Jody Lees Racing

15th October

Well its been a while since we updated the web site, and there's been good reason! After struggling all year to get comfy on the compact CBR600RR Jody and the Team decided to go back to where we started bike wise and in full circle style Jody is now riding a Yamaha R6 again. We were promised support for the Honda how ever that never materialized so we were left to struggle along this year learning a new bike whilst trying to get up to speed racing in the most competitive 600 class in the UK, if not the world!
As we have said before, Jody has had a hard time adjusting to the BSB, mainly down to the jump from club racing to British level being such a big leap, not helped by the changes of machinery. However we are now confident we can make the progress we were hoping for this year, in 2012.

To get the ball rolling for next year we headed to the final round of the NG championships at Thruxton to test the new Yamaha R6. Ironically this is where we first tested the Honda earlier in the year too. Jody gelled with the R6 straight away, setting a time good enough for pole in the Phoenix Open straight away with only a handful of laps completed. This time was also a full second faster than Jody had managed all weekend when we raced here earlier in the year. Things are finally looking up! The qualifying for the 600 race would be decided by a heat race of 5 laps, Jody made an error at the start of the race which resulted in a jump start and 10 second penalty was added, although the huge lead Jody pulled meant he still finished 2nd. The grid position for the final was decided from the total race distance time, and with Jody's 10 second penalty this meant starting from 3rd which is still the front row!

The Phoenix Open race was undoubtedly one of Jody's best, racing with full on Super bikes Jody made a great start and looked determined from the off. After swapping places several times Jody settled into a rhythm in 2nd place behind Paul Shook. Jody knew he had to make ground through the corners as the faster 1000cc bikes would just re pass along the straights, with this in mind he made a pass into the lead going through the fast right hander known as Church. This took Paul Shook by surprise and he mad a small error resulting in him running wide and catching some bumps and crashed out. There was no contact and the pass was clean, Paul was un harmed in the incident. This left Jody to battle it out with experienced racer Phil Bevan on his Superbike R1. Jody put up a good fight all the way through, eventually settling for a well deserved 2nd place.

The final race of the day was the 600 open. Jody started from 3rd place but got the hole shot on lap 1. Vision was poor due to the sun setting which made it difficult to see certain turns correctly, so Jody set a steady pace and pulled away from the chasing pack with ease until lap 4 when the race was red flagged due to a serious accident. Jody was never challenged and took a controlled win, much to the teams delight as this makes a reasonable end to a tough 2011!

More so impressive was the fact that Jody's best lap time of the day was a full 2 seconds quicker than he managed with the BSB earlier in the year, this is obviously a big boost for us all. At last Jody feels confident again, he fits the bike right and we have found a setting that works well immediately, so roll on 2012 where we hope to see the Jody's form continue to improve.

We will be updating the web site over the off season with news on testing and other developments as and when they happen.

Have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!

09th - 11th September

The team were all in high spirits for Donington as it is a local track for us. Although Jody had only ridden the GP circuit a couple of times he was looking forward to getting stuck in. For this meeting the team had some much needed help and some suspension upgrades.

Qualifying was tough and the bikes performance was dropping lap by lap, so it wasn't looking good for the weekend ahead, a gearing miss judgement left Jody way down in 29th for Race 1.

Race 1 and Jody was determined to try his best and that he did, with a seasons best finish of 21st overall but better still a 4th place in the Cup! We we're all pleased with this result as it is a much needed boost for us all.

Race 2 was looking iffy weather wise and bike wise! A poor start saw Jody down in the last few after the first lap, the team could tell the bike wasn't right as the lap times were nearly a second off. The rain came mid race and the red flags came out, at which point Jody was thinking twice about the restart due to not having another tyre to use. Still in for a penny in for a pound, we were there and it was all learning time for Jody even if it meant suffering at the back again, so Jody made the restart which was red flagged after just 4 laps and called a result. Jody finished 22nd, although that technically is last.

We have to keep smiling though!

27th - 29th August

Cadwell Park proved to be another tough meeting for Jody and the team, with the weather limiting dry set up time Jody found it difficult to get a good setting and find the pace he needed for the races. It was hugely dissapointing for us all as Cadwell is one of Jody's favourite tracks where he has always gone well. A pre season test on the 675 saw Jody in the low 1.33's which looked good for the BSB race later in the year, however on board the Honda it was difficult to get any where near those times. This just proves that somewhere we have something wrong!

