Season Review 2021
Just a reminder of our goal as a Team, which was and still is racing on The Isle of Man in The TT, either in 2022 or 2023. Everything we do is with this in mind and only practice for this end.
Results haven’t exactly gone our way this year so I can now confirm that we are aiming for TT23 after competing in The Manx Grand Prix next season. This scenario will also allow us to have another season on Trudie. Cigma Racing will also mount a serious challenge for honours in the WERC Championship 2022, as we had a good deal of fun with them this season.
So we are sort of at halftime, where we can have a cuppa and a slice of orange whilst reviewing our situation and working out a strategy on how to improve it. On reflection, it’s been a truly memorable year. Hard work, stressful at times but also great fun.😊 Everybody concerned has given 100% to the cause and we’ve all learnt so much, setting a very strong foundation on which to spring into next season.
For me, the most pleasing aspect of this year, as I’m a racer, has been the way Rik has taken to racing the Triumph. It’s been a sheer delight to behold his riding. So smooth, comparable to liquid silk. I know that if Trudie holds together and finishes The Manx next year we’ll be there or thereabouts.
It’s also proved to me that there is more to come on the short circuits once we iron out the little niggly problems that have been well documented. I feel they have been the reason we’ve not progressed to our full potential. Through the whole year, we’ve only had one DNF, at Ales, where Rik slid off in the wet. ‘The old girl’ has proved reliable, but just a little temperamental.
Our biggest failing was qualifying and is something that must improve if we are to mount a serious challenge for The WERC series. I must add, to be fair, that all of the circuits were new to us, except Le Vigeant where we’d done a good deal of Track Day testing. But they are completely different to race days. It’s like having to re-learn the circuit. With the circuit knowledge gained now and the introduction of a pit board, to allow us to communicate Rik’s times, I’m confident the qualifying positions will improve sufficiently enough to allow Rik to go for race wins.😊
The hour race, with a fuel stop, was also new to us and, I must admit to being great fun. The hour just vanishes! You get so involved, caught up in the moment and the fact that around the pit stop window nobody knows what’s going on haha!!! We do need to look at our race strategy, though, as I feel some improvements can be made but overall we’ve gelled as a team and work really well together. It’s been a pleasure to be part of it.
My personal favourite meeting was Carole in July, not only because it was my birthday but Matt and I had worked so very hard in the prep, what with running the spare engine. It was most satisfying to see it all come together in the Sunday race when Rik was riding “like he stole it” as Matt would say. It was only bad luck that prevented a much better result to that race.
I will conclude by saying a HUGE thank you, not only to Matt, Sarah and Rik but to everyone at Artemis Solutions for their total commitment and blind faith in helping us push this whole thing forward.
Thank you so much and here’s to a fantastic 2022.
