across the track. Yellow flag. I can’t understand why it takes so long to show the red flag. We riders still on track looked at each other without understanding anything, and after a while they finally showed the red flag.

First contact with the circuit left a bit of bad feeling in the body, but well, you have to keep a cool head and concentrate as much as possible and try to get the bike set up. We went out again and I wasn’t comfortable at all with that gearing. I was too long, and when you don’t know a circuit, running long makes the situation even worse. It’s hard to set the bike up with only free practice and qualifying sessions. If any of you dare to enter a championship, you’ll realise that it’s by no means just getting on the bike and twisting the throttle. There are so many things to take into account… so many…

I came out of free practice without distinction, quite worried. When the times don’t come and you have no time margin to train or try things, everything feels uphill. I decided to fit a shorter gearing, one tooth less would be perfect, and I told my people and they agreed. After riding we went for a walk around Jerez to clear our heads, and I allowed myself the luxury of an ice cream, sugar-free of course. Damn diet! It’s cheaper to reduce the rider’s weight than the bike’s.

Joking aside, as I said, physical fitness matters, and being at your minimum HEALTHY weight helps enormously.

The moment for the official sessions arrived. Saturday came, although first there were briefings, which were getting earlier and earlier, at 8:15 AM, and I tell you it’s amazing how Andalusians have a sense of humour at that hour. The briefing finished and I went back to the hotel to sleep a little more. I didn’t go out for the first timed session until 12 noon. Ascari and Gaizka took care of getting the Daytona set up with the gearing we had discussed.

They drove me to the hotel for more sleep, then came to fetch me and the challenges returned. We don’t have the gearing we need. We looked all around the circuit to see whether the shops set up there sold any sprockets for the Triumph. They didn’t. There were Kawasaki ones, BMW, Suzuki, and Yamaha, Honda, but nothing for the Triumph. So we decided to fit a gearing that was far too short, but that’s what there was. Everyone has the right to throw a tantrum, but what’s the point in complaining? You have to do your best with what you’ve got, that’s what my team manager told me. So I put on my leathers and went out. On the fifth lap I took 4 seconds off my time from the previous day’s free practice. We’re doing well. But I was still losing a lot with the gearing. We checked the top speeds and I was way down. Everyone was around 234, 236, and I was stuck at 223. That’s how it is, full stop.

I qualified 16th in the official session 1, very satisfied, having never ridden at Jerez before, on a bike that was practically new to us. It was the fourth time we’d ever got on it, and training with a superbike is incredibly expensive.

Second timed sessions. Most people went out on new tyres, and my budget doesn’t allow me to go out on shiny new tyres, so back out on track. The track temperature was around 60 degrees, and it was impossible to take seconds off with those settings and those tyres. I decided to save my energy for the race, because riding round and round knowing the bike isn’t right is pointless, you risk your neck. Quite satisfied with what we achieved in just 20 minutes on track. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and get to know the Santa María harbour a little. Early to bed, tomorrow is the big day.

And finally the big day arrived. Sunday came and the nerves came on, nerves upon nerves. We had the warm-up at 11 AM and the race at 2:15 PM, so all day at the circuit piling up more nerves, watching the lights to learn the start sequence so we could make a good getaway. Until 2 PM everything was normal. In the warm-up I practised the start and little else.

2:15 PM: the great blunder.

I’ll write this quickly, because even today just remembering it makes me furious. I went out very fired up, knowing I could take seconds off, on new tyres, and the first five laps of a tyre are the best. I drank a lot of water before going out. I don’t know exactly what the temperature was, but in leathers and helmet, with no umbrella, it felt like being in hell (four minutes later I was properly in it).

Normal grid procedure: all riders in position, the race director with the red flag stepping aside. I put it in first gear, put my foot on the rear brake in case I lost the front wheel, revved the engine, concentrated, looked only at the end of the straight, waited for the slightest change in my angle of vision to get away like a shot. And that’s when they turned the red light off and GO! Here I was, not short of nerve, before the lights went out I moved the bike… I realised my mistake… brake… pointless to brake, the penalty would be the same. Remember this: if you jump the start, don’t brake. The blunder is already made, and the moment I braked everybody left. Second mistake. The anger I was feeling was enormous. The rage built up, I started forcing the pace, overtook three riders, and my eagerness to fix the start error made me make another mistake and I cut across at the end of the straight. I didn’t lose much and stayed with the group, and then I saw a black flag with a 12 on the finish line…

My race was over. I won’t deny that at that moment a tear fell , out of anger at myself, powerlessness, disappointment, many things came together. Above all I thought of my people, all the weekend’s work gone down the drain. But that’s how this sport is, there are no second chances. In a football match you make a mistake and there are ten other teammates who can cover for it. Here you make a mistake and everything goes to hell, to put it plainly.

I went to the pits and apologised. I couldn’t believe what had happened, but it happened. They cheered me up, downplayed the matter and told me to think about the next race. This sport brings you extremes, either very, very good or very, very bad, but I wouldn’t swap it for anything in the world.

And well, as I said at the start, negative times negative equals positive. As in life itself, you always learn more and draw more conclusions from mistakes than from the good things.

The conclusions I’ve drawn:

1. Run plenty of gearing options.
2. Control my nerves better
3. Think more while on the bike, don’t let myself be carried away so much by nerves and rage.
4. Play MotoGP before going to circuits I don’t know at all
5. Train more, both on the bike (not necessarily on the superbike) and physically.
6. Expect nothing from anyone
7. And the most important: ENJOY.

Well then, thanks for following me, as always. Next time, more and better!!!

Gixer#12

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