Both races were a struggle and Jody ended up at the back for most of the races. We're not afraid to say that we have been struggling, finding pace and getting a good set up where Jody feels comfy is proving difficult. We could go on blaming this and blaming that but we wont! Hopefully we will get a good setting and some power for the bike as at the moment it is well down compared to what we are up against at BSS.

Sorry it's all doom and gloom, after a good EMRA meeting we thought we may have found some extra pace, it will come just now so we will keep trying.....

Donington Park next up.

13th August

Round 5 of the EMRA Championships at Mallory Park saw Jody take to the track to race with his local club again. Jody has taken a huge step forward today, knocking 0.8 of a second off his best ever lap time of Mallory park with a blistering 53.1 second lap!

A comfortable win in the 600 race followed up with a storming 4th place in the Buildbase Race against the 1000cc Machines.

5th - 7th August

Brands Hatch GP was a big step forward for both Jody and Team over the weekend. With the new fork internals working spot on Jody was able to push much harder and close the gap to guys in front substantially.

Qualifying was the teams best yet, Jody managed a 1.31.4 which placed him 27th out of the 36 riders entered. This is Jody's best qualifying by quite some way. With the improvements to the front end it became obvious that there were gains to be found with the rear end, Mark Sadler at GO Racing Developments was on hand to go over the data and make some adjustments which helped Jody build up lap on lap. We cannot begin to describe how happy we are at finding so much of an improvement and we are all confident the next step for Jody is in touching distance!

Race 1 was set to be a corker, sadly the battery went flat on the warm up lap as the alternator was not charging due to a software issue with the electronics. This forced Jody to pull in before the race had even started. Gutted. Still we stayed positive and looked forward to Race 2 on Sunday.

Race 2 and Jody was forced to start from the back of the grid due to the non start / time record in the first race. Jody made a reasonable start but the red flags were soon out after a nasty accident on the first lap, this meant all riders would line up for a restart. This time round Jody had a flier, easily the best start up to date with him quickly working his way up to around 21st place on the first few laps! But it was all too good to be true and the red flags came out on lap 3.

So, we were onto the 3rd restart. This time Jody's start was not so good and he was stuck with the tail end of the grid and it looked obvious to the team something was not right. We eventually ended up 21st which is Jody's best finish although there were a number of fallers in the race. This could of easily been a comfortable top 20, however Jody decided to change the rear tyre for the restart and the only tyre we had left was a used SC0 which unfortunately didn't hold up very well. From lap 3 on Jody struggled badly to control the rear end, the group in front were just a little to far ahead for him to bridge the gap meaning he had to battle it out with David Jones for the 21st spot.

All in all we have to look at the positives, Jody has closed the gap on his rivals massively this weekend so we're all confident this gap can be further reduced at Cadwell Park and hopefully we can start to get right into the mix. The team are at Mallory Park this weekend for a test day and a Club meeting. We will be focusing on tyre wear and the rear shock, its been a tough struggle swapping bikes mid season, but it's all good experience in the long run.

Keep an eye on the Web site for more news soon!

15th - 17th July

Oulton Park Wash Out!

We doubt Oulton could of been much wetter, with conditions worsening over the weekend resulting in the cancellation of the 2nd Supersport race, which has been rescheduled for the final round at Brands Hatch. Jody continued to struggle with the Ohlins front end at the start of the weekend, qualifying was a disaster with low battery voltage fault preventing Jody from finishing the session which meant he would start from the 2nd from last row in 36th. Although it wasn't the end of the world as we have now got used to working from this end of the grid, it was still disappointing all the same.

Race 1 fortunately was dry and the team decided to take a gamble on a new set of Fork internals, the latest Bitubo offerings. This was a massive risk as Jody hadn't even tested on them so it was literally a get used to them on the warm up lap and do your best type of situation. We had nothing to loose starting so far back so we were treating it as a race / test. Thankfully they proved to give enough confidence to allow Jody to push on the best he could, passing a number of riders and showing reasonable form given the circumstances. Jody finished the race 28th and 9th in the cup. Not great but we are all still confident of Jody's ability, its just a case of finding the right setting and a little more experience!

Warm Up was wet. It was fairly obvious the weather was going to be bleak for Sunday so after a few adjustments to the new fork internals Jody went out for the session. It was clear straight away that the new forks were working and Jody's confidence was growing with each lap. We ended the session 27th from the 37, which the team were really pleased with and we were all looking forward to Race 2 - even if it was going to be very wet!

Sadly Race 2 was canceled on safety grounds, despite all of the lads waiting in pit lane for over an hour!

So it looks like the front end issues may have been resolved, onto Brands GP another new circuit for Jody to learn and hopefully we can find some more speed and continue to improve.

1st - 3rd July

Round 5 of the BSB Championship took place at the new Snetterton 300 circuit over the weekend, where we were treated to some great weather and top shelf racing. Jody's riding improved no end over the weekend, as we wont deny its been a tough year so far, made even tougher with a machine change. That said we are now confident in a direction to take setup wise with the PTR CBR600RR, this will involve some new forks and hopefully more power for the Oulton Park round in 2 weeks time. However for Snetterton we had to make do with 128hp (against 135 +) and the current Ohlins 30mm Fork kit which Jody has struggled on from the word go.

Qualifying and free practice was a tough affair, initially Jody was managing to stay around the 28th place mark, however with no real improvement in Qualifying Jody ended up on the back row in 33rd place. What was more frustrating is Jody was 2 seconds off the time we did at the start of the year on the old bike! That would of put Jody in around 27th which would of been much better. We knew then that there were obvious issues with the bike and some drastic changes were needed for the race.

Race 1 saw Jody take to the grid with a completely different chassis setup thanks to Mark at Go Developments who was trying to make best of the situation. Thankfully this worked and Jody was soon matching his times from the start of the year at the Snetterton 300 circuit. Jody finished in 28th place, not amazing on the grander scale of things, but still an improvement on his qualifying position. For race 2 Jody's grid slot moved forward a row which was great news.

Race 2 and further chassis changes were made, this time it took Jody a few laps to get used to the different feel this resulted in so it took him a while to get going. Mid race Jody's lap times improved massively and he was lapping a second quicker which was brilliant news for the team. Jody eventually finished in 22nd place, although there were a lot of crashes and retirements.

Still this is at least positive news and we are now looking forward to Round 6 at Oulton Park, where hopefully the new fork arrangement and an improvement in power will see Jody starting to mix it up with some of the other Cup runners nearer the front. As we have said before the challenge of moving to BSB from Club Racing is huge, so we knew it would be a tough path to follow. We just hope Jody can improve his confidence and then we are sure the lap times will follow.

See you at Oulton Park.

26th June

Jody took part in the 2011 Race Of The Year, hosted by Thundersport at Mallory Park. It was quite a privilege to participate in this event as it was on an invitation basis only, open to riders who have sub 54 second lap times to their name.

Qualifying was very tough for Jody on the new CBR600RR, in wet conditions Jody managed to end up 18th overall. This was a lot lower than the team had hoped for, given Jody's experience of Mallory Park we were confident of a good result. We knew the race would be dry, so all fingers were crossed for a better performance on race day.

Race day came and brought with it the best weather we have had in the UK up to date, very very hot with temps near 30 degrees! This did however cause other issues and much to Jody's disappointment arm pump really hampered the race result. Jody finished 14th overall after a tough race, struggling with front end woes on the new bike coupled with arm pump meant Jody did well to finish the race and not get lapped. Still the team are confident we can pull through this rough patch we are experiencing and hopefully start to make some roads on improving pace. Sadly it seems like Jody's rapid progression has come to a point where we need to work out the next piece of the puzzle to get up to the level we all know Jody is capable of.

Snetterton BSB this weekend, hopefully things will start to improve there!

See you soon.

5th June

Mallory NG Results updated

28th - 30th May

Thruxton was always going to be a tough round for Jody and the team, having never even seen the place before. A new bike thrown into the mix made things even more challenging, a brief afternoon at Mallory Park on the Wednesday before the meeting was all the time Jody had to get comfy on the new Honda CBR600RR. With all this in mind we decided to try and make the most of the meeting, and to hopefully get a feel for the new bike.

The fast nature of the circuit was something Jody was struggling to come to terms with, and it was clear that he would need more than the couple of free practices and a qualifying session to get used to the circuit and the new bike. Qualifying was tough and Jody was suffering from arm pump again, something we are sure is down to him not being relaxed enough and putting too much pressure on himself to perform. Qualifying finished with Jody in a lowly 30th place and 10th in the Cup.

Race 1 and we had some new settings for the bike to try and thankfully they worked great and gave Jody a much need boost confidence wise with the Honda. Sadly there was a small problem at the start line with the bike and on lap 4 Jody had to retire with a loose handle bar. These things come to test us all! This was a bit of a blow as the weather forecast for Sundays races wasn't looking too clever.

Race 2 was wet, in fact that was an understatement it was horrendously wet! Jody made a reasonable start and managed to gain a few places quickly showing good form at the start of the race. Towards the end some of the other Cup runners found some pace and re passed Jody who was unable to respond as he was loosing confidence due to him thinking the bar had come loose again - which it hadn't........ It was a tough and challenging race which was eventually red flagged Jody commented "That was undoubtedly the scariest race up to press, visibility was nil, very dangerous, paired with the torrential rain, a new bike and new track I'm pleased to just make it to the end!" . Jody eventually finished 22nd, due to several DNF's from riders further up the order.

This has been the toughest meeting yet, the team have high spirits but Jody needs to build his confidence back up so we can try and get the season back on track. Thankfully we will be at circuits where Jody has some limited experience (apart from Brands GP and Silverstone GP..) so hopefully things will pick up as the year goes on!

We are back to Mallory Park, Jody's favorite, next weekend for a test meeting with NG Road Racing, so see you all there!

8th May

Sadly the team will not make the Croft BSB round next weekend. The decision to miss the round has been forced, however its not all doom and gloom! The exciting news is Jody will switch to a new Honda CBR600RR, this decision was not easy with the 675 working better every round and being so fast. Swapping bikes at this time in the season is not an easy choice, but the good news is the team will receive invaluable support set up wise for the Honda which is an opportunity to good to miss.

So if any one fancies a full 675 Supersport package we have one for sale!

Watch this space.

30th April - 2nd May

Oulton Park BSB was another tough meeting for Jody as he adjusts to riding at a much quicker pace. The bike was handling great after a few adjustments since leaving Brands Hatch so it was just down to Jody and his riding to start making some improvements as the weekend progressed.

Qualifying went better than expected with a 1.43.8 which put Jody 30th out of 35 and 6th in the cup. The Qualifying sessions at a BSB meeting are a sight to behold, with all the riders pushing so hard its frantic and non stop, so the team made more steps towards making the adjustment from the regular club meetings to the BSB way of running events.

Race 1 and Jody was determined to get away with a group at the start, one of the biggest differences from the Club meetings Jody has been used to is the need to get away with the guys in front or you'll be left behind. In the past Jody has been quick enough to catch riders up and pass them, however the pace is so hot now that just isn't possible, so a good start is critical. Thankfully he made it away into a group of 4 or 5 riders battling for around the 25th spot and managed to stay with them through out most of the race. A small mistake at the Avenue meant Jody had to push quite hard to catch back up and this tested his fitness to limit which caused another problem to show its face, the dreaded arm pump. The longer races are something which may take a few more meetings to adjust to, staying relaxed is the main thing but with Jody trying to make an effort in getting up to speed with the BSS regulars this is easier said than done. Jody eventually finished 29th and 8th in the Cup, all good experience though.

Race 2 and Jody was expecting a tough race. The physically demanding nature of Oulton paired with the longer races is a tough challenge for all of the riders, especially those used to shorter races. The start was a similar story to race 1 and Jody was on the back of the same group, however the arm pump set in at around lap 5 or 6 and in all fairness it was a struggle from there on. This was a shame as we knew there was more pace to come and the bike was working great, Jody managed to bring it home in 26th place overall and 7th in the Cup, however there were a number of fallers in front (and behind) so the finish was slightly better than expected.

All in all we have gained a lot more experience and now there's more hard work for Jody fitness wise and hopefully as the season progresses we can adjust to the longer races and find some of the pace needed to start working our way up. It was never going to be easy, however we can take numerous positives, Jody's personal best lap time of Oulton Park has been lowered by nearly 2.5 seconds and he has gained more experience around the demanding Oulton Circuit so we cant moan too much! Track knowledge is something else we need to gain as our experience at most circuits is well down, 2011 will be one big tough learning year......

Thanks for reading and we will try and get the site updated a little quicker after the next round.

April 22nd - 25th

News from the opening BSB round at Brands Hatch, a little later than we would of liked however with so much going on the team have hardly had 5 minutes rest in the last few weeks.

The Team knew before we arrived at Brands Hatch that we would be stepping up a class, and that Jody would have his work cut out from the start and boy we weren't wrong there! Qualifying at Brands went better than expected and Jody managed to start the weekend off in a respectable 27th place overall but 4th in the Cup. This was a great start to the BSB season and we hoped to improve through out the weekend. Race one was a big surprise for Jody, to go from the front of Club meetings - to the tail end of BSB meant a tricky first corner with bikes coming from all directions. This is definitely an area where Jody will need to adjust more than we previously expected, in fact we hadn't even give the starts a thought in this respect. Still, Jody pushed on, making several strong passes and managed to finish his first BSB race in 27th place / 4th in Cup so we were all more than happy with that.

Race 2's starting order is decided by the lap times in race 1, meaning Jody moved back 1 place on the grid to 28th which made no real difference. Again Jody struggled with the start, but gave best and settled into the race. This time however due to the poor start the pack Jody had hoped to stay with made a break, which left him trying to bridge the gap. We took a gamble on the gearing for Race 2 which turned out to be a mistake, as the bike lost drive onto the start finish straight allowing the group in front to pull away lap by lap. Sadly the team hadn't made an adjustment to the fuel load to compensate for the extra revs the bike used on the revised gearing, meaning Jody ran out of fuel on lap 22 and was forced to pull off the track at Druids.

All in all it was a positive first BSB meeting for Jody and the Team, there's quite a bit more effort involved in racing at this level so to learn the ropes and get an idea of what's needed in the future is a big plus point. We feel Jody can improve through out the year and hopefully become more competitive as time goes on. Winning at this level (Cup and otherwise) is a little way off, Jody is at a fairly sizable disadvantage experience wise compared to the rest of the field as this is only his 3rd year of racing full stop - and that includes track days or any other form of racing too! Still we're not here to make excuses, Jody will be giving it his best at every round so please keep checking up regularly.

On to Oulton Park.

16th & 17th April

Jody up's the pace at Cadwell Park this weekend, with several race wins and a new lap record. It didn't all go Jody's way though, a spill at the Goose Neck on cold tyres (not the first time Jody?) in Saturday's 600 final after a restarted race due to a previous red flag incident on the first lap. Jody had to take avoiding action to prevent a collision at the top of the Goose neck and when he rolled off the throttle the rear came round ending in a low side. Thankfully damage was minimal and the team soon had things back together ready for the races on Sunday.

Jody managed to win all 4 Sound of Thunder races over the weekend and set a new class lap record with a blistering 1.33.3, which also lowers Jody's PB at Cadwell Park. This is a big boost for the team, after we finally found the missing link set up wise (thank you to those who have helped with the loan of a Shock, you know who you are!), especially on the build up to the first round of the BSB this weekend coming. The race win in the SOT Final on Sunday also won Jody the Edna Gardner award, which the team are all very proud of as this is the first year this award has been given.

The 600 Open was a similar story to the Sound of Thunder, although no lap record here, having said that a 1.33.3 was good enough though if Jody had pushed on, although it was an unnecessary risk so Jody settled for 2 wins and the unfortunate DNF.

This recent form see's Jody head the 600 Championship and the Sound of Thunder Championship at NG, the team plan to return to NG through out the 2011 season, at dates which don't clash with the BSB.

Jody would like to say a big thank you to Russ Gardner for the presentation of the Edna Gardener award, as well as the whole team, Malli, Dad Bill, his Wife Simone and Mum Jacqui, plus every one else who helps to make the racing possible and we all hope Jody can progress steadily this year at the BSB in a similar way he has at Club level.

Keep your eye on the weekends racing at the BSB opener at Brands Hatch!

9th April

Technical gremlins shortened Jody's first ever visit to Croft over the weekend, although that didn't stop him taking 2 podium finishes away and allowed him to familiarize himself with the circuit lay out ready for round 3 of the BSB Championship next month.

Sadly an oil leak stopped play after the 2nd race on Saturday, forcing the team to retire back to the workshop earlier than expected.

Bike set up issues have become a small problem for the team as Jody's pace improves each meeting and tyre wear has suffered. This complication was the teams main focus over the weekend, as well as learning the track and trying to win races of course! Thankfully we have come away with enough data to give us a clear direction set up wise, which should improve the handling issues and tyre wear dramatically.

Qualifying went exceptionally well at Croft, managing a front row start in P2 - not bad for a circuit Jody has never seen before. Race one saw David Paton, a Croft regular, take the win from Jody who in all fairness finished a way behind in a lonely 2nd place. It was visible from the side lines though that Jody was struggling with the rear end of his 675 Triumph, so the spare shock with a softer spring was installed to try and cope with the bumpy Croft circuit a little better.

Race 2 was a good battle between several riders at the start, with Jody quickly breaking through to second place, being chased down by a determined Chris Coates (another Croft regular). Jody managed to hang onto the back of David Paton for a number of laps, eventually being passed by Chris Coates on the last lap and unable to retake the position Jody finished 3rd place, 0.1 off 2nd and 3 seconds off the winner.

All in all not a bad result, we feel we can come back to Croft next month and be able to improve the lap times to hopefully come away with some solid finishes in the Supersport Cup.

As per usual, watch this space. The team will be at Cadwell Park this weekend, one of Jody's favorites, to finalize settings ready for round 1 of the BSB!

9th - 10th April

More progress this weekend at Round 2 of the Bemsee / MRO Championships as Jody came away from the new Snetterton 300 circuit with a 4th and 2 5th's overall (3 MRO class wins). Fridays testing was hampered by a major oil spill just before the lunch break, by an unfortunate side car. This left Jody and the team with the tricky task of setting the bike up for the very technical new circuit layout as well as learning the track at the same time. It became obvious quite quickly that the bikes set up was a way off the mark, the ground made at Brands seems to have been to no avail upon the arrival to Snetterton, with persistent tyre wear issues and handling woe's. The team frantically tried several alterations to finally give Jody a package he could work with, although it still wasn't ideal.

Qualifying went very well and Jody managed a fine front row start, which amongst the wealth of talent on the grid the team were more than pleased with. Things had looked a little bleak in 1st Qualifying and it wasn't until we switched to the softer front tyre that Jody found the extra pace.

Race 1 on Sunday was the first of a pair of 5th place's, the start wasn't great and Jody was left to battle through several slower riders to finish the race just in front of 6th place man, a charging Ben Grinrod. We had planned to try and make a break with the leaders, but they were up and gone, by the time Jody had started making some ground. Still pleased with the effort, which may of been slightly better had Jody not taken to the grid in a black visor when it was going dark......

Race 2 on Saturday was a similar affair to Race 1 on Sunday, a poor start meant Jody had to make his way through a number of slower riders while the leaders broke away at the front. After pushing on as hard as possible Jody finished the race in 5th place, just over a second off 4th place man Dan Fuller. Jody had been experiencing some handling issues, having nearly high sided out of the race twice and completely lost the front end at Corams, in his own words only staying up right with more luck than judgement. With this in mind the team were again happy with the 5th place finish.

Race 3 and Jody was determined to make a better start and he did. Making a break into 6th place after the first corner and a solid pass on the rider in front saw Jody move up to 5th place on the first lap. With his head down he set about bridging the gap to the leaders, however with the bike not handling that well this proved to be a fair task. Ben Padgett was forced to retire which left Jody to take the finish line in 4th place. We had hoped to be closer to the leaders, but it wasn't to be today. We know there's a lot more to come as we learn to get to grips with the Triumph 675.

Towards the end of this meeting Jody had noticed the bikes performance drop off, so the motor is now out and being refreshed ready for the next outing at Croft next weekend. With more time on the bike, and some new settings to try we are sure Jody will make some more steps towards his ultimate goal of being competitive in the Supersport Cup Class, within the BSB Championships this year.

Onto Croft it is!

19th - 20th March

The team were back at Brands Indy this weekend for round 1 of the NG championships, where Jody would compete in the Sound of Thunder and the 600 Open class. A wet start to the weekend limited testing time, which was a shame as there were a number of things the team had planned to try, in order to tackle the tyre wear situation that came to light 2 weeks earlier. This meant we would have to experiment with the settings over the course of the race weekend, not ideal but still an ideal time before the first BSB round to get the bike dialed in. Typical Club meetings have a shorter sprint race format where tyre life isn't as important, however the BSB races are likely to be twice the distance so consistent tyre wear is crucial. After inspecting the tyres from the previous meeting we attended, it was clear there was a problem of some sort, all though the bike feels ok which the team thought odd, maybe the bike will feel even better when this issue is resolved and thats a big positive for Jody having made such a good start to the year.

NG typically run qualifying races, shorter heats where grid positions are decided on when the entry is received by the club. Fortunately our entry was in early and Jody would start the Sound of Thunder qualifying race from row 2 P6 and the 600 heat from row 2 P5. This would be the grid position for the heats on both Saturday and Sunday. The SOT heats couldn't of gone better, Jody took a flag to flag win in both by some margin. Jody also won both 600 heats over the weekend, with these finishes in the Bag Jody would start from P1 in the SOT Championship races and P3 Saturday and P2 Sunday, for the 600s as there was a combined grid from both A and B heats due to the numbers entered for the 600 races, confusing!

After a strong start in the Sound of Thunder heats, this form was followed up with 2 more wins in the Championship races on Saturday and Sunday. Both races Jody was unchallenged and took victory by a comfortable margin, this allowed the team to try a few alterations with the suspension setup where we made some positive steps forward.

Saturdays 600 Championship race was one of the best up to date for Jody, where he spent much of the race battling with a determined Cody Nally to eventually take a solid 3rd place finish. Although ideally Jody had hoped to get away with BSB regulars Sam Warren and Max Hunt, a slightly hampered start allowed the leaders to make a break and the gap would be too big to bridge after Jody battled through from 7th place. Still pleased with a podium finish and a great race for all to watch.

Sundays 600 Championship race would be between Jody and Sam Hornsey, also on a Triumph 675. This was a good chance for both riders to get used to racing one another, as Sam will also be racing in the Supersport Cup class at BSB this year. A good start from Jody saw him take the early advantage, however back markers came in to play a little sooner than usual and a miss judgement at Clearways allowed Sam past and left Jody just trailing for the rest of the race. Sadly the pace of both riders was too close to call and Sam held the overall advantage to the line and Jody finished a respectable 2nd place, beating his personal best lap time at the Indy circuit in the process.

All in all another cracking weekend for the Team, we are well into the swing of things now and Jody seems to have settled into the Triumph 675, with more updates to the rear shock things should continue to progress at Snetterton later in the week where Jody will try out the new '300' circuit for the first time at Round 2 of the MRO Championships.

Phew, it's been a busy March and we hope you all continue to follow Jody's progress as we make the build up to the first round of the BSB championships!

March 17th

Jody would like to make a quick thanks to the following people for their help this year:

All the guys at Motor Cylce essentials and Fuchs Silkolene

Ian at Chase Automotive for the race paint

Malcolm at Moto Comp for his help with the GI MOTO leathers

John at GSF Car Parts

If you are looking to get involved with a motorcycle racer and feel you could offer any assistance, no matter how small, we would welcome your interest. With rising costs any Sponsorship would be a real benefit to Jody and the team, your logo's could appear on our bike and gear which will be seen by 10's of 1000's of people through out the year. You may be suprised at how little is actually required from a sponsor it all helps!

Please email jody@jodyleesracing.com for further information.

5th - 6th March

Jody's first race of 2011 couldn't of gone much better at a bright but bitterly cold Brands Hatch this weekend. Using the test day to fine tune the suspension settings, the team knew the pace was there for some strong results and couldn't wait to get going. The cold track temp's held back any ground breaking lap times, but that said Jody was quickly up to speed and nearly equaling his personal best time at the Indy circuit. This is only the 2nd time Jody has raced at Brands Hatch so his track knowledge is way behind the majority of the other riders, but he wasn't going to let this be an excuse for not having a good go.

Qualifying went fairly well, however the team took a gamble on a used softer rear tyre which wasn't ideal. Jody qualified P4 in quali 1 and couldn't better the time in quali 2 due to the rear tyre, Dan Fuller took advantage of this and pushed Jody back to P5 meaning a 2nd row start for the weekends racing. This meant Jody had his work cut out from the word go!

Race 1 saw a less than ideal start, leaving Jody down in 7th or 8th position. However he was soon making his way through the pack and ended up a brilliant 3rd over all finishing only behind BSB regulars Jimmy Hill and Josh Caygill. A great battle between Jody and Jimmy Dye saw Jody take the advantage and pull a comfortable gap to finish the race 3rd. Due to the 1st and 2nd place riders not being eligible for points or prizes the overall win was given to Jody, however the team will class this as a 3rd place - that's where we were on track.

Race 2 came with a better start, although not perfect. Jody had been hoping to get away with Jimmy and Caygill however Caygill broke down on the start and Jimmy was pretty much up and gone straightaway, leaving Jody to dice it out with Jimmy Dye and Dan Fuller, eventually taking 2nd place overall after a great battle which saw 3 riders separated by less than 0.5 of a second across the line. Again the overall win was awarded to Jody, but in the real world this was a 2nd place.

Race 3 was a similar story, however this time Jimmy Dye broke down on the first lap and Dan Fuller dropped back quite quickly leaving Jody to run a lonely race ending up in 3rd place. With a 3rd win (3rd place really!) Jody managed to win the tyre prize and left the weekend on a high with a fresh pair of tyres ready for the NG meeting back at Brands in 2 weeks time.

All in all this is a fantastic start to the year, the cold weather prevented any lightening lap times but it was good for Jody to get out on the 675 and race in dry conditions. To be this competitive at the start of the season, on a new bike which Jody is far from familiar with is great news for all of the team. With a few minor chassis tweeks and more seat time we are confident of some more strong finishes in the near future.

See you all back at Brands NG!

8th February

This years first shake down test was a flyer at Oulton Park, where Jody enjoyed sunshine and a relatively dry track for the day to blow out the winter cob webs. The Gods were looking down on Oulton favorably this Tuesday, as it stayed cool, but dry and sunny all day. The track was 90% dry by mid day, although Shell Hair Pin stayed damp all day. This didn't stop Jody getting to grips with the new Triumph 675, after only riding it twice at the end of last year Jody was straight back up to speed. Matching his best lap times at the circuit which were set in a race meeting, Jody is more than happy at the pace for the start of the season, considering the very low track temps and the fact that Shell HP stayed damp.

Overall the test was very positive, which is a great start to 2011 for Jody and the team. The new DDS Ktech forks worked faultlessly and there was not even the need to make any adjustments from Ktech's base settings which is encouraging. A softer rear spring left the rear shock needing a few slight tweaks, however Jody's confidence in the grip available on the harder tyre was very positive so we know this is the right direction. After over 3 months off the bike, to return to action with lap times as fast as Jody finished the 2010 season off on is a big boost and we all look forward to Brands Hatch, where Jody will spend 2 days on track adapting his style to suit the characteristics of the Triumph 675. After 2 years on an R6 there is some work to be done here, but all in all everything is very positive so we'll see you at Brands!

1st January

Well that's a successful 2010 over, now onto 2011! Talking of the 2011 Season Jody intends to contest the full season within the BSB Supersport Cup class, riding his new Triumph 675. The Triumph 675 is a new bike for Jody to get to grips with, although he has had little experience aboard the 3 cylinder 675 the team are sure he can adapt quickly. Jody has only raced the bike only once at the final round of the 2010 Thundersport GB championships taking a solid win in wet conditions, and loosing out on a 2nd place finish due to a technical issue with the bike. Based on this performance Jody and the team are hoping for some strong results in the Club rounds he will be racing within and we aim to progress as quickly as possible within the BSB Supersport Cup.

Jody and the team are under no illusions that 2011 will be anything but 100% hard work, stepping up and entering the British Championship is a big ask, however as long as we can progress round by round, this will meet the expectations of both Jody and the team. It will be a step learning curve this year, as Jody continues to visit circuits where hasn't been before, as well as several circuits where his experience is next to none. That aside Jody and the team know that they have a good package, a proven 675 which has been previously raced by Paul Young with numerous top 10 finishes and some very very strong lap times. With some small tweeks to the bike to suit Jody's style, we all know the results will be down to Jody's riding and hopefully not problems with the machine.

Now that 2010 is out of the way, the build up to the 2011 season begins. In an ideal world Jody will get away to perhaps Spain at some point early in the year, to get accustomed to the bike ready for the season ahead. The team are hoping this will be possible, but as always the logistics of these trips are a nightmare. Failing that there is an impressive line up of Club meetings to get us back into the swing, and several track days which would be ideal.

So Happy New Year from Jody and the Team, and as always watch this space!